DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 11/18/2022 Duedate: 12/01/2022
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM 93 TURN 622
This Week's Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
SNEEZER MCGEEZER
AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
(93-10873) [7-0-1,75]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
FER-DE-LANCE SNEEZER MCGEEZER
SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855) AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
(93-10871) [7-3-0,59] (93-10873) [7-0-1,75]
Popularity Leader This Week's Favorite
RATTLER BURPING BELLFLOWER
SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855) AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
(93-10868) [6-4-0,57] (93-10875) [3-4-0,22]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BB BACHELOR (1860) 66
2. AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856) 31 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
3. SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855) 15 Unchartered Team
BB BACHELOR (1860)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 0*BB BACHELOR (1860) 5 0 0 100. 1/ 1*AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856) 10 5 1
2/ 1 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855) 32 16 1 66.7 2/ 2 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855) 9 4 0
3/ 2*AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856) 21 14 1 60.0 3/ 0*BB BACHELOR (1860) 5 0 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
Design thoughts from Assur: BB Bachelor
When you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each style, you will be a
better manager for it. Sometimes, you can choose many styles without hindering the
setup so much. Other times, you should stick with what a setup does best. And
sometimes, a setup should just not be used.
For the second time in a row, I have chosen to select my five styles before
looking at the numbers. While not 'strictly' true, I had the goal of making an AB,
PL, PS, SL, and TP. If the team could do that successfully, I'd be chasing after a
longer term goal I have.
Setup #1: 5-10-12-10-10-12-11. This is a nice average setup with low strength. A
Pure Offensive or Strong Hybrid style is what I'd recommend on this one. Something
like 11-10-12-13-15-12-11 LU/SL or 9-10-12-15-10-12-11 ST (with 5 discretionary
points, 15 WL or 15 DF probably the main choice). I only have two setups that can get
to 17 deftness, so if I want an AB, I want to make one of those two into an AB. This
one is perfect. AB's can deal with low starting strength. 7-10-12-15-10-12-17 AB
with 1 discretionary point looks about right. That last point could easily go on str,
con, wil, or spd. I chose str.
Setup #2: 13-3-9-15-7-10-13. You will learn to love 21 wit in this game. This is
clearly a pure offensive. Because of the low will, striker would normally be the
style of choice. I'd recommend 17-3-9-21-9-10-13 ST with 2 discretionary points every
time. For my purposes, this is clearly my PS. PS's are largely considered the worst
style in the game (and to some degree they've earned that reputation). Do not make
average or bad setups into PS's. It just isn't very productive. In my case, this is
an above average setup and I can run it just like a striker. I added the
discretionary points to dft.
Setup #3: 10-9-12-9-15-5-10. This one is another very nice setup (as is #2).
Many managers will tell you to go 11-9-12-15-21-5-11 and be happy. Lots of style
choices. I tend towards leaving WT at 11 (or 13 for LU's) if I can't get to 17. I'd
add those points to str and con. Because my goal is getting these warriors quickly to
graduation, I went with the traditional choice of 15 wit and I have my PL.
Setup #4 and #5: 12-7-16-5-8-12-10 and 6-11-16-7-12-15-3. I show these together
because they are not good. The first has a maximum wit+will of 25 if you add 12
points to those two stats. The second has the very unenviable pairs of low ST/WT,
WT/DF, WT/DF. I'd recommend all managers to DA #5. #4 is not as bad, but it also
isn't that good. 15-7-16-11-10-14-11 BA has ways to win fights, but that wit+will
combo is just terrible. For my purposes, I could do something similar as a SL. But
given setup #5, I make #4 into my TP and put points into con and wil. 12-13-16-11-8-
13-11 TP is what I end up with. Not pretty, and this team very well not work for my
goals, but this is what I'm going to try.
Setup #5 then becomes my SL. I choose to sacrifice deftness. This strategy works
sometimes (though the sometimes I refer to involve very high wit+wil)... Maxing
str+wit+wil gives me 9-11-16-13-17-15-3. I will optimistically use the SC and hope he
likes it. If he doesn't, I'll be trying SH and HA.
SPY REPORT
It's me, The Unknown Spymaster, back to give you this week's Spy Report. Sit
back in your seats and we'll have more fun than a barrel of Zontanis. Don't these
new hotshots make you sick (or, if they fought you, hurt)? BB BACHELOR, on their
very first turn, went 5-0-0. Hey everybody, watch out for PARTY, who flew up 20
points in the rankings after mashing EMBEZZLING SCRIBE like a melon. Keep your eye
on this guy. And falling like a basher in the top ten was NOSE DRIPPING FOE, who
dropped 2 points after a disappointing (to say the least) bout with RATTLER. Going
for the gusto and coming up with aught but bloody knuckles was NOBLISH ISLAND's
VETERAN MERCENARY, who was turned away from the Duelmastership by SNEEZER MCGEEZER.
