DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 08/31/2018 Duedate: 09/13/2018
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-512
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
NOT AS ADVERTISED
BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
(93-10221) [1-0-0,13]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY NOT AS ADVERTISED
BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
(93-10221) [1-0-0,13]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
BRO BRO
FRIENDLIES (1747) FRIENDLIES (1747)
(93-10216) [1-0-0,8] (93-10216) [1-0-0,8]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FRIENDLIES (1747)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. FRIENDLIES (1747) 30
2. BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748 17 DRAGON'S FIRE (711)
3. THIEF TAKERS (1730) 0 Unchartered Team
FRIENDLIES (1747)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 0*FRIENDLIES (1747) 4 1 0 80.0 1- 0*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 4 1 0
2- 0*THIEF TAKERS (1730) 7 13 0 35.0 2/ 0*FRIENDLIES (1747) 4 1 0
3/ 0*BASH BROS MAIL OR (1748) 1 4 0 20.0 3/ 0*BASH BROS MAIL OR (1748) 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
NEW WARRIOR & NEW TEAM DESIGN
HOW A DUELMASTER VET DOES IT
The purpose of this spotlight is to provide newer/inexperienced D2 managers with
warrior and team design concepts and to assist new managers by allowing observation of
the details of a real-time team who will be competing against them in their Noblish
Island arena. I will discuss the following:
1. An experienced manager's general design principles (over 100,000 warriors
designed)
2. Some thoughts on team balance
3. The real five-warrior design (original team roll-up) just starting to compete with
you on Noblish Island
4. Summary and comments relevant to those designs
First you might ask, "Who is writing this?" And I answer that I am Happy Camper,
manager of FRIENDLIES, a member of The Consortium, who is a long, long time (35 year)
paying competitor in Duelmasters/D2. I will be overseeing this new team and will be
offering you advice each round on Noblish Island too. (Free advice!) Please feel free
to ask me questions in the personal ads. You will get answers, often very interesting
answers.
There is no one-and-only perfect design for any warrior. You will often find that
when asking for experienced design advice, varying opinions and concepts are offered.
However, there are some guidelines that each manager uses. The Consortium general
design principles are as follows:
1. Normally design to strengths/excesses, generally making high roll numbers higher
2. WT is the first factor examined, followed by WL, which then determines the design
and style direction.
3. Offensive oriented warriors need higher WT to last. Design to 11 (min), need 15,
17, 21 for skill breaks.
4. 21 WT, 21DF, and 21 WL are coveted. The 21DF makes an aimed-blow almost
inevitable. Most managers automatically think Aimed-Blow when they can get 21
deftness. Not always, but usually. If not an aimer, then 11 DF is really all most
designs need.
5. All warriors except AB must have normal damage and really need good. Make certain
that ST/SZ allow that, and have high enough WL to bump stats if not. Aimers can
succeed with less,
6. 9 WL is the reasonable min for offensives. All warriors MUST have some WL. Some
warriors might do OK with 7 or 8. Barely ok.
7. Do not add to CN for pure offensives.
8. Defensive style warriors need big WL and CN. And, then, ST, too.
9. Physicals never hurt any warrior. Warriors can win early on with lesser skill, but
good physicals.
10. If all else fails, make the design a TP. They can win under almost any
circumstance. However, they need a higher combination (total) of CN, WL, and ST.
(especially WL and CN)
11. If the warrior is to be long-term (meaning a godling or really, really nice roll),
do not design a burner. (A burner is one where the manager intends to raise stats and
physicals as an intended strategy to enhanced winning). Burners require very high WL
as stat raises are dependent on WL.
12. However, there is not a thing wrong with making a burner.
13. Have variation in styles in arenas. This allows for better challenging, avoiding,
and match-ups. (Adding also fun and learning through variety.)
14. Design to the numbers, then choose style, rather than predetermine a style, then
design. (At least until you really know what you are doing.)
15. PRIMARY PRINCIPAL: Design each warrior with the idea of winning 60%+ of its
fights. Period.
