DM 093 Newsletter

DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date : 05/12/2017 Duedate: 05/25/2017

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM-93 TURN-478

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

THUNDER WONDER
DARK CLOUDS (1719)
(93-10029) [7-1-0,92]

Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY THUNDER WONDER
DARK CLOUDS (1719)
(93-10029) [7-1-0,92]

Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite

HASAMI DAKUROZU
DRIFTY DREAMS (1717) DARK CLOUDS (1719)
(93-10016) [3-5-0,17] (93-10026) [3-4-0,38]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

DARK CLOUDS (1719)

TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. DRIFTY DREAMS (1717) 35
2. BASH BROS PEPPER (1721) 30 BRUTE STRENGTH (491)
3. LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 27 Unchartered Team
4. DARK CLOUDS (1719) 23
5. MISFIT KINGS (1722) 19 DARK CLOUDS (1719)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*DARK CLOUDS (1719) 26 13 0 66.7 1/ 1*DARK CLOUDS (1719) 11 4 0
2/ 2*FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) 21 14 2 60.0 2/ 5*DRIFTY DREAMS (1717) 9 6 0
3/ 3*LINKS OF TERROR (1718) 19 20 1 48.7 3/ 2*FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) 9 6 0
4/ 5*DRIFTY DREAMS (1717) 19 20 0 48.7 4/ 6*BASH BROS PEPPER (1721) 8 7 2
5- 4*ODD SQUAD (1712) 9 10 0 47.4 5- 3*ODD SQUAD (1712) 7 3 0
6/ 8*LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 7 8 0 46.7 6/ 7*LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 7 8 0
7/ 7*BASH BROS PEPPER (1721) 15 20 2 42.9 7/ 4*LINKS OF TERROR (1718) 6 9 0
8- 6*LIZARD DEN (1723) 3 4 0 42.9 8/ 9*MISFIT KINGS (1722) 4 11 0
9/ 9*MISFIT KINGS (1722) 10 15 0 40.0 9/10*KILL UNIT (1725) 1 7 0
10/10*KILL UNIT (1725) 1 7 0 12.5 10- 8*LIZARD DEN (1723) 0 2 0

'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

This spotlight lesson revolves around a question asked by Sin Loo of Misfit Kings.

His question:
"Commodore Pegleg and Lord Assur -- I have read a number of training articles
regarding the benefits of training either skills or attributes for my warriors. With
regard to the topic of "skill burn," if I train a warrior's attribute (say Speed to a
12) and the charts in the CIC tell me that I "burned" on of each INI and DEC, but the
fight report only says that Speed was increased... How do I know for sure that I've
"burned" INI and DEC and have received a increase in both skills? There was an
increase that I did to an attribute that should have given one of my warriors an
"Expert" rating in the skill through a "burn" increase, but the fight report didn't
say anything regarding the skill increase or the rating. -- Sin Zoo (Misfit Kings)"

A Consortium answer:
Sin Zoo, what a great question! Perhaps we can answer. It goes something like
this..... You train a skill, and supposedly you acquire (burn) some skills.
(Example: training to 12 SP and gaining also an Init and a Decise skill.) Your fight
sheet shows the SP gain, but says nothing about any skills earned. How do you know
you really got those two skills? Trust me; you DID. The CIC and other info were
gathered empirically over time with a lot of different manager's work. Those skills
are part of the inner-workings of the D2 program, and considered part of the intrigue
of the game. Thousands of fights and record recording brought you that CIC today.
Just mark those skills down; you got 'em. The next part of your question is quite
related. You earned a skill, either through training skills or through the skills
imbedded in a stat train, and it should have made a rating -- like expert at 16 skills
or adv expert at 20 -- and you didn't get the rating. What gives? (Example, you had
15 decise skills and earned a decise in a fight for 16, but the fight sheet does not
say you got the expert decise rating.) Sadly, you DO NOT have that decise rating.
That, my friend, is the most common way that a manager finds out if his warrior is
blessed or hosed or neutral in a certain skill type. In this case, the warrior is at
least -1 in Decise. (Hosed.) Warriors can be hosed or blessed up to 4 skills per
type and it could have been that you had 12 skills, then earned that decise and
surprisingly got an expert rating in decise, meaning that the warrior is +3 in decise
(blessed). All veteran managers keep track of starting skills and earned skills and
ratings diligently.

