This article is not the Last Word on Slashers. But I've run a lot of them, and I think I have something useful to say. They were my default style when I was learning the game; if I didn't know what else to do with a roll-up, I made it a Slasher, armed it with a scimitar, and ran it 10-10-x until I figured out what I should be doing instead. Usually, "instead" meant lightening the armor and slowing them down because they got tired too fast, activity level first, then if necessary, offensive effort. An amazing number of them survived and even graduated on this strategy.
I have the details of sixty-five immortal Slashers here, warriors who, regardless of my managerial expertise or lack thereof, managed to survive to graduation. Some are very bad, but lucky. A few are very good. Most are ordinary warriors of moderate ability, made from the kind of roll-ups that you see every day. I'm not going to list all sixty-five of them, which is way too many for a practical discussion, but think of them in the background, confirming or denying suggestions and suppositions.
Favorite weapons: You will find that only those weapons which may show up as favorites when a warrior graduates will be listed as "well-suited" in the fight reports. These favored weapons vary with style, and I assure you they have been thoroughly researched by players over the years.
The eight weapons suitable for use by Slashers, and the minimum stats required to use them, are:
Battleaxe ST 15 WT 9 DF 9 \\ 12 in sample Broadsword ST 11 WT 9 DF 7 \\ 7 in sample Epee ST 7 WT 15 DF 15 \\ 5 in sample Greataxe ST 13 WT 9 DF 11 \\ 8 in sample Hatchet ST 5 WT 3 DF 7 \\ 9 in sample Longsword ST 11 WT 13 DF 11 \\ 8 in sample Scimitar ST 9 WT 11 DF 11 \\ 10 in sample Shortsword ST 5 WT 11 DF 3 \\ 6 in sample[Data courtesy of Pagan and other managers, for which I thank them. Any errors are my own.]
The final number on each line is the total number of Slashers in my sample who had the weapon in question as a favorite. (Just as a warning on the unreliability of statistics, the first twenty-two warriors on my Slasher list favored an axe of some kind over a sword by 2 to 1. But on the group of sixty-five, the proportions are reversed! Tricky things, numbers.)
Weapons not listed on this chart are not suited to the slashing style. Really, we're not guessing--managers have tested this repeatedly, and arming a Slasher with, say, a war hammer or a long spear will always, regardless of his stats, get the result "uses this weapon in an unorthodox style" (meaning "badly"). You want to avoid that.
As you can see from the list above, a Slasher doesn't have just ONE important stat where weapon choice is concerned. Over all, strength, wit, and deftness are equally important, but there is enough variation that a warrior deficient in one area but not the others can find something to fight with.
Below are two dozen immortal Slashers, three who favor each of the Slasher's weapons, their relevant stats, and their favorite rhythms.
Battleaxe Damoreth ST 13 WT 17 DF 11 H/VL Kaltho ST 10 WT 17 DF 13 VH/L Robin ST 10 WT 17 DF 7 M/MNote that none of these three warriors has the minimum stats needed to use a battleaxe to best advantage! That's one of the little tricks the Commission plays on us to make sure we don't find things too easy. You'll see others below who lack some critical stat needed for using their favorite weapon, also.
