DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 12/22/2017 Duedate: 01/04/2018
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-494
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
SISTER SURIEL
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
(93-10118) [7-1-0,82]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY SISTER SURIEL
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
(93-10118) [7-1-0,82]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
SHOFTIEL SHOFTIEL
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
(93-10100) [5-4-0,21] (93-10100) [5-4-0,21]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FOLKLORE (1738)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. FOLKLORE (1738) 44
2. RED AVENGERS (1736) 29 AVENGERS (287)
3. BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 24 Unchartered Team
4. BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 20
5. CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 10 FOLKLORE (1738)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*FOLKLORE (1738) 11 4 2 73.3 1/ 2*FOLKLORE (1738) 11 4 2
2/ 2*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 10 5 0 66.7 2/ 1*CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) 10 5 0
3/ 3*CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) 28 17 0 62.2 3/ 4*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 10 5 0
4/ 4*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 15 14 0 51.7 4/ 3*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 10 5 0
5/ 6*RED AVENGERS (1736) 10 17 0 37.0 5/ 5*RED AVENGERS (1736) 6 8 0
6/ 5*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 3 7 0 30.0 6/ 6*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 3 7 0
7- 7*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 0 5 0 0.0 7- 7*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 0 5 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
How to Make a Loser Win
One of the most common problems new (and even old) managers face is what to do
when their young promising warrior keeps losing. Understanding how to turn a warrior
around is a skill that once acquired, will be invaluable.
One of the first things to understand is that warriors improve their abilities by
learning skills and training stats. This means your opponents are improving, too. A
warrior with lower wit is at an inherent disadvantage. Once you leave Noblish Island,
21 wit is a lot more common than you'd care to think about. That said, not every
warrior has 21 wit, but the way things have progressed, most managers are highly
focused on tourney success and in basic, that usually means 21 wit. So if you are a
lower wit warrior (say 13 or less), your opponent likely has been learning faster than
you have. But wit and skills are not the only thing that you need to win. Plenty of
warriors with low wit are very successful. Even offensives can do very well with 11
wit (maybe even lower, but I don't recommend it).
Use your challenges and use your avoids. That alone will do much to improve your
record. Looking at how you have won and lost will give you clear clues, especially
how you've won. These are the fights you want to replicate and avoid. Your warrior's
strengths and weaknesses determine who you want to challenge and avoid.
Next, what you've been doing isn't working. Start to change things up. Even
some offensives fight better when you start to lower the numbers. And hybrids and
defensives can dramatically change their careers by altering the numbers just
slightly, especially offensive effort. As to whether you want to increase or decrease
numbers, there is no hard and fast rule. I will say that very low activity level is
usually the first thing you want to remove on most warriors. Those super low activity
levels aren't the best unless you are a scum or are facing a scum (scum being a total
parry that tries only to wear you out). I've had numerous warrior magically start to
fight better when I run on certain numbers, though.
Weapon selection is another key item. Weapons have different attributes.
Changing weapons can help your warrior. Almost every weapon has circumstances where
I'll use it. The only weapon I'll never use is the MS (but the bashing weapons in
general are worse than the slashing and lunging weapons). Learn what weapons are good
for what circumstances.
The last thing I'll mention in this article is optimizing a warrior. This is key
for your losers. I started this article by hinting that all warriors are not equal.
This is the only way you can make a truly inferior warrior win. Optimize him for a
single way to win. Ignore all other fights and hope he faces someone that he can beat
in his way to win. There will always be someone who can beat you, but if you try to
make a loser win all his fights, you won't succeed. We publish many articles on what
makes a good "this type of warrior" articles in these newsletters. Choose the type
that best matches your warrior's strengths and optimize your strategy for that -- then
look for warriors that can lose to your strategy. And if all else fails, look for
other losers to beat up!
This article assumes that you actually WANT to try and make your loser win.
There is another, perfectly acceptable solution. The Dark Arena is your friend!
SPY REPORT
It's me, The Unknown Spymaster, back to give you this week's Spy Report. Sit
back in your seats and we'll have more fun than a barrel of Zontanis. Say good-bye
to CHURCH OF UYPHY, as they are pushed from the coveted top team spot by the FOLKLORE
stable. Hey everybody, watch out for GERONIMO, who flew up 23 points in the rankings
after mashing MONK SABAOTH like a melon. Keep your eye on this guy. And falling
like a basher in the top ten was MONK SABAOTH, who dropped 20 points after a
disappointing (to say the least) bout with GERONIMO. Going for the gusto and coming
up with aught but bloody knuckles was NOBLISH ISLAND's M. CHARDINEE, who was turned
away from the Duelmastership by SISTER SURIEL. An apple a day keeps the doctor away,
but an onion a day keeps T.P.s at bay.
But enough of that bunch, let's get on to the wimps who like to avoid battle!
And hey, kiddies, those of you who didn't avoid BB HALLOWEEN, please raise you hand.
Wow. Does NOBLISH ISLAND really have that many liars? Okay, so I may not be funny,
but catch RED AVENGERS' act in the arena. Those acrobats seem to be fairly deft at
running from BB HALLOWEEN. Well dang howdy, but if challenges were votes, PECOS BILL
would be president. Although it may be a contest he doesn't want to win.
