I ripped this from the Game-Master.net forums for its pure awesomeness!!! Enjoy! ***Written in Collaboration With Tegan of Napa: My Sincerest Thanks and Respect.*** How to play a Hybrid Fencer (with Eval) Intro: At first glance the eval hybrid appears to be a purely offensive thoroughbred based on the premise of the “fast kill”: though it can serve this function, let me assure you it is much more. The hybrid has become my template of choice because of its versatility. In this era of “paper rock scissors combat” with three ways to heal and two ways to deal dmg an eval fencer can exploit any template’s weaknesses, while combating its own. I warn you though, it is not an easy template to play and requires an intimate understanding of both mage and warrior combat, as it synthesizes the two. To play it properly you must manage your resources expertly and bide your time patiently; you must also perfect the art of survival. In essence the eval hybrid is a glass canon, it has a tremendous potential to deal dmg and yet is fragile at the same time. Template: GM Magery GM Eval GM Tactics GM Anatomy GM Hiding or Resist/Wrestling GM Fencing GM Healing Hiding is a must for PK’s, it is also helpful for factioners. For those interested in dueling, O/C fighting, Noto’ing, or just PvP in general I suggest taking wrestling. If you take wrestling feel free to choose mace instead of fencing, as you will not require the para blow to cast uninterrupted. Resist is suggested for those who fear mages, face mages as their primary opponent, or fight multiple mages at a time. Stats (Recommended): 60 Str 85 Int 80 Dex Some criticize the choice of relatively low str (60). Low strength does have its downsides, but if played right you don’t require more. Sixty str yields you 80 hp. This template relies heavily on pots, before any battle I drink a GA and GS, which will boost your hp’s and dex to 100. 100 str and dex is more then sufficient when facing a warrior or a mage, but you will have to be selective when choosing your loot. Suggested Equipment: 1 Suit of Full Studded Leather 1 LP Kryss 2 GP/DP Warfork 1 Tribal Spear 1 Reward Robe 1 Reward Cape (If you can stand wearing them) 5 GS potions 5 GA potions 10 GC/GH/TR 10 Trapped Pouches 50 Bandages 20 Fish Steaks 30 Of Each Reagent. I strongly recommend that you wear a full studded leather set (and reward robe and cloak if possible). This will allow you to hit faster and actually regain mana at an acceptable rate. Combinations of chain ring or plate reduce your already low dex and when facing warriors you will be at a disadvantage. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART TO PLAYING A HYBRID IS CONSERVING MANA. I can not stress this enough. I have seen entirely too many hybrids lose a fight due to wasting mana. You must remember you are a hybrid, not a mage. The best time to use your mana is after a para blow. It is the only time that you are guaranteed not to be interrupted while casting and you have already reduced your opponent’s life via melee dmg. Remember though the window is short (4 sec) you must react quickly. What you cast is as important as how often you cast it. Never cast flamestrike unless the kill is guaranteed; you do not have 40 mana to waste arbitrarily. The best spells to cast during battle are explosion, ebolt, mindblast, poison, paralyze, minor heal, greater heal, harm, debuffs (i.e curse, feeblemind, clumsy, weaken) and fireball. Fireball is an under rated spell: it yields decent damage, is quick to cast, and requires minimal mana/reagents. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES: i) Precasting: Precasting is the process of casting a spell then equipping a weapon, dealing dmg with that weapon and subsequently targeting your opponent or yourself with the spell. My favorite spell to precast is explosion. Either cast explosion outside the view of your opponent or pretend/act like you were disrupted while casting the spell. Next, arm your tribal spear run up and deal dmg. Once his life is low target your opponent. Hopefully he is unaware that he has been targeted and will assume you are merely dropping the weapon to heal/switch/etc. This technique is most deadly if you land a para blow. Target, step back and fastcast(see next explanation) a corp por followed by a poison. He will not expect the explosion and corp por to resolve. This will (if it has not killed them) usually result in the panic. When your opponent panics he makes mistakes. Precasting poison also recommended; target your opponent when they are low on life then fast cast a finishing spell. ii) Fastcasting: The technique for circumventing the spell delay timer when casting consecutive spells. There are many good essays describing the process in full (I suggest Tapion’s which is hosted by UOPG), but for the convenience of you my reader I will explain the process in short. There is a 2.2 second delay in addition to any casting delay imposed between casting two spells. To circumvent this delay simply cast your desired spell and do not target until 2.2 seconds have elapsed, then instantly cast the next spell and target as soon as the cursor appears (or hold down the last target button or alternatively use the queue target UOA feature). Casting faster means your opponents have less time to heal and will hopefully die more often as a result. iii) Jousting: The technique of utilizing mobility to exchange blows with your opponent at a ratio approaching 1:1. Your primary weapon will be the tribal spear. To use it effectively you must intuitively discern the delay between swings and use that to your advantage. When facing an opponent wielding a faster weapon, run towards them on a course just tangent to them. As you run by you will strike, continuing running forward, once your timer has reset return and repeat. This will effectively negate weapon speed advantages. For it to work properly you must keep your stamina high! iv) Spell Disruption The technique of casting lower level spell with faster casting times to disrupt an opponent casting a higher level spell. Fireball, harm, and debuffs work well at interrupting. A hybrid has an additionally advantage in this regard, if you have a spell precast, you can release it to interrupt a high circle spell your opponent is casting. How to fight a(n)… Mage Mages should not pose too much difficulty. Make sure up have