Zato
11-09-99, 11:14 AM
Guide to Dueling
Submitted by Wixramiablo Sneakypants
Edited by Zato
OK folks, Im here to share some cookies. Wix hands out a batch of home-made carrot cookies. These aint da posioned ones.
A guide to dueling, if you are scared to duel someone because they con red, this guide aint for you. If ya scared to duel a lvl 50 cuz nothing in it for you, then don't read it. If you don't think rogue can win any duels, let alone beat any caster or warrior, then this guide aint for you. This is for those who haven't given up on the rogue class, know we can kick arse given the proper situation, and know we have power and skills that allow us to win duels.
I'll assume that you are lvl 10 or higher, because backstab is a big bonus when dueling someone else. I'll break this down to a class by class. I will assume you are below lvl 40.
General-Pre-Fight Tips:
First,try not to accept a duel, make sure they challenge you first. It may be tempting to challenge, but let them do it. This now gives you control of when the duel will start. If the duel starts with you hidden behind them, oh well =).
ALWAYS KEEP AUTOATTACK ON.
Do not duel like a warrior. If you duel face to face the entire battle you will lose. I laugh when people say I cheat when dueling because I move around and look for opportunities to land a backstab. Feel free to run around a corner and hide, while they look for you jump out and land that backstab. Dont be lame and stay hidden for 20 minutes because you are about to die, if ya gonna die, do it fighting. Since we are rogues, dont feel bad about dirty little tricks, if you want be a nice guy go play a paladin. Before the duel, run around and look for that lvl 50 cleric and get that buff, or any caster and try to get a buff before battle.
Essential equip ya want to have:
POISONS! For those classes you will be duking melee with (Warrior and Monk epseically), use the Weakening poison which will lower their attack skills ALOT. After that and on the other classes, use the highest DD poisons you can get ahold of. A pumice stone, or try to buy a golem wand. [Zato's note: You can no longer cast a cancel magic spell or use pumice on someone who is not in your group] Bandages, you can hide and Bind Wound. You will remain hidden will bandaging yourself. Dwarven RingMail Tunic, essential for dueling. Great resist on these baby help alot, another reason while the shorties rock for being rogues. The dwarven tunic and rune fork make an awesome combination. For you Human, Barbarian, and Teir'dal rogues... well life is tough, and duels against magic users will be tougher without this 24 extra points of magic resistance. A rune bone fork is also required equipment. A bow is required, throwing knives aint gonna do it. If dueling a monk or warrior then use a bow to start, if its a caster then put the fork in your slot. I recommend if you have a fork and a bow, make hotkeys and keep them on separate slots (Page one and Page Two). You dont want to throw that rune bone fork away if you accidentally press Range Attack. When a caster goes invis, you can still hit them as long as they are targeted. As long as you are in range and pointed in the same general direction, you can hit them.
Few things about backstab, even though it is a backstab, well all know it is almost a side stab as well. Practice with a fire beetle or something, you can see you can move off to the side and still get a backstab, pretty nifty eh? What's to good about this? With circle strafe, you dont have to go ALL they way behind them, just circle to your about a little behind their arm and backstab. It works wonders folks, use circle strafe and get a little bit behind them, then backstab. Dont waste your time to to get all the way behind them, the side will do. Even if you dont think you are close enough backstab anyway so it can be used again as soon as its ready. Circle Strafe is explained below.
Use the circle strafe, this is a key skill rogues must have dueling or not. This skill requires the use of mouse look. When you right click the mouse button and hold it, when you move using the arrows keys you will strafe. You can move the mouse so you view stay centered on your target while moving around. This way you can make a full circle around a character without moving much, and it will remain in front of your view. This is critical for moving around to backstab a caster, moving to bs a monk as he instills or try a flying kick, and a move any rogue worth his salt must master.
Instill Doubt - This is like a fear spell, which depending on your opponent will make them run for 10-30 seconds. Unless you have at least 50 or skill I advise concentrating on other aspects of the duel.
Disarm - Your opponents weapon will disappear. It actually will go into their inventory. Best thing to do is be silent and let them figure it out while you whack them to hell. If they yell STOP STOP! please kill them promptly. Never let anything stop a duel, if ya do, mebbe ya shouldn't be dueling as it requires a certain cold hearted madness.
