DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 01/19/2018 Duedate: 02/01/2018
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-496
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
SISTER SURIEL
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
(93-10118) [8-1-0,89]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
SISTER SURIEL GERONIMO
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) FOLKLORE (1738)
(93-10118) [8-1-0,89] (93-10146) [4-1-0,59]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
PRIESTESS IRIN IGGIE THE SCUM
CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
(93-10099) [8-2-0,58] (93-10141) [1-2-0,5]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FOLKLORE (1738)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) 27
2. CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 15 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
3. THIEF TAKERS (1730) 15 Unchartered Team
4. FOLKLORE (1738) 13
5. BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 11 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) 19 6 3 76.0 1/ 1*FOLKLORE (1738) 12 3 2
2/ 2*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 16 9 0 64.0 2/ 3*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 9 6 0
3/ 3 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) 31 19 0 62.0 3/ 2*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 8 6 0
4/ 4*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 20 18 0 52.6 4/ 4 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729) 5 5 0
5/ 6*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 6 9 1 40.0 5/ 6*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 4 6 1
6/ 5*RED AVENGERS (1736) 11 24 1 31.4 6/ 5*RED AVENGERS (1736) 4 9 1
7/ 7*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 1 9 0 10.0 7/ 7*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 1 4 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
WHAT THEY WON'T TEACH YOU IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
SO COME TO NOBLISH ISLE TO REALLY, REALLY LEARN
Any warrior that loses a fight can die. Dead. Gone. One can die by being
mercilessly killed by the opponent, and, sadly, every loser has a small chance
(estimated odds 1 in 50) of dying in the infirmary. Note: There is NO chance of
dying if one wins! So WIN!
Any warrior can use any weapon. Not a problem. However, there are undefined
penalties for using marginal, unsuited, inadequate wit, inadequate size, inadequate
strength, and inadequate deftness weapons. One can certainly win with an improperly
suited weapon, but, is it worth the chance? Usually not, I say. (I said usually!)
Warriors are born with certain skills, which are dependent on the base 70 point
stat sheet and the style selected. The 14 points of added stats also add skills to
those base skills. You really need to know which skills come from what stat. (So
check out that C.I.C.)
RSI seldom makes input errors. I said seldom. The best thing a manager can do
to help avoid input errors is to fill out the strategy sheet accurately and legibly
with good penmanship. Yes, we have doctors in the warrior management ranks (Slugbait
and Grimm come to mind) and they probably regret their yucky penmanship.
These are considered the three best ways to acquire info, knowledge and "secrets"
about D2:
* Terrablood.com
* Noblish Island (DM93) newsletters
* Reality.com
There is more to strategy than filling out the warrior's initial armor and weapon
selection and offensive effort and activity level and kill desire and tactic
selection. Challenges and avoids are an important way to attempt to give your warrior
an advantage. Challenge warriors (warrior ID) that your warrior is likely to defeat
and learn a lot from, and avoid teams (team ID) with warriors whom are likely to
defeat you. (Remember, if you lose, you could die!) Indeed, your warrior can be
provided with an alternate strategy for challenging or when being challenged or both.
A warrior does not have to ever challenge, bloodfeud, or avoid, but it is almost
certainly in his best interest to do so.
Ask dumb questions! Often managers, especially new managers, have a doubt or a
question, but they feel "asking for help/advice" is a sign of weakness or lack of
intelligence or knowledge about D2. Do not let this be you! Ask! We dumb veteran
managers ask each other dumb questions all the time. One man's dumb is another man's
smart. (You heard it here first!)
What are the best ways to ask?
* On the Reality.com site
* On the D2 Chatzy blog site
* In personal ads in the arenas (especially Noblish Island)
* By diplo to another manager in D2 (Certain managers will almost always
respond; some may not)
No matter what any veteran, friend or expert tells you about design or strategy
or concept, it is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. It may be good or great or common advice, but it is not necessarily the only
good (or bad) advice. Some advice is best learned first-hand.
D2 is a normally a friendly atmosphere. While managers are very competitive,
most of the vets know each other, see each other at FTF Tournaments, chat with each
other on line, and even help each other out with advice and ideas. The fount of
knowledge available now, about D2, was acquired by a collective "working together" and
sharing info. Be advised that an overly mean, overbearing, threatening, haughty,
unfriendly character/manager is likely to be colluded against and ostracized by D2
regulars. Smack talk is desirable and a part of the game. Personal threats, harsh
meanness, or overbearingness is not at all welcomed. You are forewarned!