-- Brought to you by The Consortium Elders

SPY REPORT

Well, what are you looking at, NOBLISH ISLAND? Ain't you never seen Snide
Clemens before? Ah, shaddup and listen to my news. DRIFTY DREAMS turned their 4-1-0
turn into a 2nd place rank in the listings this turn. Any better than this, and you
get put on hit lists. Of course, we're all terribly impressed to see RAN OUT win a
fight and gain 19 points, terribly. Tsk, tsk, DAKUROZU beat LONG JOHN SILVER and
LONG JOHN SILVER lost 10 points. You're breakin' my heart. And if variety is the
spice of life, NOBLISH ISLAND may be getting bland, as THUNDER WONDER stays top dog
in the city. Kickbacks and bribes, kickbacks and bribes, how else do you think some
of these guys win their fights? Skill? Ha!
My mother always told me, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, start
talking.' I loved that woman. NOBLISH ISLAND, I am losing what little hope I had in
you. LINKS OF TERROR the most avoided team? What insult will suffice, I cannot say.
And it looks like FAMOUS PIRATES avoided them the most this turn. What a pack of
would be losers, if you ask me. Hmph. KIRENN was challenged more times this turn
than the Duelmaster. Now was the DM insulted or feared? Heh, heh.
Some people like volunteer work in the hospitals. I volunteer for NOBLISH
ISLAND's morgue. More variety. Not that I'll be buying the drinks, but I'll be glad
to see ANNE BONNY and FAMOUS PIRATES at The Warty Toad tonight celebrating their
bloodfeud victory over KIRENN. We're all going to die in the end, so why worry if
the fate catches up with you sooner that later?
There's got to be a better place in NOBLISH ISLAND to get a drink than The Warty
Toad! Any suggestions? Well, I've had enough of this drivel, and I'm sure you have
too. Off like a dirty shirt of padded leather. Glad to see the back of this place--
Snide Clemens

DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
THUNDER WONDER 10029 7 1 0 92 DARK CLOUDS (1719)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
JINGLE BELL 10015 7 1 0 52 DRIFTY DREAMS (1717)
ANNE BONNY 10030 5 2 1 47 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
CAPTAIN KIDD 10034 5 2 1 38 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
DAKUROZU 10026 3 4 0 38 DARK CLOUDS (1719)

CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
CANDY CANE 10019 3 5 0 31 DRIFTY DREAMS (1717)
LADYHAWKEYE 10044 3 2 0 30 MISFIT KINGS (1722)
RAN OUT 10035 3 4 0 29 BASH BROS PEPPER (1721)
BLACKBEARD 10031 5 2 0 27 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
RAIN STORM 10028 7 1 0 26 DARK CLOUDS (1719)
BONGO 10027 4 4 0 26 DARK CLOUDS (1719)
NOT ENOUGH 10038 3 4 1 26 BASH BROS PEPPER (1721)
KIRENN 10020 5 2 1 25 LINKS OF TERROR (1718)