Pretty simple, it would seem. Well, we will see how I applied these principals to
the FRIENDLIES Team. But first some comments on team design. (Note: While not all of
the concepts will be specifically referenced below, virtually ALL are used during the
design of one single five-warrior team.)
A variety of styles is important. Why?
(a) The more differing styles you experiment with, the more you learn.
(b) It is more fun to run differing types.
(c) Certain styles are susceptible to other styles and having a variety allows you to
take advantage (or avoid) some of those susceptibilities.
(d) Testing multiple styles allows you to more quickly find the style/s that you enjoy
most or are best with.
I believe a manager, especially a new manager, should have at least these two
warriors on his team: an especially fast/quick, decent damage offensive (striker,
basher, or maybe slasher) and a scummy warrior with lots of physicals and who wins by
wearing down foes while parrying or sucking up hit points. (Total parry or maybe wall-
of-steel or parry strike.) It is important to learn how to win with both types, and
the ST (striker) and TP (total parry) are excellent designs to do both teach and win.
This combination is invaluable because each tends to challenge and avoid different
styles, and most importantly, they are both easy to work with. The other warriors on
the team can/should be different, but I least (meaning these are hardest) recommend
these more difficult styles for rookie managers. AB (aimed blow/aimer), PR (parry
riposte/ripper), PS (parry strike/piker), PL (parry lunge/plunger), and maybe WS
(wall of steel/waste). Now on to a real life example. Below are listed the starting
statistics (from the roll-up sheet) and the design statistics filled out and sent in
by me, Happy Camper of this CARD SHARK team just now started on Noblish Island.
An initial comment on roll up sheets, in general. It can be hardest to design
with "radical" numbers. Unusually low ST or WL or super big SZ, or low WT/WL combo
usually require the most design manipulation and variance from the design principles
above. Very high WT and WL and/or sometimes DF, plus very small SZ are treasured! With
that in mind, let's get on to my designs.
13-10-8-14-7-14-4 to 17-10-8-17-9-16-7 ST. Design to strengths (concept
#1), which means I add four to ST and three to WT, taking both to skill break
points of seventeen. Clearly this will be an offensive (low WL and good WT) so
I add two to other high stat, SP, taking it sixteen. I have five left, which
could go anywhere, and I choose WL for two (concept #6) upping it to nine, and
add the remaining three to get a minimal DF of seven. This looks like a decent striker
to me.
10-12-9-14-13-4-8 to 11-15-9-17-17-4-11 WS. It is very positive to have both wit
and will as the strengths of the rollup. In this case, emphasizing concept #1, we add
three to wit and four to will to take them to the seventeen breakpoints. This also
emphasizes concept #2. Because CN is the next "strength" of the RU, it leads to
thinking this might be a finesse style warrior, rather than a defensive or offensive
warrior. I add three there, and make certain to bump the ST one to eleven, both for
damage and because most of the best weapons require eleven ST to handle without
penalty. The last three points rightfully go the deftness (read concept #4, the last
line), making this a really nice warrior. It could be made into quite a few styles,
but I choose WS. I do believe that a lunger would be the more common choice for many
(especially new managers), as most lungers are more finesse than just plain offensive,
and a very popular style. I will enjoy the "waste", though,and it will win well for
me.
12-12-6-13-10-7-10 to 17-16-6-17-10-7-11 BA Wit, strength and con are the three
strengths, so five to ST and four to wit take then both to seventeen and both skill
breakpoints. I need to add one to DF to get to that important eleven. The remaining
four, I am going to add to con, although concept #7 advises otherwise. I would
normally follow concept #7, but am going to go with adding to all strengths (including
con) and bump con to sixteen. I have created both a nice offensive basher, and a
basher that can be a little scummy/tanky. Bashers can be good at both.
12-10-13-5-12-10-8 to 14-16-13-5-18-10-8 TP. A low wit and strengths in the
physicals (strength, con, will) can often lead to a total parry warrior. Referencing
concept #1, I add six, as many as possible, to will. Knowing this is a likely scummy
warrior, rather than adding a max to strength, I add those six to con, and the
remaining two to strength. This is not a long-term warrior, so I give no concern to
skill break points. (Reread concepts #8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.)
