I'm sure I'm not covering any new ground with my insights on the Wall of Steel. It is my best fighting style and a favorite. I have currently 3 in ADM, and about a half dozen active in the arenas with one currently undefeated and Duelmaster in DM 41.
So a bit about my observations. Like most defensive styles it seems to work best to run these guys offensively while they are young so I outfit them and run them like a slasher. They favor the initiative, parry and attack skills which sucks a bit in ADM because they lack in defense skill and since defense is king in the late game, Walls of Steel fall back into the pack quite a bit. It stinks but done right they can hold their own vs anyone except end game lungers and aimed blows who seem to be way OP at that level.
Anyway, stats are important of course. Strength should at least be 9+ to get slashing weapons. Con can be lower; I have gotten away with a con of 7 because I run them fast and furious anyway so if they get out jumped or crit dodged and ripped then they go down easy. Most fights are over in minute 1 anyway. Size is a thing; smaller sizes would be nice but you have issues with damage if you go low size and strength less than 11. I have an upper limit of around 14 size and a lower one of 5 in my current crew. Wit is a no brainer: 15+ is almost mandatory but I am running one with a 13 that is doing ok but learning slows down to a crawl if you have less than 15. Will is super necessary so I try not to go below 15 here with a build. Speed isn't really a priority, so I often go as low as 3 here and they still do very well. More speed would be nice, but speed is a luxury and not a necessity. Deftness is nice, I won't run a WOS with less than a 13 here; my highest is 21 with a current ADM build.
Now how to run them. Well, minute one is offensive so I typically run 10-10-6 and then taper off to a high offensive effort and a low or moderate activity level. It seems that the majority of my ADM builds prefer a high-low pace.
So a couple of current warrior builds to show off the style.
Midnight, currently in ADM -- 9-11(2)-10-17-15-3-21, about to start stat raises but currently has ad masters in attack and initiative.
Ishmail currently in Home Guard -- 12-9-6-15-17-9-15, currently at 93 skills and wont be stat raising for a minute.
Average Joe in Mordant -- 11-11-14-13-13-9-13, painfully bad at learning and definitely not recommended for the faint of heart.
Beowulf in Seam -- 11-12-9-15-17-3-17, currently at 54 skills and near the top of the arena. Has fallen on hard times of late because of diminishing returns on skill learns.
Broken in Shadowspire -- 9-14-9-17-17-5-13, very new and probably going to be a .500 warrior when it's all said and done because of the low speed and deftness combo.
Bender in DM 41 -- 9-7-14-17-17-3-17, currently undefeated and duelmaster, won't last long but he started out as a tourney warrior and has gone at best 6-3 and went 4-3 in this past mail-in as an adept.
So for anyone who doesn't know, a speed and deftness of 21 total is needed to get normal coordination and a combo of 28 is needed to get the "fights well with either hand" tag on your roll up. So not really relevant to the topic but just thought I'd throw that out there. I like to keep this total at the very least 18 to get slightly uncoordinated on all my builds because coordination is vital to defense and attack.
Okay, that's my take on this fun style. If I have enlightened anyone then you are welcome, I hope I at least entertained everyone. Take it easy.
-- Eli