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-OLIVE 10061 1 1 0 23 ODD SQUAD (1712)
LONG JOHN SILVER 10063 3 1 0 22 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
DUNCAN 10058 2 1 0 22 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724)
-JINXEE 9988 4 1 0 21 ODD SQUAD (1712)
AZNA 10067 2 1 0 20 LINKS OF TERROR (1718)
CHEESE 10074 2 0 0 20 DRIFTY DREAMS (1717)
FILL THE SHAKER 10036 3 4 1 19 BASH BROS PEPPER (1721)
ELYTRA 10025 5 3 0 18 DARK CLOUDS (1719)
GOING WITHOUT 10037 5 2 0 17 BASH BROS PEPPER (1721)
HASAMI 10016 3 5 0 17 DRIFTY DREAMS (1717)
JOPAR 10023 4 4 0 16 LINKS OF TERROR (1718)
FRENAR 10022 4 4 0 16 LINKS OF TERROR (1718)
HENRY MORGAN 10032 2 5 0 16 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
ONIHANA 10017 2 5 0 15 DRIFTY DREAMS (1717)
LUTHIEN 10059 2 1 0 15 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724)
SYMGARA 10056 2 1 0 15 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724)
TONARION 10024 3 5 0 14 LINKS OF TERROR (1718)
-ODDO 10060 2 0 0 14 ODD SQUAD (1712)
-MOLOCH 10052 1 0 0 14 LIZARD DEN (1723)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
SCOTCH MARY 10066 1 2 0 12 MISFIT KINGS (1722)
-OAK 10062 2 0 0 11 ODD SQUAD (1712)
CZAR URLIK 10075 1 0 0 11 MISFIT KINGS (1722)
-KOMODOENSIS 10048 1 1 0 10 LIZARD DEN (1723)
BEOWULFISH 10043 2 3 0 9 MISFIT KINGS (1722)
SIR TALON 10046 2 3 0 9 MISFIT KINGS (1722)
-CHAMAELEONTIDAE 10050 1 0 0 9 LIZARD DEN (1723)
NOTHING 10039 1 6 0 9 BASH BROS PEPPER (1721)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
BORON 10072 1 1 0 5 KILL UNIT (1725)
-SEARRUS 9645 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
-PERSEPHONE 9642 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
-AGRISEL 9646 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
LORD OF WAR 10068 0 2 0 2 KILL UNIT (1725)
KIM 10069 0 2 0 2 KILL UNIT (1725)
-BASILISCUS 10049 0 2 0 2 LIZARD DEN (1723)
-ZENITH 10070 0 1 0 1 KILL UNIT (1725)
-MS. O 10073 0 1 0 1 ODD SQUAD (1712)
-DRACO AGAMIDAE 10051 0 1 0 1 LIZARD DEN (1723)

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-CARVER 10071 0 1 0 1 KILL UNIT (1725)

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
FRANCIS DRAKE 10033 1 2 0 FAMOUS PIRATES 1720 KIRENN 10020 474 JUST REVENGED
BALTHAZAR 10057 1 2 0 LEGIONS OF FATE 1724 NOT ENOUGH 10038 478
BLIEW IZE 10055 0 3 0 LEGIONS OF FATE 1724 FILL THE SHAKER 10036 478

PERSONAL ADS

Blimey! Bilge-suckin' Thunder Wonder be Champeen! Scurvy Dog! -- Old Pegleg

Thunder Wonder, I think that is sort of a congrats from the boss; so, kudos. -- The
Famous Pirates Administrative Assistant
P.S. BTW, Pegleg is back -- obviously! Rumor has it he wasn't really kidnapped, but
went on a rather unhealthy binge! The old rascal!

Blow me down, buckos! 4-1! Take that'n, Assur ye Hornswaggler! Aye. -- Old Pegleg

Old Pegleg's words of wisdom .....
What's a pirates favorite state? Arrrrrrrkansas.
Why does a pirate fear getting old? He could get Arrrrrrrthritus.
What's a vacation for pirates? Arrr N Arrr.
Where does a pirate store his workout clothes? Davey Jones Locker

Nothing, no problem. You were an easy win, 'cause you were nothing. -- Henry Morgan

Elytra, har, har. It were a pleasure being yer first! Loved yer booty! -- Long John
Silver

Frenar, Shivver me timbers, Frenar, ye be like yon timber, but I cut ye down. --
Blackbeard

Orcs. Me hates orcs! -- Captain Kidd

Ran Out, aye, sure. 'Ats what all men does ta me. But I showed ye, bucko! -- Anne
Bonny

Shivver me timbers! Methinks me wooden leg has termites! -- Old Pegleg

Old Pegleg -- Thank you for the C.I.C.! It really helps! I appreciate it! -- Kikyo

LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

ANNE BONNY devastated KIRENN in a action packed 1 minute mismatched Bloodfeud fight.
BEOWULFISH was subdued by AZNA in a 2 minute novice's Challenge melee.
SIR TALON was overpowered by CHEESE in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge duel.
THUNDER WONDER bested VETERAN MERCENARY in a 2 minute Title fight.
JINGLE BELL overpowered BLACKBEARD in a 1 minute mismatched match.
CAPTAIN KIDD devastated GOING WITHOUT in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
LADYHAWKEYE slimly won victory over ONIHANA in a 3 minute bloody match.
DAKUROZU viciously subdued LONG JOHN SILVER in a action packed 9 minute fight.
RAIN STORM viciously subdued TONARION in a crowd boring 24 minute gory duel.
ELYTRA was vanquished by RAN OUT in a popular 1 minute brutal one-sided duel.
JOPAR was handily defeated by DUNCAN in a 1 minute one-sided bout.
BONGO luckily beat HENRY MORGAN in a crowd pleasing 1 minute match.
FRENAR was handily defeated by CANDY CANE in a 2 minute brutal one-sided contest.
HASAMI viciously subdued BORON in a 2 minute bloody bout.
FILL THE SHAKER easily killed BLIEW IZE in a 3 minute uneven fight.
NOT ENOUGH assassinated BALTHAZAR in a 1 minute uneven struggle.
NOTHING was viciously subdued by SYMGARA in a 2 minute bloody bout.
LUTHIEN devastated MORDANT DESERTER in a 1 minute one-sided brawl.
SCOTCH MARY overpowered KIM in a 1 minute one-sided match.
LORD OF WAR was overpowered by CZAR URLIK in a 1 minute bloody one-sided match.

BATTLE REPORT

MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK 8 WALL OF STEEL 4 - 0 - 0 100 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 6 LUNGING ATTACK 24 - 10 - 0 71 |
|AIMED BLOW 6 AIMED BLOW 29 - 22 - 1 57 |
|TOTAL PARRY 5 STRIKING ATTACK 29 - 23 - 1 56 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 5 TOTAL PARRY 24 - 20 - 1 55 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 BASHING ATTACK 32 - 37 - 1 46 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 3 PARRY-STRIKE 6 - 9 - 1 40 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 SLASHING ATTACK 12 - 19 - 0 39 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 10 - 27 - 0 27 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 4 - 0 20 |

Turn 478 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:

PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 0 TOTAL PARRY 2 - 3 4 STRIKING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 3 - 0 BASHING ATTACK 3 - 5 3 BASHING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 3 AIMED BLOW
STRIKING ATTACK 5 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 5 1 TOTAL PARRY
LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 1
AIMED BLOW 3 - 3

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK THUNDER WONDER 10029 7 1 0 92 DARK CLOUDS (1719)
BASHING ATTACK CAPTAIN KIDD 10034 5 2 1 38 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is HASAMI 10016. The most popular warrior this turn
was DAKUROZU 10026. The ten other most popular fighters were CANDY CANE 10019, ANNE
BONNY 10030, THUNDER WONDER 10029, HASAMI 10016, LADYHAWKEYE 10044, ONIHANA 10017,
RAN OUT 10035, SYMGARA 10056, BEOWULFISH 10043, and AZNA 10067.

The least popular fighter this week was TONARION 10024. The other ten least popular
fighters were RAIN STORM 10028, LONG JOHN SILVER 10063, KIM 10069, NOTHING 10039,
BALTHAZAR 10057, BLIEW IZE 10055, BORON 10072, JOPAR 10023, GOING WITHOUT 10037, and
BLACKBEARD 10031.

PAYMENTS BY CHECK AND MONEY ORDER -- CHANGE

Please note that because of new bank regulations, we can no longer accept any check or
money order drawn off a non-US bank, even if it is in US Funds. We were just informed
by our bank that the fee to process these checks is $40, which is crazy high!

Many apologies to our foreign players, but you will need to either get a check from a
US bank (Chase, Citigroup, etc.) or pay via credit card.

The Defensive Lunger

Perfect Minimums Actual Characters
ST 13 11 11 13
CN 7 3 3 11
SZ 4 4 10 6
WT 21 17 17 17
WL 17 13 17 19
SP 5 5 9 5
DF 17 13 17 13

The lunger, in my opinion, makes a much better defensive fighter than offensive
fighter. Fighting defensively will compensate for the speed at which lungers burn
endurance. They will still attack whenever possible but their defensive ability will
allow them to dodge most attacks. The most important part is their initiative. When
they do dodge, they'll usually steal the initiative and attack. I haven't been
fighting lungers defensively for long but my record is 14-5-0. Don't fight
defensively against other lungers as they will usually win.