Death is kind of like a new puppy: he's always around wanting to play. (Ha
Zontani, how's that for a wise saying?). Ask not the elves for counsel, for they
will say both yes and no. Silly buggers, eh?
Well, that wasn't too bad; Alarond told me that the people in NOBLISH ISLAND
have no sense of humor. Or maybe that they were senseless. Well, there goes another
Spy Report. Good luck in next week's fights. Hasta la bye-bye. (Loud choruses of
'Beat it, ya bum!')-- The Unknown Spymaster
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SISTER SURIEL 10118 7 1 0 82 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PRIESTESS IRIN 10099 7 2 0 53 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
GERONIMO 10146 3 0 0 51 FOLKLORE (1738)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
ZENTRADI 10159 3 0 0 30 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
MONK SABAOTH 10101 6 3 0 29 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
SWAMP FOX 10149 3 0 1 28 FOLKLORE (1738)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
JOE JIGGA 10139 4 2 0 22 RED AVENGERS (1736)
RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153 3 0 0 22 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
D. SCEPTIKON 10163 2 0 0 22 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
SHOFTIEL 10100 5 4 0 21 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
BULLY 10150 2 1 0 21 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
PECOS BILL 10148 3 0 0 20 FOLKLORE (1738)
EGGED 10151 3 0 0 19 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
BRAVO 10156 2 1 0 16 RED AVENGERS (1736)
TOO MUCH CANDY 10154 2 1 0 16 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
LONE RANGER 10147 1 2 0 16 FOLKLORE (1738)
SNEAKY PETE 10136 1 4 0 16 RED AVENGERS (1736)
AZAZEL 10097 3 6 0 15 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
OTTOBOTT 10161 2 1 0 12 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
PEACEMAKER 10162 2 1 0 12 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
IGGIE THE SCUM 10141 1 1 0 11 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
DEE THE BLADE 10137 2 4 0 10 RED AVENGERS (1736)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
MOLLY PITCHER 10145 1 2 1 6 FOLKLORE (1738)
ZEPHYR 10160 1 2 0 6 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
SOCCER-PANTS 10140 1 1 0 4 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
AQUA-KNOT 10144 1 1 0 4 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
-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)
PUMPKIN MESS 10152 0 3 0 3 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
RIVERSIDE SHAKEPERE 10142 0 2 0 2 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
HASSAN 10143 0 2 0 2 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
-ONE EYE 10103 0 1 0 1 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-LUCKY 10107 0 1 0 1 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-TURTLE 10105 0 1 0 1 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-BROC 10104 0 1 0 1 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
SWEET P 10155 1 2 0 RED AVENGERS 1736 SWAMP FOX 10149 494
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
RABID MONK 10106 0 1 0 THIEF TAKERS 1730 MOLLY PITCHER 10145 493
PERSONAL ADS
Hello, I'm Bravo, manager of the Red Avengers (1736) and new to this blood sport. Two
of my scum have already gone to the Dark Arena... trained them without a rulebook.
Now that I have one, any advice for a PS & AB. Red Avenger Lives matter... more!!
A salute to Duelmaster Sister -- again. -- Johnny Appleseed, Folklore
Azazel, you are quite an interesting Uyphy. That surely did take a lot of effort on
my part, and I sure liked those skill learns, and I thank you. -- Pecos Bill (riding
away on the wind)
Joe Jigga, me likum. We smokum peace pipe? How. -- Geronimo
Rabid Monk and Thief Takers, I am really, really sorry. It was certainly not my
intent to kill, after all, I only wanted to smash his kneecap. Mea Culpa. -- Molly
Pitcher (drowning her guilt and sorrow in a pitcher of ale)
Raunchy Costume, you stink to high heaven! Where was that Tonto when I needed him?
Did Assur have him captured and tied to a totem pole? -- The Lone Ranger
Too Much Candy, you, my friend were sweet as sugar! Ha ha ha. -- Swamp Fox
Welcome to all the newbies on Noblish Isle. Yes, indeed! We want to help you. We
are here to help you. Just ask us questions and we will try to help.
P.S. "US" means Assur or Johnny Appleseed
To paraphrase an old commercial:
Mailing out my turn sheets: $.49
Paying for this turn: $10.75
Finally starting to understand character design: PRICELESS
Because of the last few "Hey newbies this is how you design a warrior" articles I
finally understand how to maximize the potential within the roll-ups. I would like to
thank all the "Elder Statesmes" of Duel 2 for sharing their knowledge and wisdom. The
Johnny Appleseed article was particularly helpful for me (among others). Ironically,
it could lead to a few more victories against Folklore. -- Mr Misfit, mgr Leo
Blackthorn, Inc
P.S. A roll-up like Johnny Appleseed's would be quite helpful. Can you hit the old
"Appleseed" button on my next set of roll-ups? *ha ha*
Come to the "Welcome Wench" after the fights. I'll buy beer, ahem bribes, I mean
beer. Seems I need to make friends after reading the last spy report. -- Bravo
2nd though considering that key for odds for winning chart. I shouldn't ever build
another PS? Is that above the reason I am the only one with one? -- Bravo
Can you challenge the computer?
Yes, we call it the Dark Arena...
Also, I will be publishing a Lunger design/strategy article next. -- Assur
P.S. I'm not going to cover all ten styles, only the styles I feel like I can
adequately give input on.
