Hello Jumpkicker, It has been about a year since I wrote the basic MA help file in the beginner's lib. , and i have been feeling guilty about some things that i forgot to include. I have also learned quite a bit more this past year about the skill system and MA skills through hoards of tests. Since the Ninja lair and new gauntlets are being added to the game,interest in MA crts has picked up some. This file is intended to be a sequel to the earlier file,filling in a few gaps,and i am assuming that you have read the earlier,more basic file. This file is also intended for ANY class crt who wants to use and develope martialarts skills,not just the Martialartist class itself. TRAINING*** Although the Martialartist class is the ONLY class which can continue to train indefinitely,ANY class crt can learn and become fairly skilled in MA skills. In the BG,all classes can train to black belt,thieves can train to 3rd dan. In the AG,thieves to 6th dan,others to 3rd dan. Once past the point of training,a trainer will simply refuse to train ya further,however your skill will still advance at a pace about one third of the trained pace. *For non-ma type crts,please remember to train as long as possible ,as close as possible to your training limit cap. This will extend your trained ranks past the training cap by about 2 new ranks! For example,if you are a BG thief, don't just dump your coins on the trainer at 2.5 or 2.6 dan and ft in the dungeons till 3rd dan...instead, return to the trainer at 2.9-2.99 dan and get fully trained. This will allow your trained level to continue to a bit past 3.2 dan,which means you have only 8 untrained ranks till 4th dan...not 10! Quite a savings in time and online hours! **Trollskin** Unlike scale armor,trollskin allows you to jumpkick 1 or 2 hexes even at low skill levels,and even allows a few hand blocks. I have tested it and found that it allows crts to make 2 hex jumpkicks about 80 percent of the time at red and black belt without falling down. At first dan, it permits 2 hexes almost all the time and quite a few 3 hex jumps if you are not carrying many coins in your sack. Just as with "naked" crts,weight in your sack and on your belt will hinder your jumpkicks and your hand blocking. I have tested Trog's skin and found that although it looks like trollskin, it performs like a fur...no armor protection. I believe it is a good idea for crts to wear feather vests while playing. They have almost no affect on hand blocking,unlike furs,and provide complete protection against blindness spells. They can also be carried on your belt and put on while blinded,causing your blindness to end. **SKILL GAIN** As most of you know,MA skill is one of the slowest to advance at higher levels. This is because it blocks much better than other weapons at the same skill level. When you block a crit's swing,you are not considered to be "at risk" according to the game programming code. In order for you to be at risk,you MUST take damage the same rd that you launch a swing at a crit. Note-You do NOT have to be hit by the same crit that you swing at,for the risk factor to be activated. When you swing "at risk" you will recieve about 5 times the amount of skill of a zero risk swing. In other words,2 risk swings will give ya about as much skill gain as an average -4 dungeon critter kill! As an example,suppose 2 players are fighting a -4 kesmai crit. The targeted player takes 3 swings at the crit,taking damage each time. However,the other player actually gets the kill. In this example, according to my tests,the first player will actually get more skill than the player who got the only the kill bonus....all because of the risk adjustment. So if you want fast skill gain,you must reduce your blocking and take many rounds of damage while you fight! Maximum skill gain for an armorless MA type crt is achieved by fighting with a balm in hand,thus eliminating all hand blocks. **SKILLREGAIN** Skill regain works on the same principle as skill GAIN,but a more dynamic multiplier number is used in the code which provides for much more risk adjustment. It allows regain at up to 20 times the maximum gain rate! This means that "at risk" swings garner so much skill and have so much potential that they completely dwarf crit kill bonuses in importance. By fighting with a balm in hand and allowing your crt to constantly absorb damage while you swing or kick, it is possible to gain back entire ranks in minutes and levels in an hour or two of heavy combat..... REGARDLESS of how many critters you actually kill! Its the "risk swings" that count. I have tested this a bit, and i have found that super regain can be had by being hit by a critter hitting hard enough to kill you in about 5-6 rounds. I balm at 50-60 percent damage,leaving some margin in case i receive a stun. Using this method after a death,i managed to regain 2nd dan ranks in 10-15 swings! Impressive,eh! **MA POWER** I would like to post a few hit test results for those folks who are curious. These figures are rounded off averages from about 20 swings taken,and do not include armor