DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 03/10/2023    Duedate: 03/23/2023

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM 93    TURN 630

This Week's Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

WW II
SILENT GENERATION (1861)
(93-10906) [5-2-0,66]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY              PARTY
                               BB BACHELOR (1860)
                               (93-10899) [6-2-0,79]

Popularity Leader              This Week's Favorite

PLAYER                         SPAM
BB BACHELOR (1860)             SILENT GENERATION (1861)
(93-10896) [7-1-0,52]          (93-10903) [5-2-0,42]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

SILENT GENERATION (1861)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. SILENT GENERATION (1861)      65 
2. BB BACHELOR (1860)            -10   I10 (1871)
3. THE APOSTLES (1890)           -20   Unchartered Team
4. EAT A PEPPERCORNLEG (1886)    -23
5. THE PROBS (1885)              -25   SILENT GENERATION (1861)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 2*SILENT GENERATION (1861)  25  10  1 71.4   1/ 1*SILENT GENERATION (1861) 13  2 1
 2/ 3*BB BACHELOR (1860)        24  15  1 61.5   2/ 2*BB BACHELOR (1860)        5  4 0
 3- 4*THESE SCHMUCKS (1859)      0   1  0  0.0   3- 4*THESE SCHMUCKS (1859)     0  1 0

    '*'   Unchartered team                       '-'  Team did not fight this turn
   (###)  Avoid teams by their Team Id          ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

                                    TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Tripwire's Parry-Lunge

Ahh, the Parry Lunge. Strikes fear in the.. wait a minute, it doesn't strike fear into 
anyone now does it? I hope to change that, my friends. The Parry Lunge is probably one 
of the most diverse styles in the game and that can be a good and a bad thing. Good 
because you can do lots of things with them but also bad because they can be tough to 
figure out their favorites. The PL has the games best weapon in the SC, the games best 
defensive tactic in Dodge and arguably the best offensive tactic in Lunge (and 
Decise!). It can be used offensively and defensively with great efficiency.

STATS: I am going to be going with my all around PL instead of the Tank version or the 
LU version. I may throw in a few of those later but most people already know what a 
tank version (high CN) and a LU version (Low CN) looks like.

     ST: 7+
     CN: 9+
     SZ: as small as possible
     WT: 15+
     WL: 15+
     SP: any
     DF: 11+

ST: 9+ is where I try to keep it for SC use. 7 is ok to start with but try to get 9 as 
quickly as possible. You want Normal+ Damage.

CN: Like I said at the start if you go very low you will have to go offensive with 
your PL which is ok, but for the purpose of this PL (the all around PL) I want to keep 
it at least "takes normal damage".

SZ: Small as possible for defensive points (3-6) and for points being better elsewhere

WT: 15+ I know a lot of people make PL's with lower 11/13 etc.. But for this version I 
want to have as good a WT and learning as possible. For Tanks its ok to go lower and 
bump the CN/WL but I want to make a versitile PL with this one.

WL: 15+ I never go below Normal Endurance, and prefer Good+. Plus 15 WL and 17WL give 
you Att/Par/Def so the higher the better!

SP: Isn't needed. We aren't going to be trying to jump anyone.

DF: 11+ Again Att/Par/Def of 2 each starting at 11DF get as much as possible without 
hurting your other stats.

Ever had one of those trip 17 WT/WL/DF? But just didn't want another LU? A PL is perfect for those!