Noblish Island is a great learning atmosphere. What comes after Noblish? Choose
wisely an arena (or two!) in which to participate.
* Fast (two week turnaround) or slow (four weeks)
* Large (15+ teams participating), medium (8-14ish), small (7 or less)
* Friendly (usually Andorian arenas are up for role-playing and up for helping
newbies, and down on down-challenging or taking advantage of newbies), or
Cutthroat (Darkholm arenas tend to be win-at-all-cost).
You can participate in as many arenas as you want. You can also participate in
separate tournaments, held quarterly, which allow warriors from all arenas to compete
with each other for acclaim and prizes.
There are many other things they apparently didn't teach you, you say? Well send
a personal ad or diplo to Assur, or The Consortium rep in DM93 Noblish Isle and give
them a shot at answering in the newsletter.
-- Johnny Appleseed (Consortium affiliated)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Geronimo is Duelmaster. What a pleasant surprise. Way to go, Geronimo! Way to go,
Geronimo!
Since his reading and writing skills are not up to par with his gladiating
skills, he has asked me, Johnny Appleseed, his seedy manager, (Ha, ha. Seedy. Get it?)
to write a column for him. So I will.
Geronimo is just plain lucky. Lucky, lucky, lucky! As a 13-15(+1)-10-15-21-4-7
basher, he smokes too much and his skin is all sunburnt. He is ambidextrous, which
helps, (+1 attack skill) and he is a little bonused in initiative. Most importantly,
he has a very, very good manager. Yes, indeed!
So if you want to be Duelmaster, fight him. Or go plant totem poles. Or better
yet, go plant apple seeds. You'll be glad you did.
-- Johnny A. (for Duelmaster Geronimo)
SPY REPORT
Good day, in NOBLISH ISLAND a quiet thief gets rich, but a quiet spymaster gets
poor. So bring me ale and harken to my tidbits of news. And let's see, OTTOBOTT
fought EGGED and gained 14 points and contributed to BLACKTHORN INC.'s 3-2-0. EGGED
has lost to OTTOBOTT, falling 11 points, while helping make BB HALLOWEEN a 3-2-0
turn. We should ask SISTER SURIEL about the thrill of victory, and what being the
new Duelmaster does for a warrior, she's now the one to ask. By the way, was that
our Duelmaster that I saw last night, cramped under the table at The Warty Toad?
The crowd's roar, the smell of iron and leather, mixed with sweat, what more
could a warrior ask of life? Well, besides that. I also notice that the BB
HALLOWEEN stable was the most avoided team this turn. Come on NOBLISH ISLAND, what
are you afraid of? And avoiding BB HALLOWEEN more than any other team we find
FOLKLORE. NOBLISH ISLAND, are we going to accept, or respect this sort of thing?
The most challenged warrior this turn was FOLKLORE's warrior PECOS BILL. More
fighters challenged him than challenged the Duelmaster!
We only live a short time in this world, so why not take a sharp blade, and
shave it close? A brave warrior does not carry a red shield, he has nothing to cover
or hide when the fight is over. Consider well.
