DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 02/02/2018 Duedate: 02/15/2018
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-497
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
GERONIMO
FOLKLORE (1738)
(93-10146) [4-2-0,54]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY GERONIMO
FOLKLORE (1738)
(93-10146) [4-2-0,54]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
SWAMP FOX DRUNK TEENS
FOLKLORE (1738) BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
(93-10149) [6-0-1,48] (93-10171) [1-1-0,9]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FOLKLORE (1738)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. RED AVENGERS (1736) 37
2. FOLKLORE (1738) 19 BRUTE STRENGTH (491)
3. BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 2 Unchartered Team
4. BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 0
5. CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 0 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) 22 8 3 73.3 1/ 1*FOLKLORE (1738) 11 4 1
2/ 2*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 18 12 0 60.0 2/ 2*BB HALLOWEEN (1739) 8 7 0
3- 4*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 20 18 0 52.6 3- 3*BLACKTHORN INC. (1735) 5 5 0
4- 5*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 6 9 1 40.0 4/ 6*RED AVENGERS (1736) 4 9 1
5/ 6*RED AVENGERS (1736) 14 26 1 35.0 5- 5*CLOAK WARRIORS (1737) 3 2 1
6- 0*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 1 9 0 10.0 6- 0*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
The Total Parry
In basic, Total Parries win. And win and win. Why, then, are there not a
massive plethora of TPs? The purpose of this article is to examine the Total Parry
from a Consortium viewpoint, and to reveal the how's, what's, and why's of the oft
downplayed Total Parry.
Let us first talk about some of the facts and the environment surrounding the TP.
* They are very easy to design
* They can optimize the otherwise useless, very low wit and low WT/DF, roll ups.
* They have the best overall w/l records in basic
* They are not really long-term warriors as few-to-none excel in upper ADM.
* They can come across as boring to run.
* The aimed-blow, today's optimal and favored warrior, is their nemesis.
With that in mind what does Total Parry mean to The Consortium? A definition: "A
warrior who "fights" by parrying attacks, and soaking damage and enduring until the
opponent is so tired that the attacker falls from exhaustion or the attacker stands in
exhaustion, unable to swing, while the Total Parry gets in a final, and maybe his
first, swing for a win." Most managers term this a "scum".
Oh, there are variations of the parrying/soaking/enduring Total Parry. It can be
designed to be somewhat offensive. But designs that make it "offensive" are most
likely better fitted, and will win more as wastes (WS) or slashers (SL) or pikers (PS)
or plungers (PL) or rippers (PR) or lungers (LU) or even other styles. Hence, The
Consortium recommends that managers waste little effort on any TP version except THE
SCUM.
What characterizes a Consortium TP Scum? What creates good damage soaking and
parrying? There are two stats that create neither damage soaking (hit points) nor
parry skills. They are WT (wit) and SP (speed). A real Total Parry needs neither.
Another stat, SZ (size) can negatively affect the TPs parrying ability as there are
parry skill reductions at size 15 17, and 21. (And gains at size 5 and 3.) What stats
create soaking? CN (con) primarily, and then WL (will). One other thing creates
soaking. That is armor and the weapon that one decides with which to parry. Hence
"carry", the ability to wear lots of armor and hold heavy weapons, which is comprised
of strength (ST) and con (CN), is necessary for protecting the Total Parry as it
endures.
A yet-to-be designed/base TP starts with more parry skills than any other style,
but is very weak in attack, initiative, defense and decise. Oh my! What then does this
make a designed Consortium Total Parry need to look like? (Note: Primary stats are CN
and WL.)
ST -- max it (11+ to assure C carry level, but 13+ for LG (large shield)
CN -- max it (Enough to get tremendous hit points. (Use 3.75CN+1.1SZ+0.4WL=80.26+)
SZ -- any, preferably not really big (SZ 15+ reduces parry skills)
WT -- none (We can just train stats for a long time, before we get to training skills)
WL -- max it (15+, but success has been made with some at 11+. Need lots to train
stats)
SP -- none
DF -- 7+ (There are lots of parry skills in DF, so the higher, the better)
Note: Although WT and SP are "none", neither hurts the TPs ability. They merely take
points away from the needed ST/CN/WL/DF
Rather than provide an exact design, perhaps offering a variety of actual
Consortium TP warriors and their results would be more helpful.
Recently graduated: (The Consortium has over 200 graduated Total Parry fighters.)