Weapon Delay - Large Two handed weapons have slow delay. Learn the timing of these. I wish I could post a second to delay chart for you to reference. Warrior with a big fat shiny brass halbred will swing every 3 seconds or so.. SO jump in and attack them, then they are about to swing back up and get out of range, they will miss and can not do anything for another three seconds. Meanwhile, you jump back in with your fast weapons and hit them five or eight times. It is essential to abuse the fools who carry around these slow weapons. Learn the timing it is crucial. In the first 30 seconds of the fight learn this weapon pattern.
Pre Fight Buffs for Caster - If dueling a caster, they will always med before a battle. This if fine and they need to do this and ya can't talk em out of it. Just one thing, if they are going to summon a pet or buff themselves, they MUST DUEL RIGHT AFTER THAT. Do not let that caster summon a pet, sit down and med, buff them selves, sit down and med, and then duel you. They must spend that mana and then duel you. Allowing a caster to med after they cast a spell is a big mistake. If they need to buff themselves, then they lost that mana to use for the battle. Its a sacrifice they must make. But of course, feel free to get all the buffs you can get.
Every Class that casts a spell - Circle Strafe around and get that backstab when they start to cast.
Classes
Warrior
Warriors have to be one of the Rogue's arch enemies. Since we short rogues are usually towered under a barbarian or a fat troll. Even dwarven warriors try to kick us around. Using some of the tips from above can easily help you defeat them. Most warriors will have a heavy two handed weapon. These weapons have a high delay, meaning they will attack slower. Remember to let them challenge you first, so you can sneak around them and land that first backstab. In the first few minutes of the fight, get used to their weapon speed. How slow does it attack? Can you time it to back away and avoid when they swing? You should be able to and when they are about to swing, get outta the way. When warriors double attack with a heavy weapon it will hurt, so try to avoid that blade as much as possible. After getting used to the timing and landing a backstab hide. They will spin around lookin for you.
You have two options here. Get close and try to land a backstab or pull out that bow and kite them some. If they are smart they will put out their bow and shoot you back. Most are dumb and will dumbly chase you will fire arrows right in their face. You will parry,dodge and block alot so they will miss you. Sometime stand to to toe and let your low dly weapons fly as you hit them four times for their one miss.
Now lets say all is well and you are both down to one or two bubbles. This is the critical point in the duel its either win or lose here and the fight will do down to who ever gets the last blow in. Warriors will go berserk around the last bubble. Berserk means that get a STR bonus and will attack faster. No playing reindeer games anymore. Take them out, fight face to face, then circle strafe for a backstab.
Good Luck! Warriors can easily been taken taken down. We have high damage weapons that hit more often, proc's gonna off like crazy on them and some limited kiting ability to knock off some of them hundreds of hitpoints they got.
Monks
These are some real sumbitches. They got fast hands, almost equal or better than our blazing fast weapons. They got a mend skill as well, which they can use every 5 minutes for atleast half a bubble of recovery. Same thing when dueling monks, let them challenge first. Now monks got some other skills like instill doubt and flying kick. Im gonna cover these together cuz it simple. For both skills, use same tatics. Whenever someone uses instill doubt they stand still for a second while they are using it. Also with flying kick, they go into an animation and stand still for a second. Circle Strafe around and land a backstab. Monks have better skill at instill doubt than us, so they may be using it. If in middle of combat it is hard to tell, but get used to what a munk looks like instill doubt, so you know what in a instill doubt animation, and what is a combat animation. They go thru certain moves in order. Also when the flying kick is about to start they will start to go thru a crouch and then jump up. Stay on your toes and be expecting this. You gotta want them to do it to you, just waiting for that flying kick or instill doubt. Then circle-strafe around and BOOM! Backstab!
With monks, try to some some of the warrior tactics. They have very fast weapons so forget about trying to time their hits. Just go toe to toe, run around and hide then pop out for a backstab. Try to keep them moving. Use that bow for a few cheap hits, but best just to duke it out, your weapon proc's should give you an advantage. And make sure to get them comfortable with a face to face duel, then slip around and land in that backstab.