4 out of 5 gladiators surveyed protect the body, so try and avoid aiming at that
location.
Let's dig a little deeper into what's happening in the NOBLISH ISLAND arena.
And hey, kiddies, those of you who didn't avoid AUDACIOUS STABLE, please raise you
hand. Wow. Does NOBLISH ISLAND really have that many liars? And you guys like to
boo me? Well, unsling your rasberries, cause SNAKE IN THE GRASS beats feet every
time AUDACIOUS STABLE smiles at them. Try farming, eh?
Being a spy is great--other people die and you spend the rest of the day
drinking to their memory. Better tanked than dead! Ask not the elves for counsel,
for they will say both yes and no. Silly buggers, eh?
I think I had better cut this one short. It's been nice chatting to those of
you whom I have not offended yet. Well, there goes another Spy Report. Good luck in
next week's fights. And remember, you can pick your friends and you can pick
your--(loud boos), oh, you've heard that one already!-- The Unknown Spymaster
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SNEEZER MCGEEZER 10873 7 0 1 75 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
FER-DE-LANCE 10871 7 3 0 59 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
RATTLER 10868 6 4 0 57 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PYTHON 10869 9 1 0 30 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
SNORTER MCWORTER 10872 3 4 0 27 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
NOSE DRIPPING FOE 10874 4 3 0 24 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BURPING BELLFLOWER 10875 3 4 0 22 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
WHEEZER MCGEEZER 10876 4 3 0 21 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
PARTY 10899 1 0 0 20 BB BACHELOR (1860)
NO CARES 10897 1 0 0 13 BB BACHELOR (1860)
UNCLEAN 10898 1 0 0 13 BB BACHELOR (1860)
PLAYER 10896 1 0 0 11 BB BACHELOR (1860)
ONE NIGHT STAND 10895 1 0 0 9 BB BACHELOR (1860)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
COBRA 10870 4 5 1 SNAKE IN THE GR 1855 SNEEZER MCGEEZE 10873 621
PERSONAL ADS
Well, now, what was that!? A 3-2-0-2 round? Two dead snakes? Hammer's Sneezer
eradicated Cobra, and that Veteran Mercenary killed my Duelmaster Asp? Amazing!
Unbelievable! Yet, Snake In The Grass is top point-getter and Team On The Move? With
Only One Round to go, this is, well, interesting! -- Snake Charmer
Fie to you, Hammer! At least you can do something Assur can't. (wink) -- Snake Charmer
FYI:
Cobra 17-9-10-15-9-17-7 BA poor endu, good dmg
Asp 17-12-15-17-9-3-11 ST poor endu, great dmg ambi -- 6 time Duelmaster
-- Snake In The Grass
Userous Merchant, as you can see, I won't put up with your crap! -- Rattler
Dealy, Rude Staff, The Boss wishes ALL his snakes had challenged BB Air Travelers.
Then we would have been 5-0-0-0 rather than 3-2-0-2. -- Fer-De-Lance and Python
P.S. You were both quite easy.
Odd Squad, good to see you back here on Noblish Island. -- Snake Charmer
We slither and we bite, and some of us even crush, but we are now all through here in
Noblish. Good bye and good luck to all. -- Snake Charmer
A salute to the Duelmaster, Sneezer McGeezer. Well done, Hammer. -- Snake In The Grass
I mention 25 total WT+WL. Most of the time, this would be my recommended minimum for
warriors. And not just 'any' combination of 25. WL has a skill dead zone between 7
and 15. There is only one skill given from 7-15 (a single decise skill at 9). So
most people recommend 9 or 15 WL (I actually say 7 or 15, with 9 for pure offensives
that want that decise skill). The only caveat to this 9 or 15 is that warriors need
enough endurance. 7 isn't enough for most warriors, so 9, 10, or even 11 will makes
sense at times. 11 wit is a big skill breakpoint, so you see a lot of 11 wit
warriors. BUT... The 25+ total is a good guideline. -- Assur
Some combos that 'can' work with lower that 25 wit+will:
* 15-9 or 15-7. x-x-x-15-9-x-21 AB's can be beautiful. 15-9 pure offensives can also
work. 15-7 hybrids also have been shown to be successful (usually PR because of the
endurance concerns, but other styles are possible).
