DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 12/27/2024 Duedate: 01/09/2025
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM 93 TURN 677
This Week's Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
ASTRID
EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
(93-11332) [7-0-0,77]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
ASTRID HERBIE HANBARK
EMU'S STRAIN (1931) FRESH MEAT (1929)
(93-11332) [7-0-0,77] (93-11296) [4-4-1,56]
Popularity Leader This Week's Favorite
DAHLIA ASTRID
EMU'S STRAIN (1931) EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
(93-11330) [4-3-0,44] (93-11332) [7-0-0,77]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939) 42
2. EMU'S STRAIN (1931) 38 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
3. FRESH MEAT (1929) 13 Unchartered Team
4. COLORITES (1938) -7
BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939) 13 1 0 92.9 1/ 1*BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939) 13 1 0
2/ 3*FRESH MEAT (1929) 20 20 5 50.0 2/ 4*FRESH MEAT (1929) 6 4 2
3/ 2*COLORITES (1938) 9 11 3 45.0 3/ 3 EMU'S STRAIN (1931) 5 5 0
4/ 4 EMU'S STRAIN (1931) 19 28 1 40.4 4/ 2*COLORITES (1938) 5 10 2
5- 5*JJKIER (1935) 0 4 0 0.0 5- 5*JJKIER (1935) 0 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
Assur's Guide to Riposting Hybrids
The following describes Assur's vision of a hybrid warrior that relies on riposte to
win. Hybrids are the hardest warriors to master, but great hybrids are tough to beat.
From here on out, when I say hybrids, I am specifically talking about Hybrids designed
to win with riposte.
Riposte messages in the fight are the message you often see right after a warrior
parries or dodges that reads something like:
Hybrid steps back, and then rushes forward in a counterstrike!
There are a number of such messages that all mean you are using your riposte skill.
Riposte Skills are given (when creating warriors) at:
WIT: 5,7,15,17,21(x2)
SPD: 5,7,9,13(x3),15,17,19,21
DFT: 4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20
1) Design
Hybrids need a balance of physicals and skills. More is always better, but your
hybrid cannot start with 21's in all stats, so...
Encumbrance is one of the most important attributes. You do not want to over-encumber
your hybrid for most all fights. Your armor will be chosen according to your ability
to carry weight. A guideline: APL -- 9 Str/Con. ASM -- 11 Str/Con. APA 14 Str/Con
Realize that with those minimum str/con values, you need to be careful with helms and
weapons or you will be over-encumbered. Sometimes it is fine to carry too much, but
if you aren't sure who you are fighting, stay under your limit!
Hit Points are wonderful. Hybrids love hit points. The more the better because there
are nasty pure offensives that will try to take you down and they are good at it.
Damage and Endurance are not as important, but you want some. Little damage is tough
to work with. Endurance depends on your style (Suggested Minimums: Poor for PR/AB,
Good for L)
The most important skills are your parry/defense and attack skills. You'll want some
riposte skills and initiative skills don't hurt. Decise is almost useless for
Hybrids.
I would recommend at least one of your encumbrance, hit points, or defensive skills to
be on the high side, preferably two of them.
With all that in mind, here is what your stats should look like:
Str: 9+ Con: medium+ Siz: any Wit: 11+ Will: 7-21 Spd: 3-9 Dft: 11+
*** 13 speed is a big breakpoint for riposte skills. 10-12 is a bad starting place
*** While an 11 wit PR can learn enough skills to compete as a hybrid, that same 11
wit total parry or lunger might have more difficulty as they learn too many of
their primary skills and not enough of their secondary skills.
2) Style Choice
Only two styles naturally learn riposte. However, because initiative is underpowered,
you can live with a non-riposte learning style.
Parry Ripostes are the king of this type of hybrid. The naturally learn att/par/rip,
though they often learn too much riposte and not enough of the other two. They learn
init and decise last.
Aimed Blows learn attack and riposte naturally, but do not learn their defensive
skills as fast. Still, they can make excellent hybrids, but when you put 21 points on
deftness, it is difficult to find a balance with the rest of your stats.