The strategy I use is:
Min 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp
Off 4 -------------------------> 9 Weapon: Any lunging
Act 6 4 --------------------> 9 No armor if low con
KD 4 -------------------------> 9 APL/H if average con
O.T. ---------------------------> L
D.T. -------------------------------->

You can attack any location you wish but I suggest protecting the body. The
third character listed started with experts in attack, defense and initiative. The
last character had an expert in attack.

The Wild Boar, manager of Things (5) and many inactive teams.

WARRIOR ENDURANCE

Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! I hope you have had pleasant dueling.
This article is about endurance and some things to think about when you're designing
your warriors. Below is a chart showing the different endurance levels a warrior may
have. This chart may be a little off of due to the fact it isn't possible to have all
the variables as a manager, but it does give you idea of the amount of endurance a
warrior should have.

The formula for endurance is: E = (ST+CN)WL

With the result of that number use the chart below.

000-180 = Very Poor
181-240 = Poor
235-390 = Normal
391-509 = Good
510-639 = Great
640-699 = Tremendous
770+ = Awesome

Here are some examples of warriors with their Endurance ratings:

1) Slasher ST 5 CN 7 WL 15 (5+7)15 = 180 Poor
2) Striker ST 7 CN 13 WL 9 (7+13)9 = 180 Poor
3) Parry-Rip ST 7 CN 10 WL 11 (7+10)11 = 187 Poor
4) Basher ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Very Poor
5) Striker ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Poor
6) Aimed-Blow ST 9 CN 15 WL 9 (9+15)9 = 216 Normal
7) Striker ST 10 CN 5 WL 15 (10+5)15 = 225 Normal
8) Slasher ST 13 CN 10 WL 10 (13+10)10 = 230 Normal
9) Wall/Steel ST 13 CN 12 WL 17 (13+12)17 = 425 Great

There are several factors such as warrior style, RSI random factor, and there is
some evidence that SIZE has some effect on a warrior's endurance. In any case the RSI
LUCK factor can be around 7 to 8% in your favor or 2-3% worse than average. These are
just estimates, but are still factors nevertheless.
Some styles that are HIGH BURN endurance, like lungers, slashers and walls of
steel, are more likely to be UNLUCKY with the endurance rating.
Every action your warrior does consumes endurance. Attacking seems to use more
endurance than any other action. Once a warrior's endurance is used up, he will make
an endurance check against his WILL. If he fails the roll, he will either stop to rest
or collapse to the sand, depending on how badly he failed the roll. When a warrior
stops to rest, he gets back some endurance. When he gets enough endurance back, he
will start attacking again. This is just a theory that I have developed from
observations. It maybe completely off, but it gives one something to ponder.
That's it for now lords and ladies, I must go entertain elsewhere. If you would
like to chat about DM or other things, you can EMAIL me at 103260.3347@compuserve.com
or visit my DM website at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com./homepages/jessisjest/homepage.htm
You can also diplo me at DM 11 "The Lords Of the Abyss (319)" or any of the
Joker's Wilds scattered about.

Cheerio,
Sir Jessie Jest
Member of the Ivory League

Presenting, by Popular Demand (from 1989)...

