When a review was done on the design articles from the past, it was discovered that these articles were not helping players. Many of them were not terrible, but the players in the game have taken warrior design far beyond the understanding that existed when most of these articles were written. So to better serve new players, The Consortium and Assurnasirbanipal took to giving more current design articles for each style. While even our articles are biased and opinionated, we believe they better represent today's game than others that exist. This article seeks to remove some confusion about the Aimed Blow style. Aimed Blows are THE strongest style at high development levels. They are also one of the strongest styles with no development. In between, it is much more difficult for most of them. While they are naturally a hybrid style, I'll explain why at the top they could be called pure defensives and because of their sustained attack capabilities, they make fine pure offensives as well.
Aimed Blows have several characteristics that do not exist with any other style.
There are so many ways to make Aimed Blows that it is almost impossible to give a set of guidelines for stats. When you first start experimenting with Aimed Blows, I highly recommend only using setups that can make 17 or 21 deftness on them. 21 is preferred, but 17 is just fine. Even after you have experience, I don't recommend going below 15. The reason is because of item A) above. You are permanently reducing your AB's potential attack by lowering the deftness. It used to be said that: "Any warrior that makes a good aimed blow makes a better something else." When you lower the deftness too much, that statement starts to ring very, very true. But at 21 deftness, they have the second highest natural attack in the game (below lungers by 1 attack skill) -- and without lungers high endurance burn.
Now with 1/4 of your points on deftness, that doesn't leave as much as you'd like for everything else. Fortunately, 21 deftness is almost magical. Aimed Blows can succeed with little damage. Aimed Blows can succeed with little endurance (not recommended: little damage AND little endurance). Aimed Blows can succeed frail. Aimed Blows can scum to victory. Aimed Blows with 21 deftness and completely balanced remaining stats can win.
Weapons: SC, LO, FI, EP, and DA are the staple weapons that I use. Most people leave QS alone until after they know it is their Aimed Blow's favorite weapon (and people have TC'd with QS). SH, SS, and LS work fine, but I leave those until last. The 5 I mentioned meet all my needs. Armor: It depends on how you're trying to win. The Jalon type AB wears APA/F. Fist/Dodge AB's wear light or no armor. Speed AB's wear nothing or ALE/L. Hybrids wear what they can depending on their carry & design.
Strategy: x-10 is my 'standard' strat. 'x' is typically 4 or higher. Some hybrids (generally wearing more armor, though a parry learner might also do this) will not use 10 Activity Level. As always, you need to tailor your strategy with your endurance. Going 6-10 for 3 minutes is going to tire just about everyone out. Yes, most fights are over in 1 minute. But when they go longer, you need to start to conserve a bit. AB's can use most tactics. I'm sure there are others that have a more refined way to write the numbers, but I like the simplicity (and effectiveness of the strategy I use). Note that the super frail guys I typically run 10-10 and the high str/con guys I'll sometimes run slower with more armor.
Examples:
I've chosen to list my own designs that have TC'd and TV'd (and naturally created -- I have some prize warriors that I don't include here).
17-5-3-5-21-12-21 AB (TC'd Rookies & Freshmen, TV'd ADM) 5-12-6-21-7-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 10-3-12-17-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 10-6-16-21-5-5-21 AB (TV'd Rookies & Freshmen) 10-13-6-13-17-4-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 5-5-10-17-21-9-17 AB (TV'd Rookies) 7-13-7-17-15-4-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 13-7-5-17-7-14-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices) 9-10-12-11-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 4-12-7-21-15-4-21 AB (TC'd Apprentices) 5-8-8-17-17-8-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices) 7-10-5-11-21-9-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 3-3-11-21-15-14-17 AB (TV'd Dead Apprentices) 9-11-8-11-21-7-17 AB (TV'd Rookies) 11-8-8-21-7-8-21 AB (TC'd Rookies) 11-14-5-13-15-5-21 AB (TV'd Rookies) 9-5-11-11-9-18-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices) 9-3-9-21-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Eligibles)You'll notice a pattern. I have zero TV's listed in Initiates, Adepts, or Champions. That is because I have no natural aimed blows that have TV'd in those classes, which are not good ones for AB's. I also don't have a Challenger TV, but this isn't because AB's do poorly there.
There is one other example that is worth mentioning. This design does not exist in the rollup pools, but there are guys that can use this design as a model. It is a very common design for DYO prizes and in Bloodgames. These monsters have TC'd many times (almost always in Freshman or higher). The design is named after the first one that was successful. Jalon:
17-16-3-3-21-3-21 AB
Advantages: At the very top of the game, their ability to dodge with no weapons makes them virtually unhittable. So in a sense, at this point, AB's become pure defensives. Because they also have low endurance burn, they can go a long time (you regularly see AB vs AB fights go hundreds of minutes at the very top). The bonus is not as great at lower development levels, but it is still there. Running x-10 (with or without the dodge tactic) and no weapons is a viable strategy and useful strategy to use at times. Their high attack, ability to ignore armor, and low endurance burn make them very hard to beat in long fights. With exceptions for some designs, there isn't a favorite learn that will make you roll your eyes in disgust. AB's can overcome the dreaded little damage. AB's can be made from setups that otherwise would be considered 'bad.' AB's may be the only style that can regularly succeed with very low strength.
Disadvantages: Initiative is a mess for Aimed Blows. They regularly give up the initiative for no reason. When you give 17 or 21 points on deftness, it limits your ability to get points where you want elsewhere. Most importantly, having high wit tends to even make your AB even more deficient than they otherwise are. This is why they tend to be so bad in Initiates, Adepts, and Champions, where 21 wit is much more common and important. Those classes are full of 21 wit strikers and lungers, also.
Best Matchups Scum, Scum, and more Scum. Any defensive warrior (especially scum). Remember that sustained high attack offensive ability?!? Scum never want to see AB's. Lots of scum run bizarre strategies to try and beat AB's who would otherwise destroy them. This is another reason why AB's thrive in Rookies, where there are lots of scum running around. After scum, any defensive warrior is a good matchup.
Worst Matchups: Lungers, Bashers, Slashers. These warriors have a combination of high attack/high init/high decise skill base. They will attack and hit your aimed blow before it gets a chance to attack back. Strikers also can fall into this category, because they learn so much attack (and often have 21 wit, too).