7-13-5-10-10-13-12 to 10-13-5-15-15-13-13 SL. Concept #1 starts with the word
"normally". Normally add to the strengths. But, in this case, concept #2 takes
preference. I add five each to wit and will. I choose to add one to deftness to move
it to the skill break point, and then place the remaining three on strength. (Concept
#5 is very relevant on this warrior.)
The team mix is quite good, with offensives basher, striker and slasher, a
defensive total parry, and one finesse-type wall-of-steel. I like it.
Good luck competing against FRIENDLIES warriors. I suspect this team will not
have difficulty meeting the 60% objective and each warrior will to do its part. They
will be a competitive team and they will both challenge and avoid.
Now let's take a look at the overall design tendencies for this team in this
situation. We had 70 points to add to the designs. Totaled, they look like this:
ST = 15 (Looks solid. Strength/damage is important, and I have several smallish size
warriors.)
CN = 13 (CN is usually minimal, unless a scummy/finesse warrior is designed, and I
have two.)
SZ = 0 (Cannot add to size.)
WT = 15 (1 of 2 most valuable stats. Adding lots of points here is a good sign.)
WL = 17 (1 of 2 most important stats.)
SP = 2 (SP and CN are usually least added stats.)
DF = 8 (DF additions are often quite variable and eight looks good for this group, with one warrior starting at four initially.)
The tendencies look solid to me, as WT and WL are prime stats, ST and DF are probably
next, and CN/SP are usually least added. (Well, except for SZ!)
So there you have it: a new team; insight to warrior and team design; useful
tidbits from an long-time veteran. May your stay in D2 be long and prosperous, and,
most of all, fun. (As mine is and has been.)
-- Happy Camper, FRIENDLIES (Consortium affiliated)
***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***
How a veteran did it
Designing and choosign styles is the single biggest thing you can do to help your
ability to win. It can also (as we'll see) be crucial for your own enjoyment of the
game.
This is my team, the BASH BROS MAIL ORDER group.
Warrior #1: 7-7-7-19-12-13-5
It doesn't get much better than this. Wit to 21 (Assur says almost always take wit 21
or 17) is first. Deftness 7 or 11 (or 5 is an option for some styles). I prefer 11 on
almost every style, so let's try to design for 11. 6 points left. Will to 15 or 17
seems the next option. If I 'only' go to 15, I can get 9 str for weapons and the last
point could go on any of str/con/spd. I'll go Speed.
9-7-7-21-15-14-11 looks like a tourney warrior. I've had great results with strikers
like this. But I'm more interested in the moment in other styles. So I'll go Parry-
Strike and be happy.
Warrior #2: 9-13-10-16-9-4-9
Another 21 wit warrior! And 11 deftness with only spd low?!? This look like another
fantastic warrior. Going 21-15 wit-will and 11 deftness leaves only a single point,
which I'll put on str.
10-13-10-21-15-4-11. Any hybrid style looks fine (with LU/WS/TP being the 'best'
hybrids). I'll go WS.
Warrior #3: 16-12-8-12-5-8-9
Low will and High Str/Con. These are tricky types of warriors. If you have lots of
deftness, AB would be a great choice. That not being a good option here, I'm looking
at the other endurance conserving styles (ST/PS/TP/PR). BA wouldn't be out of the
question, but not the best choice. There is a super famous PR named Daydream Believer
who started 17-14-4-17-7-8-17. This guy can be made similarly. My own personal
preference is strength over deftness, so I'm going higher strength rather than add
past 11 deftness.
So, he comes out: 21-12-8-17-7-8-11 PR. (But going 17 str and adding the points to con
and/or dft would be fine, maybe better)
Warrior #4: 12-5-13-4-10-10-16
The 'worst' warrior on this team can still be a useable low wit offensive warrior.
I'm going to maximize decise skills and deftness and ignore everything else and make
him into an AB. These are sometime called Dixie Cup warriors, because they have no
good future (low wit/will).