Rangers or Paladins
These two classes can really make ya look stupid. Pali's got blind, Ranger's got snare. Can really suck if it lands on ya. Though if you resist their spells you will beat them like red-headed froglocks. So if you plan to win a duel against one of these guys you have to have the right tools for the job. Like most duels, they are spur of the moment when tempers flare, so you can't always have a pumice stone or something handy. Use your fastest weapons and stay on them when they are about to cast. You should interrupt once or twice. Both of these classes like to use large two handed weapons. And you know that that means, time these sucka's. When they’re about to hit get out of range, be skillful and hit them with an arrow or two and jump back in and attack. Get out of range when there about to hit again and lather, rinse, repeat. Keep a bow handy, if you are rooted or blinded atleast you can fire it and get some hits in rather than stand there and look stupid. Again the tip for beating these guys is to resist their spells, otherwise it aint gonna be a fun ride. Most pali are stupid folk, so you can talk them in into not using lay hands before a duel. Another thing if you are kicking their ass with those fast weapons, they can get confused and Lay Hands on you because they forget to change target. LOL, it happened and specially for those who are newbie duelers it can get confusing. Rangers have a damage shield at higher levels, so best wait and hide till it wears off.
Druids
These little mofo's love to kite. Druids having very few battle skills and will resort to the same cheap tatics that allow them to solo all the way to lvl 50 if they want to.
Back a druid into the corner, they will pull out the kite every time. If a druid doesn’t kite you, they gonna die. Root is the first spell they will cast, again ya should resist, especially if the druid is the same lvl as you and you have the aforementioned equipment. If you are rooted, be prepared to stand the blast and as soon as the root breaks rush them. If ya find ya self rooted with no pumice stone, pull out that bow and save face. These guys have damage shields, which means every time you hit them you will take damage, lame lame lame. I would hide and hope they lose target. Wait about 30 seconds for the shield to wear off, only expose your self if you see a for sure backstab opportunity. Most tree huggers are passive folk, but they will stick up if ya piss on their favorite bush. Druids have low hitpoints and even better, they wear leather armor and less. This is perfect for us, with our fast weapons we will hit more often, and each hit will hurt because they have low ac. Druids are tough cuz of spells, but if you can get on them, a few backstabs and let your weapons fly they will be down to one bubble in no time.
Clerics
Healers, should be toughest of all eh? Well if you interrupt that heal spell, they will start to panic. Clerics have a few DD spells and most irritating of all is blind. Again if ya dont have the right tools, that first blind will get ya and they will smite ya all the way. If you resist a few blinds, then you have a chance. Their melee skill sucks because they have slow one handed weapons, tuff buggers though because of shields and all the armor they wear. Stay on them all the time, dont let up. Stick that dagger where the sun dont shine. Dont give them a chance to breath, the quicker ya take em out the better. Heals cast slowly, so another great chance for a backstab. Again, these guys can heal, but stay on top of them the entire duel and you will interrupt at least a few of those heals. Blind and Root will be the spells most often cast on you by clerics, so if ya resist these two, they gonna be healing themselves rather than casting direct damage spells.
Shadow Knights or Necros
Bah, evil ones. Puuuuuurrrreeeee Evil. If you have ravenscale, put it on, you'll need the disease, poison resists. Both classes have pets which are a major pain in the arse. Concentrate on the user, don't worry about the pet. If you can, run into a high place and maybe the pet will kill itself it becomes stuck. Worse thing these guy have is shadowstep. Shadowstep casts super quick and teleports them around to another location nearby. You can't interrupt it because it casts so quickly. And while you are looking for them after the teleport, you will be hit with another spell. Pumice stone is needed, nasty dots will be thrown upon you. We have some extra poison resistance so that helps for their wicked dot's, but if you have a pumice stone I would use it on yourself. When dueling one of these you will soon have 3 or 4 dot spells cast on you, best time to pull out that pumice stone and save yourself.If you can get close enough to a necro you will eat them up. They are super weak and have almost zero AC. One good backstab when they try to cast will take away a bubble if they are the same lvl as you. Necro pets are much tuffer than sk, so just take the beating. SK's have a harm touch and if they are smart they will wait till the end of the battle to lay it on you, this can be resisted but don't count on it. Both the classes can also cast engulfing darkness, no explanation needed here. I suggest a pumice for each time it is cast on you, otherwise you can never get close enough to spin around for a backstab. Necro's can be taken out, like most casters they have weak AC, so getting in close and letting your fast weapons fly, plus a few backstabs should have them worried. The sk's are a tougher cookie to crack, especially if they bring out a pet. Again try to use all the techniques and if they are not twinked it should be a close battle.