* 14(+3)-21(+2)-12-9(+1)-18(+2)-13-7(+2): 30-18-0 (fave BS)
* 17(+3)-20(+2)-5-8-21(+1)-9-11(+1): 21-6-0, 1 DM Title, 15-12-0 in Tournament,
1 TV (fave ME)
* 21(+3)-21(+3)-13-5(+2)-21(+1)-4(+1)-11(+2): 20-3-0, 5 DM Title, 14-12
Tournament (fave QS)
* 11(+2)-17(+1)-11-11(+1)-21(+2)-10-9(+1): 27-8-0, 4 DM Titles (fave EP)
* 17(+3)-21(+2)-8-9(+2)-17(+2)-9-13(+1): 38-10-1, 3 DM Titles (Yes, had a kill
with ME!) (fave LS)
* 17(+3)-21(+3)-11-5(+2)-18(+2)-12-11(+1): 31-9-0, 10 DM Titles (fave ME)
Note: 14(+3)-21(+2)-12..., means 11ST started, trained to 14; 19CN started, trained to
21, 12ST start...
There are several worthwhile comments about these above six warriors:
* The w/l records are amazing, but typical of the 200+ Consortium grads. TPs can
get some interesting favorite weapons, even though way unsuited to them by
stats.
* The higher than desired SPs did not at all harm the warrior's results. All have
been "burnt". Lots of stat trains.
* These TPs seldom graduate (20 fights, 14 wins, 1 adex and 1 expert) as they do
not acquire enough skills.
Here are current warriors (the base design) running in arenas and doing as well
as those above.
14-19-8-5-21-5-12
21-14-8-6-21-7-7
19-19-3-3-18-12-10
21-21-7-4-19-8-4
12-19-7-9-19-9-9
16-18-10-4-19-9-8
13-20-9-8-20-5-9
17-19-11-3-19-3-12
15-21-9-7-21-4-7
16-19-6-9-18-6-10 (This one started life on Noblish Isle DM93)
What would be The Consortium "perfect" design? (One which has not been had,
sadly.)
21-21-3-3-21-3-12
But, perhaps, this one would be preferable -- 19-19-3-3-19-3-18, and have fun burning
to 21-21-3-5-21-5-21.
While the design is important for a TP scum, so are the operating strategy and
the weapon and armor selection. Let's start with the armor, as it is the simplest. A
scum almost always goes out to fight in APA/F. Why? While the heaviest possible, this
is the optimum sponge, absorbing the most damage from when that opponent hits. There
are "tweak strategies" where perhaps less armor is employed, but realize that 99% of
the time a Consortium TP wears APA/F
Weapon selection is an interesting topic for discussion. By and large, the ME or
LG are the Total Parry's best friend. There are quite a nice selection of weapons
available and suited to the TP. A scum, usually low-witted, however, tends to use very
few of them. Using Assur's weapon requirement chart, which he publishes here in DM93
periodically, the first group of weapons are suited, but TP-limited by wit and
deftness. (Code: ST/SZ/WT/DF requirements.)
LO = 11/3/13/11
QS = 11/9/11/11
SC = 9/3/11/11
GS = 15/9/9/11
EP = 7/3/15/15
Leaving, then, these weapons as the most likely for the scum.
ME = 9/3/3/5 (most common Consortium TP weapon)
SM = 5/3/3/5 (seldom Consortium used, as the ME always fits and is better)
LG = 13/7/3/7 (favored Consortium TP weapon)
BS = 11/3/9/7 (the best weapon weapon, but sometimes wit limited)
LS = 11/9/5/9 (works well as a parry weapon, but seldom Consortium used as it is
two-handed, hence, no shield)
Off-hand weapons play an important part to the Total Parry winning ways. The
interesting thing about off-hands is that a manager can place almost any weapon there
(except two-handed) and there will be no statement commentary indicating unsuited or
not-quite suited. Hence, any weapon, even unsuited, can be used as off-hand, as long
as SZ/WT/DF requirements are met. (For example it is not unusual to see a WH as an
off-hand weapon with the LG primary hand on a Consortium warrior.
In order, here are the typical weapons used by Consortium Total Parry warriors.
ME/ME BS/ME LG/LG LG/WH LG/LG BA/ME BA/LG
Backup weapons are also important to Total Parry warriors as the primary and/or
off-hand are often broken by all the parrying going on. What are good backup weapons?
Any weapon can parry, but not as well as shields. And the backup weapons do count in
the weight burden of the warrior, so do not overburden. The most common Consortium
backups are DA and WH.
