DM 093 Newsletter

Total warriors from this arena = 1922

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DM 093 Newsletter

DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date : 06/12/2026 Duedate: 06/25/2026

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM 93 TURN 715

This Week's Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

ADDER
GHOST BEARS! (1970)
(93-11548) [8-2-1,61]

Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader

ADDER COLD
GHOST BEARS! (1970) BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)
(93-11548) [8-2-1,61] (93-11557) [4-0-0,43]

Popularity Leader This Week's Favorite

ADDER SPOILED
GHOST BEARS! (1970) BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)
(93-11548) [8-2-1,61] (93-11569) [2-1-0,29]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)

TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. PLANETARY FORCES (1974) 44
2. BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) 21 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
3. MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) 13 Unchartered Team
4. GHOST BEARS! (1970) -7
BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1 GHOST BEARS! (1970) 34 15 1 69.4 1/ 1*BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) 12 3 2
2/ 3*BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) 13 7 2 65.0 2/ 2 GHOST BEARS! (1970) 9 6 0
3/ 0*PLANETARY FORCES (1974) 3 2 0 60.0 3/ 5*MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) 4 11 0
4- 4*DON'T AVOID US (1972) 7 7 1 50.0 4/ 0*PLANETARY FORCES (1974) 3 2 0
5/ 5*MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) 4 11 0 26.7 5- 4*DON'T AVOID US (1972) 3 6 0
6- 0*SERPENT'S (285) 0 2 0 0.0 6- 0*SERPENT'S (285) 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

WARRIOR AND TEAM DESIGN (The Consortium Way)
PLANETARY FORCES Team

The purpose of this spotlight is to provide newer/inexperienced D2 managers with
warrior and team design thoughts and concepts, and to assist new managers by allowing
observation of the design 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 (over 125,000 warriors designed and fought) general design
principles
2. Some thoughts on team balance
3. A real five-warrior design (original team roll-up) just starting to compete 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 "Music Man",
manager and agent of PLANETARY FORCES, a member of The Consortium, who is a long, long
time (40 year) paying competitor in Duelmasters/D2. I will be overseeing this new team
and will be offering you advice most rounds in the Noblish Island newsletter too.
(Yes; free advice!) Please think nothing of asking me questions in the personal ads,
or through diplos, or on the RSI and/or Chatzy sites. You will get answers, often very
interesting answers.

Now I have to tell you this. This is a pretty interesting roll up sheet. Opportunities
abound! (Some good; some bad.) Some of the fun of D2 is designing a seemingly
inadequate/interesting warrior, and strategizing them to being a winner! So, let's get
at it: the Consortium way.

First, some solid advice. There is NO one-and-only perfect design for any warrior.
Believe it! 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 and guidelines look like
this:

1. WT is the first factor examined, followed by WL, which then determines the
subsequent point additions, the probable design, and potential style direction. (So
review WT/WL options first.)
2. Then, generally design to strengths/excesses, making high roll numbers higher.
(Accentuate the positive.) (In most cases, however, DF above 11 may not be that
advantageous.)
3. Often first one must decide whether first to add points to very low ST or WL or DF
as these stats are so necessary for physicals and/or weapon selection.
4. Design to stat/skill break points to maximize starting skills. (Know what base
skills are attached to stat points, and weapon strength requirements. Be sure to
ask RSI for the C.I.C. with helpful starting info.)
5. Offensive-ish warriors usually need high WT to excel. Design to 11 (very minimum,
but wanting 15+), needing 11, 13, 15, 17, 21 for skill breaks. (note: Offensives,
though, can win in the very short run on physicals only)
6. 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 most probable.) If not an aimer, then 11 DF is really all most designs
need, (7 DF is our minimum desire.) and 11 is very desirable. So while DF is very
desirable, there is no need to overdo it on designs.
7. All warriors except AB must have normal damage and really need good. Make certain
that ST/SZ allows that, and have high enough WL to bump stats, if not. Aimers can
and do succeed with less damage doing.
8. 9 WL is the reasonable min for offensives. (But we really like 17 or 21 WL!) All
warriors MUST have some decent WL. Some very few warriors might do OK with 7 or 8.
(Maybe.) Defensive warriors and burners need lots of WL.
9. A warrior has to have some strength; weapon choice and weapon damage is impaired
otherwise; 9 is normally minimum, but 11+ really best. (Note: No real need to
exceed 17ST) Only an aimed-blow can get away with "too low" strength.
10. Do not add to CN for pure offensives. (Use all points elsewhere.)
11. Pure defensive style warriors need big WL and CN. And, then, ST, too.
12. Physicals never hurt any warrior. Warriors can win early on with lesser skill, but
good physicals.
13. 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). But avoid those aimed-blows!
14. If the warrior is to be long-term (meaning a godling or really, really nice roll,
later intended for ADM), do not design a burner. (A burner is one where the manager
intends to raise stats and physicals as an intended strategy to enhance winning).
Burners require very high WL as stat raises are dependent almost completely on WL.
15. However, there is nothing wrong with making a burner. (10% or so of Consortium
warriors are planned burners.) Remember, though, that stat raises are dependent on
WL. (5% times WL determines the expected probability of a first raise.
16. Have variation in styles in arenas if at all possible. This allows for better
challenging, avoiding, and match-ups. (Adding also fun and learning through
variety.)
17. Usually design to the numbers, then choose style, rather than predetermine a
style, then design. (At least until you really know what you are doing.)
18. 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
PLANETARY FORCES Team. (Note: While not all of the concepts will be specifically
referenced below in designing the five warriors, virtually all are truly used in one
or more places.) But first some comments on team design.