Lungers are the king of all the hybrids (as you'll see in my follow ups the next
couple of turns). They have high attack and defense bases. They have the highest
total skills of all styles (tied with WOS's). They learn defense and init skills
first, but attack and riposte are their secondary skills, so they will learn some
riposte. They burn endurance fast, so it is recommended to start with high will.
Total Parries can be run very similar to Parry Ripostes. They have better natural
defenses, but worse attack and riposte. As mentioned before, they learn defense and
parry first, but attack and riposte are their secondary learns, so they can still make
good hybrids, especially with high wit.
Walls of Steel and Parry Lungers, do not learn riposte much at all. It can be their
favorite learn, but usually it is not. That said, because of their
attack/init/defenses, these styles can be run as a riposting hybrid. Riposte is one
of the easiest skills to 'fake.' Again, these are high skill/high endurance burn
styles, so make sure they have more endurance than I suggest as minimum.
3) Weapon Selection
I am not a fan of shields on Riposting Hybrids. You are trying to attack and nothing
is worse than attacking with a shield (which tends to do no damage). It is
recommended to use the best weapons in the game that you qualify for. I tend to use
off-hand daggers for PR's and PL's and a single weapon with the other styles.
For main hand, I usually pick (style dependent) in order of preference: BA, SC (poor
against scale), BS, LO (poor against plate)
Feel free to experiment with other weapons. Most of the time, weapon selection will
not be the deciding factor in the fight. Different weapons have different strengths
and weaknesses. Until you start to learn those strengths, the safe choice are the top
overall weapons in the game.
4) Strategy and tactics
This is where things get difficult. You really need to experiment to find where your
hybrid wants to fight. Different warriors like different rhythms and typically your
favorite rhythms are a good place to start for most of these hybrids. For AB's, I
tend to ignore their favorite activity level and run 7-10 in early minutes. What
works on one hybrid may not work on another. When your hybrid starts to act like a
monster at a certain set of numbers, you may be hitting his favorites. For reference,
the 'most common' set of favorites for the styles mentioned in this article:
PR: 5-6 AL/3-4 OE TP: 3-4 AL/1-2 OE
AB: 3-4 AL/3-4 OE PL: 5-6 AL/5-6 OE
L: 7-8 AL/7-8 OE WOS: 3-4 AL/5-6 OE
Once again, this is only a place to start. These numbers may work well or not at all
for your warrior. But, it is not a bad place to start. And if you're going to err,
I'd recommend erring on the higher side. But one of my favorite hybrids was a Total
Parry that went crazy running 2 OE. He always wanted to attack.
If you refuse to attack after a riposte messages, consider lowering armor or raising
your activity level and offensive effort AND drop any tactics you are using.
As I mentioned, riposte is easy to fake. The Riposte tactic is a wonderful tool for
warriors that need help in the riposte department. Very rarely will AB's or PR's need
to use this tactic (and I almost never use it for those two styles). The hardest
styles to riposte are typically Slashers and Lungers (and sometimes Wall of Steels and
Parry Lungers, depending how they are running). These two styles tend to be running
fast and have lots of initiative and though it is underpowered, if you have enough, it
is tough to riposte you.
Parry and Dodge are also useful when you need to augment your defenses.
5) Armor
I talked a lot about armor in the design section. Wear some, but watch your weight.
SPY REPORT
Good day, friends and fiends, welcome to your friendly neighborhood spyreport.
I doubt NOBLISH ISLAND will ever be the same. And let's see, AUTO TUNE fought MR
BRASS and gained 19 points and contributed to BASH BROS COUNTRY's 5-0-0. WILD BOAR
BIN has lost to DANGEROUS CRIMINAL, falling 11 points, while helping make FRESH MEAT
a 3-2-1 turn. Defending hers title for another turn, ASTRID kept NOBLISH ISLAND's
warrior, VENEMOUS CONCUBINE, from claiming the throne. Tell me, is nothing sacred?