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
ZEPHYR was bested by PECOS BILL in a 2 minute amateur's Challenge fight.
ZENTRADI won victory over SHOFTIEL in a action packed 2 minute Challenge battle.
SNEAKY PETE overpowered PUMPKIN MESS in a 2 minute mismatched Challenge duel.
BRAVO defeated AZAZEL in a 5 minute Challenge match.
SISTER SURIEL devastated M. CHARDINEE in a popular 1 minute bloody uneven Title brawl.
MONK SABAOTH was overpowered by GERONIMO in a 1 minute mismatched brawl.
PRIESTESS IRIN overpowered BULLY in a 1 minute uneven melee.
DEE THE BLADE lost to IGGIE THE SCUM in a 3 minute duel.
JOE JIGGA outwaited PEACEMAKER in a 7 minute fight.
RIVERSIDE SHAKEPERE was viciously subdued by EGGED in a 2 minute gory novice's duel.
HASSAN was overpowered by RAUNCHY COSTUME in a 1 minute gory one-sided melee.
AQUA-KNOT was demolished by LONE RANGER in a 1 minute mismatched match.
MOLLY PITCHER was handily defeated by TOO MUCH CANDY in a 1 minute one-sided contest.
SOCCER-PANTS was subdued by OTTOBOTT in a 1 minute novice's brawl.
SWAMP FOX viciously butchered SWEET P in a action packed 3 minute novice's conflict.
D. SCEPTIKON devastated PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a exciting 1 minute uneven duel.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK 6 BASHING ATTACK 41 - 24 - 1 63 |
|BASHING ATTACK 6 SLASHING ATTACK 17 - 10 - 0 63 |
|AIMED BLOW 4 LUNGING ATTACK 12 - 9 - 1 57 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 STRIKING ATTACK 25 - 21 - 2 54 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 3 PARRY-STRIKE 8 - 8 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 2 AIMED BLOW 11 - 14 - 0 44 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 WALL OF STEEL 7 - 9 - 0 44 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 TOTAL PARRY 3 - 4 - 0 43 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 - 10 - 0 38 |
|TOTAL PARRY 1 PARRY-LUNGE 2 - 7 - 0 22 |
Turn 494 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:
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 3 5 BASHING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 2 3 STRIKING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 5 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 2 1 SLASHING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 3 - 1 TOTAL PARRY 0 - 1 1 PARRY-STRIKE
PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 1 1 LUNGING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 3 - 3
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK SISTER SURIEL 10118 7 1 0 82 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
SLASHING ATTACK PRIESTESS IRIN 10099 7 2 0 53 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
BASHING ATTACK GERONIMO 10146 3 0 0 51 FOLKLORE (1738)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is SHOFTIEL 10100. The most popular warrior this turn
was SHOFTIEL 10100. The ten other most popular fighters were SNEAKY PETE 10136,
SWAMP FOX 10149, IGGIE THE SCUM 10141, PECOS BILL 10148, BRAVO 10156, EGGED 10151,
ZENTRADI 10159, SISTER SURIEL 10118, RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153, and LONE RANGER 10147.
The least popular fighter this week was SOCCER-PANTS 10140. The other ten least
popular fighters were MOLLY PITCHER 10145, AQUA-KNOT 10144, HASSAN 10143, RIVERSIDE
SHAKEPERE 10142, PEACEMAKER 10162, JOE JIGGA 10139, MONK SABAOTH 10101, OTTOBOTT
10161, DEE THE BLADE 10137, and BULLY 10150.
Top Ten Reasons Why Duelmasters is better than Sex
10. When you spend money on Duelmasters, you know you're going to get return on your
investment.
9. One arena won't get jealous when you start playing in another.
8. With the right tourney prize, you can design your own warrior.
7. If you make it to AD, they tell you your warrior's favorites.
6. You can always DA and get another roll-up.
5. The more experience you get, the less likely you are to die.
4. SZ, CN and Charisma are less important in Duelmasters.
3. Most mangers are satisfied with two minute fights.
2. Warriors do as they're told, even if it means using ALE and a WF.
And the number one reason..........
1. You don't have to hold your turn for an hour after you're finished reading it.
Composed by the Jester and Predator
THE ULTIMATE AIMED BLOW
Oh no, not another aimed blow, you think, they always lose and have a tendency to
die if they meet the right person. But I can promise you that this fighter will give
you a lot of wins. Not a 20-0-? record, but a respectable one. Let's have a look at
the stats:
THE BEST: IF YOU CAN FIND IT: TOO BIG: TOO FAST: THE MUTANT:
ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 7
CN: 15 +/- CN: 14 CN: 14 CN: 15 CN: 15
SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3 SZ: 6 - 9 SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3
WT: 19 +/- WT: 21 WT: 17 + WT: 19 WT: 13 - 15
WL: 18 +/- WL: 19 WL: 17 + WL: 18 WL: 13 - 15
SP: 3 - 5 SP: 3 SP: 3 - 6 SP: 4 - 9 SP: 15 +
DF: 15 +/- DF: 15 DF: 15 DF: 13 DF: 15 +
ST: So you can use some weapons.
CN: So you can stand some damage, and get at least good endurance.
SZ: The smaller the better.
WT: You need to be smart, and it helps a lot on stats and skills training.
WL: Helps you stand even more damage. It also helps a lot on stats and skills
training.
