Building a winning Wall of Steel

Statistics
Strength: 9+
Constitution: 9+
Size: 3-14
Wit: Varies. 17 or 21 is ideal (obviously), but I’ve had a lot of success
with 13, and I’ve seen good wastes with as low as 9
Will: 17 or 21 (15 if CON is at least 17)
Speed: none. 3-6 is ideal.
Deftness: 11-17

Comments_advice: This is a very basic Wall of Steel design, and properly
run, it will win a lot of fights.

Strength: 9 is minimum for SC, but higher is better, especially with the
runts (sz 3-5). I’d go as high as 17, depending on size. Try to get at
least “does good damage” and normal carriage ability.

Con: Wastes are, primarily, a defensive style, and you need to be able to
take a few hits, especially early on in your career. 9 is a bare minimum.
The more con you can get, the more you will win. One of the best Wastes
I have ever seen started with a 16, trained to 18, and won a tournament.
Try for 11-13, or at least enough to take normal damage and to get normal carriage

Size: Low is good, because you can use the points elsewhere, but any will do.
If you’re over a sz 14, then you’re probably losing points you need elsewhere.

WT: As with any style, a 17 or 21 is ideal, but I’ve been very successful
with 13-witters. You can go as low as 9 or 11, but it will hinder the
warrior’s growth. Try to stay at a minimum of 13.

Will: This is the single most important stat for a Waste. You only have
three real choices: 15, 17, or 21. To get by with a 15, you need a con of
17 or so in order to get good endurance. Endurance is key to winning with
a Waste. If the roll-up does not have a Will of 17 or 21, or does not have
a high enough Con to make a 15 will work, save yourself some trouble and make
it another style.

Speed: Speed is totally unnecessary. 3-6 is ideal, because that give you
plenty of points for other stats. Any more speed than 9 and you are taking
points away from areas that need it more.

Deftness: 11 is necessary to use the scimitar–a Wall of Steel’s weapon
of choice. If you can get a 15 or 17, that’s awesome. Any points you want to
add after 17 can probably be better used on wit, will, or con.

Weapons: Give your waste a scimitar, with an off-hand weapon for parrying.
Early on in your career, a medium shield is a good choice. Once your
warrior gets an expert in parry, drop the shield and use an off-hand hatchet.
Against scum and defensives, I have always liked the great axe.

Armor: This depends on the warrior. If the warrior is offensive-minded,
give him enough to take a few hits, but not so much that he loses all mobility.
ARM/H or ASM/F are two good choices. If your warrior has a high constitution,
can carry a lot, and has great endurance, you may want to go with APA/F.

Strategy: Wastes can be run in a variety of ways, with a majority of them
having mod/low as favorites. Therefore, 5-3-x is an excellent default strategy.
Others that I have used with success include 3-2-x, 2-3-x parrry, 7-2-x, and
8-1-x. As you can see, you have a lot of room to play with in Offensive
effort, but there is almost never a reason to go over an activity level of 5.

Some examples of Wall of Steel Warriors:

17-13-5-13-17-4-15, Great endurance, Good carriage, does Good damage.
Graduated at 18-10-1

12-17-9-15-15-5-12, Great endurance, takes a Lot of damage, does Good damage.
Graduated at 18-10-2

14-12-5-13-21-4-15. Starting stats of the legendary warrior Sqorpion. He is
now retired in Primus with a record of 82-39.

10-11-8-13-21-6-15. Good endurance, normal carriage ability, does Good
damage. Went 10 rounds in the novices in the fall ’98 mail-in tourney.

9-9-13-15-21-4-13. Does good damage. Nice skill base, but came back with
only normal endurance, which will hinder his career early on.

This has been a BASIC look at the Wall of Steel style. Play with what you
see here, and good luck!

This article brought to you by Lord Andarus.
For more info: email: joedog56@aol.com ICQ: 33702160 or Diplo: Blades of Ice (188), DM7