Duel2 - Arena 93 Newsletters

A compilation of Noblish Island Articles

The CIC Package

RSI Will Provide It to Noblish Islanders (and all newbies) Upon Request

Once upon a time there were some long-time managers who decided to collect a lot of valuable information, in hard copy form. Those managers, use said data information when:

The internet is down and the Terrablood/RSI sites are unavailable
Traveling around the world and "working D2 strategies" in unusual places
Quick information is needed
They feel like it

The information is "old fashioned" and maybe not the the prettiest, but it can be quite invaluable to D2ers especially D2ers with no internet accessibility. Copies of that information are now available for Noblish Island managers. Contact the RSI office to request it by mail. (If it wasn't sent in an intro packet to you.)

Most of the information on the data sheets is self-explanatory. Some will require explanation. Most has been gathered from various sources over time in the old DM community. Much of it has been gathered empirically. (Meaning that the information is not programming code, or from the designers, but rather gathered by users and players of the game.) The information may not always be "perfect", but it is widely used in this or similar fashion.

I will explain the information by placing it into two categories: straightforward, and intricate.

First let's cover what is in the first category. The following charts/info fit the straightforward category. Some include simple calculations.

WEAPON SUITABILITY -- shows which weapons are suited, marginal, or unsuited to a style.
WEAPON REQUIREMENTS -- indicates the ST, SZ, WT, DF limitations for a weapon. It also covers the weapon weight, the armor it is best used against, and whether it is a slash, bash, lunge weapon.
INTELLIGENCE -- defines the WT needed for each rating.
DAMAGE -- reveals the approximate damage rating one should expect for all ST/SZ combinations. Note: a luck roll factor can both hose and bless damage rating.
ENCUMBRANCE -- a table which shows what level of "carry" (encumbrance rating) one should expect at all SZ/CN combinations.
HEIGHT -- a simple conversion between the SZ number and height.
COORDINATION -- which is defined as SP + DF; the chart provides a summary of each coordination rating and the "points" range for each
ENDURANCE -- most still use this calculation, although a "luck roll factor" can alter the results slightly. The endurance rating which is WL x (ST+CN) is defined for each rating.
HIT POINTS -- sometimes called "damage taking" is broken down in this chart. The HP is defined as 3.75CN + 1.1SZ + 0.4 WL. The rating levels are defined by "points".

And now for the more difficult to explain charts which interact with each other. The three intricate charts are:

BAGMAN2 SKILL CHART -- this chart explains how many and what skills are added to the warrior base for each stat point. (All stats, including SZ, add or subtract skills at certain levels except CN.)
STYLE SKILL MODIFIER -- indicates the modification, by style, of skills per type. This occurs "at birth" of the warrior.
HIGH WIT STATEMENTS -- a chart of phrases which indicate, at birth, the skill level, by skill type, of your warrior. Note: there is a Low Wit Statement chart for warriors with less than 8 WT, but it is very inaccurate (minimal empirical data) and seldom used. It is not included in this collection of charts. (A good low WT statement chart was later developed by Assur.) These three charts work together to help a warrior determine his anticipated starting skills. They also define at which skill levels, per stat, that skills are added during the warrior's development. Note: Depending on the warrior's style, it is possible to be blessed or hosed by up to 4 skills by the "luck of the roll". The other thing to remember is that an ambidextrous warrior gets one attack skill added to his base at birth.

These three intricate charts, and the interaction between them, can seem quite complicated. After a certain amount of trial-and-error, and/or by absorbing enough advice, a manager finally "gets it". Use them well.

DETAILS OF USING THE CIC

What can you do with the Consortium Information Collection (CIC)? How does one use all that info? (Noblish Island managers and all new managers can contact RSI for a copy.)

You can use the information to:

Predict what your designed warrior is going to look like. (Indeed, you can use the info to "try out" several design ideas, before you choose your final design.
Review the overview of the warrior you received to see if he/she is bonused/hosed.
Help keep track of the warrior's skills, including those earned from certain stat raises.
Determine advantageous and usable weapons and armor for certain situations. One note: Use of this information can be meticulous, detailed and exasperating at first. It will take practice.

So let's examine the CIC in detail.

1. DAMAGE CHART: This chart shows you the range of expected damage doing your character will yield. For example, a SZ16, 10ST warrior yields "-R+", meaning great damage is typical, but lower and higher are not uncommon. Damage doing is dependent on SZ, ST, and luck of the roll. If a warrior is much below, or much above, the chart predictions, he is "hosed" or "blessed". This chart is more of generic reference than most of the other information.

2. HIT POINTS: HP is calculated as (3.75xCN)+(1.1xSZ)+(0.4xWL) . This chart shows the HP needed for each rating. For example, an 11-10-8-15-17-12-11 warrior would have (3.75x10)+(1.1X8)+(0.4x17)=53.10 HP and his "hit point rating" would be "cannot lot", meaning cannot take a lot of damage. One raise of CN elevates him to 56.85 and "normal HP".

3. ENDURANCE: By this chart's definition, endurance equals (WL)x(ST+CN) Using the warrior mentioned above, endurance is (17)x(11+10) = 357. Based on the chart, this warrior should have "normal endurance. It is possible to be hosed/blessed in endurance, which would be the case if this warrior did not have normal. Note: On a warrior profile sheet, the lack of any comment about endurance, means the warrior has normal.