So lets take a look at a few of my favorite PL's that I have graduated and ones that I have had the most success with:

     10-10-9-17-17-4-17 (VL/HI, SC)
     11-12-7-21-15-5-13 (HI/HI, LS) 2 Time TV
     11-9-8-17-15-9-15 (HI/HI, SC, Parry) 1 Time TV
     9-13-10-21-15-5-11, (VL/HI, SH, Dodge) 1 time TV
     7-11-13-17-21-4-11, (MO/HI, SS, Parry) 1 time TV
     9-13-10-15-15-7-15, (LO/VH, LO)
     10-12-5-17-21-8-11, (LO/MO, SC)

STRATEGY: Ok now we get down to it. Strategy. The bread and butter. The PL's can have 
favorite Offensive Efforts of VL to HI and favorite Activity Levels of LO to VH, so no 
VH OE and no VL AL as favorites. They can be blessed (and hosed) in everything. A 
majority of favorites according to terrabloods is MO/MO which seems to fit the mold. 
However, I will have to say that I have graduated 12 PL's over my entire career and 
only 1 has ever gotten MO/MO. A majority have gotten VL/HI (4) or HI/HI (3), the rest 
are scattered around MO/MO.

Ok I am going to use the second PL above for my strategy as I think that is a fairly 
easy set of numbers to come by. 11-12-7-21-15-5-13. Lets take a look at the starting 
skills: 9/8/13/5/8/6. First thing that comes to mind? Man is he slow! And wow not much 
parry! Thats all good though. #1 we aren't looking to jump anyone. #2 the dodge makes 
up for it! Here is a little secret. Parry stinks! Dodge is king! I am not saying I 
don't use it. I do, but remember that secret when your PL starts moving up into the 
Init/Adept ranks. Parry is good early, not so good middle+.

ARMOR/WEAPONS: I NEVER go over encumbrance unless I specifically am challenging say a 
ST and know the fight will be over quickly. For the most part I will stick with 
Encumbrance or below, in this case 16. So ASM/H (11), vs Light: SC/DA (4), vs Medium: 
LO/DA(4), vs Heavy: SC(3), backup DA(1). I always want an offhand weapon in my PL's 
grip be it a dagger or shortsword. I am hopefull going to be dodging more than 
parrying. A shield would be good if you were just going to parry, but I always say 
heck if I am going to hopefully be dodging why have a shield? Put a weapon there and 
if you have to parry you still have something in your offhand as well.

Ok now the tricky part. How the heck do I run this guy? His best numbers are (attack 
13 and dodge Cool with a nice mix of init (9) and rip (Cool. So we want to what? 
Attack and dodge and hopefully be able to keep the init and rip when we do it. Great. 
So why not just run 10-10-x and be a lunger? Because then your missing out on Dodge, 
natural want to parry and his rip. Why miss out on that stuff when its there? With 
this brand new PL I want to use that nice attack but also be ready to move around if 
need be. This particular guy has greater defense skills than he does parry skills. 
However, PL's like to parry as well. As much as I have been talking about dodge, don't 
forget they will parry a lot as well.

Here is how I would run him in his general strat to start:

     Min 1: MO/HI Dodge (probably: 5-8-x Dodge).
     Min 2: MO/MO (probably: 6-5-x)
     Min 3: MO/LO (probably: 5-3-x)
     Min 4+: LO/VL (probably: 4-1-x)
     Desp: LO/HI Dodge (probably 3-8-x Dodge)

Now the strategy will indeed change depending on the setup of your PL and you need to 
really watch how your PL responds to the strategy. I have had many PL's that will 
swing like CRAZY going VL/HI or VL/MO. And some that never swing at all running HI/HI. 
PL's take a lot of work and a lot of care. It is not one of those styles that you 
simply put on autopilot with 1 strat and let go. If you want that go pick a ST or TP 
or something. This takes work and is why you will end up loving your PL's more than 
other styles IMHO.

If you know you are going against an offensive style use the strat above and even 
armor up a bit more if you want (although when I am dodging I don't like to go above 
encumbrance). If you are going against a Scum (you probably want to stay away from 
them if possible) but if you have to go with very low armor ALE/L, SC backup SC. A 
normal endurance PL can go a LONG time if running right. Something like: Min1: 5-3-x, 
Min 2+ 4-1-x.