12-5-13-7-10-16-21 AB looks right to me. Aimed Blows aren't the best offensive style,
but since AB's do magic things with 21 deftness, I chose that route on him.
Warrior #5: 7-3-14-10-17-3-16
See those 3's on con and spd? See those potential 21's on dft and wil? This is what
many managers (including myself) drool over. There are so many ways to make this guy
(and all of them expect him to die young) that I won't go into a full blown design
strategy with him. Suffice it to say that I'm a sucker for 2 21's on a warrior.
So... 11-3-14-11-21-3-21 WS is my final decision with this one. I easily could have
gone 9 str/5 con as well. If you only take one of the 21's, you have more flexibility
with design. Most people make this into an AB or LU. I love making 21 will/deft guys
into the parry styles.
This is a pretty special team and most managers would love to see it.
-- Assur
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Hah! You all think I am going to get out of here without one final tweet? No way,
Jose'. After all, I am the Big Kahuna, the Top Dog, the Honcho, the Duelmaster. I am
IT!
You can call me Trump, if you want, 'cause that's my name. My game is winning.
Making Noblish Great Again. Yeah, Baby!
And I'm gonna tell you all about me, because you need to know and rub shoulders
with the important and famous. You do.
Born 17-9-9-12-6-6-11
Designed and matured to 21-9-9-17-9-8-11 ST
Normal endurance, great damage
Mode on skills
Learned 18 skills in 10 fights (1.80 skill learn rate)
Expert Decise
Used a variety of weapons:(criticals/swings/big hits)
QS = 4/16/7
LS = 1/11/3
SS = 1/4/0
HA = 0/2/0
You can probably find me in DM85 in the future. They need my help the most.
SPY REPORT
Greetings warriors! It is I, Zontani Sharp Eyes, here to bring report of the
clash and bustle of the weekly NOBLISH ISLAND games. Former top team BASH BROS DL
was unseated this week as FRIENDLIES moved up from 0th ranking to take the top spot
with a 4-1-0 record for the round. I could not but notice the fine record for
FRIENDLIES (4-1-0) after their first round of combat. May the gods of war favor you
in NOBLISH ISLAND! NOT AS ADVERTISED caught the eye of many in the gladiatorial
commission as he skillfully bested SIS and was awarded 13 points in recognition. The
city has turned out in honor of NOT AS ADVERTISED, for with his arena victory he may
now lay claim to the highest position in the city! Informants "close" to the city
champion have told me that he never fights without pantyhose on beneath his armor.
Watch out!
Many and various are the arts of battle. In NOBLISH ISLAND "art" is a word that
has long since passed from the language!
What warrior does not hone his years, impatiently waiting for the moment of his
foe's mortality? Dark alleys may hide both secrets and assassins. In the arena
there is only the brightness of steel. Keep vigil always!
If it were not for my skills as a spy I would have been mugged three times
already in NOBLISH ISLAND. Nice atmosphere you have here! Sadly warriors, now
longer can I keep thy company nor savor the ale of thy fine city. Depart I must and
soon! Till next we meet remember - the pen is mightier than the sword, but a maul is
a different story!-- Zontani Sharp Eyes
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
NOT AS ADVERTISED 10221 1 0 0 13 BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-RAGORE SINGBLADE 10178 1 1 0 18 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-MORROCK REDFLINT 10179 2 0 0 17 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-HENUP-ETH 10170 1 2 0 15 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-LUCKY 10107 2 2 0 14 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-TURTLE 10105 1 3 0 13 THIEF TAKERS (1730)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
MATE 10215 1 0 0 10 FRIENDLIES (1747)
BRO 10216 1 0 0 8 FRIENDLIES (1747)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
GRANNY 10217 1 0 0 6 FRIENDLIES (1747)
ALLY 10214 1 0 0 5 FRIENDLIES (1747)
-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)
BROKEN 10223 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
SHIPPING DELAYS 10220 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
DISREPUTABLE DEALER 10219 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
SHIPPING COSTS 10222 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS MAIL ORDER (1748)
SIS 10218 0 1 0 1 FRIENDLIES (1747)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
PERSONAL ADS
Yep, Card Sharks and Dealer are gone. No more. But you now have me, the newest
Consortium rep. Oh, sure, my warriors are here to fight. But, not only do I manage
this motley crew, I am here to teach, coach, help, whatever. So feel free to use me.