I have heard from unimpeachable sources that The Swinging Aardvark uses trolls in
their stew. Talk about gristle!
The crowd's roar, the smell of iron and leather, mixed with sweat, what more
could a warrior ask of life? Well, besides that. I also notice that the COLORITES
stable was the most avoided team this turn. Come on NOBLISH ISLAND, what are you
afraid of? And avoiding COLORITES more than any other team we find BASH BROS
COUNTRY. NOBLISH ISLAND, are we going to accept, or respect this sort of thing?
Well, sports fans, take notice that LAME from BASH BROS COUNTRY was NOBLISH ISLAND's
most challenged warrior this turn. In a brave attempt, SELMA from EMU'S STRAIN
challenged up 19 points to fight LAME from the BASH BROS COUNTRY stable. SELMA
perhaps got hers just desserts, seeing as she was overcame by LAME and ended up with
2 recognition points.
The Dark Arena is for those who cannot win, not who cannot lose with grace.
Dignity in life or death is the warrior's creed. The Swinging Aardvark declares a
free round for DAHLIA and all of EMU'S STRAIN, for having revenged COLORITES' LADY
SCARLET for killing one of their comrades. Kudos go out to AUTO TUNE this turn, for
revenging BASH BROS COUNTRY's bloodfeud against COLORITES' warrior MR BRASS. Well
done. A brave warrior does not carry a red shield, he has nothing to cover or hide
when the fight is over. Consider well.
I like this place, NOBLISH ISLAND, the taverns have old wine, and young serving
girls. Who could ask for more? Well, I'm burning daylight here in NOBLISH ISLAND
and I've a long road ahead of me. Happy Trails. Until you see my quill in NOBLISH
ISLAND again, farewell-- Alarond the Scribe
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
ASTRID 11332 7 0 0 77 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
HERBIE HANBARK 11296 4 4 1 56 FRESH MEAT (1929)
DAHLIA 11330 4 3 0 44 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
WILD BOAR BIN 11292 4 4 1 41 FRESH MEAT (1929)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SALLY SQUIRREL 11295 6 2 2 31 FRESH MEAT (1929)
LADY SCARLET 11352 3 1 1 31 COLORITES (1938)
DRAWL 11355 3 0 0 28 BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
PICKUP TRUCK 11358 3 0 0 27 BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
PETER RABBIT 11293 3 5 1 25 FRESH MEAT (1929)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DOCTOR BROWN 11351 2 2 1 23 COLORITES (1938)
LAME 11357 3 0 0 22 BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
BOBBIE BRISKET 11294 3 5 0 20 FRESH MEAT (1929)
AUTO TUNE 11365 1 0 0 19 BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
ANNA 11305 1 9 0 16 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
DRINKING 11359 3 0 0 13 BASH BROS COUNTRY (1939)
MR BRASS 11353 2 2 1 9 COLORITES (1938)
MISS PINK 11349 1 3 0 6 COLORITES (1938)
SELMA 11354 0 2 0 2 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
-BASHER 11338 0 1 0 1 JJKIER (1935)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-STRIKER 11337 0 1 0 1 JJKIER (1935)
-BLOWER 11334 0 1 0 1 JJKIER (1935)
-SHIELDER 11336 0 1 0 1 JJKIER (1935)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
STEREOTYPE 11356 0 1 0 BASH BROS COUNT 1939 MR BRASS 11353 675 JUST REVENGED
SGT BLACK 11350 1 3 0 COLORITES 1938 PETER RABBIT 11293 677
AURORA 11331 3 3 1 EMU'S STRAIN 1931 LADY SCARLET 11352 676 JUST REVENGED
US-OU 11366 0 1 0 EMU'S STRAIN 1931 STONE GOLEM 677 NONE
NAGINI 11290 5 5 0 HOGWARTS VILLAI 1928 WILD BOAR BIN 11292 673 NOT REVENGED
PERSONAL ADS
Assur! Assur! Assur! -- Colonel Mustard
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
US-OU was dealt death by STONE GOLEM in a 2 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
DAHLIA won victory over LADY SCARLET in a 2 minute gruesome Bloodfeud battle.