As your PL's begin to get older and gain more skills, drop the tactics! I normally 
drop the tactics after Expert in that area. So if he has 16 Parry and 12 Defense. Use 
Dodge but not parry. If he has 16 Parry and 16 Defense. Don't force it to use 
something it doesn't want (unless in specific situations) let it go at MO/MO or MO/HI 
no tactic. Most of my PL's before they graduate never use tactics at all except in 
special circumstances. One of my favorite PL's ever was a decise favorite. And the PL 
CAN get the Decise tactic as favorite. You would be shocked at how much decise they 
get and quickly. Heck if they learn it early on fast, USE the decise tactic and 
suprise some Lungers and Slashers out there.

Last note: This is the Tripwire PL. I definately don't mean to step on anyone's toes 
or say this doesn't work or that doesn't work. I am not a fan of Tank PL's with low 
WT, but many people can tell you they work. I am not a fan of the low CN version that 
runs like LU's. It works for some, but I haven't had great success. Next time you are 
struggling with a rollup that "Should" be a good something. Think about PL. It can 
open up a world of new posibilities.

Assur's Addendum

Tripwire's guide is without equal on the Parry Lunge style.  That said, I have 
following comments (having been focusing on this style for the about 3 years).  First, 
this is a difficult style to win with.  Even armed with this guide, you will not find 
winning trivial (especially in tourneys). 

Next, a couple items I'd like to highlight from his article:

For best results, you will need to pay close attention to your PL.

"This takes work and is why you will end up loving your PL's more than other styles 
IMHO." -- I haven't put in the work, so I can't comment directly on this statement, 
but after my 12 grads, I have not fallen in love with my parry lungers more than my 
other styles.  I only hope that one or more of them does turn into a successful 
warrior in ADM or Eligibles (where they seem to have the most success).

I have had more success with more STR & CON than he recommends as minimums than with 
closer to the minimums.  I have modeled my PL's after his, but the ones on the higher 
side of STR/CON have done better for me.  I've also not had many of the better kind of 
setups he's described here (they are more rare than common).  Almost all my PL's 
started 11 deftness, so I haven't followed his model perfectly in this regards.

Interestingly at the time of this writing, my lone TV with a Parry Lunger is:

21-12-7-17-9-7-11 PL, who doesn't fit the model well at all.  You'll also notice that 
with one exception, the TV PL's that Tripwire mentions are also not at the minimum CON 
level.

                                 DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
                             Notes from the arena champ.

     Tis about time a decent warrior took over Noblish Island. that previous Party guy 
was nothing but a playboy and a piker. And, his manager has a name which starts with a 
s s? Sheesh!
     But now I am here, and all is well. I represent The Silent Generation proudly. 
(Did you know that our big boss buy is the only manager in the D2 game born in The 
Silent Generation? (That would make for a great Jeopardy question!)
     Life is sweet, but I would prefer a little more population on this Island. Eh?

                                          -- WW II, Duelmaster

                                      SPY REPORT

     Much has changed in NOBLISH ISLAND since last I was here.  Never fear, Olaf 
Modeen adapts to many situations, as do all successful fighters.  What's with 
MCCARTHY?  He actually beat BB BACHELOR's UNCLEAN, and walked away with 19 more 
points from the fight.  Major screwup at BB BACHELOR.  UNCLEAN lost 15 points to 
MCCARTHY.  Some new strategies, perhaps?  Maybe UNCLEAN will provide more easy 
wins...  VETERAN MERCENARY was reminded on the sands why WW II is Duelmaster.  
Wouldn't it be nice to have live subjects to practice on?  I hear some team is 
looking into the uses of convicted prisoners.   
     No matter the time or place, men will always duel.  The most avoided team was BB 
BACHELOR.  Management must be dealin', as the boys at SILENT GENERATION ain't 
reelin'!  BB BACHELOR's mad!  What do people see in ONE NIGHT STAND?  His 3-4-0?  BB 
BACHELOR ain't talkin', but he's got 18 points.  I hate going to the effort of 
writing about the kind of fights that SPAM gets in.  It fights people like ONE NIGHT 
STAND, 8 points below.  I thought SPAM showed great skill and promise when it 
overcame ONE NIGHT STAND.  All right, so I slept through it!  Big deal!   
     There have been some calls to lengthen the time limit.  Do you want the fighters 
to walk away, or not?  Here's some advice:  study your opponent, master many skills, 
fight dirty.   
     Who knows what the future holds for a warrior.  More fights, there's no doubt.  
The end of another Spyreport!  That's cause for celebration in my book!  Remember--a 
good fighter needs both good skills and good luck.  Until next time,-- Olaf Modeen  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 WW II 10906                   5   2  0  66         SILENT GENERATION (1861)  