Remember, blood on the purple robe does not change it from a purple robe. Dare
to fight bravely. Always good to rest in NOBLISH ISLAND, but never good to wear out
my welcome. Look for me in future turns. Until you see my quill in NOBLISH ISLAND
again, farewell-- Alarond the Scribe
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SISTER SURIEL 10118 8 1 0 89 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GERONIMO 10146 4 1 0 59 FOLKLORE (1738)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PRIESTESS IRIN 10099 8 2 0 58 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SWAMP FOX 10149 5 0 1 44 FOLKLORE (1738)
MONK SABAOTH 10101 7 3 0 39 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
PECOS BILL 10148 5 0 0 36 FOLKLORE (1738)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
TOO MUCH CANDY 10154 4 1 0 29 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
LONE RANGER 10147 2 3 0 29 FOLKLORE (1738)
MOLLY PITCHER 10145 3 2 2 24 FOLKLORE (1738)
BRAVO 10156 3 2 1 24 RED AVENGERS (1736)
OTTOBOTT 10161 3 2 0 24 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PEACEMAKER 10162 4 0 0 23 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153 4 1 0 22 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
SHOFTIEL 10100 5 5 0 20 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
ZEPHYR 10160 2 3 0 20 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
ZENTRADI 10159 3 2 0 19 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
BULLY 10150 3 2 0 18 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
-JOE JIGGA 10139 4 3 0 15 RED AVENGERS (1736)
D. SCEPTIKON 10163 3 1 0 14 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
RIVERSIDE SHAKEPERE 10142 1 2 0 14 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
EGGED 10151 4 1 0 13 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
LUCKY 10107 1 1 0 12 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-DEE THE BLADE 10137 2 5 0 11 RED AVENGERS (1736)
DRUNK TEENS 10171 1 0 0 11 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
SOCCER-PANTS 10140 2 1 1 9 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
SNEAKY PETE 10136 1 6 0 9 RED AVENGERS (1736)
AQUA-KNOT 10144 2 1 0 7 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
IGGIE THE SCUM 10141 1 2 0 5 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)
HASSAN 10143 0 3 0 3 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
DEADLY 10169 0 2 0 2 RED AVENGERS (1736)
TURTLE 10105 0 2 0 2 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
HENUP-ETH 10170 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?
PUMPKIN MESS 10152 0 4 0 BB HALLOWEEN 1739 BRAVO 10156 495
AZAZEL 10097 3 7 0 CHURCH OF UYPHY 1729 BANDIT PRINCE 496 NONE
SWEET P 10155 1 2 0 RED AVENGERS 1736 SWAMP FOX 10149 494
BROC 10104 0 2 0 THIEF TAKERS 1730 MOLLY PITCHER 10145 496
ONE EYE 10103 0 2 0 THIEF TAKERS 1730 SOCCER-PANTS 10140 496
RABID MONK 10106 0 1 0 THIEF TAKERS 1730 MOLLY PITCHER 10145 493
PERSONAL ADS
Great to see some fine personal ad writing from Blackthorns. You go, guys! -- Johnny
Appleseed (Consortium affiliated)
Geronimo is Duelmaster? You go, Geronimo! -- Johnny A
Me whackum Dangerous Criminal! Him hurtum bad! How! -- Geronimo
Raunchy Costume, there is no place for scum like you in this world. I am sorry my six-
shooter plugged and all I could do was whack you over the head. -- The Lone Ranger
(with zero help from Tonto)
Zentradi, I was lucky to win that. I hope I can stay lucky -- and alive. -- Swamp Fox
D. Skepticon, man, that felt good. Let's see if I still feel good after I fight in
that Face-To-Face thing in Tempe. Will I even come back to this arena alive? -- Pecos
Bill
Sneaky Pete, great try! Really, I like a man who challenges. You'll learn, Hon. You
will. -- Molly Pitcher
Rumor has it that The Consortium is working on an article about the Total Parry style.
It takes a scumbag to know a scum? -- Johnny A
P.S. Not all Total Parries are scum.
Mr Egged of BB Halloween and Mr Swamp Fox of Folklore you will be receiving bills
related to medical expenses for sending Ottobott and D. Sceptikon (respectively) to
the infirmary last turn. -- Mr Misfit, CEO and mgr, Blackthorn, Inc
Geronimo -- Congratulation on your newly acquired title. -- Mr Misfit
BB Halloween -- I was all worked up to call Bloodfeud against Swamp Fox, then poor
Pumkin got killed. Things got messy (pun intended). Yet, I'm sorry about the kill.
I see how easily someone dies in the arena. -- Bravo
Azazel -- You're a good teacher, thanks for the skills. Hate to see you go. -- Dravo
Blackthorn, Inc -- I hear you. Hell yeah!!! -- Bravo
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
AZAZEL was dealt death by BANDIT PRINCE in a 2 minute Dark Arena fight.
ZENTRADI was devastated by SWAMP FOX in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge duel.
ZEPHYR was overcome by PECOS BILL in a 1 minute novice vs. expert Challenge match.
OTTOBOTT bested EGGED in a 1 minute novice's Challenge contest.
GERONIMO was overpowered by SISTER SURIEL in a 1 minute bloody mismatched Title match.