Carry and endurance need to be discussed to assure optimizing the TP. There
should be no need, or desire, to overburden the TP which will negatively impact his
endurance. Using the CIC information, determine the encumbrance, and armor and weapon
your warrior accordingly. Since virtually all Consortium scum are going to be designed
with 11 ST min and very high CN, the design will always carry what is considered the
minimum 27 points.
BS/ME APA/F one backup DA or ME/ME APA/F one backup DA
If the warrior has 13+ ST, often a Consortium TP might look like this:
LG/WH APA/F primary backup DA
What is a good strategy? How might The Consortium run these types of warriors? A
common theory is all one needs to do is use 1-1-1-P. We Consortium managers very
seldom run 1-1-1. Giving the strategy some OE (offensive effort) and some AL (activity
level) seems to cause that TP to swing/attack in the most surprising moments and
sometimes early on. Many battles have been won this way. And, in general, the TP's
endurance seems unaffected by these numbers. As to "kill desire" (KD), a mod/low
number (not 1) seems to enhance that early swing. The Consortium does not want to give
you the idea that this early swinging happens regularly, but that it does happen
occasionally, Perhaps it is important to point out that average/typical AL/OE
Favorites (learned at graduation) for the TP are LO/VL. Next most likely are VL/VL
and VL/LO. (VL is very low and 1-2, LO is low and 3-4 as opposed to moderate MO 5-6,
high HI 7-8 and VH very high 9-10.)
This is a typical Consortium TP scum strategy:
3-2-2-1-3-1-3
3-2-2-2-1-1-3
5-5-5-5-8-6-5
P-P-P-P-n-P-P
Now when an opponent is a known good scum also, the strategy might change to assure
optimal endurance:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 wins
1-1-1-1-1-5-1
P-P-P-P-P-P-P
There is more to "good strategy" than the numbers one chooses. To optimize any type of
warrior, one must use the challenge/avoid. Any TP that fights an AB is likely to lose.
At the lower levels (meaning DM rather that ADM) a TP loses to the aimer 90-95% of the
time. A scum TP that fights a lunger wins 60-80% of the time. So if you want wonderful
w/l rates like those listed above, you must challenge and avoid properly and always.
(The Consortium often publishes an article on challenge and avoid in DM93. Wait for
it, or find it, but certainly heed it.) To challenge and avoid properly, you must know
styles of warriors in your arena. Hence, you must fight and keep records, and/or have
friends/allies who collect and share styles, or use a common data base like that of
Terrablood.com.) The most important challenge/avoids for a TP scum are:
* Avoid teams with aimed blows able to challenge or match up with you
* Avoid teams with known hard-hitting (great+ damage) warriors
* Avoid teams with better designed scum that are able to challenge or match you
* Avoid teams with warriors that have beaten you
* Avoid teams with pikers and strikers, especially those who hit harder or have
kills on record
* Challenge lungers primarily
* Challenge small or light hitting warriors of any type but AB
* Prior to 10 fights of experience (10FE) challenge all styles but AB (maybe STs,
too)
One final item needs to be discussed. The Consortium has recommended that the TP
is meant to by a scum, and all the previous information points that out. However, were
one to want to design and run a more offensive TP, this is how The Consortium does it.
(Out of the 200+ graduate TPs, only 4 are of this type, and they do not fare as well
as the mighty scum; they all would have made better warriors under another design.)
The main characteristics of the OTP (Offensive Total Parry) compared to the scum is
that at least moderate (11+) and preferably high (15+, preferably 17+) Wit and at
least 11 deftness are needed. This would mean they would have all or one of these
stats, ST, CN, WL) reduced from the scum design. Lastly, it means that the final
design will be much more in line with a very good LU or other better long term warrior
able to compete in high ADM, like Primus. Here are some typical offensive Total
Parries.
11-14-10-17-17-4-11 (wish it had been made a LU or WS or PL or even PS)
15-12-8-17-21-4-7 (wish it had been made a LU or SL or even BA)
17-14-3-17-17-5-11 (wish it had been made a LU, especially, or even a PL, PR, SL, BA, WS)
15-15-9-15-15-4-11 (wish it had been made a WS or LU or BA)
So there you have it. The Total Parry, Consortium-style. You have learned how to
design, armor, weapon, run, challenge/avoid, and optimize a Total Parry. Prepare
yourself for lots of wins and some quite long fights. Winning is FUN.
