DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 07/21/2017 Duedate: 08/03/2017 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-483 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS BEOWULFISH MISFIT KINGS (1722) (93-10043) [5-4-0,41] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY BEOWULFISH MISFIT KINGS (1722) (93-10043) [5-4-0,41] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite LUTHIEN LUTHIEN LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) (93-10059) [5-3-1,20] (93-10059) [5-3-1,20] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 31 2. MISFIT KINGS (1722) 27 ONLY HUMANS (147) 3. HOME SWEET HOME (1728) 20 Unchartered Team 4. BASH BROS APPLES (1727) 11 5. HI NO UMI (1715) 2 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 1*HOME SWEET HOME (1728) 8 2 0 80.0 1/ 1*LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 10 5 2 2- 2*ODD SQUAD (1712) 16 13 0 55.2 2/ 2*HOME SWEET HOME (1728) 8 2 0 3/ 3*LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) 22 18 3 55.0 3/ 3*MISFIT KINGS (1722) 7 8 0 4/ 5*BASH BROS APPLES (1727) 5 5 0 50.0 4/ 5*BASH BROS APPLES (1727) 5 5 0 5/ 4*MISFIT KINGS (1722) 19 26 0 42.2 5- 4*ODD SQUAD (1712) 3 2 0 6/ 6*HI NO UMI (1715) 1 10 0 9.1 6/ 6*HI NO UMI (1715) 0 6 0 '*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn (###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank TEAM SPOTLIGHT CHALLENGE AND AVOID A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE Challenges, and their partner "avoids" are underused strategic weapons. Don't be left home without them! An avoid is an attempt to prevent a warrior from challenging you. Why allow a warrior the advantage of selecting you for a match? Why allow a warrior to decide on a special strategy just for you? One great thing about avoids is that you may avoid THE WHOLE TEAM of any warrior you want to avoid. You are allowed to avoid two whole teams. There is no use double-avoiding as it does not improve your chances to avoid that one individual team. A challenge is an attempt to fight a specific warrior. Why not attempt to fight a specific warrior of choice? Why leave the opponent selection to the MUGS (match-up gods) or, worse yet, an opponent who chooses/challenges you? You are allowed to challenge two warriors. You may, indeed, challenge the same warrior twice. (Double challenge) It DOES improve your chances of a match to double challenge a same warrior. Of utmost importance is to understand that you must challenge and avoid NUMBERS, not names. Challenge WARRIOR NUMBERS. Avoid TEAM NUMBERS. Challenge individual warriors; avoid whole teams. No challenge or avoid is 100 percent effective. Challenges can be further enhanced by winning a TV or TC (Tournament Victor; Tournament Champion) in a Mailer or Face-to-Face Tournament. The TV/TC effectiveness lasts six months. So, in a normal arena, the warrior who won the TV gets 12 or 13 turns of enhanced challenging. The most effective challenge, The Blood Feud, is nearly, but not quite, 100 percent effective. A four turn BLOOD FEUD is awarded to your TEAM (Any member can use it each turn.) when an opposing warrior kills one of yours. Blood feuds transcend classes. (E.g. a Challenger can BLOOD FEUD an Adept or an Initiate can BLOOD FEUD a Challenger Champion, etc.) To use a TV or Blood Feud, simply write BF or TV on the challenge line with the to be challenged warrior number and circle it all for emphasis. How does one choose whom to challenge and what to avoid? That's a good question and like many decisions, the answers are more of an art than a technology. This is the methodology used by The Consortium managers. It works well for them. 1. Always avoid two different teams 2. Actively seek to challenge twice. (If only one good choice is available, double challenge.) 