Shaman
If you have ravenscale, put it on, you'll need the disease, posion resists. Casters, dont be confused, they have weak armor so our weapons can light them up. They cast alot so lot of chances for backstabs. They like to med and buff before battle so none of that buff , med buff, med then duel @#%$ Again a pumice stone will definitely turn the tide your way. If they have the lvl, first buff they will cast will be regen on themselves, so after the duel stats first put the pumice on them. They have sow and it is a pain in the ass to chase them around, so try to stay close as possible and let those fast weapons eat them up. If they are gonna run around and play games, simply hide and wait for a good opportunity. This class can also cannalibze, which means they trade HP for mana. If they have regen, its no problem for them, so if you let them get away ya gonna have a very long tuff fight. They can blind, root and a whole slew of nasty stuff, so you need the fork and dwarven ringmail or its gonna be a very tough battle.
Wizards
Ok, if you dont have the equipment don't duel. Plain and simple, you can get toasted so dont even fight if you dont give yourself an advantage. You think Tyson is gonna step into the ring after the first day out of jail? Hell no hes gonna train and get himself buffed up. Same goes for you rogues, better go train and kill the Froglock Squire and kill Emperor Crush if you have to get that tunic. First, spell they cast will be root. If ya dont resist, with your high magic resists this spell will only last a few seconds. Just like all other casters, STAY ON THEM! Your fast weapons will hit them like a blizzard, and you should be interrupting them. Everytime they begin to cast a spell, circle-strafe, backstab. Remember you dont have to get all the way behind them, just about behind their shoulder and let it fly. They have some shields that make them invulnerable, or give you fire damage, so save a pumice for that, and try to sit through the roots. They have weak ac, so your backstabs should be max and your weapon strikes as well. Again, wizzies are easy given you have the right equipment. If you dont, you'd better go get some. For you barbarians and humans who cant wear dwarven ringmail, cheer on your short brothers while they duel.
Enchanters or Magicians
Both these classes have pets. Enchanter pets are weak so try to ignore them and concentrate on the casters. Magicians have earth, fire and water pets, which can be real nasty. In general they are weak with low AC. Again use all the tips that apply to the wizzie duels. If they are the same lvl as you, and you have the right equipment you should resist. Though enchanter have tashani, which lowers your magic resist. So if you see "You hear the barking of a dog" and alittle dog icon appears in the top right, use pumice on yourself PRONTO!
Other Tips
Submitted by Cloauk Ndger
When fighting in the arena, Enchanters are severely limited. No pets, and when they charm you get stuck up on a pillar until charm wears off. Then you fall. No problems for a rogue or monk, but fear works the same why. ID can hurt someone here. :)
Always start with the weakening poison, the instant encumbrance is a great asset to you.
Disarm. You can disarm anything that a PC is holding in either hand. Magical weapons, shields, Staffs, books, Dolls, steins, ANYTHING! You can NOT pumice anyone that you are not grouped with. Likewise, no one can cancel magic on you. When you are getting nuked by a higher level fizzler, the squad ring is next to worthless.
Submitted by Iain
1. JBoots don't break Root. That was patched out a long time ago. You need to have your Pumice Stone hotkeyed. You get Rooted, you are dead, so when he roots you, pumice yourself hard.
2. If he has a pet, he can't charm you. Whatever you do, ignore the pet. Just don't let him kite you around with the pet beating on you.
3. Don't think you can switch weapons. This will not be like fighting a monster. He will be moving, you will be moving. Put the SBC primary and the SBD secondary. This will allow you to poison your weapon. I would use the -40STR poison, since that will instantly encumber him.
4. Get your resists as high as you can. Since you are pumicing your roots, put the Fork in your melee slot. Screw missile weapons, they DO NOT interrupt spells.
5. Constantly recharge JBoots. The pattern is something like TAB, click pumice, click boots, F8.
6. Save Backstab for time when he is casting. Hit instill doubt constantly. Can't hurt.
7. Use the Squad Ring early. No point in saving it until the end, there will be no healing. You go down to 60%, squad ring yourself.