So allow me to introduce myself and my team:
Manager -- Happy Camper (That's me!)
Team -- Friendlies
Warriors -- Ally, Mate, Bro, Granny, and Sis.
Styles -- BA, SL, ST, TP, WS
Be sure to read my spotlight on team and warrior design.
-- Happy Camper (Consortium affiliated)
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
ALLY bested BROKEN in a 4 minute gruesome amateur's fight.
MATE demolished SHIPPING COSTS in a 1 minute one-sided melee.
BRO narrowly defeated SHIPPING DELAYS in a crowd pleasing 2 minute amateur's duel.
GRANNY defeated DISREPUTABLE DEALER in a crowd pleasing 1 minute novice's fight.
SIS was devastated by NOT AS ADVERTISED in a 4 minute one-sided Title duel.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|WALL OF STEEL 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 - 0 100 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 - 0 100 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 0 - 0 100 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 1 BASHING ATTACK 25 - 14 - 2 64 |
|BASHING ATTACK 1 STRIKING ATTACK 14 - 10 - 1 58 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 TOTAL PARRY 9 - 7 - 1 56 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-LUNGE 2 - 2 - 1 50 |
|TOTAL PARRY 1 WALL OF STEEL 10 - 11 - 1 48 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 AIMED BLOW 7 - 10 - 0 41 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 - 0 0 |
Turn 512 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-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 WALL OF STEEL 1 - 2 2 STRIKING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 1 2 TOTAL PARRY
STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 WALL OF STEEL
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 LUNGING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 0 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
1 SLASHING ATTACK
1 BASHING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is BRO 10216. The most popular warrior this turn was
BRO 10216. The ten other most popular fighters were NOT AS ADVERTISED 10221, BROKEN
10223, GRANNY 10217, SHIPPING DELAYS 10220, ALLY 10214, MATE 10215, DISREPUTABLE
DEALER 10219, SHIPPING COSTS 10222, SIS 10218, and 0.
The least popular fighter this week was SIS 10218. The other ten least popular
fighters were SHIPPING COSTS 10222, DISREPUTABLE DEALER 10219, MATE 10215, ALLY
10214, SHIPPING DELAYS 10220, GRANNY 10217, BROKEN 10223, NOT AS ADVERTISED 10221,
BRO 10216, and 0.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Here are a few tricks of the trade I've found out.
15, 17, and 21. Those are the magic numbers for stats; any fighter who starts
with a stat (except Con and Size) at any of those numbers will have more beginning
skills than normal.
Stats: The stats in order of importance with regard to skills, most to least,
are wit, will, deftness, speed, and strength, with con giving you no skills, just hit
points and endurance. The higher you can start any of these, especially the first
three, the more skilled your fighter will be. Logically, therefore, what you really
want is a fighter who has wit, will, and deftness at 21. This will be a GOD! And
probably go out and get killed immediately due to low con...
Raising stats: Care must be taken in doing this. All fighters start out with
the ability to learn 20 skills in the categories of Defense, Parry, Riposte, Attack,
Decisiveness, and Inititive. When you learn all 120 skills, you've maxed out. You
can get skills though normal learns, or by raising stats; however, if you raise stats
BEFORE you max out (except for Con), anything gained will count as one of the 20.
This is called "burning" skills. If, on the other hand, you wait until you've maxed
out, then raising stats will add those skills to the ones you've learned, enabling you
to exceed your limits. But raising stats will give an immediate boost to your
abilities. It's a question of short term vs. long term gain, you see.
And aiming at vital areas - head, chest, and abdomen - will increase your chances
of getting kills. And being bloodfeuded, and maybe getting your fighter killed in
return. Keep in mind that what you send forth will come back to you. Sometimes
redoubled.
