What are your personal rules in a duel?

Be it Darkmooning, Darkwraithing, Forest Hunting...I would assume everyone has different little rules they follow in a duel/punch-up when they invade or duel other players.
I joined the Forest Hunters with one of my characters while I was harvesting clams in Crystal Cave. I fought someone in the Forest area and when they killed me they dropped a Prism Stone where I died- there was also another one over in a bunch of trees, where I assumed they killed another Hunter. I also invaded someone else a few minutes later and we waved at each other from afar before attacking.

Typically when I fight I won't backstab unless they are ganging someone; I ran into that when Hunting, as one had a sunbro with them and was beating one of my catbros, so I Persue'd the sunbro and attacked him so the fight was 1v1 until I managed to backstab the Master (which was actually by accident hilariously enough, I was trying to bash the sunbro with my Black Knight Axe when the Master ran in front of me and I backstabbed him by accident and killed him) but other than accidental stabs, I usually won't backstab them.

Unless something like that is going down (with an unfair gang-fight) I will usually bow to my opponents- which is kinda weird as I'll do it even while Hunting/Darkwraith invading but I've had quite a few trespassers return the gesture- those who don't I'll kill them with whatever I have, be it Persuers or Wrath of the Gods.

I'm also fond of Pyromancy so I'll use that- I have no problems with people using whatever they have on hand. I won't spam my spells though, so even if I use WotG, I will only do it if they are trying to circle to backstab me excessively.

What about you guys? Do you bow? Do you do a trident dance? What are your rules? Proper Bows?

1.) Win

That said, I rarely "duel"

I make up my rules as I go.

But from watching my stream play back, i do have tendancies.
>I immediately backstab if my opponent even starts to do the backstab dance.
>I tend to wave or bow from a distance if i think your alone.

Depends on the person. I am a Darkwraith and usually when I invade they start attacking me on sight. Don't really care about that. I treat them the same way that I usually would with someone that bowed. Don't back-stab unless they run or use a giant weapon, don't use my pyromancy, don't heal, and don't be obsesively agreesive. Should they heal, gank, run away, hide around a corner waiting for me, or if they are just a giantdad, I will abandon all my normal rules. I will kill them with the environment, use all my pyromancies, backstab them(even though I suck at it.) and be so aggressive they have no breathing room. Usually won't heal though, even if being ganked.

I don't really heal in a duel- I'll just fight until one of us die. That and I really suck at pvp'ing so more often than not I'm the one who dies; but hey I have fun. I hate those ones who gang-fight you though; or backstab you when bowing. Lousy people, I'm just trying to be gorram poliet.

...Is dark bead and black flame considedered 'bad'? Why? They are really easy to avoid. What's a Giantdad?

Giantdad is someone that wears full Giant +5 armor, usually with a family mask.

Yes, Dark Bead and BLack Flame are considered bad because Black Flame is, in all aspects, a better version of Great Combustion as spamming it can destroy a shield guard, stunlock them, and interrupt their roll. Dark Bead is considered bad because it is very fast, easy to spam, and up close can easily one hit someone. Also very hard to avoid if you haven't faced it before or are in large armor. Pursuers are thought to be even worse though. I could win nearly every fight online if I only used Dark Magic.

SirArchmage wrote:Giantdad is someone that wears full Giant +5 armor, usually with a family mask.

Yes, Dark Bead and BLack Flame are considered bad because Black Flame is, in all aspects, a better version of Great Combustion as spamming it can destroy a shield guard, stunlock them, and interrupt their roll. Dark Bead is considered bad because it is very fast, easy to spam, and up close can easily one hit someone. Also very hard to avoid if you haven't faced it before or are in large armor. Pursuers are thought to be even worse though. I could win nearly every fight online if I only used Dark Magic.

...I'm a fond user of Pursuers XD But I haven't gotten hate mail or anything over it; I would assume it's because I'm a catbro and we are...well known for our savage tactics.

Hm, the few times I've used Dark Bead they've always leapt out of the way or avoided it and I suck with black flame since it usually lets people backstab you while doing.

Oh so that's what a Giant Dad is. I've only enountered a few mask wearers and they are usually in Havel's getup with that creepy child mask. That was the person with the prisim stones.

1. Bow if the opponent bows and bow when I win.
2. Adapt to the situation of the fight. Results from here vary but it normally follows these rules.
3.Survive and win at most cost.
4.If foe is a tank or dark magic spammer, kill by any means generally and leave without remorse.
5.Never backstab but be ready to abuse the area where a backstab is possible. Normally it happen with bs fishers do I backstab them.
6.Alway get at least one or two parries and riposte immediately.
7.If there is a healer bleed them out or 2-hand backstab them. Repeat if must.
8.If there is a hacker bc out.

That really is it.

For a duel...

Bow
Fight
No bs
No heal
Bow

Will only bs in a 2 or 3 vs me, still won't heal.