SELMA was subdued by LAME in a 5 minute beginner's Challenge fight.
ASTRID viciously subdued VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a 2 minute gory Title contest.
HERBIE HANBARK overpowered THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a 1 minute mismatched match.
WILD BOAR BIN was overpowered by DANGEROUS CRIMINAL in a 1 minute one-sided struggle.
SALLY SQUIRREL bested ANNA in a popular 1 minute competition.
BOBBIE BRISKET was handily defeated by DOCTOR BROWN in a 1 minute uneven melee.
PETER RABBIT slaughtered SGT BLACK in a 1 minute uneven fight.
MISS PINK was vanquished by DRAWL in a exciting 1 minute one-sided fight.
MR BRASS was handily defeated by AUTO TUNE in a 1 minute one-sided bout.
PICKUP TRUCK demolished PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 1 minute mismatched match.
DRINKING overcame MORDANT DESERTER in a 3 minute novice's contest.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|LUNGING ATTACK 5 PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 - 0 100 |
|BASHING ATTACK 4 TOTAL PARRY 15 - 6 - 0 71 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 LUNGING ATTACK 27 - 16 - 2 63 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 3 BASHING ATTACK 24 - 15 - 2 62 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 STRIKING ATTACK 22 - 18 - 2 55 |
|WALL OF STEEL 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 2 - 0 50 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 SLASHING ATTACK 20 - 23 - 2 47 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 AIMED BLOW 5 - 7 - 0 42 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 WALL OF STEEL 8 - 12 - 0 40 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 3 - 5 - 0 38 |
Turn 677 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:
TOTAL PARRY 2 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 2 3 LUNGING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 4 - 1 AIMED BLOW 0 - 1 2 SLASHING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 STRIKING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 2 - 2 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 1 AIMED BLOW
WALL OF STEEL 0 - 2 1 PARRY-LUNGE
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
LUNGING ATTACK ASTRID 11332 7 0 0 77 EMU'S STRAIN (1931)
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 DAHLIA 11330. The most popular warrior this turn
was US-OU 11366. The ten other most popular fighters were ASTRID 11332, HERBIE
HANBARK 11296, SALLY SQUIRREL 11295, DAHLIA 11330, DRAWL 11355, LADY SCARLET 11352,
SELMA 11354, DOCTOR BROWN 11351, AUTO TUNE 11365, and PETER RABBIT 11293.
The least popular fighter this week was LAME 11357. The other ten least popular
fighters were DRINKING 11359, MR BRASS 11353, SGT BLACK 11350, BOBBIE BRISKET 11294,
ANNA 11305, WILD BOAR BIN 11292, PICKUP TRUCK 11358, MISS PINK 11349, PETER RABBIT
11293, and AUTO TUNE 11365.
NAME CHANGE-O-RAMA
The gladiator known as Pretty in Pink Johnson came into the guildhouse in a
state of excitement that sat oddly on his large battered face. "There are goats on
the lawn outside the Commission office!"
His teammate Slinky Silver raised a languid eyebrow. "So?"
"That means a name-change coming! I can finally change my name to Pinkerton and
get some respect!"
"As badly as you fight, who will respect you?" his teammate asked.
"With a new name, I will fight better, just wait, you'll see. Because I will
respect myself!"
Slinky shook his head. "Circular reasoning won't help. You need more
managerial attention."
"If my name isn't embarrassing, I'll GET more attention.
Slinky shook his head again. "You're expecting a lot of a couple of goats that
may have been hired to manage the landscaping."
* * * * *
Warrior and team name changes will be accepted beginning February 15 and continuing
throughout the month of March. The cost will be $2 per name change. All proceeds
will be used to buy goats via Heifer International and will be matched up to $500. If
you have names you want to change, please contact Customer Service. -- RSI