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TP Scum strategy - Patience is a Virtue

Oh, no! An article dedicated to Total Parries? Not just TPs, but the real thing--scum TPs. But I hate TPs! They suck! They don't really fight. They are cowardly! They are, they are, well, they just plain stink!

My, my. One can negatively rant and rave about Scum TPs, but they are one of the 10 styles, they do occasionally fight, and THEY WIN. And, maybe of utmost importance, they are easy to design, and easy to strategize. Perhaps the disgust with Scum is losing to one. That IS a pretty sad, but common, feeling. However, winning by scumming can be quite the thrill--especially when it is against that manager you just plain dislike. Gotcha!

So here's what I am going to do. I will first give some real life examples and results of some most recent graduating, then retired, TPs from The Consortium records. Then I will discuss basic design of scum. Last, I will offer thoughts on methods--weapons, armor, strategies, challenges, and avoids.

Here is the info on nine recent TPs graduated by The Consortium managers. The 10th TP warrior is a warrior who has run in ADM and now in Primus who just TV'd the Contenders (lower Primus) class at the recent summer 2012 Philadelphia FTF. 

 

12-19-10-5-18-12-7 ... to ... 15-21-10-7-21-12-9
31-9-0 arena; 8 DM Titles; skill learn rate = 1.28; expert Parry only at grad
Faves: EP, Very Low/Low; Initiative tactic 

14-16-14-5-20-5-10 ... to ... 16-18-14-7-21-6-12
30-10-0 arena; 0 DM Titles; skill learn rate = 0.73; expert Parry only at grad
Faves: SC; Moderate/Low; learns attack

10-18-9-3-20-16-8 ... to ... 13-21-9-5-21-17-11 (hosed damage)
29-11-0 arena; 2 DM Titles; skill learn rate 1.04; expert parry, expert rip at grad
Faves: LO; Very low/Very low; Responsiveness tactic; learns Riposte

17-15-18-4-15-10-5 ... to ... 19-17-18-6-17-11-7 (hosed damage)
31-12-0 arena; 0 DM Titles; skill learn rate = 1.38; expert Parry only at grad
Faves: SM; Low/Moderate; learns parry

10-17-14-9-19-9-6 ... to ... 12-20-14-11-21-10-9
25-9-0 arena; 1 DM Title; 1.81 skill learn rate; adex parry at grad
Faves: = SC, Very low/Very low; learns defense

12-18-10-10-19-5-10 ... to ... 14-20-10-11-21-6-11 (hosed damage)
26-6-0 arena; 8-8-0 tourneys; 2 DM Titles; skill learn rate = 1.33; 
adex Parry, experts Attack and Defense at grad
Faves: BS; Low/Moderate, Riposte tactic, learns Attack

10-17-7-5-20-15-10 ... to ... 12-20-7-7-21-15-11 (bonused +4 Riposte)
20-1-0 arena; 16-12-0 Tourneys; 1 DM Title; skill learn rate = 1.47; 
adex Parry; expert Riposte at grad
Faves: LG, Very low/Low; learns Defense

13-18-9-9-19-10-6 ... to ... 15-21-9-11-20-10-9 
26-14-0 arena; 1 DM Title; 1.57 skill learn rate; expert Parry only at grad
Faves: SM, Very low/Low, Initiative tactic

10-19-10-4-17-10-14 ... to ... 13-21-10-5-19-11-15
37-3-0 arena; 10 DM Titles; Skill learn rate 0.80; expert Parry only at grad
Faves: SC, Very low/Low, Parry tactic, learns Defense

11-18-9-7-19-7-13 ... to ... 12-20-9-9-21-9-15 at grad (ambidextrous)
37-4-0 arena; 24-10-0 Tourneys at graduation; 16 DM Titles; Skill learn rate = 1.73
at grad; master Parry, expert Riposte at grad
Faves: SH, Low/Very low, learns Parry
Currently: 25-25-9-16-25-17-25; 100-25-2 arenas; 145-80-2 Tourneys
TV'd Fresh, ADM, Elig, Cont

First, before I get into the design discussion, let's summarize what might be the common characteristics of the above small collection of Scum. Here is what I see:

  1. Very high WL and CN
  2. High ST
  3. Low WT
  4. Do not necessarily seem to be designed at skill break points
  5. Many stat increases (bumping)
  6. Low skill learn rates; minimal ratings at graduation (e.g. only exp Parry common)
  7. Terrific win-loss records
  8. Lots of Duelmaster Titles

With that summary in mind, let's explore the design theory of a scum total parry. A good design starts with the question, "What do I plan for this warrior to do?" In the case of scum, we Consortiumites expect the warriors to "win by attrition." We want the opponent to wear out, and either drop from exhaustion or to be smacked out by a last minute swing from the scum. Therefore, we want lots of WL, CN, and ST, the drivers of endurance. We plan to use our hefty physicals and top notch armor to sponge hits from opponents. That means lots of CN, and some ST to optimize carrying capacity. We do not really need much SP or WT as they do not aid our primary method of attrition-by-sponging. If the scum needs one attribute or skill to help himself, it is parry. We get base parry from WL, ST and DF. So as much parry as we can get would help. Because we foresee low WT, our scum will learn skills early on by training stats (burning). That means a very high WL is invaluable. We will compliment our warrior with the best sponge/parry weapons available--shields. Shields require medium ST, and not much else in the way of stats.

What, then, does that mean for a solid TP design?

ST - 11 min, could burn to get 11. As much ST as the points allow is great

CN - a large amount is required, 16+; we want "can take tremendous damage" at least after the first CN stat raise, preferably on the roll

SZ - While size really doesn't matter, very large size guys are probably not great scum as they tend to have minimal points to use on WT, CN, ST. But by being careful, big could work. Size 5,4,and 3 warriors have additional parry and defense skills in their base, while size 15 and above lose parry and defense skills in their base. (A SZ 21 loses 4 parries and 4 defenses, while gaining 4 Initiative. Not the best makeup for our scum!) Therefore SZ 3-14 is best.

WT - 3 is fine. A little WT helps qualify a weapon of lunge, slash, and bash, but it is not necessary for success. Use as few points as possible here.

WL - This is THE primary stat of a TP scum. As high as possible. 16 min, bumped to 17 right away is minimal. (However, in a pinch, The Consortium has designed 12 WL scum with very high ST and CN. They, too, can win lots.)

SP - 3 is fine--don't need any. (However, some managers eliminate a rollup with higher speed from their scum considerations, thinking it cannot succeed being "fast." Pshaw! We Consortiumites disagree. See the above 10 successful Lord Protector designs for reference.)

DF - As much DF as the points allow after maximizing WL, CN, ST. A scum can win without DF. Even a 3 can work. The Consortium minimum thought is 6, bumped to 7 early. We like those parry skills given at odd numbers in DF.

MISC - Other thoughts on design are:

  1. While a 21 WL is superb, settling for 19, which is great, allows two points to place elsewhere--usually CN, ST, or even DF--and still having a terrific design. This fits the scheme of bumping all stats, which is our primary train method. After all, if one is going to bump, he may as well bump WL also.
  2. A TP can use marginal weapons effectively. They parry reasonably well with anything. Remember, this warrior is a sponge.
  3. Do not design a TP, by plan or error, to be over encumbered. His endurance and attrition are his greatest weapons. Over encumbering wears any warrior out fast.
  4. When bumping stats, it is usually best to train up WL first, as that raises the training probability of a stat. However, if another stat is almost mandated (e.g.bumping 10 ST to 11 or CN to get tremendous damage taking, etc), the mandates should come first.

All that said, if we could, we would make every scum a 21-21-3-3-21-3-12 perfecto; but none of The Consortiumites have been yet able to make even one such godling in the arena.

Now let's talk about all that other stuff important to a scum's success: weapons armor, training, challenges and avoids, plus strategy. Are you ready?

Weapons? The TP has a rather interesting assortment. Suited well for the total parry are the following: (ST, SZ, WT DF requirements) 

 

BA 15-9-9-9      LS 11-9-5-9      SH 5-3-11-3
BS 11-3-9-7      LO 11-3-13-11    LG 11-7-5-5
EP 7 -3-15-15    QS 11-9-11-11    ME 9-3-5-5
GS 15-9-9-11     SC 11-3-11-11    SM 5-3-5-5

One can readily see that our scum design is not readily going to accommodate the EP, GS, LO, QS, SC, and SH, usually due to wit, deftness, or both. However, they are all quite usable weapons to the scum, if you have the requirements. Hence, the primary scum weapons will be the BS and ME, plus the BA and LG, if one has the strength. The SM is always usable, but seldom needed as the ME fits so well, and is a bigger, better parrying weapon. The LS is an interesting alternative, and would not seem to fit the idea of scumming, but it does work.