-- The Consortium Portfolio 1-24-2018
SPY REPORT
It is I, Novgorodny Vir, Spymaster of Spymasters. Look on my work, ye mighty,
and despair! RED AVENGERS had cause to celebrate, after DEADLY got 19 points by
beating EMBEZZLING SCRIBE. Win some, lose some. Speaking of which, BRAVO was
winsome, after beating BULLY and seeing him lose 6 points. What can be a greater
victory? GERONIMO has taken his place as the top, as NOBLISH ISLAND's new
Duelmaster. Word has it one team in NOBLISH ISLAND is taking speech lessons to try
to bore their opponent to death. I'll bet it works.
My mother wished me to avoid conflict, and seek the gentle trade of Spyreporter.
But warriors aren't supposed to avoid fights! Like a horde of jackals fleeing from
the lion, so did the "warriors" in NOBLISH ISLAND avoid BB HALLOWEEN. Like a pup
with its tail between its legs, RED AVENGERS scurried away from BB HALLOWEEN. Oh,
the shame!
Ah, the duel! The roar of the oppenent, the smell of the crowd! Ask not for
whom the sword slashes; it slashes for thee.
All good things must come to an end. My fingers tire and I fear my incessant
prattling may cause unfair judgement upon my impeccable character. Like a mixed
metaphor, and an overtaxed simile, I now bid NOBLISH ISLAND farewell-- Novgorodny Vir
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GERONIMO 10146 4 2 0 54 FOLKLORE (1738)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SWAMP FOX 10149 6 0 1 48 FOLKLORE (1738)
PECOS BILL 10148 6 0 0 48 FOLKLORE (1738)
TOO MUCH CANDY 10154 5 1 0 35 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
MOLLY PITCHER 10145 4 2 2 34 FOLKLORE (1738)
BRAVO 10156 4 2 1 34 RED AVENGERS (1736)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LONE RANGER 10147 2 4 0 27 FOLKLORE (1738)
RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153 5 1 0 25 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
-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)
JOE JIGGA 10139 5 3 0 21 RED AVENGERS (1736)
DEADLY 10169 1 2 0 21 RED AVENGERS (1736)
-ZEPHYR 10160 2 3 0 20 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
-ZENTRADI 10159 3 2 0 19 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
EGGED 10151 4 2 0 14 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
-D. SCEPTIKON 10163 3 1 0 14 BLACKTHORN INC. (1735)
-RIVERSIDE SHAKEPERE 10142 1 2 0 14 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
BULLY 10150 3 3 0 12 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
DEE THE BLADE 10137 2 6 0 12 RED AVENGERS (1736)
-LUCKY 10107 1 1 0 12 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
SNEAKY PETE 10136 1 7 0 10 RED AVENGERS (1736)
-SOCCER-PANTS 10140 2 1 1 9 CLOAK WARRIORS (1737)
DRUNK TEENS 10171 1 1 0 9 BB HALLOWEEN (1739)
-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)
-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
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 NOT REVENGED
PERSONAL ADS
Well, well, we salute Sister Suriel, Duelmaster of Noblish Isle. -- Johnny Appleseed
and Folklore
Yup, Sister, Geronimo fought you and it was clear you are the better, more skilled,
more experienced warrior, and you deserve the title. -- Johnny A
Me say, how. -- Geronimo
Broc and Thief Takers, I really am sorry I killed you. Really! I wasn't trying to. Now
I have two kills and everyone is thinking I am a killer babe, but I ain't. No! Shucks.
Broc didn't deserve to die. -- Molly Pitcher (Crying in her beer with a nearly empty
pitcher.)
Zephyr, man, I am getting better and better. It was a good fight, though. -- Pecos
Bill, Folklore giant
All, Pecos Bill did go to the Tempe Face-To-Face, and even got to meet the Almighty
Assur! He did well, though, not as well as an unmentioned Uyphy warrior, who is
Noblish Isle's only TV. Pecos Bill went 7-3, losing to a Wall Of Steel in his final
battle for a TV. He did learn twelve very nice skills, so beware of him. He is now an
eleven FE warrior, rather than the five FE that his record shows. -- Johnny A
And, if you need to better understand FEs. ask me or Assur in a personal ad or diplo
note. The concept, although extremely important, is sometimes hard to grasp. -- Johnny
Appleseed
Note: If you don't for some reason want to contact me, Johnny, via diplo, here are
some other more famous managers who will answer for The Consortium:
Kennelworth of Bulldogs, DM11
Fandil The Wise of Fandils, DM46
Lenpro of Lenpros in DM30
Curator of Smithsonian, DM8 (slow)
Lady Smith of Useful Weapons, DM31 (slow)
There are quite a few others, too. -- Johnny Appleseed
Zentradi, nice try challenging me, but I'm pretty good, eh? -- Swampfox
What??? I let a Captured Orc beat me? Where was Tonto when I needed him? -- The Lone
Ranger
Health. Humility. Honor. (The Consortium Motto) -- Johnny Appleseed
Congrats to all that participated in the FTF tourney.