No backstabs,no healing,no magic/miracles and no R1 spam. (Pyro is fine)

I usually bow for most duels.
I used to care about BSing, but after dueling enough randoms in the Burg I'm much more lenient on the whole deal. I don't fish myself, although my favorite playstyle (mostly unlocked) does result in a lot of bs on either side.
I dislike healing and won't do it unless the opponent does and I have time. I stop playing fair when others do.
I like to mix things up often on the same build. I rarely go for more than a couple of matches using the same weapon unless I'm practicing or I'm doing cosplay.
Other than that, I'm not all that upset about pretty much anything in the game, outside of ganking crap. Probably will be upset about hackers soon, since it seems to be happening on PS3 now.

Depends, I rarely "duel" as much as invade. It normally ends up with either dealing with questers, gankers, or someone looking for a duel.

If it's a quester with phantoms: No rules, do everything to win.
Gankers: No rules, spam "well, what is it?" if I win.
Duel: Bow, don't flask, refrain from BSing, and send a message "Good fight" after the fight ends regardless of who won.

Duel? No item healing.

Buff
Bow
Duel.

Generally I'd say no BS, mainly because it's kinda annoying and a desperation tactic.

Parries and dead angles are a bit awkward for me too as i feel one is just half luck and is down to lag half the time, and the other is a blatant abuse of lag and faulty game mechanics. (I've discussed that opinion before and I won't do so here) I'm fine with them being used, but i personally prefer not to.

I'd say magic is allowed- even spamming and buffs. to be honest i never got the hatred for spamming. It's a gamble- you use up all your main firepower in one go trying to inflict as much damage as possible. It's a tactic that i'd say is no worse than poise tanking with a large weapon or using ninja flip with a light build- it's a tactical set up, though a risky one.

I'd also say just for me that blossom is prohibited. Why not just save each other the time and fight without it rather than making everyone farm/buy it just to be on a level playing field? Also it's a bit of a crutch to be fair.

No healing (kinda a given really)

Also no matter how cheap your opponent fights, bow at the end- it's both courteous and blood boiling for anyone pulling all the tricks in the book only to lose to you

Burg/Kiln

Bow-->buff-->fight

Forest

Bow-->buff-->fight

1) If I hosted in the forest and my phantom backstabbed a bower, I black crystal'd them.

2) I always thought 1 humanity heal was an okay exception. No divine blessings though, too fast. Miracles go for it lol.

3) There's an entire set of dueling rules I'd love to go by....but, nothing is op but skill right? lol.

Yeah I typically bow first, than I'll wait a few seconds for people to buff their weapons/cast spells or switch their equipment. It's only when they attack me mid-bow do I get grumpy; due to that I cast Pursuers first when I arrive, then I bow at a safe distance- if they attack me while I'm bowing, they get Pursuers in the face.

Forest: KILL. That's it.

Darkstalker/Darkmoon (where you invade a quester, not a camper): Kill. Run away, hide behind enemies, set traps. About the only thing I don't use is TWoP or heal (unless my opponent does).

Official duel: Pretty much the rules for the official wiki FC. But, I do adapt to my partner's preference (if I know them).

Bow (proper if on a character it fits), no humanity/divine blessing. That is all. I don't mind if you already have a buff up, but if you do it after I get there, you're fair game.

I basically view duels as any other invasion. If my opponent bows than it usually means the fight will be somewhat better, but you really cant get your hopes up.


How many times you see someone bow, than buff a katana, two-hand it, and then just rush for a running backstab. Bowing is very redundant to me, especially since it is usually just a ploy to expose a cheap backstab.

There really isnt any thing as a "duel" outside of any FC or player covenant you might encounter.

goober0331 wrote:I basically view duels as any other invasion. If my opponent bows than it usually means the fight will be somewhat better, but you really cant get your hopes up.


How many times you see someone bow, than buff a katana, two-hand it, and then just rush for a running backstab. Bowing is very redundant to me, especially since it is usually just a ploy to expose a cheap backstab.

There really isnt any thing as a "duel" outside of any FC or player covenant you might encounter.

Ya know, it kinda makes you wonder why they put bows in to begin with :suspect:

Well obviously out of respect for the other person you are fighting. However even if it was meant for good, which I doubt since its DkS, people will abuse it, which they do. Just look at the backstab.

Its nothing personal against anyone. I just dont bow cause I dont respect anyone. I'm here to kill you. If you want some pleasantries to make the death easier to swallow than fine, be my guest. However I'm not participating.

The rules I duel by are:
Bow first, then buff. You get one buff unless we agree otherwise. I will attack if you buff a wep and then eat grass or vice versa.
No healing
No rebuff while duel is in progress
BS only to punish tactics that put me at a severe disadvantage in punishing otherwise. In other words, no "fishing".
No spears unless the opponent uses a long spear (SKS MLBH DSS DS Pike) in the main hand
No chain BS
No tickstab
Only wakeup attacks that have a decent chance of failing, like an r2 at range. Wakeup GC is not avoidable if I time it right and I know how to time it right.

Basically, I fight how I want to be fought.