Now, I've never talked to, or even heard of, Fritz of Battle Pets (which is okay, because I'm sure a bunch of you have never heard of me, either), but I read Fritz's article, and felt that I had to write a response. I am known as Drake, and I've been playing this game for a little better than four years. Now, this does not make me the ultimate authority on Duelmasters (there are a lot of managers out there that are a hell of a lot better than me), but I do think that I know what I'm doing.
Now, for the most part, Fritz's article doesn't have anything wrong with it, but there are a few points that I noticed that I do believe could hurt new players in the long run (no offense intended towards Fritz or his intelligence as a manager). So, in all good conscience, I could not let his article go by without a rebuttal.
First, he placed too many stats on even numbers in his example rollups. When designing a warrior, it seems that the more odd numbers in the stats, the better the luck factor will be. The values that you really want to shoot for are 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 21. These values seem to offer more skills and are better for getting a high luck factor. Now, I know it is impossible to have a rollup with all odd stats, so the one even stat should either be con or size if you can manage it. These are the two least important stats (in my opinion; a lot of managers feel that con and speed are the bottom of the stat pile; however, we all agree that con is about useless because it does not give your warrior ANY skills), and also the least hampered by even numbers. As far as stat importance goes, most managers will tell you that wit, deftness, and will (in that order) are the most important stats for any warriors of any style.
Now, about the styles themselves.
BASHERS: An okay style that does well in basic, but tends to lose steam in ADM unless designed with extremely good stats. The ranges I suggest are: ST 13-17 (21 is nice but wastes points), CN 3-7 (no offensive style needs con), SZ 6+ (9 is perfect), WT 13+, WL 13+, SP 5-9 (not really that important), DF 13+. I feel that Fritz's first example had too much speed and not enough deftness, and his second rollup had far too much con and not enough deftness. Deftness is what gives you more skills and helps you place your shots where you want them; a deftness of less than 11 will severely hamper your warrior's performance. As for weapons, the best for bashing seems to be the MA, WH, MS, and HL. For the most part, you will want to run your bashers all-out offensive, with no more armor than ARM or ASM and F.
LUNGER: This is a style that one of my biggest disagreements with Fritz comes from. His sample setup had WAY too much speed and way too little deftness. Lungers DO NOT need speed. For a lunger, a speed above 9 is a waste. Basically, I suggest you try the following stat ranges: ST 9-13, CN 3-7, SZ 6-11, WT 15+, WL 17+, SP 5-9, DF 13+. As for weapons and strategy, use the SH, LO, SS, and LS with all-out offense, and 10-10-6 dodge in desperation.
SLASHER: Recently this style has started to gain a lot of respect among experienced managers. Fritz gave his slasher too much con and speed and not nearly enough will and also shorted it on deftness. I suggest: ST 9-13, CN 3-6, SZ 6-11, WT 15+, WL 15+, SP 7-11, DF 13+. Slashers tend to burn a lot of endurance (almost as much as a lunger or wall of steel), and need a good will and strength combo for at least good endurance. For weapons, try the HA, SH, SC, and BS. Try running them like bashers (high offense, and low to mid activity), and never use the slash tactic; it hurts your decise, parry, and defense too much.
STRIKER: Fritz's had too much size and speed and not enough deftness. Also, I would suggest avoiding the high size, low speed and deftness type of striker because they never seem to do well. I suggest: ST 9-13, CN 3-7, SZ 6+, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-13, DF 13+. Run them with a high offensive effort, and a medium to high activity level, and try using a DA, HA, SC, BS, MS, or WH.
AIMED BLOW: The best advice I can give you on these is to forget it. This is a very picky and hard to run style. I still haven't managed a successful one. A lot of managers will tell you that a good aimed blow would make a better something else, and they may be right.
TOTAL PARRY: Fritz's advice on TPs is pretty much right on. I generally try for: ST 9-13, CN 8-10 (enough for normal hit points in 2 stat raises), SZ 3-11, WT 13+, WL 15+, SP 3-7, DF 13+.
PARRY-STRIKE: This is another style I haven't had a lot of success with. Whether this is just bad luck or a fault of the style, I don't know. However, if you want to try one, I suggest the following stats: ST 9-13, CN 5-10 (PS can get away with a low con better than other defensives), SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-11, DF 13+. Try running them like strikers until they get some Expert ratings, then use their skills as a guide. Good weapons are: SH, SC, LO, BS, and WH with an offhand shield.
PARRY-LUNGE: A lot of experienced managers feel that this is the best style in the game. Fritz's design was okay, but there was too much size, and too many even stats. You might want to try: ST 7-11, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 17+, SP 3-7, DF 13+. Run them like lungers until they get some Experts. As for your weapons, try to EP, SH, SC, LO, or SS with an offhand shield.
PARRY-RIPOSTE: Fritz's design was okay, but they really don't need that much con. A low con can be compensated with a high initial parry and/or defense for any warrior. The stats I try for are: ST 7-11, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-11, DF 15+. Basically, a beginning PR should be run like a TP. Try using the EP, SH, SC, LO, or SS with an offhand shield.
WALL OF STEEL: Also known as the waste. This is one of my personal favorite styles. The way I usually design them is: ST 9-13, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 13+, WL 17+, SP 3-7, DF 13+. A good rule is to try and make sure that WT and WL is equal to at least 30 for good initial skill levels. Wastes should be run defensively for the first couple of minutes, offensively towards the middle minutes, and slowing down towards the end. The best waste weapons are the SC, BS, MS, and BA.
Now, Fritz's designs may be working for him, and there is nothing wrong with using what works, but I think that if he gets most of those sample warriors to ADM he will end up in trouble. This is why I wrote this article. A lot of younger managers find out that warriors who were doing great for them in basic end up getting trashed in ADM. It happened to me, and as far as I know, everyone else I know. I hope this article will help make the transition from basic to ADM a little easier for a lot of new managers out there.
One last thing. As I said before, I am not the greatest manager in the game (or anywhere near it), but I do know what I'm doing. However, don't feel that this article is in any way absolute. If one of your warriors doesn't fall within the ranges given, it is not necessarily useless. So long as your warrior has at least 13s in WT, WL, and DF, and they total at least 43, your warrior should be fine.
If you have any comments, questions, or just think I'm completely insane, feel free to contact Drake at any of the following teams and arenas: Power Tools Inc (47, 101, and 103), Drake's Bar-B-Q (15, 103), Drake's Lodge (50), or Ballroom Blitz (3).
Good luck all, and may you never run into a slasher wielding a chainsaw.
-- Drake