SP: The slower the better, but needs to be trained to avoid clumsiness. It doesn't
matter if this stat is low, you will hit when you want to hit.
DF: Gives you the response to other's actions, and gives you the initiative when you
need it.
The main weakness of this little fellow seems to be his speed, but this
disadvantage is made good by his small size. He will dodge nearly anything, and what
hits him doesn't matter because of his constitution. The strategy is all up to each
manager, but I prefer to run mine like this:
Weapons: Epee vs. Light Armor
Short Spear vs. Medium Armor
Shortsword vs. Heavy Armor
Shield: Medium Shield vs. Light and Heavy Armor
Armor: Depends on who I am challenging
Helm: Full helm
Strategy 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th+ Desp.
Offensive Effort 5 5 5 6 5 4 2
Activity Level 5 6 6 6 5 5 4
Kill Desire 4 4 5 6 6 4 2
Attack Location: Head or Chest
Defend Location: Body or Head
Offensive and Defensive tactics are something I seldom use.
Challenging is very important when running an aimed blow. Try to challenge big,
unarmored fighters. Train strength, speed, and deftness.
Well, that's all, for now. Try it and send me a diplo note if you have any
comments on my aimed blow.
Brought to you by Manimal, Manager of Cowards Guild, DM-31.
May victory by yours (or mine.)
Aimed Blows My Way
Okay, so it's a pretentious title. No more so than anyone else's, what with all
these "the perfect" this and "the perfect" that; what I'm going to show you here is
several different ways to make aimed blows and win with them.
There is no one specific way to make an aimed blow. You'll hear a lot of
managers claim that they "HAVE" to have a 21 DF in order to be any good at all. Well,
that's a trifle exaggerated. It's NICE to have a 21 DF. This will increase your
attack rating, and give you a certain boost. But it isn't necessary for a good,
solid, long-term aimed blow.
I'm going to give several examples of aimed blows, both how-tos and how-not-tos.
All the aimed blows represented here actually fight on one of my stables, so I did
this all by hit-and-miss. Unlike some managers, I don't believe that the first,
third, and fifth rules of aimed blows is "they die." It's only the third rule. <grin>
Now then. Design:
ST: Any, really. You can go low, since aims can handle daggers and open hand
just fine.
CN: Again, any. A little more can help them take a hit, but if they're lucky,
they'll do all right even if they can't.
SZ: Any. This is a versatile style. Big ones do great. Little ones do great.
WT: I'm going to surprise you, here. Anything. Yep, anything. Best is 11-21,
of course.
WL: Again. Any. Honest! An aim can do without will and can also use it to its
best advantage. But from here on is where you've got to pay attention.
SP: LOW. Keep it below 9 if possible. Below 7 is better.
DF: HIGH. 21 is always best, but 17 works okay, too.
So now you have a rollup with a low speed and a high deftness and it doesn't look
like much else. You've got a good aimed blow. Yes!
Examples of "do" design aims:
1) 7-5-12-21-11-7-21
2) 11-16-6-21-9-4-17
3) 10-15-6-17-9-6-21
4) 13-9-5-17-17-6-17
5) 11-5-10-11-21-5-21
6) 8-10-9-17-15-4-21
7) 5-10-7-17-17-11-17
8) 12-12-7-21-9-6-17
9) 7-11-8-11-21-5-21
10) 9-14-8-15-17-4-17
Ten is a good, round number. 1-4 are Immortal. All have winning records. Most
of them beat lungers in one minute. The low-con ones have the most trouble, because
they can't take a hit--if they get hit, they go down. Fortunately, that's only killed
a few of mine (the dead ones I won't list just now, since it's so depressing).
Examples of "don't" design aims, unless you're as insane as me or much more
experienced in your aimed blow running:
1) 17-5-5-11-17-9-21 (beat the DA three times before he was killed--he gets a
special place at #1)
2) 13-8-12-11-11-18-11
3) 11-12-6-21-13-8-13
4) 11-12-12-17-11-4-17
5) 12-7-18-13-13-5-16 (my first)
6) 11-14-7-9-17-9-17
7) 9-11-9-17-11-10-17
There's certainly more "don'ts" than dos, but those are ones I actually have
played somewhere; 2-5 are immortal, with usually 50% records except for the 11 DF (who
is in permanent retirement). He came along early in my aimed blow career, when I was
making EVERY rollup into an aimed blow to see for myself what worked and what didn't.
That didn't. Some of the mortal ones I'm still running, and they do well enough, but
as I said, until you get a little experience there are some things you may not want to
try unless, like me, you want to see what happens for yourself. <grin>
Now for strategy. This is probably the most important thing you'll give your
aim.
Weapons: Scimitar, unless they don't have the strength for it, in which case, dual
daggers. Longsword is next, then fists, then quarterstaff. You need an 11 ST for
longsword, so that's probably not always realistic. If your aim likes to fight with
his fists, you can let him, but I'd advise waiting until he's got some experience, and
you know your opponent isn't much on armor and parrying, because you can do yourself
some serious damage on the parries. Quarterstaff is a two-handed weapon, so bear that
in mind if you use it.
Armor: Keep it light, no more than ARM/H, and then only if you're worried about your
opponent. An aimed blow is a fast, offensive warrior--don't load him down.