A Consortium TP would be weaponed something like this. BS/ME, b/u DA. (Why DA? Because, in general, with a BS/ME, APA/F warrior, there is only one point of weight left, and only the DA fits. We Consortiumites never over encumber.) The 2nd most common would be ME/ME and everything else the same. The LG is a better scum weapon than the ME, but it is heavier and hence, tends to over encumber. If one has the ST, and if one can keep from over encumbering, BS/LG, and LG/LG are preferred combos. Always stick a b/u in place, if you have the carry point/s, as TP weapons can break somewhat regularly due to all the attacking that occurs. Lastly, there is nothing wrong with using only one weapon, such as LG, ME, and BS. (Shields preferred for parrying.) Consortiumites often do it. Why? To use the most preferred LG or to avoid over encumbering. It is not unusual to see a Consortium scum looking like this:

LG/-, APA/F. b/u DA, ,off hand b/u DA or any 1 or 2 weight weapon.

Armor? Well that is obvious from our design intent and the discussion above. All you can get. That means the APA/F combo. There is hardly any reason to wear anything else.

Training? As has already been implied, with such low wits, the scum is not likely to earn skills at as rapid a pace as other designs. But, the TP scum does not really need a lot of skills to succeed. It needs physicals. So a TP trains stats, and burns, burns, burns. A typical Consortium scum trains WL, CN, and ST two times for sure and sometimes three. (Unless, of course, 21 is reached first.) DF is trained once, or twice, ending at an odd-numbered break point. SP is usually trained once, but maybe not at all. WT, is often trained 1, 2, or 3 times. Why, for the great skills at the odd points; to give a better weapon selection in some cases; and because sooner or later the warrior is going to begin training skills.

Let's use one of the example warriors above (#9) to explore what his stat training might (not necessarily what was) look like, and the resultant of it.

10-19-10-4-17-10-14.This warrior would typically start as follows:

Negative skills? The starting skill levels look AOK to me, as only parry really counts much for a scum. Do not let the low skill base bother you one bit.

So, what then would make a good training schedule? With the 17 WL start, the warrior's chance of learning any 1st stat is 85%.

1st ST, as we have a mandate to get to C carry quickly and ST will do that.It may also give us good damage doing if we had normal.

2nd WL, with no other mandates, let's gain endurance and bump the stat % to 90%

3rd CN, the more hit points, the merrier (The first 3 are almost always WL, ST, CN for Consortium scum.)

4th is either DF or WT for the skills. I prefer DF as it gives a parry skill.

4th DF, hitting a nice break point at 15 for Init, Init, Att, Par skills

5th WT, hitting the 5 break point and Init, Att, Rip, Def, Decise skills

6th SP We could ignore the SP raise, but we may as well take it because it is an easy 90% train and 11 SP does provide an Init and Decise skill (neither of which does the scum much good)

Now we start the 2nd round of stat training, realizing that a 2nd stat train of the same type is WLx5%/2 or 45% in our case.

7th WL, so we train WL first for more endurance AND to raise the train % to 47.5% (19x5%/2)

8th CN lets max the CN at 21, getting more hit points. (Hit points and endurance, with a touch of Parry--that's the name of the game for our scum!)

9th ST, again, which provides a little more endurance, and will most likely assure good damage, if we do not already have it.

10th of the three left (DF, WT, SP) none are that valuable for us, as they do not add physicals or many skills, but the WT will increase our probable skill learn rate later on when we are going to be training skills exclusively.

10th WT for the reason I just stated; it also improves our Intelligence from "stupid" to "not very bright", which, if nothing else, reads a little better.

11th DF We Consortiumites, realizing this has become an optional, train the DF and get a riposte skill. Surely more deftness helps any warrior?

We choose not to train the SP, as it does not help a scum at all, and the decise skill that comes at 12 SP is also useless.

At this point, one could consider getting the 3rd ST, the 3rd WT, 3rd WL, and/or the 3rd DF. All have good value, with the ST and WL enhancing physicals, and the WT and DF hitting nice skill break points. Just realize that the training probability is 19x5%/4 = 22.5%. It would not be unusual for a Consortiumite to train some 3rd stats, and a 4th stat has also been acquired.