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-STEVE 10964                  12   3  1 100         I10 (1871)                

CHAMPIONS                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-PIERCE 10962                 12   3  0  89         I10 (1871)                
 PARTY 10899                   6   2  0  79         BB BACHELOR (1860)        
-KHARMA 10981                  8   5  0  75         I5 (1875)                 

CHALLENGER ADEPTS              W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-TUESDAY 10959                 9   9  5  60         I14 (1870)                
-BRISKET 10948                11   7  0  58         I9 (1869)                 

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-THIRSTY THURSDAY 10954       10   7  0  56         I14 (1870)                
 PLAYER 10896                  7   1  0  52         BB BACHELOR (1860)        
 MCCARTHY 10902                5   2  0  52         SILENT GENERATION (1861)  
-CARMELLA 10985                7   6  0  50         I5 (1875)                 
-SALMON 10943                  7   8  0  48         I9 (1869)                 
-LILY HEMSWOLF 10979           7   7  0  48         I7 (1874)                 
-MLOEREGAN 10970               7   9  0  47         I11 (1872)                
-SIR RUNT 10999                4   0  0  45         I2 (1878)                 
-WALLY 10965                   9   6  1  43         I10 (1871)                
 SPAM 10903                    5   2  0  42         SILENT GENERATION (1861)  
-GROG 10960                    9   6  2  40         I10 (1871)                
-FRIDAY 10956                  9   9  0  37         I14 (1870)                
-BLAH 10966                    8   8  0  36         I11 (1872)                
-GABRIELLA 10982               8   5  0  35         I5 (1875)                 
 SILENT MAJORITY 10905         5   2  1  35         SILENT GENERATION (1861)  
-UNORIGINAL 10968              9   7  0  34         I11 (1872)                

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-AWA UFUOMA 10977              4  10  0  33         I7 (1874)                 
-EMBER 10984                   4   9  0  33         I5 (1875)                 
-ALDANI 10974                  3  11  0  32         I12 (1873)                
-TEXAS TWINKIE 10945           5  13  1  29         I9 (1869)                 
 UNCLEAN 10898                 5   3  0  29         BB BACHELOR (1860)        
-BORING 10967                  6  10  0  28         I11 (1872)                
 GREAT DEPRESSION 10904        5   2  0  28         SILENT GENERATION (1861)  
-GATTICA 10989                 3   3  0  28         I4 (1876)                 
-PORK BUTT 10944               6   9  0  27         I9 (1869)                 
-MEI JIN 10969                 5  11  0  26         I11 (1872)                
-JAVA BEAN 10976               4  10  1  24         I7 (1874)                 
-SPARTACUS 10988               3   3  0  24         I4 (1876)                 
-SOTH 10975                    2  13  0  24         I12 (1873)                

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-SIR EDMUND 10996              2   2  0  23         I2 (1878)                 
-SCOTTY 10986                  3   3  0  21         I4 (1876)                 
-SIR CORRIANDER 10998          3   1  0  21         I2 (1878)                 
 ONE NIGHT STAND 10895         3   4  0  18         BB BACHELOR (1860)        
-SIR AGRO'S ALOT 10980         2  12  0  18         I7 (1874)                 
 NO CARES 10897                3   5  1  15         BB BACHELOR (1860)        
-SIR FENNEL 10997              3   1  0  12         I2 (1878)                 
-DENGA 10987                   2   4  0  10         I4 (1876)                 