PRIESTESS IRIN vanquished BRAVO in a 1 minute mismatched fight.
MONK SABAOTH overpowered BULLY in a 1 minute mismatched brawl.
LONE RANGER was narrowly defeated by CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute beginner's melee.
SNEAKY PETE was vanquished by TOO MUCH CANDY in a 1 minute uneven fight.
SHOFTIEL lost to RAUNCHY COSTUME in a 1 minute gory fight.
HASSAN was savagely defeated by PEACEMAKER in a 3 minute gory novice's melee.
AQUA-KNOT outlasted TURTLE in a unpopular 14 minute amateur's match.
MOLLY PITCHER butchered BROC in a 1 minute one-sided battle.
RIVERSIDE SHAKEPERE devastated MORDANT DESERTER in a 1 minute mismatched bout.
IGGIE THE SCUM was overcome by LUCKY in a popular 5 minute beginner's fight.
SOCCER-PANTS delivered the death blow upon ONE EYE in a 1 minute beginner's duel.
DEADLY was overpowered by DRUNK TEENS in a 1 minute mismatched brawl.
D. SCEPTIKON bested HENUP-ETH in a 2 minute brutal novice's fight.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK 7 SLASHING ATTACK 14 - 6 - 0 70 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 7 BASHING ATTACK 38 - 26 - 0 59 |
|AIMED BLOW 5 LUNGING ATTACK 14 - 10 - 2 58 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 WALL OF STEEL 6 - 5 - 0 55 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 AIMED BLOW 14 - 14 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 STRIKING ATTACK 26 - 26 - 2 50 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 8 - 10 - 0 44 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-STRIKE 9 - 12 - 1 43 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 PARRY-LUNGE 3 - 5 - 1 38 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 TOTAL PARRY 2 - 4 - 0 33 |
Turn 496 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-LUNGE 1 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 4 4 STRIKING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 TOTAL PARRY 1 - 2 2 BASHING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 3 1 SLASHING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 3 - 2 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 2 1 AIMED BLOW
BASHING ATTACK 4 - 3 1 LUNGING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 1 1 PARRY-STRIKE
1 WALL OF STEEL
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK SISTER SURIEL 10118 8 1 0 89 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
BASHING ATTACK GERONIMO 10146 4 1 0 59 FOLKLORE (1738)
SLASHING ATTACK PRIESTESS IRIN 10099 8 2 0 58 CHURCH OF UYPHY (1729)
AIMED BLOW PECOS BILL 10148 5 0 0 36 FOLKLORE (1738)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is PRIESTESS IRIN 10099. The most popular warrior this
turn was IGGIE THE SCUM 10141. The ten other most popular fighters were LONE RANGER
10147, PEACEMAKER 10162, PECOS BILL 10148, PRIESTESS IRIN 10099, LUCKY 10107, SWAMP
FOX 10149, OTTOBOTT 10161, SISTER SURIEL 10118, RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153, and MOLLY
PITCHER 10145.
The least popular fighter this week was TURTLE 10105. The other ten least popular
fighters were AQUA-KNOT 10144, DEADLY 10169, ONE EYE 10103, BROC 10104, SHOFTIEL
10100, SNEAKY PETE 10136, BULLY 10150, BRAVO 10156, ZEPHYR 10160, and ZENTRADI 10159.
A SACRED LORD'S SLASHER
Well, this article/spotlight is for Seal at 7th Order, so here goes.
ST: If he's huge (15+), 3 is okay, and use HA. I prefer 7 for epee. 9 gets scimitar
and 11 gets broadsword. Anything above 11 is a WASTE!!!
CN: Whatever they send you.
SZ: Any.
WT: 15, 17, or 21. 13 is workable, but I hate slow learners! 21 will probably take
a lot from other areas, so 17 is best.
WL: 17, 17, 17!!!! You need endurance, lots of endurance. Some of my friends use
15, but I prefer not to.
SP: 9+ They use SP as well as most, but don't add here until after WT/WL/DF.
DF: 15+, 15+, 15+. Once again, I have high standards. The reason? Have you ever
had a slasher come out w/ "relying on his speed to stay out of trouble"? That's
'cause his parry is in the negative. With a 15 DF your slasher will have a much
better parry and will probably be about 1-3 trains from a Master parry in advanced.