THE NUMEROLOGY OF DUELMASTERS
by The Ghost of Eldrid

Character Generation

Hello, I am the Ghost of Eldrid, and I have an important message that directly
effects how well your team may do in the future. Some managers will not take this
important article seriously (some people don't believe in ghosts, either), and their
records will suffer for it. I have played Duelmasters for four years and searched
through all of my old turns and painstakingly researched every important fact in this
article, and I have discussed my conclusions with about ten different managers (named
managers such as Phido, Doctor LeGrand, Silk, Russ, and Biff Frothingslosh) who all
agree on the validity of my arguments. The results of my research are both startling
and magnificent. THERE IS NUMEROLOGY IN DUELMASTERS!!! Whether it was programmed in
or it exists on a higher plane, it matters not. IT EXISTS!!! And I plan to share
some of its amazing secrets with you, starting with character creation.
Remember in the realm of character generation the powers favor odd number stats.
NEVER, EVER have an even number on stats, except, of course, for size, which,
obviously should be even since everyone can tell what size your character is by his
description in the fight. Do you want people thinking your warrior is odd? I should
hope not!! But in case you decide to keep your odd warrior, DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER
STATS EVEN!! Write a letter to the commission stating that you forgo the rights to
the last point and you want it to be sacrificed to the benefit of Alastari.
Always start adding points to wit and will first. Either make them 13, 17, or
21. Why? Under 12 wit is worthless, as any good manager will tell you. A 13
understandably gives your opponent bad luck, a 17 has the ever-lucky "7" in it, and 21
is BLACKJACK, and you get twice the number of winnings you would normally get. Why
not 15 or 19? Is it not obvious to everyone that 15 is unlucky? The only President
of the United States not married was the 15th, James Buchanan (who?). Lincoln was
shot on April 15th, and the clincher... my brother was born on the 15th of May. If
these "coincidences" don't prove to you that 15 is unlucky, I don't know what will.
19 is an evil number. It tries to deceive you into thinking it is better than 17, but
actually, it is an "11" with a small zero placed on the second pole, and we all know
that a zero is nothing. So what do we get for our extra eight points? In effect,
something smaller than nothing.
Next, make every other stat odd. Add the other points to make the style you
want. Deftness is the key to character generation.
Deftness (min)
5 to make a basher (ST 13+)
7 for a lunger
9 for a striker
11 for a wall of steel (ST 11+, WL 17+)
13 for a parry lunge (ST 11+), slasher (SP 11+), parry-strike, and total
parries (these styles depend on the opponent's bad luck.
17 for a parry-riposte (WT 17+)
21 for an aimed blow (this style needs the double winnings)

The last thing to remember is that luck is a big factor in this game and I don't
know if you noticed, but when warriors have even ID numbers they are luckier than odd
ID characters. Look at the best warriors in Primus: Wallbanger, Donatello, Epitaph,
Chaos Knight, Villiage Idiot, Silverflash, Khorga Khan, Jake the Snake, Sly, Max,
Stormbringer, Teetotaler, Raphael, Selleque, Kiri, Constance, Hangover, Eve, and Sam
Spade. All have even-numbered IDs. Now you say, "But Yoda and Necron-99 both have
odd IDs, and they are the best aimed blows of the game!" Yes, but they are AIMED
BLOWS and they are members of an odd style, so of course they do better with odd
numbers. So remember if you want your warriors to be best in all Alastari someday,
Dark Arena all your odd-numbered characters, unless of course they are aimed blows.
Good luck, and may the numbers fall your way.

-- The Ghost of Eldrid,
retired

PARRY-STRIKE, ANOTHER FUN STYLE

There have been several articles about fighting styles, some say theirs is the
best, or ultimate, one said theirs is the most fun style. Well, I feel that parry-
strikers are just as much fun to play as any other style.
First, let's start with the run down of what they say in the "RED BOOK". The
book says that parry-strikers are defensive, using small quick movements in their
actions (sounds like you could say that about some other styles as well.) The book
says that some managers swear that a high wit is critical to the style (only those who
have no brains would disagree with that.)
Let's get to business. First and foremost this style is deceptively aggressive,
making them a very good offensive type of fighter, or deadly type of defensive
fighter. Offensively they tend to get the jump on their opponent. I had a parry-
striker that was only jumped 3 out of 11 fights, before he died. To prepare and run a
parry-striker can be quite confusing, so I will try to help make it as simple as
possible. Here are my feelings on roll-ups for the parry-strike style:

ST: 11-15, I'll explain later.
CN: who cares.
SZ: 10-14, don't go over 14.
WT: 13-17, 17 is the best.
WL: 13-17, to get good endurance.
SP: not important.
DF: 11-15, I'll explain later.