3. Challenge for these situations a. A probable easy opponent b. A warrior you have beaten before c. To tie up a warrior you do not want to fight one of your fellow warriors, such as the Duelmaster d. To take advantage of a Blood Feud (4 rounds) e. For a good style match up. 4. Avoid for these situations -- always a. Emphasis on a team who is bloodfeuding you b. Emphasis on a team who just beat your warrior c. Emphasis on a team with warriors in range who are far more experienced or skilled than you d. Emphasis on a team you just cannot seem to beat. e. Emphasis on teams with warriors whose styles are difficult for your style Often there will be more warriors to challenge or more teams to avoid than the strategy sheets allow. Choose wisely. Most of the circumstances are straightforward, and it is easy to select the challenges and avoids. However, in many cases, especially those with little knowledge of nearby opponents, it will come down to what style or type of warrior is best to challenge/avoid. There are available charts "out there" which prioritize which styles have advantages over other styles. Beware of them. The data is based on warriors over the years and those managers who submitted data for those charts. The warning b today's lunger is not yesterday's lunger, and my aimed blow is not your aimed blow, and today's basher is not yesteryear's basher, and a tourney warrior is not necessarily an arena warrior, etc, etc, etc. The Consortium offers their generic style considerations for challenges and avoids: 1. Fast offensives challenge AB, slower BA and SL, and know slow ST 2. Aimers challenge scummy/tanky warriors 3. Scums challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives 4. Scum hunters (need special strategy ) are good damage/endu LU, hard hitting BA, critting or hard hitting ST, hard hitting SL with good endu, good PS 5. Consortium-style wastes challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives 6. Lungers challenge AB, PR, PS 7. Rippers, if skilled, challenge ST, faster BA's The Consortium always avoids and almost always challenges. (Did I make that clear?) One final note. The challenging will bring into play and discussion: What is an appropriate challenge?" The "rules"/"D2 system" allow you to challenge anyone in your class and the class just above you. Your class is defined, interestingly, as Inits, Adepts, Champs, and Duelmaster. A "Challenger" Init is an Init for challenge wise purposes. A "Challenger" Champ is a Champ for challenge wise purposes. Hence the higher level challenger category can challenge the lower level "non challenger" class. (Simply put, a Challenger Init can challenge an Init, a challenger Init, and an Adept. An Adept can challenge Adepts or Challenger Adepts.) This system can allow/cause challenges from very high experience and recognition point warriors to very low recognition point and experience warriors. Some regular arenas foster the belief that challenges may/should ONLY be parallel or up in recognition points. These are usually Andorian arenas. The rules/system may allow otherwise, but the environment and the beliefs of sportsmanship of Andorian types differ. This can cause some "discussion altercations" or even bring the rest of the arena Managers "down" on you. Challenges and avoids are there to be used to your advantage. Do so. -- Hobo of Home Sweet Home (Consortium affiliated) ***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------*** But really penned Bash Bros Apples Sometimes it is better to cut your losses. But the commission sponsors our participation in order to help you all become better. But this team truly does have some bad apples and you will see over the next ten turns what happens when you run bad apples in the arena! First up, I receive a 3-9-12-11-12-10-13. Both Consortium and I put Strength and Will as the most important two stats. Others will tell you Wit and Will. If I was recommending a warrior out of this, I'd say to go: 8-9-12-17-15-10-13 ST. Because strikers are an endurance conserving style, will is not 'as' important as it is for most other styles. Wit, however, is typically important for offensives and strikers. And 17 wit is awesome. Train strength to 9 for SC and SS and you're rocking. Well, rocking as much as you can with your expected normal damage and endurance (3 points on will to put it at a breakpoint). Instead, I chose to take a chance and make him a 3 strength AB (AB's are one of the few styles that can do 3 strength well). AB's are also an endurance conserving style, so once again I prioritize wit over will. 3-10- 12-17-15-10-17 AB. Hopefully he ripens fast! UNRIPE apples are yucky. Next up, 5-11-8-14-9-14-9. There is that low strength again! In this case, 6 points on strenghth is perfect. Puts him at 11, which gives him a chance for great damage (with size 8). 17 wit and 11 deftness are the major breakpoints. That leaves 3 more points. The most obvious place is 2 on speed or deftness for skills. But they aren't exciting skills. Con for a hybrid is fine as well. But I'm going to go for fun! Slap them on wit to get it to 'almost 21.' 