Again I seek the wisdom of the crowd for answers:
1) Is there another tournament in April? If so, is it a mail-in or face to face
tournament?
2) Must my team be "Chartered" to leave Noblish Island? Do each of my fighters need
to have 10+ fights in order for my team to be "Chartered"?
3) Can the more experienced players advise us of 3-5 arenas for true newbies to go
to after Noblish Island (prefer arenas that frown on "intentional kills). Also how do
I transfer to another arena?
4) What is Gateway?
5) Call all statements/sub statements be achieved through skills/abilities or are
there some that the character must be "born" with?
Thank you. -- Mr Misfit, CEO Blackthorn, Inc.
It was nice to see a warrior with ONLY 5 recognition points get the Most Popular
Warrior spot. Congrats to Iggre the Scum. -- Mr. Misfit, CEO Blackthorn Inc.
Henup -- Eth that was the hardest I have ever been hit. ONLY luck saved me. -- D.
Sceptikon
Pecos Bill -- Thanks for the lesson. -- Zephyr
You are the better striker, Swamp Fox. -- Zentradi
Thanks for the lesson, Egged. I learned something new. -- Ototbott
Hassan, that match could have easily gone the other way. -- Peacemaker
I've read a lot of good info for offensive and defensive styles, but what are finesse
styles and hybrid styles and can you share any tips for both?
Also, what exact arena(s) are Andorian (non-killer) and what do I have to do to
transfer from here to there? Also, must all of my new teams start here or can I start
in any arena? Thanks. -- Mr. Misfit, CEO Blackthorn, Inc.
Can you leave the attack location empty and let the fighter choose where he wants to
attack? -- Bravo
During tournaments, are your chance of training your abilities cut to half like your
chance of learning skills? -- Bravo
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
GERONIMO was devastated by M. CHARDINEE in a 4 minute gruesome mismatched Title fight.
PECOS BILL demolished CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute one-sided melee.
SWAMP FOX defeated FRATSFA SLAVE in a 1 minute duel.
LONE RANGER was unbelievably bested by CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute gory contest.
TOO MUCH CANDY overpowered SNEAKY PETE in a 1 minute mismatched match.
MOLLY PITCHER devastated EGGED in a crowd pleasing 1 minute one-sided duel.
BRAVO overpowered BULLY in a 1 minute mismatched brawl.
DEE THE BLADE was defeated by RAUNCHY COSTUME in a 3 minute melee.
JOE JIGGA won victory over DRUNK TEENS in a 3 minute duel.
DEADLY vanquished EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK 4 SLASHING ATTACK 12 - 5 - 0 71 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 3 BASHING ATTACK 35 - 25 - 0 58 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 3 WALL OF STEEL 5 - 4 - 0 56 |
|BASHING ATTACK 3 LUNGING ATTACK 15 - 12 - 2 56 |
|AIMED BLOW 2 STRIKING ATTACK 27 - 26 - 2 51 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 8 - 8 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 AIMED BLOW 14 - 14 - 0 50 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 0 PARRY-STRIKE 11 - 13 - 1 46 |
|TOTAL PARRY 0 PARRY-LUNGE 3 - 4 - 1 43 |
|WALL OF STEEL 0 TOTAL PARRY 2 - 4 - 0 33 |
Turn 497 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:
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 1 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 2 3 STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 1 BASHING ATTACK 1 - 2 2 BASHING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 1 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 PARRY-STRIKE
PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 1 AIMED BLOW
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 LUNGING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 0 - 0 1 WALL OF STEEL
WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
BASHING ATTACK GERONIMO 10146 4 2 0 54 FOLKLORE (1738)
STRIKING ATTACK SWAMP FOX 10149 6 0 1 48 FOLKLORE (1738)
AIMED BLOW PECOS BILL 10148 6 0 0 48 FOLKLORE (1738)
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
LUNGING ATTACK MOLLY PITCHER 10145 4 2 2 34 FOLKLORE (1738)
PARRY-STRIKE BRAVO 10156 4 2 1 34 RED AVENGERS (1736)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is SWAMP FOX 10149. The most popular warrior this turn
was DRUNK TEENS 10171. The ten other most popular fighters were GERONIMO 10146, JOE
JIGGA 10139, SWAMP FOX 10149, TOO MUCH CANDY 10154, MOLLY PITCHER 10145, BRAVO 10156,
RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153, PECOS BILL 10148, LONE RANGER 10147, and DEADLY 10169.