Roku
Warrior Handedness, is he a Righty, Lefty or Ambi?
Greetings, Joy and Happiness to everyone!!!! I hope everyone that reads this
article is doing well and remembering not to drink and duel. This article discusses
things about the handedness of a warrior. Most managers only worry about things like
skill, weapons and trains. Handedness is not a major factor in playing the game but
it's nice to know some things about it.
Most warriors will be right handed, with a small percentage left handed. Even
more scarce is the ambidextrous warrior. I believe that the defensive styles have a
higher percentage chance to be a lefty or an AMBI than offensive styles do. It's just
an observation that I made in the 513 warriors surveyed. Another note on that, I
notice that out of 211 parry-ripostes that I was using for a PR article, about 43% of
them were AMBIs. The highest percent of AMBIs out of all the styles polled.
When a manager puts weapons into his warriors hands and also when he tells his
warrior where to strike, handedness plays a key role in the manager's decision making.
I had a team with 4 AMBIs on it, and I started to do some experiments with them to see
how the AMBI thing worked. I noticed that in general the AMBI favors using the left
hand more than the right hand. But, there are a small percentage of AMBI warriors
that are reversed, where the right hand is used more than the left.
There also seems to be some confusion amongst managers that get the USE of a hand
mixed up with which hand the weapons go in (IE which is primary and which is off-
hand). Right handed warriors USE the RIGHT hand the most and the primary weapon is
the RIGHT hand, off hand is the left hand. For left-handed warriors, it is the
opposite of right-handed warriors, of course. The confusion comes with the AMBI
handed warriors. AMBIs USE the left hand more BUT the RIGHT hand holds the primary
weapon, and the left hand holds the off hand weapon. Every so often you will get an
AMBI that this is reversed, where the RIGHT hand is USED more and the PRIMARY weapon
is held in the LEFT hand. But this kind of ambi is extremely rare.
Well, that's it for now. Have fun, and watch out for that right hook... 'cause
it might be a left hook!!!!!
For more DM info, or just to chat you can DIPLO me at ADM 103, THE JOKER'S WILD.
You can also email me at 103260.3347@compuserve.com or visit my DM web site at the
following address: http://ourworld.compuserve.com./homepages/jessiejest/homepage.htm
Ta-Ta,
Sir Jessie Jest
The Arcane Slasher
I love the Slashing Style! Slashers are finesse artists, but they're much more
aggressive than your aimed-blow. Well-designed slashers are formidable opponents;
they are as ready to defend as to attack, though they prefer the latter. Fate has
been to kind to this style, perhaps too kind. Even a badly-designed slasher may do
well in basic, prompting many well-intentioned managers to promote questionable set-
ups as "the slasher ideal." After reading another `Eureka!' article, I am compelled
to add my 2 cents. I've learned how to design great slashers, and I'd like to pass on
my ideas to the rest of Alastari. I can't tell you how to keep them alive (in four
years I've only gotten one to ADM) but I can outline guidelines for creating a spooky
character that will win for you--until they die or get to ADM. Just remember that
decent opportunities to make a slasher aren't very common!
WT, WL, & DF--15 pts each at least. Period. If you don't have it, you don't
have a great slasher. Believe me, you can't afford to skimp anything here!
ST--Anything from 7-11 is fine. The smaller the character the higher the number,
but anything with a +9 size can get by with a 7 ST. For light armor use an epee, for
anything heavier use a pair of hatchets, a scimitar, or a broadsword, depending on ST.
CN & SP--Ideally, both are single-digit; if your con is high you're probably
looking at a WASTE. Whatever else you do, don't add them.
SZ--Since this is something we can't change anyway, don't worry about it. The
bigger they are the less points to spread around to other areas, though.
My slashers come up with the best overviews when I follow these guidelines. Most
earn at least four wit statements; about 50% either start out with an Expert or two,
or they pick them up within a couple of skills. One of my very best died in a
tourney: 6-3-11-15-51-11-17. He started out doing good damage; picked up Experts in
att, init, def, and rip. in two skills or less. This is an extreme example, but it
seems to me that the well-designed slasher gets more than their fair share of luck on
their overview. I've run one a lot worse that did fairly well--a winning record,
until he was killed by a veteran lunger: 11-7-14-15-15-7-15, good bases in attack and
init, four wit statements, great damage.