A variety of styles is valuable. 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 of (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, or maybe
basher or slasher or even lunger) 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 the more difficult styles for brand-new managers: AB=aimed blow
(aimer), PR=parry riposte (ripper), PS=parry strike (piker), PL=parry lunge (plunger),
and maybe WS=wall of steel (waste). Save those for later; or, if you are truly feeling
lucky or highly inquisitive b&b&b&..

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, the Mr.
Knowitall, manager of the PLANETARY FORCES team just now started on Noblish Isle.

A quick, initial thought on roll up sheets, in general. It can be hardest to design
"radical" numbers. Unusually low ST or WL or super big SZ, or very 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!

So, with that, let's get on to designing this team.

12-6-5-15-10-13-9 to 17-6-5-21-10-14-11 Striker "A VERY nice warrior!" (Using in
order, these design principles. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14)

13-9-18-10-5-3-12 to 17-5-18-15-9-3-13 Basher (Using in order, these design
principles. 1, 3, 8,5,2, 4, 7, 9,10)

10-15-10-8-10-13-4 to 11-18-10-9-16-13-7 Total Parry (Using in order, these design
principles.1 ,2, 5, 13, 15, 9)

15-11-12-9-3-11-9 to 17-11-12-15-7-11-11 Basher (Using in order, these design
principles 1, 2, 3, 8, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)

11-6-13-5-13-11-9 to 17-6-13-9-17-11-11 Slasher to (Using in order, these design
principles #1, 2, 3 , 4 , 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9 ,10)

Four different styles is o.k.. Lots of good challenges and avoids will be available.

Now let's take a look at my overall design tendencies for this team in this situation.
We had 70 total points to add to the designs. Totaled, they look like this:

ST = 16 (Looks a little higher than usual, but acceptable.)
CN = 3 (CN is often 0, but with 1 TP, this looks right))
SZ = 0 (Cannot add to size.)
WT = 22 (1 of 2 most important stats. Adding many here is common, and usually
very beneficial.)
WL = 18 (1 of 2 most important stats)
SP = 1 (SP is usually a least added stat.)
DF = 10 (DF adders are often quite variable. Ten looks right for this group.)

The general tendencies look OK 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 a long-time veteran. May your stay in D2 be long and prosperous, and, most of
all, fun. (As mine is and has been for many years.)

-- MR. KNOWITALL, manager of PLANETARY FORCES
(Consortium affiliated)

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

ASSUR'S GUIDE TO KILLING

Part of arena fighting is the fact that warriors will die. Last time I told you how
to optimize your chances to keep your own warriors alive. This time I give you the
'best practices' if you want to KILL your opponent. It should be obvious that winning
fights is a requirement to kill. Some of the suggestions do not help your warrior
win. But when you do win, I believe the list below are things that will help you get
more kills (listed in the order that I believe makes a difference).

One interesting stat is kill %. Note that I use a kill % -- that is kills/wins. Some
people prefer kills/fights, but since you can't kill if you don't win, losses are
irrelevant to killing. In the same way, deaths/losses would measure mortality. I can
say with certainty that a manager who runs a 10% kill ratio over a lot of fights is
trying to kill his opponents. In the one arena where I try to kill, I have been able
to keep my kill % just over 10% (without a lot of augmentation from killing in the
Dark Arena). At the time of this writing, my other arenas have a 3.95% kill ratio
(which includes sending most of my lord protectors to the DA when they graduate). In
that one arena, I don't run scum and all my warriors run 10 kill desire in every
minute and desperation. They also aim for HE, CH, or AB every minute. Contrast that
where I will run scum and every warrior uses 5 (usually) or less kill desire in every
minute and always attacks limbs. These numbers (and similar in other teams/managers)
are what makes me conclude that 5% is on the low side while 10% is on the high side.
Why do I share all this? Because even if you do try and want to kill, don't 'expect'
to kill more than about 10%. It might be possible to sacrifice winning and design for
killing to increase the expected number above 10%, but this is not something I can
speak to.

