by Finnan Haddie and Gothmog
by Finnan Haddie and Gothmog
Note: I'm talking _only_ about mid- to high-level warriors in hell difficulty here, i.e. about clvl 30 to 50. But be warned - playing a swordsman needs SKILL, and while of all possible class / style combos it's IMHO the most FUN way to play the game there are certainly more efficient ways to play a warrior...
Low-AC warrior is actually a somewhat rare playing style - akin to a BNM who also just laughs if you ask him about his AC rating. How can that be you ask? A mage can kill critters from a distance with his spells, but many still prefer a 'tank' setup, and most people will tell you that even archer and CAT rogues who can kill from a distance with their pointy arrows need high AC to survive.
Now imagine a warrior with an AC so low that EVERY blow he cannot block will hurt him fighting mano-a-mano only...
He will get SLAUGHTERED, right?
Well - WRONG! Our dexterity and tactics is our armor, not some bulky plate... Well, a shield is also a major asset for us, hehe! Combined with high Dexterity it allows us to BLOCK single attacks, so we don't even get scratched... At least as long as we're fighting only one or two opponents at the same time... This is the true secret of a swordsman, anything else is just a reasoning of this!
So what does the apprentice swordsman need, you ask?
To-Hit
Remember, the critter must DIE before its comrades have time to swarm you! You can't kill
what you can't hit, so this is #1. The maximum 'useful' ToHit when looking at the char
stats window for a clvl 30 is 210% and 190% for a clvl 50. Dexterity. Enough for perfect
blocking if possible. That's 100 + 2*(mlvl-clvl), i.e. 160 Dex for a clvl 30 and 'only'
120 Dex for a clvl 50 when fighting Bloodknights in h/h.
Resistance
There are those pesky spell casting critters - you should have max (i.e. 75%) Magic and
Fire resistance and at least some Lightning resistance.
Damage
You need a _minimum_ damage of 63 to stunlock Bloodknights in h/h - usually not a problem
as a clvl 30+ warrior with maxed (or close to maxed) Strength already has a higher base
damage even when fighting with his bare fists. However, the critters must die fast, do you
remember? So the more damage the better...
Hitpoints
You should be able to survive a hit or two - sh!t does happen, right? So I recommend about
400 HP - but you can make do with less.
Spells
Huh? Yep, Teleport for Telekill and for strategical repositioning. Stonecurse to slow down
the advance of the evil critters. Healing to cure injuries during a combat break.
Townportal to speed up restocking supplies. Golem to act as a decoy if many Advocates are
around. The 'optimum' (minimum Mana cost and maximum duration) spell level for Teleport
and Stonecurse is slvl 8, and for Townportal it's slvl 7. A higher spell level here
doesn't hurt but gives you no additional benefit either. For Healing and Golem any
increase in spell level helps, but those spells aren't that important anyways. Yep, you
should have visited some Enchanted Shrines before attempting to learn the way of the
swordsman.
Mana
You need to be able to cast some spells and don't want to walk the long way to Adria every
couple of minutes, right? The more the better, of course.
Armor Class
LOL!!! You're kidding me, right? But anyways, you get NO benefit at all from your armor if
your AC is below 200 for a clvl 50 or below 240 for a clvl 30 (assuming h/h Bloodknights
as your enemies). So if you can't get your AC significantly _above_ this level (I'd say at
least +20 AC) then you should sincerely consider to play swordsman style...
So which equipment do I need, you ask?
Shield
No blocking without a shield. Go for resistances as a prefix and Hitpoints as a suffix.
Emerald/Tiger is best - but Obsidian/Tiger can be just as good and can be bought from
Griz. You don't have to look for base AC - even a buckler is sufficient, but you might
want to visit some Hidden Shrines to increase the Durability then...
Sword
Most probably you need ToHit - with good +all (or +Dexterity) stuff a King's bastard sword
of Speed or Haste is best, otherwise you'll probably need to bug Wirt to sell you a
Strange blade (or dagger or...) of Haste... Note that the only critters on the hell levels
(dlvl 13 to 16) which are NOT demons are Lava Maws - they're animals. But against them
blunt weapons (maces, flails, clubs, hammers, etc.) will do only HALF the damage shown in
your char stats window - so it's highly recommended to get an edged weapon.