The least popular fighter this week was DEE THE BLADE 10137. The other ten least
popular fighters were BULLY 10150, SNEAKY PETE 10136, EGGED 10151, DEADLY 10169, LONE
RANGER 10147, PECOS BILL 10148, RAUNCHY COSTUME 10153, BRAVO 10156, MOLLY PITCHER
10145, and TOO MUCH CANDY 10154.
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A NOTE ON MAILMEN
In response to the articles on new fighting styles, those were good, but how can
you forget our most favorite warrior who has a style all his own? The Mailman! To
Duelmasters he is our most sacred person. I mean, how many of you managers out their
have sat down and calculated what day your Duelmasters will arrive and have sat
waiting for it to arrive, while unknown to you, your mailman is fighting away to get
your Duelmasters delivered. Let's review him...
ST - should be around 19. He needs to heft two medium bags, cloth mail armor and
a ton of rubber bands.
CN - 13, give or take a few. He does get bitten by dogs often.
SZ - Any.
WT - At least 10. He often likes to read the mail.
WL - Try about 20. He must endure all kinds of weather.
SP - 16 is good. He needs to run across streets in traffic.
DF - 10 is good. Sometimes he has to carry packages.
This setup should get you a good mailman but they are hard to come by. If you
can come up with any better, diplo me. I am:
Staple Gun
mgr. of Technet (3)
The New Deal (23)
I am currently working on the U.P.S. and Federal Express warriors.
"Strikers R Us"
Greetings, everyone. It is I, Talon, again. I am very glad to see everyone
participating in the arena and sharing their thoughts on styles and strategies. This
turn I will take on the striking attack style, which is certainly one of my favorites.
I believe the striker is one of the easiest styles to run, and one in which no
team should be without. A high-powered striker can diversify and empower your team.
A well run striker can beat any other style, period, at any level in regular
Duelmasters. In arenas where scum TPs are rampant, strikers are just the answer as
they can attack for up to 12 minutes or more. Strikers are versatile. They can do
exceptionally well with a dagger as a weapon or with a halberd. They can do well with
no armor or with plate armor.
Stats:
Biff Primal Solid Perfect
ST 5-21 9-17 13 15
CN 3+ 3+ 6 3
SZ 9-21 3-17 9 5
WT 3-17 17 + 17 21
WL 9-17 13 + 17 15
SP 5+ 5-13 9 8
DF 9+ 9-17 13 17
With the way I design strikers, there are essentially two strikers that evolve.
The BIFF and the PRIMAL. The Biff striker is typically one that is not looking long-
term, but one which I want to run and have fun with. With this striker, I try to have
one stat (wit, will, or deftness) which is extraordinary, one which is average, and
the other ends up being at some non-normal level. Some examples of the Biff are: 10-
10-11-4-17-17-15, 7-11-17-17-11-6-15, 9-5-14-17-11-13-15, 4-8-17-15-13-10-17, and 21-
3-15-21-5-8-11. With these warriors, the emphasis is on having fun and learning more
about the style.
The Primal is essentially a Primus-quality warrior. In this category, the
striker will be designed with stats that most other managers will gasp, "OH MY, WHY
DID YOU MAKE HIM A STRIKER?" It is also the warrior that will be Duelmaster for 8
straight turns and will go to ADM with a 16-4-2 record, with 4 Masters and an Ad Ex.
The key here is to create a warrior with AT LEAST a 17 wit and 15 deftness, along with
a 13+ will and who will do normal damage or better. The goal with the Primal is a 21
wit and 17 deftness, because this will ensure a great warrior.
Weapons and Armor: As for weapons, the best striking weapons that I have found
and used are the dagger, epee, scimitar, broadsword, quarterstaff, greatsword,
longsword, war hammer, and sometimes the short spear. I don't run my strikers with
shields or off-hand weapons, as it takes away from their attack. The heaviest armor I
will use is padded leather. Always wear a steel cap or a helm.
Strategy (general):
Min. 1 2 3 4 5 6+ Desp
OE 10 8 6 6 6 5 5
AL 10 5 4 2 2 1 8
KD 6 8 6 6 6 5 5
attack arms/legs/head -- take your pick
protect arms/legs/head -- take your pick
off tactic decise, slash, bash, depending on weapon
def tactic response is best; try dodge though.