11-11-8-20-9-14-11. Style? Low endurance and deftness suggests one of TP/ST/PS/PR and 'maybe' BA. Too boring for me as a striker, so TP it is (the second strongest style of the ones I can choose). I'm sure some people don't mind SOFT apples, but my preference is crunchy! He rolled pretty well and is crunchier than I could have hoped for: Good damage, +4 attack, and bonused in initiative and riposte. The next recruit is fine for arena play. 10-12-11-9-5-12-11. Lots of ways to design this... 15-7 wit-will, 15-9 wit-will. It can be made into any of the three types of warriors (offensive, defensive, or hybrid). The skills are unexciting at best and he has endurance issues. So what do I want out of it? How about a defensive or defensive hybrid? Slap on the physicals!!! In my case, I go 11-7 or 11-9. I already have a TP, so how about a 15-15-11-11-9-12-11 WS? (Remember 11 wit and 11 deftness are major breakpoints) While I love apple pie, I otherwise prefer sweet apples. SOUR doesn't work for me. 12-6-17-3-15-12-5. This guy is just ROTTEN! With that size, speed, and con, you're almost forced into an offensive. I've made several low wit Lungers recently so not in the mood for that! SL or BA, then! Putting points into WT/WL gives a design of 12-6-17-9-21-12-7 (last two points in deftness for weapon selection). He's decently fast, but won't learn well regardless. So I choose SL. BA is slightly easier to run, but SL's match up slightly better with more opponents. And the final warrior comes in at 9-12-16-8-8-14-3. And I don't yet have a basher. As is my style, I'll put wit at the 11 breakpoint and will at 9 for the decise skill. Deftness to 7 for weapons and that leaves a beautiful 6 points on strength. 15-12-16-11-9-14-7 BA. Not great, but what do you expect when the commission sends you 5 boring warriors. It reminds me that the agricultural industry is sending us fruit filled with PESTICIDES. I would say that every one of these guys is 'workable,' but there is not a single warrior that I'm excited about or would want to build a team around normally. For me, the most exciting of the bunch is the 20 wit guy! Hopefully he learns well to go with his good rolls. -- Assur SPY REPORT If you were disturbed from your beauty rest only to have to watch a bunch of NOBLISH ISLAND brutes like you, you'd be grouchy, too. Of course, we're all terribly impressed to see KOKOMO, IN win a fight and gain 15 points, terribly. Tsk, tsk, NIKODEMUS beat LENEXA, KS and LENEXA, KS lost 9 points. You're breakin' my heart. Due to absence, and inability to defend the throne, OLIVE has lost the Title of Duelmaster. Start setting that alarm earlier! And it's out with the old, in with the new, as BEOWULFISH takes the Title and last week's bar tab from the old Duelmaster. Heh, heh. Kickbacks and bribes, kickbacks and bribes, how else do you think some of these guys win their fights? Skill? Ha! He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day, the coward. LEGIONS OF FATE, I suppose you'll be glad to know you were this turn's most avoided team. Care to know who is the most afraid of you? And who led the way in this mass act of cowardice? Let's see, well, whatcha know? It was HOME SWEET HOME. Ha ha ha ha! Ooh, I'm frightfully impressed, SYMGARA was this turn's most challenged warrior. Watch that ego swell, sports fans. Some people like volunteer work in the hospitals. I volunteer for NOBLISH ISLAND's morgue. More variety. Titanium shields and bamboo daggers, guess what brave team is developing these kinds of weapons? I was about to buy a new quill pen the other day, but some fighter took it for an epee. Forgive me for writing with a dagger. Just wait 'till next time I show up here, I won't be so nice! So nyaaah! I see the crowds are getting restless, I must leave now-- Snide Clemens DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BEOWULFISH 10043 5 4 0 41 MISFIT KINGS (1722) CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -ANNE BONNY 10030 7 3 1 66 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -LONG JOHN SILVER 10063 6 1 1 52 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) -OLIVE 10061 3 1 0 43 ODD SQUAD (1712) -CAPTAIN KIDD 10034 7 3 1 42 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) CZAR URLIK 10075 4 1 0 40 MISFIT KINGS (1722) -BLACKBEARD 10031 7 3 0 37 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) -JINXEE 9988 6 1 0 37 ODD SQUAD (1712) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME SYMGARA 10056 5 3 1 35 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME NIKODEMUS 10076 3 2 0 27 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) -ODDO 10060 3 1 0 26 ODD SQUAD (1712) KOKOMO, IN 10093 2 0 0 25 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME LUTHIEN 10059 5 3 1 20 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) EASLEY, SC 10091 2 0 0 20 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) DUNCAN 10058 4 4 1 17 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) LADYHAWKEYE 10044 4 5 0 17 MISFIT KINGS (1722) KORLAN 10077 4 1 0 16 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) MILFORD, MA 10090 2 0 0 16 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) -HENRY MORGAN 10032 2 8 0 14 FAMOUS PIRATES (1720) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -OAK 10062 3 1 0 12 ODD SQUAD (1712) CHUKA ZUFU 10094 1 1 0 11 MISFIT KINGS (1722) SOFT 10085 2 0 0 9 BASH BROS APPLES (1727) -MS. O 10073 1 2 0 9 ODD SQUAD (1712) PESTICIDES 10087 1 1 0 7 BASH BROS APPLES (1727) ROTTEN 10084 1 1 0 7 BASH BROS APPLES (1727) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) LENEXA, KS 10092 1 1 0 5 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) UNRIPE 10086 1 1 0 4 BASH BROS APPLES (1727) RACINE, WI 10089 1 1 0 4 HOME SWEET HOME (1728) -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) -SANCHOO 10006 0 2 0 2 HI NO UMI (1715) -YOSHI 10007 0 2 0 2 HI NO UMI (1715) SOUR 10088 0 2 0 2 BASH BROS APPLES (1727) QUEEN LIZ 10095 0 2 0 2 MISFIT KINGS (1722) KIMIKO 10005 0 2 0 2 HI NO UMI (1715) -ONNA NO KO 10009 0 2 0 2 HI NO UMI (1715) KICHIGAI JIMITA 10096 0 1 0 1 HI NO UMI (1715) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? OTOKO 10008 1 1 0 HI NO UMI 1715 SYMGARA 10056 481 BASILISCUS 10049 0 3 0 LIZARD DEN 1723 DUNCAN 10058 479 NOT REVENGED SIR TALON 10046 3 4 0 MISFIT KINGS 1722 LUTHIEN 10059 481 REVENGED PERSONAL ADS Olive of Odd Squad, woweee! Champeen DM! You go, girlee! -- Hobo, Home Sweet Home I cain't buleeve it! Nope. My Homers went 5 and 0 to start? Y'all seed them designs inna newsletter. Undefeated? Yuh woulda thot I'da fought 5 apples? Ya know? Lucky me. -- Hobo On Na No, how did I luck out and beat you? I am pumped! -- Easley Sanchoo, it took me a whole three rounds? What did you put in my drink? -- Milford Korlan, sorry to ruin your pretty record! Well, not really. (smirk) -- Lenexa Rotten and Sour, you two made our day. You made Hobo's day, and even the Higher Ups in The Consortium, too. Oh, my! -- Kokomo and Racine Uh, Assur, are we keepin that there score thang? -- Hobo (enjoyin' his hot dog and beans) All, ask questions ....................................... Please. -- Hobo's Coherent Staff LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS LADYHAWKEYE was devastated by SYMGARA in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight. RACINE, WI was unbelievably bested by KORLAN in a 2 minute Challenge battle. LENEXA, KS was overpowered by NIKODEMUS in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge duel. BEOWULFISH devastated DUNCAN in a 1 minute one-sided Title fight. CZAR URLIK subdued FRATSFA SLAVE in a action packed 4 minute amateur's competition. LUTHIEN savagely defeated SOUR in a exciting 4 minute bloody struggle. KIMIKO slimly lost to ROTTEN in a 3 minute gruesome beginner's fight. SOFT won victory over QUEEN LIZ in a 3 minute beginner's duel. UNRIPE was narrowly defeated by CHUKA ZUFU in a 9 minute gory beginner's duel. PESTICIDES defeated KICHIGAI JIMITA in a 2 minute beginner's match. MILFORD, MA beat PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 2 minute novice's fight. EASLEY, SC demolished CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute mismatched competition. KOKOMO, IN devastated EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute one-sided battle. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |BASHING ATTACK 5 WALL OF STEEL 12 - 5 - 0 71 | |SLASHING ATTACK 4 LUNGING ATTACK 21 - 12 - 1 64 | |STRIKING ATTACK 3 TOTAL PARRY 25 - 17 - 2 60 | |WALL OF STEEL 3 BASHING ATTACK 38 - 30 - 0 56 | |LUNGING ATTACK 2 AIMED BLOW 31 - 25 - 1 55 | |TOTAL PARRY 2 STRIKING ATTACK 27 - 28 - 1 49 | |AIMED BLOW 2 SLASHING ATTACK 12 - 17 - 1 41 | |PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 9 - 22 - 0 29 | |PARRY-STRIKE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 3 - 11 - 1 21 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 5 - 0 0 | Turn 483 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: LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 2 3 BASHING ATTACK TOTAL PARRY 2 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 2 WALL OF STEEL STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 AIMED BLOW WALL OF STEEL 2 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 2 LUNGING ATTACK BASHING ATTACK 3 - 2 1 STRIKING ATTACK SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 2 1 TOTAL PARRY TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME BASHING ATTACK BEOWULFISH 10043 5 4 0 41 MISFIT KINGS (1722) WALL OF STEEL CZAR URLIK 10075 4 1 0 40 MISFIT KINGS (1722) LUNGING ATTACK SYMGARA 10056 5 3 1 35 LEGIONS OF FATE (1724) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is LUTHIEN 10059. The most popular warrior this turn was LUTHIEN 10059. The ten other most popular fighters were CZAR URLIK 10075, ROTTEN 10084, UNRIPE 10086, RACINE, WI 10089, MILFORD, MA 10090, SYMGARA 10056, KORLAN 10077, BEOWULFISH 10043, KIMIKO 10005, and PESTICIDES 10087. The least popular fighter this week was CHUKA ZUFU 10094. The other ten least popular fighters were KICHIGAI JIMITA 10096, DUNCAN 10058, LENEXA, KS 10092, LADYHAWKEYE 10044, SOFT 10085, NIKODEMUS 10076, KOKOMO, IN 10093, EASLEY, SC 10091, QUEEN LIZ 10095, and SOUR 10088. Article for Newbies This here is an article aimed mostly at you new managers to the game out there. This chart is a consensus of managers on the internet about how they felt each style fairs against all other styles at the beginning levels of the game. Of course, once you get ten or so fights under your belt the whole scenario changes and you can throw this right out the window. But in the meantime, use this chart to help you get a feel for the game, how the different styles interact with each other and to hopefully dispel those 5-25 starts that can make you drop the game. Hope this helps you some. KEY FOR ODDS OF WINNING: 1 - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE 6 - BETTER THAN EVEN 2 - HARDLY LIKELY 7 - GOOD CHANCE 3 - NOT MUCH 8 - HIGHLY PROBABLE 4 - SLIGHT CHANCE 9 - MOST DEFINATELY 5 - 50/50 10 - ALMOST GUARANTEED Reminder: Left Row vs Top Column BA ST LU SL AB TP PS PL PR WS BA 5 2 6 6 8 9 7 6 5 6 ST 8 5 8 9 9 6 7 5 6 4 LU 4 4 5 6 10 5 7 7 9 6 SL 4 1 5 5 8 6 8 7 8 9 AB 2 2 2 4 5 10 6 6 6 7 TP 3 4 6 4 1 5 7 8 6 5 PS 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 PL 5 4 3 3 6 2 7 5 7 6 PR 7 5 2 2 4 5 6 3 5 4 WS 5 8 6 2 4 6 7 5 6 5 There you have it folks. I would personally like to thank all the managers on the internet who made a contribution to this effort. You know who you are. Also a big nod of appreciation goes out to the mighty PUG (Ben Hitz) who organizes and runs the roundtable and without whose effort little projects like this would prove quite difficult. David Gottwald - Magic Man The Crew - Monuntial (34) Rocky's Heroes - North Fork (47) Tragedy Strikes - Andor (57) (inactive) Natural Born - Illis (59) Slow & Easy - Aradi (60) Omega Squadron - Dragonhead (72) MAKING YOUR CHALLENGES GO THROUGH First, you need to be sure you are making your challenges correctly. 1. Are you writing down the warrior I.D. number of the warrior you want to challenge? 2. Is your handwriting clear? 3. Is the warrior you are challenging within range of your warrior? Warriors can challenge within their own class and the next higher class, plus the "Challenger" classes can also challenge the next lower class. So, an Adept can challenge Adepts and Challenger Adepts. A Challenger Adept can challenge Adepts, Challenger Adepts, and Champions. (Try not to challenge down, though. Besides being unsportsmanlike and making everyone mad, it isn't advantageous to your warriors. They need to fight more experienced warriors so they will learn.) 4. Are your warriors eligible to make challenges? If they didn't fight within the last two turns, then they can't challenge. 5. Are the warriors they want to fight eligible to receive challenges? If they didn't fight within the last two turns, then they can't be challenged. Next, adjust your choices for the maximum likelihood of getting your challenges. There are several things that will help: 1. Have each of your warriors challenge two different opponents from two different teams. That way, if the first opponent's team doesn't fight that turn, you still might get your second challenge. 