Running them?
Start out with an offensive effort of 10, and never let the OE drop below 7. How
quick you taper down depends on the endurance rating. Slashers burn endurance very
quickly; if you don't have good endurance drop right away from 10 to 7 and leave it
there unless desperate, then go back to 10. Otherwise try 10, then 9, then 7.
Remember, these are aggressive beasts; keep 'em on the offensive!
Keep the activity level fairly low except in the very beginning, when you should
be running 10. Then drop to 5 or 6, then 3 or 4m then 1. Go back up to 7 or 10 in
desperation.
Match your kill desire to your offensive effort, always.
Summary: 10-10-10, 9-5-9*, 7-3-7, 7-1-7 across. Desperation: 10-10-10 or 10-7-
10.
Avoid armor unless you MUST, but no higher than ARM and H.
Don't use tactics--they seem to inhibit the slasher's ability to riposte and
respond well to their opponent. Exception: to take out scum pick the heaviest weapon
your character can lift and use the slash tactic--go for the legs or the arms: 7-1-7.
Slash all the way!
These `rules' have worked for me. The biggest problem I've had is that my
slashers rise too high too quickly. Within five or six fights they're fighting
warriors with 15 fights' experience. So be forewarned; give them sometime off every
few turns so that they won't get clobbered by some old-timer looking for an easy win!
Good Luck!
The Arcane Kid, of Astral Kin, Osksi DM-3
*Remember, with `good' endurance only!
"The Basher"
My friends would laugh if they knew I was writing this, but who cares what they
think? The basher is not a bad style in my opinion. It starts with the same base
decisiveness as the striker, but has 4-5 more skills in initiative, and 3-4 more
skills in att. That's what makes this style so good. I mean, you have the ability to
get the jump on your opponent, you have the ability to hit your opponent, and who
cares about their high riposte with your high att rating combined with your exp+ in
initiative, they won't know what train hit them, much less think about the counter
attack.
O.K. I only make two types 1st the WL Basher:
#1 #2
12 13
10 11
10 9
21 16
15 15
9 13
7 7
Example #1--Currently 8-3-1 in Firehold (68) has Master+1 att, Master +1 init., and
Adv.Exp. dec., and is already sitting pretty with 80 recognition points.
Example #2--Currently 8-3-0 in Jhans (36) has Exp.+3 att, Adv.Exp. init., and Exp+3
dec. with 87 recognition points.
O.K., the other kind I like to call it the "High damage, low will, needs to end
the fight before he passes out with exhaustion" Basher. This type of basher relies on
his high damage capabilities to make up for his low WL. I've not had the best of luck
with these types of bashers, but I do know they can win (Warbeast has proved that to
me). The key is to get at least great damage on the roll-up. O.K. some examples:
#1 #2 #3
11 13 17
11 9 12
16 17 10
17 17 17
7 10 11
11 11 10
11 7 7
Example #1--I DA'ed, he didn't win
Example #2--Killed in round 1 of the winter FTF, went 4-3 in the Oct. Tournament,
learned 6 skills 5 being Att.
Example #3-1-0 in Jhans(36)
I run both styles ALE +L, WH light armor, mace medium armor, and WH heavy armor.
Go 10-10-7 dec 1st minute, and after min 1, go 8-8-5. WL basher, and the other kind
drop down drastically. Always aim for the head (it gets you an att bonus and could
score you a kill every now and then) unless you know you're gonna be up against a TP
or waste, then aim for a leg. Well that's gonna be it. Somebody write me and tell me
what you think.
Uncle Charlie Mgr.
Genocide (68)
Helter Skelter (36, 100)
The Anti-Thesis Slasher
Greetings all. No, this is definitely not another "Perfect" article. In fact,
it actually is just the opposite--finding success with a warrior whose stats were just
average. I am not an expert at this game and do not have near the experience that
some managers have. What I do have is some now solid experience with Slashers thanks
to this guy. So what I will do with this article is show you how my first attempt at
building a Slasher went, what it taught me, and maybe I can show a new or old manager
something about the style that can help their game.