Edited by Zato at: 12/7/99 1:55:28 pm
Submitted by Wixramiablo Sneakypants
Edited by Zato
OK folks, Im here to share some cookies. Wix hands out a batch of home-made carrot cookies. These aint da posioned ones.
A guide to dueling, if you are scared to duel someone because they con red, this guide aint for you. If ya scared to duel a lvl 50 cuz nothing in it for you, then don't read it. If you don't think rogue can win any duels, let alone beat any caster or warrior, then this guide aint for you. This is for those who haven't given up on the rogue class, know we can kick arse given the proper situation, and know we have power and skills that allow us to win duels.
I'll assume that you are lvl 10 or higher, because backstab is a big bonus when dueling someone else. I'll break this down to a class by class. I will assume you are below lvl 40.
General-Pre-Fight Tips:
First,try not to accept a duel, make sure they challenge you first. It may be tempting to challenge, but let them do it. This now gives you control of when the duel will start. If the duel starts with you hidden behind them, oh well =).
ALWAYS KEEP AUTOATTACK ON.
Do not duel like a warrior. If you duel face to face the entire battle you will lose. I laugh when people say I cheat when dueling because I move around and look for opportunities to land a backstab. Feel free to run around a corner and hide, while they look for you jump out and land that backstab. Dont be lame and stay hidden for 20 minutes because you are about to die, if ya gonna die, do it fighting. Since we are rogues, dont feel bad about dirty little tricks, if you want be a nice guy go play a paladin. Before the duel, run around and look for that lvl 50 cleric and get that buff, or any caster and try to get a buff before battle.
Essential equip ya want to have:
POISONS! For those classes you will be duking melee with (Warrior and Monk epseically), use the Weakening poison which will lower their attack skills ALOT. After that and on the other classes, use the highest DD poisons you can get ahold of. A pumice stone, or try to buy a golem wand. [Zato's note: You can no longer cast a cancel magic spell or use pumice on someone who is not in your group] Bandages, you can hide and Bind Wound. You will remain hidden will bandaging yourself. Dwarven RingMail Tunic, essential for dueling. Great resist on these baby help alot, another reason while the shorties rock for being rogues. The dwarven tunic and rune fork make an awesome combination. For you Human, Barbarian, and Teir'dal rogues... well life is tough, and duels against magic users will be tougher without this 24 extra points of magic resistance. A rune bone fork is also required equipment. A bow is required, throwing knives aint gonna do it. If dueling a monk or warrior then use a bow to start, if its a caster then put the fork in your slot. I recommend if you have a fork and a bow, make hotkeys and keep them on separate slots (Page one and Page Two). You dont want to throw that rune bone fork away if you accidentally press Range Attack. When a caster goes invis, you can still hit them as long as they are targeted. As long as you are in range and pointed in the same general direction, you can hit them.
Few things about backstab, even though it is a backstab, well all know it is almost a side stab as well. Practice with a fire beetle or something, you can see you can move off to the side and still get a backstab, pretty nifty eh? What's to good about this? With circle strafe, you dont have to go ALL they way behind them, just circle to your about a little behind their arm and backstab. It works wonders folks, use circle strafe and get a little bit behind them, then backstab. Dont waste your time to to get all the way behind them, the side will do. Even if you dont think you are close enough backstab anyway so it can be used again as soon as its ready. Circle Strafe is explained below.
Use the circle strafe, this is a key skill rogues must have dueling or not. This skill requires the use of mouse look. When you right click the mouse button and hold it, when you move using the arrows keys you will strafe. You can move the mouse so you view stay centered on your target while moving around. This way you can make a full circle around a character without moving much, and it will remain in front of your view. This is critical for moving around to backstab a caster, moving to bs a monk as he instills or try a flying kick, and a move any rogue worth his salt must master.
Instill Doubt - This is like a fear spell, which depending on your opponent will make them run for 10-30 seconds. Unless you have at least 50 or skill I advise concentrating on other aspects of the duel.
Disarm - Your opponents weapon will disappear. It actually will go into their inventory. Best thing to do is be silent and let them figure it out while you whack them to hell. If they yell STOP STOP! please kill them promptly. Never let anything stop a duel, if ya do, mebbe ya shouldn't be dueling as it requires a certain cold hearted madness.