1) Aim for HE, AB, or CH. There is nothing that will increase your kills more than
aiming for the areas that are the most important areas of the body. Arms and Legs
are for not killing. Head, Abdomen and Chest are for killing.

2) Use High KD! High KD tells the arenamaster you want the fight to keep going
longer. He is less likely to end the fight early if one or both warriors are using
a high kill desire. I recommend 8+. (Note that 9 and 10 KD have clear adverse
effects on the overall fighting ability of your warriors, but they will get you
more kill intent messages).

3) Good or Great damage. Over the years, it has become very evident that killing with
good or great damage is far easier than killing with little, normal, or tremendous
damage. Tremendous damage warriors make opponents give up faster. Little and
Normal damage warriors can't do the kind of damage that causes wounds that kill. I
do not have enough experience to say anything about higher damage ratings than
Tremendous. I suspect they are more like tremendous damage, but I'm not sure.

4) Some warriors appear to have a higher blood lust than others. Nobody can prove
this for sure, but you see some warriors go after the kill much more often than
others. This works both ways. You'll have warriors that kill more often than
other warriors (and try to kill more often). I also believe that this same stat
makes warriors more vulnerable to dieing. If true, these warriors are easier to
kill.

5) Use higher damage weapons. The easiest way to judge weapon damage is to look at
the weapon weights. Weapons that do slash or piercing damage are better than
bashing weapons. Be careful, though, of selecting a high damage weapon that is
really slow (HL comes immediately to mind).

6) Look for warriors that don't wear any armor.

7) Young fighters die much more often than experienced fighters. The number of deaths
in the first 5 fights is much greater than warriors in the Champion and Challenger
Champion classes.

8) Challenge warriors with fewer fights than you.

Realize that killing requires a bit of luck, but these things can help you have a high
kill percentage. Anything over 10% (Kills/Wins) is a fairly high kill percentage.

Finally, realize that most managers want to keep their warriors alive. By trying to
kill someone's warriors, you may be taking away from their enjoyment of the game. I'm
not saying you should not try to kill, but realize what you are doing. We all know
death is part of Duel2. But some managers like it less than others.

SPY REPORT

Greetings, Warriors of NOBLISH ISLAND. Allow this humble servant Novgorodny Vir
to give you a respite from the fights in the form of this Spyreport. In the interest
of complete reporting, PLANETARY FORCES got a 3-2-0 last week, on their first time
around. PLANETARY FORCES had cause to celebrate, after GRAVITY got 22 points by
beating MUSHY. A certain someone should cut down on the drinking and practice more,
after losing 14 points to COLD. (Discrete enough, STORMCROW?) Now I can't insult
ADDER, as she has gloriously dueled to the top. Oh great new Duelmaster!!! (Stop me
if I lay it on too thick) So who's the team that's been walking into taverns last
week and ordering milk? Sounds like a PR stunt to me.
So much to report, so little time!
The moving sword slashes, and having slashed, moves on... Oh hard! that to
strike a flame, the match itself must needs be wasting!
All good things must come to an end. As if buffeted by forces of nature beyond
my control, I must take my leave of this place. Like a mixed metaphor, and an
overtaxed simile, I now bid NOBLISH ISLAND farewell-- Novgorodny Vir

DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
ADDER 11548 SL 8 2 1 61 GHOST BEARS! (1970)

CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
KIT FOX 11549 ST 6 4 0 60 GHOST BEARS! (1970)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
WARDEN 11558 TP 6 1 0 49 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
COLD 11557 PR 4 0 0 43 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)

CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
STORMCROW 11551 PL 6 4 0 31 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
SPOILED 11569 ST 2 1 0 29 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) *
BURNED 11554 3 1 0 27 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) [BA-LU-ST]