* 11-9 or 11-7. See comments for 15-9 and 15-7. Several managers make these for
Rookies, optimizing the 11 wit skills, sacrificing will, and intending to retire the
warrior after Rookies.
* 3-15 TP (or preferably 3-17 or 3-21). At one time (before AB's were everywhere),
scum TP's were one of the strongest designs in the game. 11+ deftness, lots of
str/con/wil. Who cares about the rest. But take, for example, the 16-14-9-3-9-3-16
replacement setup. The WT+WL looks terrible. But lots of managers will look at this
and see potential. As a TP, something like 17-20-9-3-15-3-17, is very strong.
Tremendous hit points and carry. Great endurance. And 13 starting parry skills.
This is a low wit+will TP that opposing managers will likely hate.
* Amusingly, there is another design that lots of veteran managers will see on this
particular setup! 17-16-9-3-15-3-21 AB (also works as a higher skilled version of
the TP). This design is mostly terrible, except... If you fast forward to the part
where he lost a bunch of fights while struggling to learn skills, you have a
Freshman warrior that looks not unlike one of the most common designs in Bloodgames
for AB's. That design is known as the Jalon design (the first known warrior to use
it). 17-16-3-3-21-3-21. This design does VERY, VERY well in bloodgames. It is a
very strong Rookie (if you have a DYO prize to make one). And when you bust those
double 21's in a tournament... These have won many tournament prizes. My example
is clearly inferior, with only a single 21, but the idea is similar.
-- Assur
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
SNEEZER MCGEEZER bested VETERAN MERCENARY in a 4 minute Title fight.
FER-DE-LANCE devastated AMBITIOUS GUARD in a action packed 1 minute one-sided duel.
RATTLER overpowered NOSE DRIPPING FOE in a 1 minute mismatched duel.
PYTHON bested BURPING BELLFLOWER in a popular 6 minute fight.
SNORTER MCWORTER demolished CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute mismatched competition.
WHEEZER MCGEEZER vanquished CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute mismatched fight.
ONE NIGHT STAND beat PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a slow 4 minute amateur's brawl.
PLAYER overcame PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 1 minute beginner's melee.
NO CARES vanquished CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
UNCLEAN vanquished CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
PARTY overpowered EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute uneven match.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|TOTAL PARRY 4 LUNGING ATTACK 10 - 2 - 0 83 |
|AIMED BLOW 2 TOTAL PARRY 29 - 13 - 1 69 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 PARRY-STRIKE 8 - 4 - 0 67 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 AIMED BLOW 14 - 7 - 0 67 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 SLASHING ATTACK 5 - 4 - 0 56 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 STRIKING ATTACK 11 - 14 - 0 44 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 1 BASHING ATTACK 17 - 23 - 1 43 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 - 9 - 0 40 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 0 PARRY-LUNGE 4 - 8 - 0 33 |
|WALL OF STEEL 0 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 1 - 0 0 |
Turn 622 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:
AIMED BLOW 2 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 1 3 TOTAL PARRY
PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 0 2 AIMED BLOW
PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 0 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 1 STRIKING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 0 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
TOTAL PARRY 4 - 0 1 PARRY-STRIKE
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
TOTAL PARRY SNEEZER MCGEEZER 10873 7 0 1 75 AUDACIOUS STABLE (1856)
AIMED BLOW FER-DE-LANCE 10871 7 3 0 59 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
BASHING ATTACK RATTLER 10868 6 4 0 57 SNAKE IN THE GRASS (1855)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is RATTLER 10868. The most popular warrior this turn
was BURPING BELLFLOWER 10875. The ten other most popular fighters were SNEEZER
MCGEEZER 10873, FER-DE-LANCE 10871, PLAYER 10896, SNORTER MCWORTER 10872, NO CARES
10897, PARTY 10899, RATTLER 10868, WHEEZER MCGEEZER 10876, UNCLEAN 10898, and NOSE
DRIPPING FOE 10874.
The least popular fighter this week was ONE NIGHT STAND 10895. The other ten least
popular fighters were PYTHON 10869, NOSE DRIPPING FOE 10874, UNCLEAN 10898, WHEEZER
MCGEEZER 10876, RATTLER 10868, PARTY 10899, NO CARES 10897, SNORTER MCWORTER 10872,
PLAYER 10896, and FER-DE-LANCE 10871.
MAIL-IN TOURNEY LXXVI