Weapon Delay - Large Two handed weapons have slow delay. Learn the timing of these. I wish I could post a second to delay chart for you to reference. Warrior with a big fat shiny brass halbred will swing every 3 seconds or so.. SO jump in and attack them, then they are about to swing back up and get out of range, they will miss and can not do anything for another three seconds. Meanwhile, you jump back in with your fast weapons and hit them five or eight times. It is essential to abuse the fools who carry around these slow weapons. Learn the timing it is crucial. In the first 30 seconds of the fight learn this weapon pattern.
Pre Fight Buffs for Caster - If dueling a caster, they will always med before a battle. This if fine and they need to do this and ya can't talk em out of it. Just one thing, if they are going to summon a pet or buff themselves, they MUST DUEL RIGHT AFTER THAT. Do not let that caster summon a pet, sit down and med, buff them selves, sit down and med, and then duel you. They must spend that mana and then duel you. Allowing a caster to med after they cast a spell is a big mistake. If they need to buff themselves, then they lost that mana to use for the battle. Its a sacrifice they must make. But of course, feel free to get all the buffs you can get.
Every Class that casts a spell - Circle Strafe around and get that backstab when they start to cast.
Classes
Warrior
Warriors have to be one of the Rogue's arch enemies. Since we short rogues are usually towered under a barbarian or a fat troll. Even dwarven warriors try to kick us around. Using some of the tips from above can easily help you defeat them. Most warriors will have a heavy two handed weapon. These weapons have a high delay, meaning they will attack slower. Remember to let them challenge you first, so you can sneak around them and land that first backstab. In the first few minutes of the fight, get used to their weapon speed. How slow does it attack? Can you time it to back away and avoid when they swing? You should be able to and when they are about to swing, get outta the way. When warriors double attack with a heavy weapon it will hurt, so try to avoid that blade as much as possible. After getting used to the timing and landing a backstab hide. They will spin around lookin for you.
You have two options here. Get close and try to land a backstab or pull out that bow and kite them some. If they are smart they will put out their bow and shoot you back. Most are dumb and will dumbly chase you will fire arrows right in their face. You will parry,dodge and block alot so they will miss you. Sometime stand to to toe and let your low dly weapons fly as you hit them four times for their one miss.
Now lets say all is well and you are both down to one or two bubbles. This is the critical point in the duel its either win or lose here and the fight will do down to who ever gets the last blow in. Warriors will go berserk around the last bubble. Berserk means that get a STR bonus and will attack faster. No playing reindeer games anymore. Take them out, fight face to face, then circle strafe for a backstab.
Good Luck! Warriors can easily been taken taken down. We have high damage weapons that hit more often, proc's gonna off like crazy on them and some limited kiting ability to knock off some of them hundreds of hitpoints they got.
Monks
These are some real sumbitches. They got fast hands, almost equal or better than our blazing fast weapons. They got a mend skill as well, which they can use every 5 minutes for atleast half a bubble of recovery. Same thing when dueling monks, let them challenge first. Now monks got some other skills like instill doubt and flying kick. Im gonna cover these together cuz it simple. For both skills, use same tatics. Whenever someone uses instill doubt they stand still for a second while they are using it. Also with flying kick, they go into an animation and stand still for a second. Circle Strafe around and land a backstab. Monks have better skill at instill doubt than us, so they may be using it. If in middle of combat it is hard to tell, but get used to what a munk looks like instill doubt, so you know what in a instill doubt animation, and what is a combat animation. They go thru certain moves in order. Also when the flying kick is about to start they will start to go thru a crouch and then jump up. Stay on your toes and be expecting this. You gotta want them to do it to you, just waiting for that flying kick or instill doubt. Then circle-strafe around and BOOM! Backstab!
With monks, try to some some of the warrior tactics. They have very fast weapons so forget about trying to time their hits. Just go toe to toe, run around and hide then pop out for a backstab. Try to keep them moving. Use that bow for a few cheap hits, but best just to duke it out, your weapon proc's should give you an advantage. And make sure to get them comfortable with a face to face duel, then slip around and land in that backstab.
