TP’s A to Z

Statistics 
Strength: 9 to 17 
Constitution: 11 to 21 
Size: varies 
Wit: 3 to 21 
Will: 17+ 
Speed: varies 
Deftness: 7 to 17 

Comments_advice: Total Parries A to Z 

When I started to write this article I first tried to put down the range of 
stat #'s that would work effectively for Total Parries and immediately 
realized that it was impossible to present this style without going into 2 
possibly even 3 specific and totally different designs. TP's are probably 
one of the most versatile styles in the game (other than PS). I've listed 
the stat ranges below that I initially came up with, as you can see they're 
extremely broad and need a lot more definition, which will will be covered 
in the following sections. 

ST 9+ 

CN Varies 

SZ Varies 

WT Varies 

WL 17+ 

SP Doesn't matter 

DF 7+ 

Part 1, The Scum 

ST 9+ 

CN 16+ 

SZ any 

WT 3+ 

WL 16+ 

SP 3+? 

DF 7+ 

This is a Style/Design that first looks to the physical side of Duelmaster's 
and then as an afterthought considers the skills aspect of the game. So 
let's take a look and see what's required and what we can do without. 

ST - 9 is the minimum I would ever go, better would be somewhere between 12 
and 17 preferably on the high end. Unlike most designs with high ST with this 
guy we're not going for damage dealing, we want the benefits that a high ST 
gives to encumbrance and endurance, good or better damage is a bonus for this guy. 

CN - I try to get to 16 then I start looking at the other stats, if I have 
some left over at the end I will usually dump them into ST or CN in that 
order. CN helps with carry, hitpoints and endurance, all 3 area's are 
critical to a scum 

SZ - Use what you get, small scum get extra skills but have less hitpoints, 
big scum have more hitpoints do more damage (if they swing) and are easier 
to hit. The benefits are there either way, so for this one size doesn't 
really matter , as long as the rest of the other stats fit. 

WT - As low as you can get it, DO NOT ADD POINTS! to this stat, it is a 
waste for this design! 

WL - 16+, I try to get CN and WL to 16 then take a good look at ST and DF. 
When I build a scum I try to hedge my bet's and design it with burning stats 
in mind. 

SP - Low is better, simply because the points can be used somewhere else to 
better effect. But don't rule out the style simply because your roll-up has 
a 13+ speed, 1 of my best Scum ever has an 18 for speed and is currently 16-4-0 

DF - you can get by with 7, but my favorite all time #'s are 10 or 11. When 
deciding if I want to go above 11 in DF, I always look to see what his rating 
in parry will look like, otherwise I'll go with 10 and burn it. 

Here are a few examples what I run for Scum 

1 - 16-20-8-5-20-5-10, notice how the stats are positioned to burn. This 
guy TV'ed the novices at the last face and then TV'ed in the last mail-in 
and currently looks like this 17-21-8-5-21-5-11, and has an expert in parry. 

2 - 17-21-3-3-17-12-11, TV'ed the rooks at the last face and is currently 
3-0-0 in arena play. I feel that he could have another TV in his future in 
MN. I could have positioned him to burn but I this was one of the sheets that 
I bought at the face and I tried to maximize him for the rooks tournie, I 
trained skills and he received his expert in parry on round 10. Which brings 
up an important point it's better to train skills in tournies, this guy 
averaged 1 skill per fight in tournie, but may have only gotten 1 or 2 
possibly 3 stat trains, do your stat training in the arena not in tournie's, 
it's more efficient!!! 3 - 16-16-6-6-16-16-8, this is the guy that is 
16-4-0, he's currently   18-18-6-7-18-18-9 and I plan on seeing what he 
can do with a BA in his hands in min 3 or 4 just for the fun of it 

Running them is easy, 1-1-1 parry works while you're learning about them. But 
experiment with them and your other warriors, this is crucial to becoming a 
great manager and not just a good one. 

Part 2, The Offensive 

ST 9 to 13 

CN 9 to 13 

SZ 3+ 

WT 17 or 21 

WL 17 or 21 

SP 3+ 

DF 11+ 

This type of TP needs a depends on it's initial skill's and it's ability to 
learn and develope. Generally speaking a warrior that would make a good 
offensive TP will end up as one of the power designs instead. I strongly 
encourage everyone to design and run at least 1 offensive TP, they're a lot 
of fun and can be devastating at the right levels of the game. 