4. COORDINATION: Coordination is merely SP + CN. There is no hosing or blessing. The warrior listed above has 12+11 = 23 or normal coordination.

5. ENCUMBRANCE: is often called "carry". Carry is a non-hosed/blessed attribute dependent on ST and CN and it indicates how much weight a warrior can carry without penalizing the endurance. Checking the chart for the above listed warrior shows 11ST/10CN yields "B" carry, or "cannot carry a lot of weight". Each level of carry adds 9 points of weight that can be carried. A = 9; B = 18; C = 27, etc. Items to be carried are armor, helm, and weapon/shields. Check the WEAPON REQUIREMENT chart to see the weights of weapons and armor. As an example, a warrior wearing ASM/H, and carrying BS/ME and a backup SH, has the following weights of 8 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 19. That amount of carry is more than the 18 indicated for "B carry", hence, the warrior wears out much quicker than normal. (Drop the back up to DA and carry is 18 points!)

6. HEIGHT: this is a simple conversion chart showing what heights equate to what SZ. While the warrior fight summary may list the warrior in ft.-in, the D2 program really runs using the SZ number. Size may limit weapons or shields that may be used without penalty, and as seen above, it impacts certain other characteristics.

7. INTELLIGENCE: This chart indicates the intelligence statement you will receive at each numeric WT. In general, only the numeric value is of importance.

8. STYLE SUITABILITY: This is a chart which summarizes which weapons/shields are suitable, marginal, or unsuitable for which styles.

9. WEAPON REQUIREMENTS: This chart only refers to primary-hand weapons, and it is a terrific summary of weapon requirement and impact. This chart reveals all of the following and more:

a. weapon weights
b. ST requirements for a weapon
c. SZ limitations for a weapon
d. WT requirements for all weapons
e. DF requirements for a weapon
f. Weapon impact vs. armor type
g. Kill "ratings" for weapons (Take this rating with a "grain of salt" as it is not really supported by empirical results, and it appears to say heavy weapons kill better.)
h. Whether the weapon is a slash, bash, or lunge type weapon.

10. BAGMAN 2 SKILL CHART AND STYLE MODIFIERS: This chart is a doozy! It took years of data and development, and has become a highly important tool in D2. The SKILL CHART explains what skills are earned at each stat level. For example: at 5 WL the warrior gets 1 each Attack, Parry, Defense, and Decisiveness skill; at 6 WL, no more skills are earned; but bumping the 7WL again adds one each of those same four. Note also that SZ does impact skills. A SZ3 warrior gets two each defense and parry skills and loses two initiative, while a SZ21 earns 4 initiative but loses four each defense and parry. This chart is prepared in an accumulative fashion, showing the total skills at each stat.

Coupled with that chart the STYLE MODIFIER chart shows the "at birth" style of modifications. (All negative or zero. Each style starts with a different base of skills. Lets take our previously mentioned 11-10-8-15-17- 12-11 warrior for example, and let's say he is a slasher. The skill chart shows 2 each attack and parry skills at 11 ST; no skills for CN and no skills for SZ; at 15WT 9 initiative, 3 riposte, 7 attack, 7 defense, and 2 decisiveness; 4 each attack, parry and defense plus 5 decise at 17WL; 3 init, 4 riposte, 2 defense, and 5 decise at 12SP; and at 11DF there are 3 Init, 4 Riposte, and 5 each attack, parry and defense skills. Add those all together to get a 15Init-11Rip-18Att-11Par-18Def-12Dec total of skills for that design. Now you must apply the style modifier chart, and a slasher has as follows: -2 Init, -4Rip, -8Att, -10Par, -12Def, -2Dec.

Putting them both together yields a slasher who should expect starting skills of 13 Init, 7 Rip, 10 Att, 1 Par, 6 Def, and 11 Dec.

11. HIGH WIT STATEMENTS These statements apply to those warriors with 8+ WT. (There are also Low Wit Statements, but that information summary is inaccurate due to lack of input data.) This list indicates what "statements" should appear on your "warrior profile" for each of Initiative, Riposte, Attack, Parry, and Defense per each level of wit. Using our warrior above, as stated, he is expected to start with 13 Initiative skills. He has 15 WT. Examining the chart, under Initiative and across from 15 WT (which also applies for 16WT, since the next listed level is 17), the left side (high order) is for 13+base init skills, and the right side (low order 10-12 base init). We determined that he should start with 13, so we should expect the statement "Nothing short of genius ...". If we do get this statement as expected, we DO have 13+ Initiative skills. (13 min) Hence, we could be bonused with skills above 13. We would know if we were bonused 3 Init skills, as we would start with an expert in Initiative. However, if, indeed, we received the other statement "With a very aggressive .....", we would know we started with 10-12 Initiative skills, and were hence hosed 1 to 3 initiative skills.

Let's try one more example -- for Riposte. Our skill evaluations showed him to have 7 skills. Looking at the HIGH WIT chart at 15WT, he has fewer skills than the low order amount of 10-12, so he should expect no riposte statement. If he did get the low order statement, then he truly has at least 10 riposte skills, so he is bonused +3 or +4 (4 is max skill hose or bonus.) Evaluating the high wit statements of all five skill areas (There is none for decisiveness.) will lead to a true and actual understanding of the starting skill set of any warrior.

NOTE: With internet accessibility, use The Terrablood site for ALL this info.

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