Rangers or Paladins
These two classes can really make ya look stupid. Pali's got blind, Ranger's got snare. Can really suck if it lands on ya. Though if you resist their spells you will beat them like red-headed froglocks. So if you plan to win a duel against one of these guys you have to have the right tools for the job. Like most duels, they are spur of the moment when tempers flare, so you can't always have a pumice stone or something handy. Use your fastest weapons and stay on them when they are about to cast. You should interrupt once or twice. Both of these classes like to use large two handed weapons. And you know that that means, time these sucka's. When they’re about to hit get out of range, be skillful and hit them with an arrow or two and jump back in and attack. Get out of range when there about to hit again and lather, rinse, repeat. Keep a bow handy, if you are rooted or blinded atleast you can fire it and get some hits in rather than stand there and look stupid. Again the tip for beating these guys is to resist their spells, otherwise it aint gonna be a fun ride. Most pali are stupid folk, so you can talk them in into not using lay hands before a duel. Another thing if you are kicking their ass with those fast weapons, they can get confused and Lay Hands on you because they forget to change target. LOL, it happened and specially for those who are newbie duelers it can get confusing. Rangers have a damage shield at higher levels, so best wait and hide till it wears off.
Druids
These little mofo's love to kite. Druids having very few battle skills and will resort to the same cheap tatics that allow them to solo all the way to lvl 50 if they want to.
Back a druid into the corner, they will pull out the kite every time. If a druid doesn’t kite you, they gonna die. Root is the first spell they will cast, again ya should resist, especially if the druid is the same lvl as you and you have the aforementioned equipment. If you are rooted, be prepared to stand the blast and as soon as the root breaks rush them. If ya find ya self rooted with no pumice stone, pull out that bow and save face. These guys have damage shields, which means every time you hit them you will take damage, lame lame lame. I would hide and hope they lose target. Wait about 30 seconds for the shield to wear off, only expose your self if you see a for sure backstab opportunity. Most tree huggers are passive folk, but they will stick up if ya piss on their favorite bush. Druids have low hitpoints and even better, they wear leather armor and less. This is perfect for us, with our fast weapons we will hit more often, and each hit will hurt because they have low ac. Druids are tough cuz of spells, but if you can get on them, a few backstabs and let your weapons fly they will be down to one bubble in no time.
Clerics
Healers, should be toughest of all eh? Well if you interrupt that heal spell, they will start to panic. Clerics have a few DD spells and most irritating of all is blind. Again if ya dont have the right tools, that first blind will get ya and they will smite ya all the way. If you resist a few blinds, then you have a chance. Their melee skill sucks because they have slow one handed weapons, tuff buggers though because of shields and all the armor they wear. Stay on them all the time, dont let up. Stick that dagger where the sun dont shine. Dont give them a chance to breath, the quicker ya take em out the better. Heals cast slowly, so another great chance for a backstab. Again, these guys can heal, but stay on top of them the entire duel and you will interrupt at least a few of those heals. Blind and Root will be the spells most often cast on you by clerics, so if ya resist these two, they gonna be healing themselves rather than casting direct damage spells.
Shadow Knights or Necros
Bah, evil ones. Puuuuuurrrreeeee Evil. If you have ravenscale, put it on, you'll need the disease, poison resists. Both classes have pets which are a major pain in the arse. Concentrate on the user, don't worry about the pet. If you can, run into a high place and maybe the pet will kill itself it becomes stuck. Worse thing these guy have is shadowstep. Shadowstep casts super quick and teleports them around to another location nearby. You can't interrupt it because it casts so quickly. And while you are looking for them after the teleport, you will be hit with another spell. Pumice stone is needed, nasty dots will be thrown upon you. We have some extra poison resistance so that helps for their wicked dot's, but if you have a pumice stone I would use it on yourself. When dueling one of these you will soon have 3 or 4 dot spells cast on you, best time to pull out that pumice stone and save yourself.If you can get close enough to a necro you will eat them up. They are super weak and have almost zero AC. One good backstab when they try to cast will take away a bubble if they are the same lvl as you. Necro pets are much tuffer than sk, so just take the beating. SK's have a harm touch and if they are smart they will wait till the end of the battle to lay it on you, this can be resisted but don't count on it. Both the classes can also cast engulfing darkness, no explanation needed here. I suggest a pumice for each time it is cast on you, otherwise you can never get close enough to spin around for a backstab. Necro's can be taken out, like most casters they have weak AC, so getting in close and letting your fast weapons fly, plus a few backstabs should have them worried. The sk's are a tougher cookie to crack, especially if they bring out a pet. Again try to use all the techniques and if they are not twinked it should be a close battle.