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GRAVITY 11571 1 0 0 22 PLANETARY FORCES (1974) [BA-LU-SL-ST]
JENNER JENNY 11552 WS 5 2 0 20 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
-HUGS 11559 1 2 0 16 DON'T AVOID US (1972) [BA-ST]
-INCOME TAXES 11562 TP 2 1 0 15 DON'T AVOID US (1972)
-SLEEP 11560 ST 2 1 1 14 DON'T AVOID US (1972) *
WIND 11572 1 0 0 13 PLANETARY FORCES (1974) [BA-LU-PR-SL-ST-WS]
EXPENSIVE 11556 2 2 0 11 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) [LU-ST-WS]
MAC SOMAIRLE 11566 1 2 0 11 MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) [PR-WS]
MUSHY 11555 2 2 2 10 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971) ???
QUAKE 11570 1 0 0 7 PLANETARY FORCES (1974) [BA-LU-PR-SL-ST-WS]
SIR MCDOODLES 11565 1 2 0 5 MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) [AB-PR-SL-WS]
YASUKE 11567 1 2 0 5 MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) [AB-PR-SL-WS]
AMELIA 11564 1 2 0 5 MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) [AB-SL]
LUMI 11568 0 3 0 3 MC GLADIATOR PIT (1973) [PR-WS]
-COBRA 1585 0 1 0 1 SERPENT'S (285) [AB-LU-PR-SL-ST-WS]
ROTATION 11573 0 1 0 1 PLANETARY FORCES (1974) [AB-BA-PR-SL-TP-WS]
OIL 11574 0 1 0 1 PLANETARY FORCES (1974) [AB-BA-PR-SL-TP-WS]

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

THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
ALONE 11553 0 1 0 BASH BROS SUPPE 1971 SLEEP 11560 712 REVENGED
HOMEWORK 11561 1 2 0 DON'T AVOID US 1972 MUSHY 11555 714
ROOT CANAL 11563 1 1 0 DON'T AVOID US 1972 MUSHY 11555 713

PERSONAL ADS

DON'T AVOID US -- Apparently Mushy is one of those warriors that has high bloodlust!
All my warriors use 5 KD and attack limbs, but Mushy ignores that and tries to kill
all his opponents. I've published a neat article about how to kill this turn and will
try to publish the How to Keep Warriors alive next turn. It is my findings in how to
maximize your chances to kill and to stay alive. -- Assur

LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

ADDER viciously subdued CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute bloody Title fight.
KIT FOX lost to VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a action packed 1 minute battle.
WARDEN outlasted SPOILED in a action packed 7 minute fight.
STORMCROW was bested by COLD in a 6 minute contest.
JENNER JENNY defeated SIR MCDOODLES in a 3 minute fight.
BURNED demolished LUMI in a 1 minute mismatched competition.
MUSHY was vanquished by GRAVITY in a 1 minute mismatched fight.
EXPENSIVE beat OIL in a 5 minute amateur's brawl.
AMELIA was defeated by QUAKE in a 2 minute beginner's melee.
MAC SOMAIRLE vanquished ROTATION in a 1 minute uneven duel.
YASUKE was overpowered by WIND in a popular 1 minute gory uneven 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 17 - 5 - 1 77 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 TOTAL PARRY 14 - 6 - 0 70 |
|WALL OF STEEL 3 BASHING ATTACK 19 - 11 - 5 63 |
|BASHING ATTACK 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 - 4 - 0 60 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 AIMED BLOW 5 - 4 - 0 56 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 WALL OF STEEL 11 - 10 - 0 52 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 1 PARRY-STRIKE 5 - 5 - 0 50 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 PARRY-LUNGE 8 - 8 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 STRIKING ATTACK 15 - 16 - 0 48 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 LUNGING ATTACK 5 - 7 - 0 42 |

Turn 715 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:

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

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
SLASHING ATTACK ADDER 11548 8 2 1 61 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
STRIKING ATTACK KIT FOX 11549 6 4 0 60 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
TOTAL PARRY WARDEN 11558 6 1 0 49 GHOST BEARS! (1970)
PARRY-RIPOSTE COLD 11557 4 0 0 43 BASH BROS SUPPER (1971)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is ADDER 11548. The most popular warrior this turn was
SPOILED 11569. The ten other most popular fighters were ADDER 11548, JENNER JENNY
11552, BURNED 11554, EXPENSIVE 11556, WIND 11572, KIT FOX 11549, COLD 11557, SIR
MCDOODLES 11565, GRAVITY 11571, and QUAKE 11570.

The least popular fighter this week was OIL 11574. The other ten least popular
fighters were WARDEN 11558, ROTATION 11573, MUSHY 11555, LUMI 11568, YASUKE 11567,
AMELIA 11564, STORMCROW 11551, MAC SOMAIRLE 11566, QUAKE 11570, and GRAVITY 11571.