There have been several articles about fighting styles, some say theirs is the best, or ultimate, one said theirs is the most fun style. Well, I feel that parry-strikers are just as much fun to play as any other style.
First, let's start with the run down of what they say in the "RED BOOK". The book says that parry-strikers are defensive, using small quick movements in their actions (sounds like you could say that about some other styles as well.) The book says that some managers swear that a high wit is critical to the style (only those who have no brains would disagree with that.)
Let's get to business. First and foremost this style is deceptively aggressive, making them a very good offensive type of fighter, or deadly type of defensive fighter. Offensively they tend to get the jump on their opponent. I had a parry-striker that was only jumped 3 out of 11 fights, before he died. To prepare and run a parry-striker can be quite confusing, so I will try to help make it as simple as possible. Here are my feelings on roll-ups for the parry-strike style:
ST: 11-15, I'll explain later. CN: who cares. SZ: 10-14, don't go over 14. WT: 13-17, 17 is the best. WL: 13-17, to get good endurance. SP: not important. DF: 11-15, I'll explain later.Here are some good roll-ups for a parry-striker:
11,7,10,17,17,7,15 15,7,11,17,16,7,11 11,7,14,17,13,7,15 15,7,14,17,13,7,11.Now, if you have a decent wit, the way you run this fighting style will depend on strength and deftness. For example: if your fighter has a high DF and a low ST it would be to his/her advantage to be defensive, since the speed would benefit the ability to move in reaction to their opponent.
If the ST is high, and DF low, it would be better to fight offensively like a striker, trying to get the first, and only blow in. If they don't have a decent wit, you're on your own. I can't help you on that. Remember this style of fighting is the same as a striker except for added knowledge of parrying, as well as being a little more aggressive.
I would not suggest a low ST and DF, it will take away from your WT & WL, and you don't want to do that, but if you do, good luck. You don't need much CN if you have a good WL, which gives you your endurance.
SZ; you don't want it to be above 14, it would hurt your fighting style more than your attributes.
WT; it is the same as it is with strikers, the higher the WT the faster and deadlier they become. Raise WT to 17 if you don't have it at the start, then don't worry about it again until ADM.
WL; this is where you get your endurance. 13 is fine to start out, but I would suggest 15, then bump it up to 17 in basic.
SP; it is what you need to riposte, but PSers have this "one strike one kill" attitude. Meaning that there isn't much time to riposte with a killing attitude, so do whatever.
DF; what is there to say, it helps, but is not crucial to be a great PSer.
Now to running a PSer.
If he is an offensive fighter 10-10-10 Dec. all the way through the fight, even in desperation.
If Defensive: 1st 10-10-10 Resp. 2nd 10-7-10 Dec. 3rd 10-10-10 4th 10-10-10 Dec 5th 10-10-10 Dec. 6th 10-10-10 D 10-10-10 Resp.Remember, first you want to assure your defense, and to do that, you should go defensive the first minute. By the second minute you will be secure enough to go on the offensive, but experiment. 6th minute on, leave blank, for by that time he/she will know what to do (if their WT is high that is.) The best thing you could do for your fighter is watch the fights, if you are getting more defensive skills than offensive, run the def., or change weapons. That is the best advice I can give you about PSers.
About armor, I like to use ringmail or nothing, but experiment. I know that there is someone that will disagree with me, but I feel that I have given you some ideas about this fighting style that can be used, even though I am a new manager, playing for just over a year. No matter who writes a style article, it is just advice, not the bible. Just use the articles as a point of reference, not as sworn law.
This is a very fun fighting style, try it out. I have written this in answer to Foreign Legion Arena 31, and The Spartans Arena 8. I challenge any Primus Manager to correct my writing of PSers. It is not my favorite style, but it is as fun as any other that I have used, including my favorite one (Which is a STRIKER!!)
If there are any comments, please Diplo The Priest, the manager of The Heroes of XIAN DM-10, or The Crucifiers DM-46.