Shaman
If you have ravenscale, put it on, you'll need the disease, posion resists. Casters, dont be confused, they have weak armor so our weapons can light them up. They cast alot so lot of chances for backstabs. They like to med and buff before battle so none of that buff , med buff, med then duel @#%$ Again a pumice stone will definitely turn the tide your way. If they have the lvl, first buff they will cast will be regen on themselves, so after the duel stats first put the pumice on them. They have sow and it is a pain in the ass to chase them around, so try to stay close as possible and let those fast weapons eat them up. If they are gonna run around and play games, simply hide and wait for a good opportunity. This class can also cannalibze, which means they trade HP for mana. If they have regen, its no problem for them, so if you let them get away ya gonna have a very long tuff fight. They can blind, root and a whole slew of nasty stuff, so you need the fork and dwarven ringmail or its gonna be a very tough battle.
Wizards
Ok, if you dont have the equipment don't duel. Plain and simple, you can get toasted so dont even fight if you dont give yourself an advantage. You think Tyson is gonna step into the ring after the first day out of jail? Hell no hes gonna train and get himself buffed up. Same goes for you rogues, better go train and kill the Froglock Squire and kill Emperor Crush if you have to get that tunic. First, spell they cast will be root. If ya dont resist, with your high magic resists this spell will only last a few seconds. Just like all other casters, STAY ON THEM! Your fast weapons will hit them like a blizzard, and you should be interrupting them. Everytime they begin to cast a spell, circle-strafe, backstab. Remember you dont have to get all the way behind them, just about behind their shoulder and let it fly. They have some shields that make them invulnerable, or give you fire damage, so save a pumice for that, and try to sit through the roots. They have weak ac, so your backstabs should be max and your weapon strikes as well. Again, wizzies are easy given you have the right equipment. If you dont, you'd better go get some. For you barbarians and humans who cant wear dwarven ringmail, cheer on your short brothers while they duel.
Enchanters or Magicians
Both these classes have pets. Enchanter pets are weak so try to ignore them and concentrate on the casters. Magicians have earth, fire and water pets, which can be real nasty. In general they are weak with low AC. Again use all the tips that apply to the wizzie duels. If they are the same lvl as you, and you have the right equipment you should resist. Though enchanter have tashani, which lowers your magic resist. So if you see "You hear the barking of a dog" and alittle dog icon appears in the top right, use pumice on yourself PRONTO!
Other Tips
Submitted by Cloauk Ndger
When fighting in the arena, Enchanters are severely limited. No pets, and when they charm you get stuck up on a pillar until charm wears off. Then you fall. No problems for a rogue or monk, but fear works the same why. ID can hurt someone here. :)
Always start with the weakening poison, the instant encumbrance is a great asset to you.
Disarm. You can disarm anything that a PC is holding in either hand. Magical weapons, shields, Staffs, books, Dolls, steins, ANYTHING! You can NOT pumice anyone that you are not grouped with. Likewise, no one can cancel magic on you. When you are getting nuked by a higher level fizzler, the squad ring is next to worthless.
Submitted by Iain
1. JBoots don't break Root. That was patched out a long time ago. You need to have your Pumice Stone hotkeyed. You get Rooted, you are dead, so when he roots you, pumice yourself hard.
2. If he has a pet, he can't charm you. Whatever you do, ignore the pet. Just don't let him kite you around with the pet beating on you.
3. Don't think you can switch weapons. This will not be like fighting a monster. He will be moving, you will be moving. Put the SBC primary and the SBD secondary. This will allow you to poison your weapon. I would use the -40STR poison, since that will instantly encumber him.
4. Get your resists as high as you can. Since you are pumicing your roots, put the Fork in your melee slot. Screw missile weapons, they DO NOT interrupt spells.
5. Constantly recharge JBoots. The pattern is something like TAB, click pumice, click boots, F8.
6. Save Backstab for time when he is casting. Hit instill doubt constantly. Can't hurt.
7. Use the Squad Ring early. No point in saving it until the end, there will be no healing. You go down to 60%, squad ring yourself.
Edited by Zato at: 12/7/99 1:55:28 pm