Strategy:
10 8 8 6 6 6 10
10 2 2 1 1 1 10
1 --------------------------------------------------------- >
LL --------------------------------------------------------- >
HE --------------------------------------------------------- >
D
That's a good, all-purpose, general strategy. Some aims will want to play around with
it, and you let them--see what they like. But, and this is VERY important: keep that
KD low! An aimed blow relies on his control and his accuracy, and higher KDs will
cause them to lose a lot of that. If you're bloodthirsty, change the attack location
to the head. I recommend the legs for knockdowns. Either way, your aim will attack
THAT LOCATION, over and over again, until he has defeated his opponent, and very
decisively, from total parries (the classic aimed blow opponent) to lungers (the
classic aimed blow enemy). Remember: the aimed blow is an OFFENSIVE style. He has
some finesse, but he is a brutal and efficient warrior. Keep him in control; he'll
win. You can also play with desperation, but for me just dropping the first minute
tactic often works just fine. As for the use of decise, as always, it's up to the
manager, but decise will help keep your aim from "standing around looking for an
opening" in the first minute. Get him moving.
As always, experiment, find what works for you, and have fun.
Raf
Lord Protector
Ivory League
Manager of Tex's Rangers (51, 100, 101), Assassins (40, 105), Impressionists (27,
105), The Damned (30, 105, 101, 102), etc.
The Mechanics of Death
By Sir Jessie Jest
Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! This article discusses the mechanics
involved when a warrior dies in combat. It will give the reader a better knowledge of
how a warrior actually gets killed in combat.
Here is how a warrior dies... The Facts) ...in fact, get out a dead warrior's
last fight so you can follow me. To start the process of death, a warrior must first
fail to make a death roll. Let's say the death roll is 20 or less out of 100 to fail
that roll for this example.
There are 2 ways a warrior can be forced to make that Death Roll.
1. The vitals roll.
2. The second is when you run out of hit points, which is called the "infirmary roll."
The vitals roll -- every time a warrior gets hit in a vital area you make a
vitals roll. Lets say that you fail on a 1-15% out of 100. If you get hit in the
head, chest, or abdomen, you will roll the vitals percent. If you roll 15 or less you
must make the death roll to determine if the warrior was killed. Now look at the
fight with your dead warrior on it...look for the death intent statement, it will say
something like, "Trying to make this into a death match, or seeks death of his
opponent, etc. etc." (there are a lot of them) that is telling you that your warrior
was forced to make a death roll.
Now comes the scary part: if you fail the death roll your warrior dies. But the
program does not kill you immediately because you still have hit points left. So what
happens next is that you will get normal attacks and damages that hit your character
automatically in the vitals until yours hit points run out. Then it will say your
warrior is dead. Remember that it will be normal hits to the vitals, not crits or
extra damage remarks. If your warrior dodges, crit attacks , parries, has extra
damage remarks or anything else EXCEPT a normal hit to the vitals, the sentence
following right after the death intent statement comes up, then he made his death roll
successfully and the fight continues. You can have many death intent statements come
up in one fight, depending on the number of times you hit a vital. You won't get one
every time, only when you fail the vitals roll. And your warrior will have to roll
the death roll every time you fail the vitals roll to see if he is killed or not.
EXAMPLE:
INFERNO leaps to his left!
INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power!
NULN takes an upper body hit!
NULN is badly hurt!
NULN is becoming FRANTIC!!!!
INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power!
NULN is struck on the left rib cage!
What a devastating attack!!
NULN is dangerously stunned!
INFERNO is trying to make this a death match----(Death Intent)
INFERNO slashes an attack with his scimitar---(Normal Attack)
NULN is struck on the side of the HEAD!---(Vital Hit)
INFERNO slashes with his scimitar
NULN is wounded in the upper chest.
INFERNO slashes with his scimitar
NULN is hit in the forehead!
NULN curses the gods in frustration!
NULN falls LIFELESS to the ground!
INFERNO has won the duel!
INFERNO laughs and says, "What a loser!"
As you see, if you fail the vitals roll, and then fail the death roll, you will
get normal attacks to the vital areas until all of your warrior's hit points are gone.
All of your dead warriors that have died from DEATH INTENT statements will have those
three things... death intent statement, then normal attack, then hits to the vitals
until all hit points are gone. Then you will get some sort of, "falls over dead
statement." In the past, if you failed the death intent statement roll, the program
would just skip all the stuff that was in between the death intent statement and the
falls over dead statement. It would say something like this:
INFERNO seeks the death of his opponent
NULN falls to the ground lifeless
INFERNO has won the duel.
But they changed it to make death more dramatic.
The second way your warrior is forced to make a death roll is if your warrior
runs out of hit points during or after the fight has ended. This roll is called the
infirmary roll and can happen in or out of combat, and does not matter where your
warrior gets hit. If your warrior has taken many hits, that reduces his hit point
total below the preset percentage... lets say it 5% of your total hit points... then
he will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll, you then make the
death roll to determine if your warrior has died. In combat, you will read that you
died from serious wounds or something to that effect. After a fight is over, the
program checks to see if your warrior has fallen below that preset percentage of hit
points, if you have, you will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll,
an infirmary statement will appear at the bottom of your fight letting you know if
your warrior failed the death roll that comes after that. Sometimes you can die in
combat without a death intent statement that comes up during the battle . This is a
good example of an infirmary roll failure in combat from low hit points, triggering
the death roll which actually is the roll that kills your warrior. In some battles
you can get hit several times in the vitals, have several death intent statements come
up, make every roll successfully and still die from lack of hit points (i.e.: fail the
infirmary roll).