ST - 9 will give you the SC, I would prefer an 11 (larger weapon range and 
helps with physicals) and 13 will help out even more on the physicals. If I 
went with 9 I would be planning on training to 11 in the very near future!!! 

CN - 9 is the definite low end and you better have some kinda offset in the 
other stat's, 11 is better and I would only use 13 if I had a few point 
left over at the end. If you go with 9 expect a couple of extra loss's over 
the course of his career in regular DM and maybe early ADM. 

SZ - Lower is better, 3 or 4 is perfect no more than 9. The lower #'s will 
give you extra skills, the higher #'s will remove vital skill's 

WT - 17 or 21, I would prefer 21. 

WL - 17 or 21, I would prefer 21 WT WL combination but what are the chances. 
I personally feel that a 21/17 is better for this design than a 17/21 because 
I want the skills as fast I possible and a 21/17 gives it to me I will not 
make a 17/17 offensive unless I get lucky and also have a 17 in DF then I 
might think about it. 

SP - Any, most people say that lower is better, but I have mixed feelings 
on the subject and go with my gut in this area and consider the whole 
picture on this design. 

DF - 11 is my break point on most designs/styles the skills you get are 
awesome. I will try to get one of the follow #'s for my OTP's 11, 13, 15 
or 17, but remember to pay attention to the other #'s when adding top this one. 

Normally you would put these guys in ASM/H or higher initially and then 
scale down the armor to ASM or ARM as they learn and develop. Weapons would 
be dependent on stat's but usually SC or BS with an offhand ME and the 
appropriate backup. I tend to run then faster than a scum say 4-5-4 or 
3-4-3 for min's 1 and 2 maybe even min 3 then kick it up another notch 
for the next min, taper it down after that so they can last thru min 7 or 
8 with out passing out. The big thing is to experiment with these guy's, 
every manager I talk to run's their OTP's differently. 

Part 3, The Hybrid 

ST 9+ 

CN 15+ 

SZ Varies 

WT 15+ 

WL 17+ 

SP Varies 

DF 11+ 

This Design relies on the combination of Physical and Skills, it will win 
early in it's career because of it's superior physicals, will learn faster 
than scum, with better overall development 

ST - Once again you can go with a 9, but we're looking for some physical's 
on this guy, not as much as the Scum but some 

CN - 15+ WL works just fine, if you can go higher that's great but don't 
sweat it. Try to balance ST and CN on this guy a 15/15 would be real Kool, 
17/17 would be the ultimate!!! 

SZ - Varies, you're stuck with what you get 

WT - You can go as low as 13 but?, I personally prefer 15, 17 or 21 for 
this design. 

WL - 17+ is a must, you might be able to scrape by with 16 in a pinch 

SP - Any, lower is better on all 3 designs, but don't discount the style 
just because of a higher than norm speed. 

DF - 11 or higher is best, 9 will work in a pinch. Read the DF sections 
under Scum and Offensive's for more info. 

Examples: 

13-16-7-14-16-5-13, 1 TV, Learned over 90 skills in regular, he was 
patterned after a extremely successful tp in 52 named Digger Revell 
(doubt anyone remember's him) 

11-16-11-14-16-5-11, 2 TV's, is now at the low end of the champ's tourney. 
His first TV was co-runner-up with Rascally Rabbit my striker in the 
init's (I foolishly threw the fight to the Rabbit) 

11-17-14-15-17-3-11, 2 TV's, has some burned stat's, this one had a favorite 
learn of ATT, and I lucked into her favorite weapon and #'s early on (QS 
and low/mod). I've never seen a more offensive TP. 

These guys can be run like Scum and/or Offensives depending on the situation, 
which makes them extremely dangerous for your opponents. 

Hopefully I covered everything necessary for you'all to be successful 
manager's of TP's. As you can now see no generic article of the style could 
cover everything and even this one doesn't do it all. The biggest thing I 
want to stress is that you experiment with all styles, some of my most 
effective strat's and design's have come from experiment's. Have fun, see 
you on the sands. Rascally Rabbit, AKA That Animated Obnoxious Rabbit 

Steve Heidloff AKA Rascally Rabbit 

steve.heidloff@worldspan.com