Shirt
Again, AC is irrelevant. Many swordsmen think that any kind of Mail looks best... Prefix
should be for resistance, suffix depends from which stat boost you need most (i.e depends
from your other gear). If all stats are sufficiently high go for Stars or Harmony,
otherwise you'll most likely need Dexterity (Precision) or Hitpoints (Tiger or Lion - even
Obs/Mammoth should be possible to buy from Wirt for a clvl 18 to 24, although I didn't
check with his price limit).
Hat
Lotsa choices here. Royal Circlet or Helm of Sprits seem to be best, maybe with an
identified Gotterdamerung in backpack for all-melee levels. If you can't get these look at
the prefix/suffix recommendations for Shirts.
Jewels
Three Dragon's/Zodiacs are best. 'Nuff said. What, you don't have a complete set? (j/k)
Well, Drake/Heavens and plain Zodiacs ain't that bad at all... Or Perfection jewels if you
can't get your Dexterity high enough without, preferably with a +Mana prefix...
Yeah, but... what about Civerb's Cudgel???
That's a toughie. No ToHit bonus (actually a penalty). You need Gold jewels and even more Dexterity to get ToHit sufficiently high. Three perfect Gold/Heavens would be great (good luck on ever finding these - you'll need it, hehe!). Also you might need Precision as a suffix for helm and / or armor. Although, due to the slow swing speed you won't be able to stunlock mage type monsters... But against demons it will TRIPLE the damage shown in your char stats window! SIX times the damage if you score a critical hit! WooHoo!!! This combo would have the highest damage per second of all possible melee setups - demons would die in two or three hits... Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test this setup myself yet - still killing all Lawa Maws and Gold Vipers on sight to find those super-rare Gold/Heavens shinys...
So what about strategy and tactics for a swordsman?
The trick here, is NEVER STOP MOVING, NEVER GET SWAMPED. Don't sit around like a duck and wait until they get you!
You can only swing at one monsters at one time, why let 4 or 5 get near you? You shield is your main (sometimes the only) defense, but if there are 4 azure drakes attacking you at the same time, even the "perfect blocking" won't save you.
When facing hordes of strong melees, the most important thing is to retreat a bit and find a wall or "virtual doorway", then use the "sliding" technique mentioned by Gore. (Check Bolty's and Gore's high lvl warrior guides for more information).
******************* (Wall)
M M1 W
(M=monster, W=warrior)
M M2
The above figure shows the sliding technique. The warrior uses the wall to his advantage and only swings at the monster at position 2. If you are getting surrounded, retreat one step or two and do it over again. Only swing at monster 1 when position 2 is empty.
Stonecurse, though not really neccessary here, can be used to create a "statue virtual doorway" (Gothmog forged this word). In this case, if you Stonecurse monster 2, the monsters will keep showing at position 1, this time you can keep killing monsters at 1 until monster 2 comes back to life.
Now witches and mages don't come after you, so you have to chase them. Here the prefered tactic is Telekill: place your mouse cursor over the critter you want to kill and cast Teleport. You'll land to the lower left of that monster - if that position isn't occupied by some obstacle at least. While the casting animation runs you can already press the shift key, move the mouse cursor to the upper right from where you cast Teleport and start left-clicking - you'll arrive at your destination swinging at the critter you have targeted.
- Finnan Haddie
"Warriors need Perfection" (Quote stolen from Sourceror)
Gothmog's Addition
I am flattered that you include me in the guide. Now a few addicitons.
1) Why low-AC or No-AC (more on that later)?
Some of my notes and a few highlights on a post made by Da O'Toth a while ago.
2) Low AC and No-AC warriors
Low-AC warriors use resistance shield, and good suffixed armor instead of going for sheer ac. They use shield as MAIN defense, but AC helps a bit.
No-AC warrior has ZeroVirtual AC. They use resistance shield and armor. Basically if a warrior has less than 225-clvl AC, then he is a 100% No-AC warrior. (meaning lava maws hit him all the time, but prolly can't penetrate his shield). A No-AC warrior uses Shield as the ONLY defense.
For low AC warriors: toughest opponents: azure drakes
For No-AC warrirors: toughest opponents: dogs
- Gothmog,Captain of Balrog