A simple way to think of this is the 2 ways are : 1. vitals roll, which deals
with getting hit in the head, chest, or abs and dying when a death intent statement
comes up. Or # 2. infirmary roll, which deals with dying from lack of hit points,
and does not use the death intent statement. I'd say about 90% of all deaths are by
death intent statement because of a failed vitals roll. Only a small percentage die
from the infirmary roll in or out of combat.
Well, that's it. These are facts, not theories. You can check this out with all
your dead warriors, and you will learn there are NO exceptions. Those percentages I
used up there are just made up, I have no way of knowing what they really are.
Now I have formed theory regarding KD or kill desire. I do not believe KD has
anything to do with a warrior dying, but is rather a tool to determine your warrior's
aggressiveness in combat. In other words the timing of his blows, his shot
selection, and other such things. For example: The higher the KD the wilder he is
with his shots, and easier to feint, dodge, parry and riposte. Some styles like Abs
(Aimed Blows) fight better with a 1 KD because they are very selective with their
shots. Most of the other offensive styles function well between 5-7 KD. Any more
than that is just a waste of endurance and has a negative effect on your warrior's
performance in battle, in my opinion.
Well that's it for now. If you would like to chat sometime drop me a diplo at
Jessie's Kids in DM 60 (yes, I've come out of retirement) ;) May the axe fall in your
favor!
Cheerio!
Sir Jessie Jest,
Lord of Puns, and Master of Laughter.
Troll-Bred Bashers
The Bashing attack is not, as many of you may have noticed, one of the dominant
styles in Duelmasters. There are two reasons for this; one of which I will cover
here, the other I will cover in an accompanying article. I will preface this article
on Bashing attack design and strategy by saying that I have been playing Duelmasters
for two years, and I have spent most of this time experimenting with and perfecting
the Bashing Attack. In my opinion, a Basher needs to possess a monumentally high
attack percentage, with decisiveness and initiative not far behind. What follows is
designed to achieve the desired results.
Let's get right down to business. First, the stats:
PERFECT
ST: 13-17 15
CN: 3-5 3
SZ: 6-9 6
WT: 17-21 21
WL: 17-21 21
SP: 5-9 5
DF: 11-15 13
Here's why:
Strength is arguably the most important attribute for a basher. A basher with a
high strength can virtually be assured of a reasonably high attack. however, excess
strength takes away points from other vital areas and, as you will see, this Basher
will not want for attack. A 13 strength gives the Basher most of the good Bashing
weapons.
Constitution is absolutely unimportant to any offensive styles warrior. Bashers,
and for that matter, offensives in general, should be designed to dish out damage, not
absorb it. If you are designing a Basher to absorb damage, then you are designing him
wrong.
Size is an attribute that this game system does not handle well. As we all know,
too large a size means that you do not have enough points to allocate to the other
attributes. You would think logically that a Basher would need a large size. I am
not talking about logic. I am talking about winning within the parameters of this
game system. I give a minimum size of 6 since this is the smallest size that can
achieve "great damage with a blow."
Wit, in my opinion, is the most important attribute for every style. This is
strictly my opinion and you do not have to agree with me. Where Bashers are concerned
however, a Basher without very high wit is garbage. High wit will greatly effect a
Basher's initial attack, decisiveness, and initiative. My research has led me to the
conclusion that a Basher's initiative is primarily a function of wit. high wit also
ensures that the Basher will train consistently. Also, a Basher with a high wit can
expect an initial initiative rating somewhere in the 50-60% range. Note that speed is
also a modifier for initiative.
Will is another attribute that the Basher cannot do without. Will affects a
Basher's attack and decisiveness, and is responsible for, in conjunction with
strength, giving the Basher normal endurance, despite the pitifully low constitution.
Speed has almost no affect on a basher. I have seen many high speed Bashers, and
I can tell with 100% certainty that Bashers do not derive strong benefit from speed.
Slasher, strikers, and to a lesser extent, Lungers, all derive noticeable benefit from
speed. I am not saying that a 5 speed Basher will be equally as fast (initially) as a
19 speed Basher, but I am saying that a Basher can derive greater benefit by placing
points in other areas. This Basher will drive his decisiveness from the high wit/will
combinations: 21-21-5; 19-19-7; 17-17-9. These combinations, or something similar,
will generate an initial decisiveness rating of about 50%.
Deftness is very important to a Basher. The strength/wit/will/deftness
combination is where this Basher will generate the awesome attack percentage and his
attacking precision. A Basher with the aforementioned minimums in
strength/wit/will/deftness can expect to achieve an initial attack rating between 60-
80%. A 13 deftness will also allow the use of my favorite weapon, the morning star.
In the hands of a Basher, this is a devastating weapon.
Now that you know how to design a Basher, here's how they should be run.
This strategy should be used vs. offensive styled warriors:
1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp
10 10 10 10 10 10 10
10 3 3 3 3 3 10
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
HE HE HE HE HE HE HE
HE HE HE HE HE HE HE
D B D
The offensive effort is self-explanatory. If you are not trying to destroy your
opponent, then you should not be running a Basher. The activity level requires some
explanation. Bashers, as you might expect, perform better with a low activity level.