With this strategy, a striker with a normal endurance should fight for eight
minutes as a scum TP and come out on top, outrageously victorious. Just match your
weapon with your tactic and only use the tactics in minute one or desperation.
If you have any further questions on this or any other style, feel free to diplo
me.
Talon, mgr. Eagle's Claw
HOW I MADE DUELMASTER IN THREE EASY STEPS
OR
a new look for Aimed Blows
Greetings and salutations, all. Here's a new twist on aimed blows I haven't seen
before....one that works, at least for me! Here's what I did with Rex Walters, my
first Duelmaster in the Free Blades transfer arena, DM 70.
ST: 17 (for good damage, attack and parry skills)
CN: 13 (gonna need every hit point he can get)
SZ: 4 (smaller the better!)
WT: 4 (overrated for aimed blows!)
WL: 21 (if ya try this method, 17 is a MINIMUM)
SP: 4 (ya want NO speed, none, nothing, zero!)
DF: 21 (better max this one out too, at least a 19)
You laugh at me? I started expert in both attack and parry! (OK, so I got lucky,
I didn't expect either one of em.) But both are in reach with a little luck. Hey, if
ya can get that strength to 21 you're almost guaranteed those experts... though a bit
more CON would be nice.
But how do I RUN this monstrosity, you may ask? Why, I'm glad you inquired!
LOTS of armor. The hit points combined with, say, platemail should win this character
a lot of fights. But, while I've picked up a few easy wins scumming, that's not
really what this character does best.
I use the only weapon Rex is well suited to: the bare hand. With an offhand
small shield or shortsword, so I can take advantage of that expert parry rating. So:
FI-SH, APM-H.
And I run him at a 4 offensive effort, with a matching 4 activity level. He can
last through the initial onslaught of nearly any offensive, then smash them.... like a
good waste. And with that monster endurance and good damage, no one scums this
warrior!
I attack and protect the head, usually, and keep the kill desire high... 5-7
generally. Now, how to become Duelmaster?
Well, step one is fight your first fight... and train your CON. Step two, now
that you're in the arena, is get a fight with an up-and-coming young warrior from the
Duelmaster's team... and kill them. (I randomly matched up with, and killed, a member
of the incoming Duelmaster's team...luck helps, ya know.) Offensives that wear
themselves out but haven't quite dropped are the easiest to kill.
Then, when the Duelmaster comes at you (bragging about how he "only" needs to
beat you twice to assure his ascension to the Isle) you stomp him. Badly. Once
you're on that lofty throne he won't even be able to bloodfeud you, since you can bet
he's not gonna be anywhere near the challenger champions after losing to a 2-fight
warrior (just ask Ciron of ENDS WITH IRON, now in AD).
There are drawbacks, of course. Once you get to that level, odds are you're
gonna get stomped like a stuck pig (I was most challenged 2 turns in a row after this
trick... Oo! I love mixed metaphors...) But... even a 4 wit warrior can learn skills
against gladiators with 50 fights!
Rex is now 7-3-1. All three losses have come against warriors now in AD. In
those ten matches, he's trained his strength and constitution once each, and learned
twenty skills, including his adex in both parry and attack. And boy, is it fun
humiliating some of those "gods" bound for AD!
What else can one do with this warrior? Well, Rex is, get this, well suited to
an off-hand epee! He wouldn't dare use one as a primary weapon, but its a great off-
hand toy...
Does he have what it takes to be a long-term winner? Who knows? He's probably
the DUMBEST aimed blow to ever make Duelmaster... He's in the Challenger Champions and
climbing....and he'll meet ya in AD!
Amazingly enough, this is not an isolated fluke. We entered a similar warrior
into Bloodgames (with the 4's as 3's, and a bit more CON). That warrior, Jalon, is
now in AD after going 9-1-5 and finishing on TOP of his Bloodgames arena.
Ah, just thought I'd mention I have had a second bare-handed Duelmaster, now...
Seeker Still Water in DM 74 is an open-hand lunger, Duelmaster at 8-1... but that's
another story...
--Khyron
mgr., Pitt Gladiators (2,29,56,103)
Jayhawks (70)
Silent Storm (65,74,75)
and numerous others....
THE WALL OF STEEL AS A BERSERKER
This article is for newer players; more experienced managers will, I'm sure, have
much more sophisticated ideas about warrior design and strategy. This will enable a
newbie to design a competent warrior who should be able to achieve a better than 50/50
record.