magic reflect up and that you are wielding a one handed weapon (preferably a LP Kryss in hand). Drink a GS and GA potion before battle and start the bandage immediately; even with 100 str and dex MB will deal you approximately 10 dmg on average. Stick to the mage with the LP kryss swinging and keeping your stamina maxed. This will prevent them from being able to link combo’s or fast cast effectively. Drink GC and GH immediately and OFTEN. If the mage begins to dump, cast GH and or Lesser Heal depending on you life. DO not use mana offensively unless as a finishing blow. Once the mage runs low on mana switch to the tribal spear and go in for the kill. Do not precast GH as a smart mage will simply poison you. With three ways to heal and 85 mana you are a mages worse nightmare. Curse is a great spell you cast against a mage, but insure their reflect is down first. Axer Axers can be very deadly opponent, but there is one thing that neutralizes them, poison. To cure poison they need to disarm. An axer without a weapon in their hand is harmless. There are two ways to do this, casting the spell or with a poisoned weapon. Both ways are effective. Precasting poison (as described above) with the spear is especially effective against axers. The odds are you have more nightshade then they do cures. Another possibility is just exchanging blows with the axer until you finally get them low, then with a spear hopefully land a para blow. Back up a few steps and dump as fast as you can. Axers hit hard, so watch your health. As always begin the fight by drinking a GS and GA and starting that bandage. Also utilize curse, as most parry macers do not have GM magery and less wrestling. This will result in a stat parity to your advantage. Parry Macer A parry macer is one of the more difficult opponents you will encounter. They are like a brick wall, it takes a lot to move them. Approach these the same way as an axer, with poison. As long as they are poisoned they have to drop either their weapon or shield (in some strange cases both) to cure, and that leaves you the perfect opportunity to strike. I suggest using a poisoned weapon (preferably a GP war fork) first, and then when they free a hand switch to a spear. If you land a para blow back up and poison again. If they are low on health and you do go ahead and dump. Utilize precasting to it’s fullest against these guys and watch your stamina closely. Mobility is your primary weapon against them, see jousting. Hybrid Now this has to be the hardest fight ever, hybrid vs. hybrid. Often enough these fights can go on forever with two opponents exchanging blows, casting spells. These fights can often come to a stalemate, with both fighters out of mana, ending when one person runs out of supplies. However, these fights often end with the victor being the one who better used their mana. You need to pay attention to your opponents healing cycles. Don’t use a big spell if their bandage is about to finish. Most importantly, make use of the fireball spell. Use it to interrupt their spells while at the same time doing decent damage to a 0 resists opponent. Also, don’t forget to keep your magic reflect up, it turns your opponents mana into self inflicted damage.
I'm sorry but the advice given here is laughably terrible. I wouldn't advise this crap to even my worst enemy.
Why the fuck would you take hiding instead of resists? And healing over meditation? Then write a whole paragraph on conserving mana? That dude was smoking some crack.
Heh. Most people were pretty bad at the game back then (or they were gimped by having a 56k connection). This guy named his character after his Internet provider out in California. He was sort of a strange dude.
This guy's entire strategy was based on flying out of nowhere and using his connection speed to kill you before you had a chance to really react. The days of cable Internet speed versus 56k, basically -- Roadrunner was the name of this guy's main character (after some sort of Internet provider out in California). There was a cable mage that finally got tired of this guy's shit and went after Adam's entire guild over it. Since both Kamikaze and Adam had no resist....they died to him a lot. His name was Mianoumi, I used to run with him. He's mentioned on Adam's page somewhere. EDIT: http://www.game-master.net/pit/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=93479 http://www.game-master.net/pit/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=166766&page=1 That's my boy! Heh. You guys are making me remember stuff on Napa Valley from an awfully long time ago.
Back when this was written not everyone was 7x gm, likely did not have GM resist...and not everyone adventured with potions and whatnot either. Heck doesnt everyone remember all the PKs with just a handful of bandages and a tribal spear. This guy was actually decent, well to be honest most everyone I remember in GUL was pretty decent at Pking back then.
This template does hold its own surprisingly well. Even today. Its not optimal for open field PvP nowadays tho and suffers the same drawbacks as a warrior. For duels on the other hand, Mage, ,Eval, Fencing, Tactics, Anatomy, Healing, & Resist works surprisingly well in a 1 on 1 no running type of situation.
GUL was decent by the standards of that point in time. I mean, look at the loot and crap that Adam and his crew were pulling off of his victims. Uhm, not really. That template relied on him using his faster connection speed as an element of surprise and bursting people down with spells before going after them with a poisoned weapon as a finisher. Basically, it wouldn't work today because most players today have better connections to give themselves the breathing room to survive this. If he tried to do this today people would heal through his mana dump before using mana drain or mana vampire to turn him into a super weak warrior with no healing or resist. Roadrunner / Kamikaze started falling off and losing tournaments at Grimoire fight night (Napa Valley's big PvP tournament on Fire Island) as other people started getting better connections and he eventually stopped playing because he couldn't stay competitive. He always used his connection speed as a crutch, which is why Mianoumi eventually rose from being some PvMer to being a better PvPer from him and taking the fight night championship away from him.