2. Use your avoids. Have each warrior avoid the teams of whoever you think might be likely to challenge him. If you can get out of being challenged, that increases your chance of getting your own challenge through. 3. Don't challenge warriors who didn't fight last turn. The odds are higher that they won't be fighting this turn. 4. Don't challenge warriors who might be involved in a bloodfeud (either as the killers, or the avengers). A bloodfeud challenge has priority over all other challenges. 5. Don't challenge Tournament Victors. A TV challenge has priority over all other challenges except bloodfeuds. You'll need to do a little research in back issues of the newsletter to find out who the TVs are. 6. Don't challenge warriors who you know are going to challenge someone else, or are going to get challenged by someone else. Your challenge has a better chance of getting through if it is the only challenge to that particular warrior. 7. Don't challenge the "easy pickings." That is, warriors above you who have way too few fights or very bad records for where they are ranked. They will tend to get challenged a lot. 8. Don't challenge warriors who are likely to be avoiding your team. This includes any warrior your team fought within the last two turns. Well, it sounds like I've eliminated just about everybody, doesn't it? Of course you can challenge opponents who fit into one or more of those categories; just try to find ones who don't. Your idea candidate for a challenge is: A warrior ranked somewhat above your warrior in the same class, or in the next higher class, with a few more fights than your warrior, and a winning record, who isn't a TV and isn't currently at war with anyone. I hope this will be of some help to you. The Rogue She-Puppy MAXIMIZING THE DUELMASTERS EXPERIENCE: WHAT THE RULES DIDN'T SAY When you get your turn results in the mail it is very important that you squeeze as much enjoyment as possible out of that envelope! I recommend (and also use!) the following procedures. First, open the envelope lengthwise with a letter opener. Remove the blue-sheet BUT DON'T LOOK AT IT! It may tell you that you are broke and owe RSI a lot of money. Flip it over instead! The blue-sheet will be used as a "hider" when you read the fight results line by line, so you don't see the end of the fight by mistake and ruin the excitement. Remove the rest of the sheets in one smooth maneuver and place the flipped-over blue-sheet on top of the pile, without looking at anything. You don't want to accidentally uncover an unexpected replacement rollup. This is a traumatic experience that should be avoided at all costs, as it indicates that one of your battles didn't go exactly as planned. Now you must prepare your room, or whever you are, for the battles. If you are suicidal, or a lousy manager, or a suicidally lousy manager, remove all sharp objects from the area. If you happen to manage an entire team of scummy warriors it is okay to leave a loaded musket nearby. The next step is to put on music. It definitely adds to the experience to have your favorite tunes playing in the background, preferably AS LOUD AS YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH! I christen each new warrior with a song that is his and his alone, and play that song whenever it is his turn upon the sands. It is a personal choice but I recommend Judas Priest, Manowar or Metallica. Avoid Abba and Barry Manilow (like I had to say it). It is also important to match the song length with the expected length of the fight. Don't choose "The Immigrant Song" for your 21-con Ultra-Scum. Likewise, don't choose "Stairway to Heaven" for your quick lunger. Finally, sometimes it is nice to choose an exceptionally violent alternate selection for those Bloodfeuds. Now you are almost ready! The final preparatory step (optional) is to prepare a pot of coffee. Beer also works well, especially on Fridays, but I understand that some managers are not Well-Suited to that particular beverage. I've heard the Duke Malibu in Solven drinks goat blood, but mind you this is only a rumor. For the final touch, try putting on any handy armor you have. Or a loin-cloth. I put on most of my hockey gear. The fights are on! The music is loud! The coffee is good! Read the fights slowly, line by line using your blue-sheet as a guide. Don't go too fast, now. Yell, "Yeah!" if your warrior scores an especially gruesome hit. Cringe if your warrior feels the joys of a great axe connecting with his face (that means