This Slasher was my first attempt at the style. His starting stats were average
at 13-11-12-10-16-11-11. Definitely no Primus-quality warrior. By most people's
standards, he wouldn't have even been thought of as an ADM warrior because of his low
wit and will combo. Today, I don't know if I would even keep this guy, but at the
time I didn't know any better and kept him. I'm glad I did because he turned out to
be a good warrior, not great, but good and a fun one to watch.
He had three statements to start: "...learned how to be decisive and quick",
"...conserve his endurance past what might normally be expected", and "does great
damage". The last statement I think helped him a lot in many of his fights.
Weapons and Armor
Weapons-wise, all I knew about the Slashing style at the time was that a scimitar
was good, so I gave him one. He did well with it, so I kept using it. I didn't use
any off-hand weapon because I knew that an offensive-styled warrior could make quicker
attacks with a weapon using two hands. I gave him one back-up scimitar, knowing that
scimitars break though not that often.
Early on, I may have given him light armor and a helm, but later I discovered
that if he didn't get the first hit, he almost had no hope of winning. After all, the
credo of an offensive warrior is to "hit first, hit hard" and hope it ends the fight
quickly. I also started to realize he would never be a "great" warrior. My
philosophy changed and I could only hope to get him to ADM. So, I decided to use no
armor or helm, which slows warriors down.
Strategy:
Ah, the most important part of this warrior's winning ways. Looking back at his
early strategy, I wonder how he did so well. I started him going 10-10-10, attack and
protect the head with no tactics. My desperation strategy was usually 10-10-5, which
did nothing to help him. I used the decisiveness tactic since his overview said he
was decisive.
Through observing his fights and looking at what he preferred, I ironed out a
general strategy which I think is good for a lot of Slashers:
min. 1 2 3 4 5 6+ desp
OE 10 8 6 4 4 4 5
AL 10 4 2 2 2 2 8
KD 6 8 6 4 4 4 5
AL RA HE ----------------------->
PL AM BD -------------------> HE
Against more parry-type warriors like WOS and TP's, I've used a 10-6-6 min. One
strategy that he seems to like.
Design and Trains:
I started him off training skills only. But I soon learned that his average
stats meant that he wasn't going to learn very well. I decided late to train skills,
then stats, every other turn. The training of his will to 17 really helped his
endurance out. He finally went to ADM at 15-11-12-12-17-12-11. If I had recognized
earlier that he would not be a great warrior, and accepted that, then I might have
been about to train everything twice like in the "old" days and he would have gone at
15-13-12-12-18-13-13.
Record:
He started out great at 4-0-0, then was 8-4-1. He hit a rut and was soon 9-7-1.
He was mediocre in his middle fights but was above .500% at 14-12-2. He was under
.500% once at 14-15-2. Near the end of his regular DM career, with some careful
challenges and strategy changes, he went 5-0-0 and ended up 21-16-2. He was
Duelmaster for three turns in Cliffhome.
Final Notes:
So, what's the purpose of all this? It's to show that anyone can take a mediocre
warrior and through careful strategy and design build them into a formidable warrior.
I recognized long ago that this Slasher would never be great and accepted it. That's
what turned him into the warrior he is today. I was willing to take the risks
necessary to make him win. His name is E.G.B.D.F. (Every Good Boy Does Fine) and in
this case his name is true. I couldn't have asked more from him in his
accomplishments. He can be found fighting occasionally in Darkholm. He's taught me
an incredible amount about this style and has contributed to my 65% overall win-loss
record with them.
I'm open to feedback, positive or negative, and hope in some way that I've helped
someone learn more about this style.
So, good luck to all and may your swords ring true!
Brought to you by Talon, mgr. of
Eagles Claw (38,104), Farfignewtons (32)
where I'm known as Volksie, and other teams
throughout Alastari.