This is because the Bashing attack style is a series of overhand, overpowering blows
which are designed to deliver maximum hitting power. Running around like a
decapitated chicken would appear to be counterproductive. Here is the key. The 10
activity level in minute one is designed to help you get the jump on another offensive
warrior. If you do get the jump, you will win. Even if you are hurting the Basher's
attack percentage, how many offensive warriors do you know of that will be able to
parry or dodge this Basher's attack? NONE. Therefore, the 10 activity level in
minute one is justified. The decisiveness tactic in minute one is also there to help
you get the first shot off. Assuming you get the jump in minute one and the fight
somehow manages to make it into minute two, that's where the bash tactic comes in.
You enter minute two with the initiative, land a bash modified head shot into the poor
slob in front of you, and down he goes!!! Minutes 3-6 are basically superfluous as
not many fights will go that far. 10-3-7 allows the basher to do what he does best.
The theory behind the desperation configuration is the same as that for minute one.
Since the bashing attack is a downward motion, attacking the head is logical to say
the least. Modify this to the chest if you suspect that you adversary is protecting
his head. Defending your head is simply there to ensure that you hold your hands up
high. My reasoning is that I am simply trying not to interfere with the Basher's
attack, as opposed to seriously trying to defend myself. Against defensive warriors,
change minute one to 10-3-7 with no tactics: i.e., let the basher do what he does
best. I have only lost one fight to a defensive styled warrior with my best basher,
and that was MY fault. Minute two can be left the same, or you can drop the bash
tactic. I am tempted to leave the desperation minute the same. If you are desperate,
it probably means you were just hit. This design cannot take getting hit. You need
to go berserk in order to regain the initiative.
A high quality Basher should have no trouble with Parry-XYZ's and TPs. Against
scum try 7-1-7 with the bash tactic. You should have no trouble blasting attacks
through the feeble parries of a scum warrior, and the relatively slow (for a basher)
tempo will allow you to keep it up for 3-4 minutes, which WILL be more than enough
time to demolish even the most stubborn APA, F, ME, ME 1-1-1-P Total Parry. Let me
also mention that the bash tactic should never be used against PRs.
Last, but by no means least, is what to wear. Armor should be APL, ALE, or none
at all. DO NOT strap this basher into a suit of plate armor. The Bashing Attack,
despite what some other managers say (even those self-proclaimed "highly experienced"
manager who relentlessly brag about their 600+ winning percentages who only run
defensives, SCUM, and lungers) is a quick style. The armor should be correspondingly
light to allow the basher to get the jump on his opponent. The same theory applies to
weapon selection. Try using the QS, MS, of the WH. The GA and MA should only be used
against slower offensives of defensive styled warriors. Again, the key here is
quickness. THIS basher is designed to win his fights, with his tremendous attack
percentage, not with his tremendous damage bonus.
This article has been brought to you by.....
Mark Schwartz
280 Middlesex Road aka Troll King
Matawan, NJ 07747 mgr. Troll Lords
201-583-5150 Arena #36 Jhans
HOW TO BUILD A BETTER WARRIOR (version Y2k)
I'm sure that by now everyone has had enough of those "perfect" warrior advice
articles. And, while they are useful to a point, it's hard to apply their advice to
the hordes of non-perfect warriors we get every day. Hence, this article is for the
other 99% non-perfect warriors. The design ideas presented here have been valid over
the course of my 15 years of experience with this game, with proven success at all
levels of the game.
There are several things to think about when designing a warrior. First is
fighting style. Second is longevity. Third is weapon suitability. Fourth is
physical capabilities. Fifth is trainability. While I will discuss these separately
in this article, they must be thought about simultaneously in order to get the maximum
potential from each and every roll-up.
Fighting style is the most important decision you'll make about your new warrior.
Consider all possibilities. Sometimes you will need to experiment with the numbers,
play around with several different combinations, before picking the best style. The
offensive styles are lunging, slashing, striking, aimed blow, and bashing. The
defensive styles are total parry, parry riposte, and parry strike. The mixed styles
are wall of steel and parry-lunge. The offensive warriors have lots of attack ability
and little defense (except lungers). Their key attributes are usually will (for
endurance and attack skills) and strength (for damage capability and attack skills).
High wit and deftness are also high on the list as they both give a lot of skills,
particularly attack skills. [Tip #1: Never design an aimed blow with less than a 21
deftness.] The defensives have lots of defensive ability (particularly parry) but
poor attack. Their key attributes are usually will (for damage taking and parry
skills) and constitution (for damage taking). Again, extra wit and deftness is highly
desirable for the extra skills. [Tip #2: Keep wit as low as possible on scum
warriors.] The mixed styles have pretty good attack and pretty good defense, making
them among the most formidable warriors in the game. Their key attributes are will
(what a surprise!) and whatever gets them to good cut-offs, because mixed styles use
defensive and offensive skills with equal effectiveness. If you notice, speed doesn't
come up as an important stat for any style, but it is probably best utilized by the
offensive styles. I tend to like warriors that will perform well (as opposed to
looking good but still losing), so I tend to design a lot of offensive and mixed
styles.