you, Marilith). Raise your fist in the air when that total parry realizes that his last shield has broken! And cry when your favorite gladiator is gravely injured and then takes ten consecutive war hammer shots to the head... When the end of the fight comes you will be emotionally drained, so yell out, "Huzzah!!!" or "Damnnn!!!" or whatever, to take the edge off. When the fighting is ended take a breather before preparing for the next cycle's fights. Reflect on what has transpired and make a few notes. You'll be a better person (and manager) for it! Isn't Duelmasters great? Brought to you by ICE (the deranged): DM-49 (Vithicar) Rotting Livers (205) DM-10 (Kolact) Beermacht DM-22 (Solven) Steel Warriors DM-24 (Zorpunt) No Escape Winning With the Average Warrior Hi! The Master of Anime here... Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all doing a collective, "Who the Hell is this character?" Well, my claim to fame, if you can call it that, is that I run Eve, one of the more popular, if not completely unspectacular, warriors to fight in Alastari. I am a micro-manager (you've heard of mega-managers? Well, think in reverse) who has been mainly running only one team during my 8+ years of Duelmasters. This little write-up is aimed towards the less experienced managers, the ones that can be brainwashed from some of the "How to build the perfect warrior..." spotlights that tend to appear from time to time. Many of the "How to build..." spotlights tend to deal with roll-ups that are quite ideal, but in reality, rarely come out of RSI's number crunching machine, commonly referred to as "the Roll-Up Gods". There have been a few good articles on how to design skillful warriors from 'average' roll-ups. Those articles, in my opinion, are the most helpful to new managers for the simple fact that you will almost always get an 'average' roll-up. Occasionally, that 'average' roll-up might turn out to be something special, and that is what I would like to key in on. I know a lot of managers who will continually DA their warriors until they get something that is as close to perfect as possible. You know, the warrior with three or four 17s or the warrior with a couple of 21s or that size 3 or 4 warrior, etc... If you are a relatively new manager and you are also doing this, I think you are missing out on one of the more intriguing aspects of this game and that is warrior development. Being a micro-manager, I do not have an army of warriors like the mega-managers do, but I'd like to think that I can hold my own against them (hey, if you're gonna dream, dream big). Anyway, back to the point. One of my 'average' warriors seems to have achieved a form of notoriety in Advanced Duelmasters to the extent that even the ever quiet Mirage (manager of Donatello) has had something to say (it was at the last Tempe FTF and my warrior, at the end of the 6th or 7th round, was listed as the top Primus warrior on the tourney list.) Mirage pointed at my warrior on the list and said, "That, is embarrassing..." I took it as a compliment. In case you're wondering, my warrior is Akira (the reason I'm writing this article is that I've been approached many times of late by managers who wanted to see Akira's numbers, thinking he had some sort of godlike roll-up. I set them straight). I'm not going to print Akira's numbers in this article for the main reason that I don't have them with me at this time (it'll probably tick-off a lot of managers whose warriors Akira has beaten anyway), but I do know this... he has about 30 attribute increases and only one attribute is in the 20's, that one being WL (he even got gypped by not getting some skills that you normally think he'd get by raising WL up the 20's). He won't be getting another attribute above 20 for a long, long time. (I think his next highest attribute is 17... note that this is after the 30 or so increases...) You should have a pretty good idea how generic this roll-up is... a roll-up that would probably be DA'd by most managers looking for a good roll-up... a roll-up that I even said, "I'll run him for kicks, but will probably retire him once he gets to AD."