Here are some good roll-ups for a parry-striker: 11,7,10,17,17,7,15;
15,7,11,17,16,7,11; 11,7,14,17,13,7,15; 15,7,14,17,13,7,11. Now, if you have a decent
wit, the way you run this fighting style will depend on strength and deftness. For
example: if your fighter has a high DF and a low ST it would be to his/her advantage
to be defensive, since the speed would benefit the ability to move in reaction to
their opponent. If the ST is high, and DF low, it would be better to fight
offensively like a striker, trying to get the first, and only blow in. If they don't
have a decent wit, you're on your own. I can't help you on that. Remember this style
of fighting is the same as a striker except for added knowledge of parrying, as well
as bein a little more aggressive. I would not suggest a low ST and DF, it will take
away from your WT & WL, and you don't want to do that, but if you do, good luck. You
don't need much CN if you have a good WL, which gives you your endurance. SZ; you
don't want it to be above 14, it would hurt your fighting style more than your
attributes. WT; it is the same as it is with strikers, the higher the WT the faster
and deadlier they become. Raise WT to 17 if you don't have it at the start, then
don't worry about it again until ADM. WL; this is where you get your endurance. 13
is fine to start out, but I would suggest 15, then bump it up to 17 in basic. SP; it
is what you need to riposte, but PSers have this "one strike one kill" attitude.
Meaning that there isn't much time to riposte with a killing attitude, so do whatever.
DF; what is there to say, it helps, but is not crucial to be a great PSer. Now to
running a PSer. If he is an offensive fighter 10-10-10 Dec. all the way through the
fight, even in desperation. If Defensive, 1st 10-10-10 Resp., 2nd 10-7-10 Dec., 3rd
10-10-10, 4th 10-10-10 Dec., 5th 10-10-10 Dec., 6th 10-10-10, Desp. 10-10-10 Resp.
Remember, first you want to assure your defense, and to do that, you should go
defensive the first minute. By the second minute you will be secure enough to go on
the offensive, but experiment. 6th minute on, leave blank, for by that time he/she
will know what to do (if their WT is high that is.) The best thing you could do for
your fighter is watch the fights, if you are getting more defensive skills than
offensive, run the def., or change weapons. That is the best advice I can give you
about PSers. About armor, I like to use ringmail or nothing, but experiment. I know
that there is someone that will disagree with me, but I feel that I have given you
some ideas about this fighting style that can be used, even though I am a new manager,
playing for just over a year. No matter who writes a style article, it is just
advice, not the bible. Just use the articles as a point of reference, not as sworn
law.
This is a very fun fighting style, try it out. I have written this in answer to
Foreign Legion Arena 31, and The Spartans Arena 8. I challenge any Primus Manager to
correct my writing of PSers. It is not my favorite style, but it is as fun as any
other that I have used, including my favorite one (Which is a STRIKER!!) If there are
any comments, please Diplo The Priest, the manager of The Heroes of XIAN DM-10, or The
Crucifiers DM-46.

THE ARMOR PIERCING PARRY-LUNGE

When you think "attack" what style comes to mind? Bashing? Definitely lunging?
Of course. Parry-Lunging? Excuse me? Yes, the parry-lunger! Few people realize the
fact that parry-lungers are attack gods waiting to be born. All it takes is the right
warrior and lots of guts. This warrior is not for the weak of heart. We'll begin
with stats.

Range Perfect
ST 9-11 11
CN 5-9 5
SZ 6-11 8
WT 17or21 21
WL 17or21 17
SP 5-8 5
DF 15-17 17

Why?
ST(11): This is your optimum PL strength. It puts your warrior in the normal to
good damage range. Also, you have the best PL weapon at your disposal--the LO!
CN(5): Yes, his life expectancy is low. What'd I tell you? Guts, right? He
gets his endurance from WL. If you want to make trains, make them here.
SZ(8): Our most flexible stat. A high SZ (i.e.11) allows you to skimp a bit on
Str (9).
WT(21): If it's not a 21 you're not going to get the attack this fellow counts
on. His learns will be awesome and a 21 WT will make him a better warrior out of the
chocks.
WL(17): End/Att are dependent on this one being high. Keeps you on your feet
when you should drop from exhaustion.
SP(5): Not a big requirement. Init and Parry will come from elsewhere (WT/DF).
This is not a lunger mimic.
DF(17): Combine this DF with a 21 WT and you will have a massive attack.
Pinpoint accuracy is the byword. Parry, init, def and riposte will all benefit
immeasurably. At 15 you have access to the EP, a fine lunging weapon this style can
put to devastating use.