12th skills all the way forward. Expect an average of appx 0.75 to 1.25 skills per turn, depending on a lot of things.

So now we have a 12-21-10-6-19-11-16 warrior. (Unless we tried the 3rd train options)

Challenges and avoids? In a nutshell, the aimer is a scum's worst nightmare, and a lunger is his best friend. Challenge LU warriors. Avoid teams with Abs. Below are the "theoretical" lists that The Consortium uses to consider scum challenges and scum avoids.

General order of challenge speculation:

  1. Are there any known light hitting offensives in range?
  2. What lungers are in range?
  3. Are there other scum, whom I am sure I can out-endure in range?
  4. Are there any known scummy, non TP types in range? (I can sponge and out-endure them.)
  5. Are there any light hitting WS or PS in range?

Avoid speculations:

  1. Are there any ABs that can challenge me?
  2. Have I really looked closely for ABs? (obviously avoiding ABs is ultra important)
  3. No matter what, if there are aimers in range, make sure to challenge someone. (If the challenge goes through, those aimers CANNOT get a challenge through to you.)
  4. Are there any known hard hitting warriors that can slow down and take me out with hard hits on a challenge?
  5. Are there any slashers in range? (Slashers seem to do reasonably well against scum.)
  6. Are there any warrior in range that can out scum me? (better TPs, and superscum pikers fit this bill)

That is a lot of thinking, and a lot of theorizing, but good challenges and avoids can greatly enhance the w/l record.

Lastly, we come to strategy. How does one run a total parry scum? First, what is the plan for a scum to do. Conserve energy; be conservative; parry everything possible; don't worry about attacking; get the opponent tired from all his own activity; then the opponent drops or give him a last minute hit which hurts so bad because the opponent is so exhausted.

Yep; that's a total parry scum.

So how do we do that. OE (Offensive Effort) would need to be quite low as our scum is the opposite of offensive effort. AL (Activity Level) would seem to equate with being conservative, not attacking, and not moving around much. That means like quite low also. KD (Kill Desire) has no need to be high as our scum is not trying to whack someone; we want him conservative and passive. Tactics? Do you really want your scum to do something other than parry? If that is all you want, then you probably do not want him choosing on his own to slash, or dodge, or bash, or lunge, or even riposte. Those actions take energy! If you want him to think "parry" (Every time he thinks, which will probably not be often with a wit like that.) then use the P (Parry) tactic. What about desperation, you say? Well, we Consortiumites generally want our scums doing what they do best in desperation: conservatively parrying. One would think then, that a typical strategy might look like 

 

1-1-1-1-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
P-P-P-P-P-P-P

And, indeed, that will probably work just fine. But somewhere along the line you will find that you might want your scum to be a little more active, and even use some kill desire, just in case he does swing. It is true that some scum will swing even at 1-1-1-P! But, in general, you will probably find that he fights best using his "favorites." (Which, of course, you do not yet know, as those are not announced until his graduation.) If you examine the faves of the ten examples above, you will see that OE and AL both range from very low to moderate, with very low being prevalent for OE and low being prevalent for AL. I find this to be the mode in D2 life.

Since VL equates to 1 or 2, LO equates to 3 or 4, and MOD equates to 5 or 6, these examples might indicate that a scum could run from 1 to 6 on both OE and AL, with OEs of 1 or 2, and ALs of 3 or 4 being most common. That would indicate a strategy similar to: 

 

2-2-2-2-2-2-2          or          1-1-1-1-1-1-1
4-4-4-4-4-4-4                      3-3-3-3-3-3-3
x-x-x-x-x-x-x                      x-x-x-x-x-x-x
where x = unknown, maybe also from 1 to 6?

In actuality, we Consortiumites have five differing strategies, using 1 to 5, with lots of Ps, and an occasional responsive tactic. In none of the five strategies are all the KDs a 1.

So there you have it--TOTAL PARRY SCUM, the disliked winner. If he is not in your repertoire, you have a serious gap. (or you don't read French)

Doctor Dehydrate, Consortium affiliated

P.S. You will note that this article is long, thorough, conservative, and winning, just like the total parry scum.



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