Later on, you'll see!
Now, how to run them:
10 9 7 -------------------------> 10
10 4 2 -------------------------> 10
7 9 7 -------------------------> 1
CH/HE -------------------------------------------- >
HE ----------------------------------------------- >
Off: D at first, open later, min 2 +, open
Def: D/S (preferably Dodge)
Min two+ is in case of a TP or WoS coming after you. This setup works, so good
luck!
Mike Bookout
Bookie, Sacred Lord of the Black Regime
Memphis Mafia (36,100)
P.S. Anybody want to join the Regime?
The Dark Arena: A Fighter's Perspective
(sung to the hymn: Battle Hymn of the Republic)
Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the dawn
I am walking down the tunnel
After everyone is gone
I step into the torchlight
And I see the blade he's drawn
My mind, it sings this song:
CHORUS
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
My mind continues on
The crowd is chanting praises
But all I hear are growls
Mine enemy's upon me
So I strike him and he howls
Parry, parry, slash, and parry
I smell his breath so foul
And death, he sings this song:
(CHORUS)
Now we both are tired
And my strength is fading fast
Oh, let me give that fatal blow
Oh, let me be the last
I swing my sword with all my might
The crowd it stands, aghast
As he dies, I sing my song:
(CHORUS x2)
Scotlan (28, 31, 39, 50, ?)
Kill Desire: "Patience."
Many times I have lost warriors, and the manager claimed the KD was only five.
As if KD had anything to do with the death of my fighter. It was really the battle
axe to the head that killed him.
I was quite disturbed at the widespread belief that kill desire has something to
do with killing an opponent. But they have good reason to believe this: the
Duelmasters Handbook definition of kill desire has a tendency to cast a "confusion
spell" on the reader to make them think that way. The wording is very misleading.
The name "kill desire" is also misleading. A more correct word would be "patience."
Yes, kill desire is actually how much patience your fighter had before taking a
shot. KD doesn't add damage or tell your fighter where to aim at.
Damage is calculated by weapon and strength. (Of course, favorite weapon also
affects damage.)
You let your warrior know where you want him to aim at by filling out the attack
location boxes on the fight sheets.
Hit location and damage are the main two things that will kill warriors. Hit
locations to vital areas such as head, chest, and the abdomen repeated times increases
your chance to kill. The amount of damage inflicted to these vital areas also
increases your chance to kill an opponent.
As you see, none of this has anything to do with kill desire.
Now, I will tell you what kill desire, or patience, as I call it, actually is.
If you run your warrior with an 8-10 KD, you're telling him to swing like a
drunken wildman. You'll see statements in his fights that say "swings wildly" or
other things to that effect. He is not waiting for a good opening. He is swinging at
everything! This is bad for several reasons.
With his KD that high, he is very easily dodged and parried. Also, he can be
feinted into bad dueling decisions as well.
I think that KD between 5-7 for offensive styles and 3-6 for defensive styles is
perfect.
You get a lot more hits with a 5-7 KD, and feint a lot less. But you also get
more kills in this range. Reason being, you're waiting for a good shot that is hard
to dodge or parry. The example I used earlier about the manager with the 5 KD and
battleaxe is the point I am trying to make. If his warrior's KD was 10, my warrior
could have dodged or parried the attack and still be alive today. But since it was a
5 KD, he waited for a good shot that my warrior had trouble defending against, and
cleaved his head off! (Well, not literally.)
Defensive styles run about 3-6 KD. Defensive styles swing wildly a lot in the
beginning, but that is natural. They will get better. 3-4 KD, they still have a
tendency to let attacks go by. Of course, if you're scumming, go with a 1 KD.
In short, having an 8-10 KD means your warrior is doing all that swinging and
hitting less. Not to mention all the endurance he is burning up to no avail.
Any comments, you can diplo me.
ta-ta,
Sir Jessie Jest
DM 11: Lords of the Abyss
DM 61: Pit Fiends
DM 67: Storm Wizards
DM 5: Bad Girls
Crimson Strikers
Greetings, fellow managers, I, Crimson Strategist, shall share my thoughts with
you on the striking attack style.
This style developed in cultures where weapon quality surpassed that of the
armors, this made landing the first blow vital. This blow is usually delivered in a
downward fashion quickly, surely, and with power in a minimal of wasted motion.