Longevity is another design concern. The main decision here is whether your new
warrior will have a long, Gateway oriented career, or have a shorter life span. If
shorter, how much shorter? In general, for maximum learning and maximum training,
you'll want to add as much as possible to wit and will. If you envision Gateway god-
hood in your warrior's future, then designing him with a low wit or will has only a
minor effect; it merely takes a little longer for him to reach his full potential. If
your warrior has a sandbagging champions future, then you'll want to add as much wit
as possible to get him competitive as soon as possible. For an ADM title shot, you'll
want to build in some easy stat trains that give lots of skills. For a short, rookies
or novices oriented career, you'll probably want a high will because you'll most
likely be looking for quick, significant stat trains. The point is, decide when the
warrior is born how long his career will be, and you will be better able to maximize
his potential towards that ultimate target.
Weapon suitability must also be considered. As is well known, not all weapons
are well-suited to all styles, and every warrior has a favorite weapon. It is
important to design a warrior so he will be able to use the significant weapons well-
suited to his style. It should not take more than a couple stat trains to get your
warrior well-suited to some good weapons. (Consult available charts for weapon
suitability.) I feel that it is important to be well suited to several weapons of
your style. This gives you the opportunity to change and surprise your foes. If your
warrior lacks the attributes to use key weapons of his style, his effectiveness will
be diminished.
Physical capabilities is an often overlooked aspect of warrior design. The three
main areas of concern are endurance, the ability to inflict damage, and the ability to
take damage. At least one of these should be at the "good" level or above, and the
more the better. There is usually a trade-off between designing for skills and
designing for physical attributes. The trick is to maximize both. Always evaluate
the possibility of adding to strength over deftness. The damage capability gained
will usually out-weigh the difference in skills. Endurance is usually a key factor in
an offensive warrior's ability to defeat a defensive. Conversely, the ability to take
damage is usually a key factor in a defensive warrior's ability to defeat an
offensive. Again, use the available charts to design your warrior to reach the
desired physical levels with a minimum of stat trains.
The fastest way for a new warrior to improve is to learn skills with a 21 wit.
With a 21 wit, you can usually average three skills per fight for your first 20 fights
or so. Going into an adepts tournament with 60+ skills is very good. The higher the
wit, the more skills your warrior will learn, so keep this in mind when designing your
potential tournament champions.
A number of managers advocate early stat trains that burn skills. I only do this
in the most severe of cases, like a 3 wit scummy warrior. The main reason I don't do
this is because any warrior I want to fight beyond novices is going to need as many
skills as he can get. In addition, if a warrior burns skills early, he'll end up with
less than his contemporaries at the time they both max skills. This leads to
diminished skill levels when the warrior makes a TC run in the Freshmen, ADM, or
Eligibles class, and to a protracted struggle to get the warrior inducted to
Primus/Gateway when the time comes. It also eliminates the option to sandbag in the
champions since your burned warrior will never have the skills to compete with non-
burned warriors.
However, I do design for trainability. I like my warriors to have a shot at a TC
in the ADM or Eligibles class, so I will purposely leave deftness at 9, counting on
the quick, easy trains once all my skills are learned. You can do the same in wit,
will, speed, and even strength; leave the starting stat a couple points below a level
with significant skills, then train those stats when you make your TC run. Of course,
since you're planning on making this training run in Advanced Duelmasters, the best
stat for trainability is a 21. Every train past 21 will give you quick, significant,
valuable skills.
Of course, any set of design rules or guidelines will have its exceptions. There
are many good warriors out there who did not follow any of the rules outlined above,
but there are many, many more dead ones. So, if you follow these rules most of the
time, most of your warriors will be winners.
That said, let's do a couple examples. First, we'll redesign the legendary Broke
Stroker.
ST 10 + 0 = 10
CN 10 + 0 = 10
SZ 10
WT 9 + 6 = 15
WL 9 + 6 = 15
SP 11 + 0 = 11
DF 11 + 2 = 13
Style: Lunger
Comments: His wit and will are high enough to make him a viable long-term warrior.
He starts well-suited to the short spear, and is only one strength train away from
longsword suitability. He's got enough con to take a hit, and he'll likely also get
good damage with his first strength train, if not on the original overview.
ST 5 + 4 = 9
CN 8 + 0 = 8
SZ 14
WT 8 + 5 = 13
WL 13 + 4 = 17
SP 10 + 0 = 10
DF 12 + 1 = 13
Style: Slasher
Comments: He starts well-suited to scimitar, and has enough ST, CN, & WL to get
normal endurance. He has a good shot at good damage to start with, and if not, it's
only a train or two away.
ST 12 + 5 = 17
CN 8 + 1 = 9
SZ 7
WT 11 + 6 = 17
WL 8 + 1 = 9
SP 14 + 0 = 14
DF 10 + 1 = 11
Style: Striker
Comments: This low will wonder needs help to get normal endurance, thus the high
strength. It gives the additional bonus of guaranteeing good damage on a relatively
small warrior. The 11 deftness gives him suitability to almost every weapon.
Now it's time for you to go forth and design your own godlings (or is that
"doglings"?). Armed with these guidelines, you too can have your share of Broke
Strokers in Advanced Duelmasters. Good luck, and may the gods guide your blows
straight and true!
-- Neon Necromancer
(DM 1: Care Less Bears; DM 18: Mad Scientists;
other random teams and 100ish ADM warriors)