... a roll-up that entered AD with a less-than-stellar 14-10 record... a roll-up currently on a 20 fight win streak... a roll-up with three consecutive Primus TVs. So, before you give up on that average warrior, think again about giving him a chance to flourish... he might suprise you as Akira has surprised me. Good luck in the arena! M.A., a proud member of GAPPDA P.S. If you want to know Akira's original roll-up, diplo Anime Legends (Arena 102, 104). P.P.S. Swift -- We GAPPDA members are NOT slugs!!! At least, I don't think we are... TWELVE TIPS A rookie manager asked me a question recently which prompted my "teaching juices" to flow. I quote: "Just give me a dozen hints, and I'll leave you alone!" Obviously, his challenge prompted me to organize my thought creating my Twelve Tips. "Now wait a minute!" I hear you asking. "Why should I read on?" Simply put: -- If you're an experience manager, you'll want to "clue me in" on other valuable tips I missed. -- If you're a "newbie," these tips will enhance your W-L record and compound your fun. "But, are they GOOD tips?" you ask. Believe me, fellow opponents, after 5000+ fights, dozens of "tutored pupils," many A.D. warriors, and a rather lofty W-L record, they're GOOD tips. So here we go, in no particular order. (I) ASK FOR HELP--Ask RSI about the Sponsor Program. Diplo "good" managers in your arena. Proclaim your willingness to learn in a personal ad. You'll get some conversation. (II) OFFENSIVES FIRST--This is not an easy game, and the basher, lunger, striker can be readily designed and more easily "mastered." (Whatever that means.) Avoid the most difficult finessives, such as aimers (AB), rippers (PR), and probably wastes (WS). Get some confidence first! Most of us old-timers yet struggle with a good aimed-blow. (III) SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS--One of the most prevalent rookie errors is training too many stats. Skills win fights, and in the long run, you will regret certain stat raises. (IV) COLLECT DATA--The more you know about your own warrior (And even with the same stats, warriors differ) and the more you know about your opponents, the more likely you can cause something "good" to happen. In the military/political world, we call this "intelligence." (Clue: ask about a D.M. handbook filled with info.) (V) PERSONAL ADS--Don't be a jerk! But write some every time. Let me assure you that an unliked rookie cannot succeed in an arena against the local "Powers-in-control." You want to create friendly opponents. (When you know what you're doing--then you can try the jerk routine!) (VI) TURN SHEET--Accuracy counts. Fill it out perfectly (and legibly) pal! Know what each section is for. (Reread the instructions.) Many have been the surprised and frustrated manager who caused his or her own problem! (Even us "megas" blow it now and then!) (VII) NO CON--Don't ever (well maybe 1% of the time) add points to constitution on an offensive rollup. Other attributes may add skills; con won't. (Just wait until you hear someone shout never add to con--ever. I didn't say that.) (VIII) ONE WEAPON--For offensives. When you get to finesse styles, you'll understand why you may want one in your off-hand also. But, almost always carry a backup. (Hands can be hurt both striking and defending.) (IX) CHALLENGE/AVOID--Always! A manager's prime purpose is to optimize his warrior's chances. Challenge those you'll have a good shot at beating and avoid teams who can cause you the most difficulties. (Challenge warriors--avoid teams.) (X) ENTER TOURNAMENTS--What a way to acquire skills and experience without impacting your arena W-L record. Actually, you will create a positive impact in that those "tournament earnings" are "hidden" from other arena warriors. Plus, tournaments are a real "rush!" (XI) FIND A FRIEND--In every arena find at least one "friendly" foe. Share opponent info. With two, or more, of you sharing, look how much more "intelligence" you'll have. (XII) STAY COOL--Don't let any problem (loss, death, personal ad, error, etc.) anger you. (This is fun, right?) The cool head wins more matches than the emotional one. So good luck, rookie! We were all in your shoes once. (And for some of us that was a long, long time ago.) THE CONSORTIUM DM 8 Smithsonian (Curator) DM 11 Bulldogs (Kennelworth) DM 20 Animal Farm (Mino) DM 46 Fandils (Fandil the Wise) (and many, many more) They say it's bad manners to toot your own horn, but if I don't do it, who will? I am undertaking a fiction-writing project on the Patreon website, under my own name of Judith Solberg. It isn't the kind of story I might put in the newsletter, but I think some of you might enjoy it. I don't know how much you can see if you just cruise by, but they tell me it's up and open. -- Jorja