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-STEPHANIE 10892               0   1  0   1         THESE SCHMUCKS (1859)     

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Whoa! What a lonely place! Just me and my warriors and the NPC gang? Sheesh. Has the 
Pandemic struck Noblish Isle? -- FDR

But, then, the 5-0 vs. the NPCs was a nice adder. -- FDR

While fDR is leading this clan, and while I am flashing back on MY generation, I am 
reading Herman Wouk's "Winds Of War" and "War And Remembrance" which are historic 
novels with true details about World War II. Over 2000 pages in the two books, but a 
really, really fine read. -- The Consortium

FDR -- A lot of words from your crew for a silent generation! -- Assur

FDR -- You should know well how to avoid your opponent by not fighting at all! It is a 
standard Consortium / old school technique -- Assur
(ok, maybe my orders didn't arrive in time)

Welcome to all the folks from OrcCon 2023! We enjoyed meeting you and hope you enjoy 
the games! -- RSI

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

SPAM devastated ONE NIGHT STAND in a 2 minute mismatched Challenge fight.
WW II outwaited VETERAN MERCENARY in a action packed 8 minute Title battle.
PARTY demolished KUNG-FU MASTER in a 1 minute uneven fight.
PLAYER bested GREAT DEPRESSION in a 2 minute contest.
UNCLEAN was overpowered by MCCARTHY in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
SILENT MAJORITY devastated NO CARES in a 1 minute uneven brawl.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK                  2         LUNGING ATTACK     1 -   0 -  0     100  |
|AIMED BLOW                       2         PARRY-LUNGE        7 -   2 -  0      78  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      2         STRIKING ATTACK   15 -   5 -  1      75  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      1         PARRY-STRIKE       7 -   3 -  0      70  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         AIMED BLOW        13 -   6 -  0      68  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  1         BASHING ATTACK     9 -   7 -  0      56  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   1         TOTAL PARRY       15 -  13 -  1      54  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    0         SLASHING ATTACK    4 -   5 -  1      44  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   0         PARRY-RIPOSTE      2 -   3 -  0      40  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    0         WALL OF STEEL      0 -   2 -  0       0  |

Turn 630 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     PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -  0         3  STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE       1 -  0     LUNGING ATTACK     0 -  0         2  SLASHING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  0     SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  1         1  TOTAL PARRY    
AIMED BLOW         1 -  1     BASHING ATTACK     0 -  1         1  AIMED BLOW     
TOTAL PARRY        1 -  1     WALL OF STEEL      0 -  0         1  PARRY-STRIKE   
                                                                1  BASHING ATTACK 
                                                                1  PARRY-LUNGE    
                                                                1  LUNGING ATTACK 

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
TOTAL PARRY      WW II 10906                 5   2  0   66 SILENT GENERATION (1861)
PARRY-STRIKE     PARTY 10899                 6   2  0   79 BB BACHELOR (1860)
PARRY-LUNGE      PLAYER 10896                7   1  0   52 BB BACHELOR (1860)
STRIKING ATTACK  MCCARTHY 10902              5   2  0   52 SILENT GENERATION (1861)
AIMED BLOW       SPAM 10903                  5   2  0   42 SILENT GENERATION (1861)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is PLAYER 10896.  The most popular warrior this turn 
was SPAM 10903.  The ten other most popular fighters were PLAYER 10896, PARTY 10899, 
MCCARTHY 10902, SILENT MAJORITY 10905, GREAT DEPRESSION 10904, ONE NIGHT STAND 10895, 
WW II 10906, UNCLEAN 10898, NO CARES 10897, and  0.

The least popular fighter this week was NO CARES 10897.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were UNCLEAN 10898, WW II 10906, ONE NIGHT STAND 10895, GREAT DEPRESSION 
10904, SILENT MAJORITY 10905, MCCARTHY 10902, PARTY 10899, PLAYER 10896, SPAM 10903, 
and  0.