I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I have been playing Duelmasters for about 3 years now and I've been helped by MANY managers. I base my knowledge on this help and my experience as a manager.
All my designs will give you warriors who will hopefully be able to win early on, late in life, or sometimes even both.
First, the five offensives:
Basher: Bashers are generally one of two types: big and stupid or smaller, quicker, and skilled. First, big and stupid: 17-16-17-8-17-4-5. This guy wears plate armor and a full helm and wields a maul with a backup warhammer. Run him like 8-1-8 bash and he will win early on but suck later in his life. The second guy is like 15-6-9-21-15-7-11 and can use every bashing weapon but the halberd. This rollup will not come up often and will be made into something else very often.
Aimed-Blows: I don't know much about aimed-blows so I won't tell you much about them. They need high wit and deftness (17 and 17 if possible) and at the very least a 13 will to be competitive later in life. The rest of the stats will define how you run your aimed-blow, slow if he has the con to take a few hits, fast if he has high speed and low con. I advise any new players to be VERY careful running ABs, they are notorious for dying.
Strikers: Strikers, much like bashers, generally do not make the best long-term warriors. I run a striker who did well in regular DM but sort of sucks in Advanced DM. He was set up 11-11-5-15-10-17-15. He is a classic example of a "Biff" striker, good for a few wins, but not a god in later life. You generally can't go wrong with strikers. Give them at least a 15 wit to learn skills, and some speed to help their decise. Low speed = big size, low-size = high-speed.
Lungers: Quite possibly the best style in the game. I am sick of them but they can be damn good if made correctly. Will is the single most important stat. Lungers get tired real quick. I recommend a setup like this: 11-8-11-17-17-7-13. This is not a god roll-up but it is very good. At 11 strength you can use ALL lunging weapons. I think the longsword is the best lunging weapon, plain and simple.
Slashers: I have made one I think and I don't even run him. They are a good style and like lungers get great ratings, but eat up endurance. Ask around in your arena for help on slashers, I'm sure you can find help. :)
Okay, now for the five defensives:
Total Parry: Well, there is only one way to make a total parry. This is a very good design: 11-15-6-15-21-5-13. He will have a good parry, a good defense, and a good attack. He needs the wit to learn skills and the will to last long and not give up. Many people might disagree with this design but as far as I'm concerned, it's solid. You can also make a scum, but that is not a total parry. 15-18-11-5-21-3-11. He will win early and maybe even later, but suck in the long-haul.
Parry-Riposte: I like to consider this my bread-and-butter style. I am going to give very high standards for a parry-rip. Setup: 7-12-6-21-17-6-15 or if you are brave: 7-3-10-17-21-10-17. Both warriors are very similar to warriors that I run, the second is an exact copy of one of my guys. These roll-ups rarely come up but in my opinion a good parry-rip needs to have VERY good stats. I am a bit biased to parry-rips but that is just me.
Parry-Strikes: I am not the greatest on parry-strikes, but they are similar to a P-R. Higher strength (11-13), con can be around the same (3-12), generally lose points in other stats. Size needs to be low (<9), wit, will, speed and deftness need to be reasonably high if you have the points (17-17-9-13) for the last 4 stats would be beautiful. Diplo "Horrible" of Team Titan (157) in Talcama (18) for advice. He is a good PS manager.
Parry-Lunge: Much like a P-R in both fighting and the way to be set up. Try 11-5-6-17-21-9-15 for a good P-L. I love the 9 speed on a parry-lunge and the 11 strength gives good weapon selection and endurance. All weapons can be used except a longspear and even that can be used without too much trouble. It needs a 9 size. Like the lunger, he needs will. Good style, very strong.
Wall of Steel: The waste is another good style for a good winning percentage. This setup is strong: 13-8-9-15-21-5-13. A good style that can be strong against most opponents. Scimitar, medium shield work great.
Well, I am about done for now. A few last minute tips, train skills at all times! Never train stats unless it's con, or it is a scum T-P, or a scum basher. The longsword needs 11 ST, 3 SZ, 13 WT?, 11 DF. Scimitar needs 9-3-11?-11. WH needs 13-3-9?-7. Longsword is best for lungers, scimitar is great for P-L, P-S, P-R, W-S, T-P, SL, AB, ST, and the warhammer is a reliable basher or striker weapon. Well, I hope this will help new managers, and good luck!!! (Oh yeah, always make wit/will/def on 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 or 21) but do not train up to those stats!
Please send all flames to "Jolly", Arena 18, Burn n' Pillage (218)