Strategy (General, but effective in most cases)
2 9 9 7 6 5 10
6 9 9 7 6 5 10
2 7 7 7 5 5 10
HE ---------------------------->
HE BD ----------------------->
- - - - - - -
P - - - - - -

Minute 1: This fellow won't get the jump on offensives, so we'll just go
defensive and render their "mad minute" fruitless. This PL's counterattack will be
amazing at even 2-6-2 P due to the high AL. Keep the parry tactic until Adv Expert
parry is gained.
Minutes 2 and 3: These two will end most of his fights. When he starts landing
precision blows in his opponent's face it will usually be over quickly. Keep the kill
desire relatively low as to avoid sloppy attacking.
Minutes 4 through 6: If you haven't won by now you've got to depend on your WL
to carry you until you finish the job. He'll probably top out at the five min. mark.
But we want to keep the attacks coming so we do so at his endurance's expense.
Desp: If your opponent is an offensive he's probably blasted through your min. 1
defense. Your best bet is to go spastic and hope to take him out in one shot or so.
If he's some super-defensive (scum) this PL is probably exhausted and you're hoping
the super-offense will put him over the edge. After all, it's better to burn out than
fade away.
Always aim for the head to maximize the impact of your blows. If it tickles your
fancy, aim for your opponent's weapon arm and beat him senseless when he's unarmed.
Protecting the head in min. 1 is strictly odds playing on my part. My offensives aim
head so I assume everyone else's do too. After min. 1, we forget defense.
Weapons and armor are simple. APL/H or ARM/H (if you're challenging a real
heavy-hitter). I prefer swords for armament. My combos are usually LO/SM, LO/SH,
SC/DA etc. Against heavy armor go with LO/SH. Always aim for the head.
Philosophy: This guy clings to life by luck, early on, and will never be free of
the spectre of death. In his first few fights stay away from lungers and bashers.
Both have high attacks and usually do substantial damage. Prey on strikers, PS, PR
and slashers. As he progresses, his attack, parry and defense will equip him with the
tools to handle most everybody but always remain cautious of those bashers and
lungers.
A PL of this calibre should begin with around a 90 att, 70 par/init and 60-70
def. Decise and riposte will be slightly lower. Riposte 50 and decise anywhere from
35-50 depending on how lucky you get. Train skills exclusively from fight one and on.
Use tourneys if you must raise anything at all (including con).
Don't be discouraged if he's around .500 early on. By ten fights he'll be
sporting three Adv Experts at least (att, par and init) and will begin to dismantle
those scum/finesse styles that managed to beat him. Feel free to write or diplo me
with comments/criticisms/or questions.

Fight the Good Fight,
or: Agath
CPL Michael Dockus Lunatic Fringe (23)
H Co BLT 2/8 Circle of Five (51)
24 MEU (Det F) Slaves of Power (52)
FPO NY NY 09502-8531

Armsilbar liked being Master of the Stronghold Academy, all except for one part.

He had to talk to Sheila Greywand at least once a week, usually oftener. She was
getting more erratic. More chaotic. That would be the effect of the Grey Wand. It
was a powerful chaotic artifact, and she kept it with her always. She had turned his
predecessor into a frog--or 164 frogs--and then summoned all the members of the
Academy to a frog-leg dinner. That had been, ah, bad. Yes, very bad.
But here he was entering her chambers. With, well, it couldn't be called GOOD
news. And the look she turned on him--she was in an orcish mood today, all scowling
black brows and bared fangs--that made him nervous. But some things had to be done.
He cleared his throat, which seemed to have a frog in it, and said, "It's about the
next tourney prize, Lady. I know it's more than two months away, but this isn't too
soon to start thinking of some new, exciting prize--"
"I have no intention of thinking about 'new, exciting prizes'," she snapped. Or
was that a snarl? "These managers are getting above themselves. They act like I
created the arena system for their amusement! There will be one standard prize for
all the tourneys. Just one."
He had a horrible vision of all the managers walking out in a mass. Perhaps it
wouldn't be that bad, but it wouldn't be good. And if he said the wrong thing, well,
the next frog-leg dinner might be him. "Er, ah, perhaps a specific prize for each
tourney--a spring prize, a summer prize, and so on? The managers expect--"
She exploded. A literal explosion, the force of the blast blew his hair off.
She said several things in an obsolete dialect of orcish. He stepped backward, then
again. The blast had blown the door open behind him. If he could make it out before
something else happened--
"Ribbit! Ribbit!"