09-13-2003, 12:20 PM
...to revive an interest in dueling for me, but, I will give you some food for thought. Add to the rust the fact that my mage-hunter, an archer, accidently hit a mana-draining cauldron toward the end of my D1 addiction. After that, if I played D1 it was some variation of a "VK-mod", and none of those mods were balanced for duelists.
Since you mentioned that there is a healthy interest in dueling in the channels you hang out in, why not try team (2v2) dueling? Years ago (98?), when dueling was more popular I participated in some team duels that were a lot of fun. Since certain character graphics make duelists of the same class look the same, it is a bit tricky not to kill your partner. We used standard (at the time) dueling rules: only belt slots, no infravision (the only exception that I am aware of is when I played without sound my opponents would sometimes allow me to burn one belt slot for an infra-scroll), and no leaving the dueling area. For team duels we cleared an entire level and that area became the dueling grounds. In 1v1 duels we usually dueled in the church on a level that had 2-3 large connected rooms and dueled only in those areas (after the entire level was cleared to eliminate any advantage a character employing CL might have). An optional rule in duels was a prohibition on harmony items for mages. Keep in mind that all of our duels were for legit, bug-free participants only; no mana-shield bug users were allowed to play.
My memory of dueling rules for 1v1 games are a bit vague but from what I remember they were:
1) must remain in the dueling area (no leaving the level or arena with the exception of accidental phasing)
2) use of belt slots only (no infra scrolls); warriors and rogues usually started with 8 full rejuv's while mages commonly used only full mana pots (pots were limited to stock on hand, so the non-mages in a duel got all the yellows before a mage)
3) the champion is the one who wins 2 out of 3 matches (or was it 3 of 5?)
4) no third party programs, cheats, dupes or bug abuse allowed
5) everyone acquires the map before the duel commences and goes to opposite sides of the arena (out of sight of their opponent); players would switch sides after each match (to equalize the "left-side view" advantage)
6) a "verbal" countdown would begin (if a neutral party was present s/he would start the count)
Some additional notes:
We played with our best duelists (many of the people I played with were L45+ but level is not as significant as gear and experience; my archer was ~L42 when she started collecting L50 mage ears) in Hell difficulty (the higher gold drops were used to finance repairs and pot consumption). Gear switching was allowed on mutual consent during duels, but this was uncommon and usually impractical as there were no "time-outs". A "gear check" was conducted after each match to prevent item loss due to breakage. Phasing was commonly used by duelists to escape possible stun-lock by tele-killing melee characters (warriors are not the only ones who use this tactic) since "phase" is faster than "teleport". Favored weapons in duels were often "strange" and "of swiftness/speed/haste". The most common mistake made in duels that I have witnessed/participated in is hitting the wrong key, either the wrong belt slot or hotkey. Inexperienced or rusty duelists should practice using their dueling set-up (for gear and hotkeys) outside of duels.
Although I played with/against people who dueled with characters of all three classes, my only duelists were of the rogue and mage classes. The best duelist in our group was a warrior, but she was good with all three classes.
Xi
Since you mentioned that there is a healthy interest in dueling in the channels you hang out in, why not try team (2v2) dueling? Years ago (98?), when dueling was more popular I participated in some team duels that were a lot of fun. Since certain character graphics make duelists of the same class look the same, it is a bit tricky not to kill your partner. We used standard (at the time) dueling rules: only belt slots, no infravision (the only exception that I am aware of is when I played without sound my opponents would sometimes allow me to burn one belt slot for an infra-scroll), and no leaving the dueling area. For team duels we cleared an entire level and that area became the dueling grounds. In 1v1 duels we usually dueled in the church on a level that had 2-3 large connected rooms and dueled only in those areas (after the entire level was cleared to eliminate any advantage a character employing CL might have). An optional rule in duels was a prohibition on harmony items for mages. Keep in mind that all of our duels were for legit, bug-free participants only; no mana-shield bug users were allowed to play.
My memory of dueling rules for 1v1 games are a bit vague but from what I remember they were:
1) must remain in the dueling area (no leaving the level or arena with the exception of accidental phasing)
2) use of belt slots only (no infra scrolls); warriors and rogues usually started with 8 full rejuv's while mages commonly used only full mana pots (pots were limited to stock on hand, so the non-mages in a duel got all the yellows before a mage)
3) the champion is the one who wins 2 out of 3 matches (or was it 3 of 5?)
4) no third party programs, cheats, dupes or bug abuse allowed
5) everyone acquires the map before the duel commences and goes to opposite sides of the arena (out of sight of their opponent); players would switch sides after each match (to equalize the "left-side view" advantage)
6) a "verbal" countdown would begin (if a neutral party was present s/he would start the count)
Some additional notes:
We played with our best duelists (many of the people I played with were L45+ but level is not as significant as gear and experience; my archer was ~L42 when she started collecting L50 mage ears) in Hell difficulty (the higher gold drops were used to finance repairs and pot consumption). Gear switching was allowed on mutual consent during duels, but this was uncommon and usually impractical as there were no "time-outs". A "gear check" was conducted after each match to prevent item loss due to breakage. Phasing was commonly used by duelists to escape possible stun-lock by tele-killing melee characters (warriors are not the only ones who use this tactic) since "phase" is faster than "teleport". Favored weapons in duels were often "strange" and "of swiftness/speed/haste". The most common mistake made in duels that I have witnessed/participated in is hitting the wrong key, either the wrong belt slot or hotkey. Inexperienced or rusty duelists should practice using their dueling set-up (for gear and hotkeys) outside of duels.
Although I played with/against people who dueled with characters of all three classes, my only duelists were of the rogue and mage classes. The best duelist in our group was a warrior, but she was good with all three classes.
Xi