According to Jay Hollums:

> give them nice damage margins to all the other classes from the get go. I
> personally know that a 8th level mage, vs. a 8th level wiz is no contest..
> the mage has a pet and spells... Now you are saying that the mage doesn't

Well, if you let him cast. We're talking about organised duels, right?
No pets summoned before the duel begins is the rule.

When preparing for such a duel, whip out your trusty old tarnished dagger
(the weapon you're likely to have at that level) with 22 speed.

When you get the signal, JUMP the mage. And don't let him cast. If he casts,
you're not fighting one to one, you're fighting to one to two, and you lost.

Against any spell caster, the strategy for a spell caster isn't "root and
nuke", it's jump on him and hit fast... while trying to get your spells
in. If the mage uses a staff or slow weapon, he's dead: he won't interrupt
you often enough.

If you intend to participate in duels, your most important investment is getting
a weapon with the shortest speed factor. I don't know if there's a combine
or fine steel dagger, but a steel dagger (speed 20) is a good weapon. You don't
want to do damage, you just want to interrupt the opponent' spells. Against
a melee fighter, the weapon is irrelevant anyway, root and nuke, and don't
move near him.

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Vincent ARCHER -=-=- Herve Schauer Consultants -=-=- archer@...
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