Broadsword The Kid ST 13 WT 11 DF 11 H/L Elin ST 19 WT 11 DF 17 H/VL Gilis ST 9 WT 17 DF 11 H/VL Epee Billie ST 12 WT 12 DF 9 H/VL Anlis ST 11 WT 15 DF 13 VH/L Kyra ST 9 WT 11 DF 17 M/VL Greataxe Kothland ST 10 WT 15 DF 9 H/VL Jane Erh ST 9 WT 15 DF 15 M/VL Ginger ST 9 WT 11 DF 11 H/VL Hatchet Kirmo ST 9 WT 15 DF 13 H/VL Treefrog ST 10 WT 13 DF 9 H/L Medio Curr ST 9 WT 11 DF 13 H/L Longsword Goff ST 9 WT 11 DF 9 H/VL Tumbleweed ST 11 WT 13 DF 9 H/L Nelinaria ST 12 WT 17 DF 13 H/L Scimitar Horace ST 13 WT 11 DF 13 VH/VL Wolf ST 9 WT 15 DF 13 H/VL Geladina ST 9 WT 15 DF 12 M/VL Shortsword Rover ST 13 WT 9 DF 11 VH/VL Riya ST 10 WT 15 DF 9 VH/VL Hammir ST 9 WT 15 DF 13 VH/LMy habit of giving any Slasher with the necessary stats a scimitar to wield means that a lot of these warriors never ran their favorite weapon. But they survived anyway, because the scimitar is so GOOD. I really like arming Slashers (and many other styles) with scimitars, and I highly recommend it. Just one scimitar in hand, off-hand empty, and a back-up on the belt. A warrior who does NOT have the stats for a scimitar (hard to imagine, given my basic design philosophy) is not trained as a Slasher.
Which brings us to the question of warrior design. With me, if I'm determined that a warrior shall be a Slasher, the basic design decisions are already made: a Slasher must be able to use a scimitar. Okay, not always. Seven of the twenty-four warriors listed above lack the deftness for a scimitar, which means I probably sent them out with a shortsword or a hatchet. But "able to use a scimitar" is still my basic Slasher criterion. If there are points left over after arranging that, I put 'em on will. And if will is 11 or better, I MIGHT put some points on speed, just to see what happens.
You will note that I don't figure any points to be added to CN. True, a Slasher burns endurance rapidly and may get tired in less than a minute if running hard. But Slashers are offensive warriors. They aren't out there for a long fight; their style wins quickly by attacking, or quits and fights another day. For the same reason, I am unlikely to put a Slasher in anything heavier than leather armor. (The "quits to fight another day" strategy has offensive effort and kill desire both dropped to moderate or lower in desperation.)
Favorite rhythm: As I said at the beginning, when I started playing, I used to run my Slashers 10-10-x, and many of them did well enough to graduate under that regimen. But looking at the favorites from my graduated Slashers, I find no offensive effort lower than Moderate (5 or 6) and no activity level higher than moderate. It breaks down this way:
Very High (9-10)/Moderate (5-6): 2 Very High (9-10)/Low (4-5): 6 Very High (9-10)/Very Low (1-2): 8 High (7-8)/Moderate (5-6): 1 High (7-8)/Low (3-4): 10 High (7-8)/Very Low (1-2): 21 Moderate (5-6)/Moderate (5-6): 4 Moderate (5-6)/Low (3-4): 6 Moderate (5-6)/Very Low (1-2) 7This gives you a clear idea of how the Gladiatorial Commission sees Slashers: offensive. In all but four out of sixty-five cases, offensive effort is higher than activity level, and sometimes--often--it's a lot higher. This is not to say that you will always want to run your Slasher hard and fast, which will burn his endurance at a furious rate, but this is what he does best. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that warriors have a favorite kill desire.
There is no convincing evidence to support the hypothesis that warriors have a favorite attack location. Logical arguments based on real-life concepts do not necessarily apply to Duelmasters. There IS evidence to support the claim that increased deftness means a better chance of hitting the designated attack location, in case you wondered about that. And even without training DF to a higher number, a warrior appears to gain accuracy with experience and an increase in skills.
Favorite Tactics: In my sample of sixty-five warriors, only four have a favorite tactic, and in all four cases that favorite is the offensive tactic Slash. This is not to say that your warrior can't use any other tactic to advantage, because maybe he can. Well, okay, I wouldn't give him a Bash tactic, and probably not a Lunge, either.... But apparently the only tactic he really likes is Slash.
Going from the general to the specific--
Profile of a Warrior, Black Victor, Slasher
Vic is 9-7-15-17-15-10-11, no stats trained, and he was 22-18-2 running on maintenance at the time he received his graduation notice. He had an advanced master in initiative, and advanced expert in riposte, a master in attack, and an advanced expert in decisiveness.