Here's how I rate the stats:
ST 11-15: Never go below 11, strikers are well suited to ALL the weapons in the
game and 11 allows the use of the majority of them. They also need to hurt their foe
when they hit, thus making this an important consideration for damage rating.
CN 3-9: This whole style revolves around finishing your foe quickly, if your foe
has time to develop a complex formal attack on your striker, then you're not fighting
him properly. A properly run striker should never be hit more than four or five
times, any more than this and the whole concept behind this style gets thrown right
out the window, therefore I rate con as the least important attribute for this style.
SZ 9-16: A size of 9 allows use of all the weapons and it is important in
determining your damage rating, plus, it also adds to your init and this style thrives
on init.
WT 13+: As with any style, the higher the better. 13 is rock bottom, it allows
the use of all weapons except the epee and you'll still learn at a decent pace.
WL 7-13: This style conserves endurance which allows this attribute to go
considerably less than most styles and still fight effectively for a respectable
length of time. I've had strikers with a 13 ST, 3 CN, and 5 WL get poor endurance
ratings and ones with 11 ST, 6 CN, and 9 WL get normal. However, if you want some
long term potential, you'd want to be around 13 or so.
SP 10+: This is very important for decise and init skills which are the heart of
this style. Landing the first blow and finishing the fight quickly is hinged on your
striker's speed.
DF 15+: This is crucial attribute for this style, they NEED to be precise with
their blows, plus, it also adds to their init. Get to 17 or 21 if possible.
Now let's take a look at the style itself. The striking attack is one of the
easiest styles to run, yet they have adversity that many styles lack. As I've said
before, a striker can use ALL the weapons in the game. They can fight effectively
wearing plate armor and no armor, they can use EVERY tactic in the game be it
offensive or defensive, a striker can fight like a lunger or basher, ripper or
slasher, etc... provided that you match up their strategy with the appropriate tactic
and weapon. They can beat ALL the styles in DM and beyond if you choose their
strategy correctly for that particular style vs. style matchup.
Here are some examples of style vs. style matchups for strikers and various
tactic selections vs. the different styles.
High decise strikers over slashers and lungers, strikers over total parry and
wall of steel, rippers over strikers, etc...
Using the decise tactic vs. lungers, slashers, and aimed blows. Using the lunge
tactic vs. rippers and aimed blows, using no tactic and having a moderate offensive
effort and moderate activity level vs. total parries and wall of steel, etc...
The possible variations for this style are virtually endless.
Now let's take a brief look at your striker overview and glean some helpful hints
on how to fight them. If you see statements like "relying on speed to stay out of
danger" or "avoiding rather than trading blows," this is telling you that your AL
should be moderate to high. If he does great damage, then don't use weapons like the
epee or shortsword, this would be an underutilization of his strengths. If he learns
attack skills easily, then this is telling you that he likes to take his time and pick
his shots so don't send him out with a 10 OE! If you see statements like "has learned
how to be a decisive and quick fighter," then by all means USE the decise tactic with
a high OE. Don't send him out with offhand weapons unless he's ambidextrous, if you
do, it will take away from his attack. As you can see, the various statements on your
overview are very helpful in telling you how your striker likes to fight.
Here's a very general strategy that has worked well for my strikers.
OE 10 8 7 7 7 6 6 Armor: ARM to ACM
AL 4 3 2 1 1 1 8 Weapons: BS,LO,SC,GS,BA
KD 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
ATT LOC Head, body, arms
PRO LOC Head or body
OFF TCT Decise or bash
DEF TCT Response or dodge
Before I close there is one last point I wish to emphasize, USE the
challenge/avoid system, it will help control who you fight and when. In closing, I
would like to thank the following managers for their diplos and articles which helped
me learn the game: Sir Jessie Jest, Talon, Tex, the managers on the roundtable, and
numerous others who took their time to put quill and ink on parchment and pass their
knowledge on to others, thanks!
Many of you know the Crimson Death stables or soon will know them since I plan to
have quite a few of them up and running, however, some of them will be on and off due
to monetary fluctuations so if you wish to diplo me with any comments, criticisms,
whatever, send them to my home arena, which, from here on out, will always be active.
Later,
Crimson Strategist
Crimson Death DM 61