The wall of steel, or "waste," is often considered the second scummiest style in
Duelmasters. I love the style, but I don't run mine that way; I prefer to think of
the waste as a fierce dervish ripping into his opponent like an airplane propeller.
In accordance with this view, most walls of steel that I design couldn't scum if they
wanted to (well all right, sometimes it happens by accident if the opposing warrior is
going all-out and can't last very long). It's fun to run them fast; they get the jump
on people who don't expect it of them, and their fights are exciting. Mind you, they
don't win as much as if they ran more defensively, but the ones with good stats still
do okay (I'll make practically anything a waste and run it, but this article isn't
about the ones that a sane manager would DA).
So, here is a design for a competent wall of steel:
ST 13+ Needed for endurance, damage doing, and weapon selection.
CN 9+ You need a passably good con for endurance.
SZ 7+ Teeny weenie wastes don't hit hard enough or take enough damage. Real big
(15+) is bad because it hurts endurance.
WT 13+ Preferably 17. Like any other style, the smarter they are, the better.
WL 17+ Needed for endurance, damage-taking, and sheer grit. 21 is recommended.
SP 3+ Whatever.
DF 7+ Higher deftness is better, but you can get by without it.
As you can see, these are fairly easy requirements. Of course, the more wit,
will, and deftness, the better your waste will be (same as any other style). If you
don't end up with at least good endurance on the overview, the warrior probably isn't
going to do very well. With that high will, though, you can bump con a couple of
times and you might get good endurance, so there's still a chance.
Choose your weapons based on deftness, and your opponent's armor weight. I
normally use something like 0-8 SC, 9-12 BS, 13+ GA, backup SC or BS. No shield.
Some other good weapons for the waste are QS (only takes 11 ST, and can hit heavy
armor), MS, and BA. The war flail isn't a very good weapon, but you can play with it
against leather armor. For armor, I usually choose something middling like ARM & H,
but will go with APL & H if he has a lot of con.
For strategy--I heard a rumor (NOT confirmed) that a wall of steel gets a bonus
if his OE equals his KD. Since I don't like to use a kill desire above 6, I don't go
by that in the first couple of minutes. Keep the activity level moderate to low; the
waste doesn't need to jump around a lot and the way he keeps his weapon moving, he's
burning a lot of endurance without that added drain. Attack and defend the arms, like
a slasher; a waste is a sort of parry-slasher. A typical strategy for my wastes might
look like this:
Minute 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp
Offensive 9 8 7 6 5 5 2
Activity 6 5 4 3 2 1 6
Kill des. 6 6 6 6 5 5 2
Att. loc. RA LA RA LA RA LA RA
Pro. loc. AM AM AM AM AM AM HE
Off tac. none -- -- -- -- -- --
Def tac. -- -- -- -- -- -- P
I play with the numbers a lot, depending on what the warrior seems to like. For
example, if he doesn't parry too well, I'll give him a more offensive desperation
strategy, like 8-4-8-slash. (If I really like a warrior I sometimes use a 7+ KD to
try and save his life.) If he never manages to get the jump on anybody, I'll try
running him more defensively, like with a first minute of 3-6-3. It's not as much fun
as going all out, but it's more fun than losing all the time.
You can challenge pretty much any style (lungers aren't recommended). When
fighting a warrior you know to be very defensive (a TP, or a scummy variety of PS, PR,
PL, or WS), slow down or you will be scummed. For the most part, though, an offensive
waste is very versatile and can beat any style. The better his important qualities
are (WT, WL, DF, endurance), the better the quality of warriors he can defeat. In
other words, if you have a so-so rollup that barely made the minimum requirements,
challenge so-so opponents. If you have a good rollup, go for the gold. Challenge
warriors with a few more fights than you, so you'll learn plenty of skills--but don't
challenge way way up in experience, because it's no fun to lose a good warrior.
For the most part, train skills--especially on your challenge strategy, when
you're going after someone with more fights! And for sure on the first fight, because
you'll likely be matched against someone who can teach you a lot. It's okay to train
con once in a while if you need more endurance and damage-taking; and if you have bad
luck on the rollup and get "does little damage" or something, you might have to train
strength once or twice (no more!). But it's best not to train any other stats until
way, way down the road.
Ask your DM sponsor or any experienced manager in your arena for more advice (if
they tell you I'm full of hot air, they're probably right). A little bit of good
advice from a more advanced player can make a big difference in your enjoyment of the
game!
If you have any questions or suggestions, you can diplo: the She-Puppy, mgr.
Mordant Prison DM-1, and others.