blocks which would lower your average quite a bit if they were counted in. Red belt-15,Black-25,1st Dan-30, 2nd dan-35,3rd dan-40,and 4th and 5th dan hit around the 50 area. In the AG,i averaged 80 at 2nd Dan with the draggie gauntlets,and about 100 at 4th dan. It will be interesting to see how the new magic gauntlets fare,as well as the older silver glowing gauntlets. **RECALL TIP** I find it handy and useful to use my first macro for a recall cmd. It never mistypes,executes quickly, and never forgets to remove my gauntlets. **RECALL PHOBIA** This is what i call the reluctance to yank off a recall ring cause of the LONG walk back...so ya stay one rd too long,and end up a ghost! A possible solution is to set your main<1 right> recall to a safe and easier level CLOSE to the area which you plan to hunt. For -4 kesmai hunts,a nice recall spot is room 9 on -2,just next to the -3 stairs. You can recall badly wounded to this area,and your hand blocks can easily handle any stray -2 crits. Knowing that you can be back to your hunting spot quickly will enable you to yank off that ole recall much easier. **ROUND TIMING** Everyone has their own rd-timing methods so i will just mention a few basic ones for newer players. They can be lifesavers. Recall,balm and run cmds should always be typed and executed as early as possible in a rd,as well as a fight,or kick cmd against a crit that is about to run, or a spectre who will disappear by the next rd. To hit incoming crits with a punch or kick cmd,send it through near the end of the rd, otherwise you will "miss". **NEW** The skill counter was added this past year,which delays the start of skill decay for a few rounds. This should enable us to reach higher levels of skill. The +3 Fan has just been added to the BG. Although it will only hit for an average of 25-30 at high skill levels,and is only a fair blocker,it has been adjusted to use MA skill. It may prove to be fun and colorful in spite of it's drawbacks. **Minor Notes** Lead rings reduce the power of punches by about 5 damage points. They may provide some skill gain benefits by allowing more swings at dungeon crits. Padded boxing gloves do NOT seem to reduce your power. They only increase your chance of being blocked by armor...so be careful if ya use them on a friend in the ring.. To reduce your crt's total weight, consider going without a robe and wearing a F and I ring instead. this will also give ya more room to pick up and carry an extra robe when you find one. **MAJOR TIP** Hmmmmmm,ok, after much soul searching, I have decided to include one of my secret combat tricks,for the benefit of the more experienced player who has been reading this file and not learning anything new. What is the greatest weakness of running a "naked" ma type crt? We all know that its our complete vulnerabilty to any crit that moves, the instant we take a balm from our sack! You may be a 7th dan MA,but when you draw out a balm.....you become less than a white belt. Well,i have discovered a way to maintain hand blocks while balming.. ....Here is the trick. A while back rings and gems were changed in the code to allow crts who hold them to punch,and have it count as a punch,NOT a ring hit,or gem hit. This means that according to the code,ANY hand that holds a gem or ring is considered to be empty. Therefore,if an MA skill user holds a ring or gem in his hand,and draws a balm into the other hand, the hand which contains the ring/gem is STILL considered to be EMPTY! SO,you will continue to hand block with the "empty" hand. Your hand blocks WILL be reduced, but i find that i still get quite a few...maybe a third to a half...after all,you are just blocking with ONE hand,but this is a MAJOR improvement over NO hand blocks,and can have quite an affect on how you play,and not having to run EVERYTIME you take out a balm. Another possible use is to increase your risk for skill gain and regain while having some hand blocks remaining. **** A VERY interesting side benefit of this ring/gem trick is the additional abilty of a high skilled MA type to use a weapon in one hand and keep the other hand "empty".... which will allow you to get hand blocks along with the weapon,even such terrible blocking weapons as katanas and +5 rapiers will be boosted by your hand blocks. Hmmmmm,gives me ideas. The one drawback of this combat trick is the elimination of a one rd recall for gauntlet wearers. This will apply mostly to AGers of course, BGers will be more fortunate...... In no recall areas this "empty hand" trick may become quite useful,dragons anyone??? So remember,the current state of the art MA walks the dungeons with a ring or gem in his left hand,his right hand near his balm holster... and with style and grace,of course! *****I hope you have enjoyed this help file,and i welcome any feedback, tests results,or just gut feelings. Despite many hours studying the skill system and weapons,i am learning new things every time i play. I would love to hear of any unusual happenings,or ideas. May your hands strike true,and your heart stay humble,good hunting, Mord ppn.71271,2323