According to his overview, he is very intelligent (something not always demonstrated in his dealings with his teammates) Nothing short of a genius at keeping his foes at sword's point Does a lot of little things well Uses an unusual fighting style, deadly to slower, less active foes (I have NEVER gotten an overview that claimed the warrior used a hackneyed, common fighting style that would result in getting himself killed) Avoids blows well He's an extremely active fighter (the SP and DF) Cannot take a lot of punishment (low CN) Can only carry a very little weight in armor and weapons (low ST) Is very quick on his feet, Avoiding rather than trading blows Can do good damage with a blow (largely a result of his SZ)The Commission claim he favors a battle axe, which he has never tried, and a rhythm of very high offensive effort and very low activity level
At the time this invitation to the Isle arrived, he was running 10-10-8 straight across, carrying a scimitar and backup scimitar, in leather armor and a helm, attacking right arm, protecting body, and using no tactics. Sunset (DM 21) is not an easy arena, but this strategy--you'll note that it is not his "favorite"--got him out alive.
But suppose he had the same stats but some other style. What difference might that have made? None to his ability to take and deal out damage, but more than you might think to his initial, or base, skills. Several managers (Sir Boyd and Pagan are prominent among them, but I know others have helped, all unsung) have done a lot of research, analysis, and experiment on the relation between a warrior's starting stats and style and his starting skills. (Note that a warrior's starting skills may not be exactly what the charts would lead you to expect. There is a luck factor; a warrior may sometimes have more or fewer of a given skill than expected.) His ability to take and deal out damage, and to carry or not carry weight would have remained the same, but....
This is how Vic would have stacked up as a warrior of another style in the skills department:
Skills Style Init Rip Att Par Def Dec Total AB 5 3 6 1 5 10 30 BA 12 7 10 1 3 10 33 LU 13 7 12 1 7 9 49 PL 10 7 10 3 5 8 43 PR 8 11 6 3 3 6 37 PS 8 7 6 3 5 8 37 SL 14 7 10 -1 5 9 44 ST 9 7 6 0 5 10 37 TP 8 7 4 7 5 6 37 WS 14 7 10 5 5 8 49All styles are not created equal, but have their own various strengths and weaknesses.
Do you look at this chart and wonder why all warriors aren't created lungers and walls of steel? Well, a lot of them are, especially lungers. Some die of that low CN, inability to carry much armor, and lack of parry and defense skills. Some fall victim to bad matches, develop losing records (this warrior is NOT at his best against a long-haul total parry, for instance), and get sent to the Dark Arena. Some managers simply LIKE to play other styles, and can make up in skilled management what the warrior may lose on the initial roll-up.
Which brings me to an issue I would like to just mention to those of you here who are new managers. You can design warriors to maximize starting skills. Let's suppose that Vic's initial roll-up had a ST of 7 and I decided NOT to add two points to it. I could have put those points on either WT, WL, or DF, the three most skill-rich stats and had more skills for him to start with. But with a ST of 7, I couldn't have counted on getting at least normal damage done, even with his big SZ, and "little damage" has been the end of many warriors. What good are skills if you can't take your opponent down? If I'd accepted a lower CN, I could have put more points into stockpiling skills... and maybe gotten a "very frail" warrior, one who couldn't survive a blow. What good are skills if you can die from a single blow?
Good warrior design is a balancing act. You have to know what you expect of the warrior: is he to be a long-term project, destined to dominate high-end play, or a dixie-cup short-term warrior? A short-term warrior can get away with a lot of "design flaws" that would be disaster for a long-termer. He can get away with being very frail, or having a WL too low for training up stats. He can be experimental.
But the first requirement for a long-term warrior is that he survive to reach the Isle and immortality. Skills alone are not enough for that.
-- Jorja, The Middle Way