How to become a peerless fighter
ARTICLES OF COMBAT: BECOMING A GREAT FIGHTER
"To fight well, you must train your body to act on reflex to various situations. So, in learning the martial art of Avalon combat, you do it one step at a time, building your repertoire of reflexes before moving on to the creativity of attack." - Cornelius
There is a simple and very natural way to become the best. The first prerequisite is an undying curiosity in the inner workings, advantages and disadvantages of every ability, herb, poison, potion, rune or trap you have, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Everything has a use and the smaller the ability, the more a surprise it will prove to your enemy. Many abilities have nuances that take a long time to find by tireless experimentation; these nuances are your trick cards and what will set you above the rest.
The second prerequisite is a thick skin for dying. You'll be falling more times than snow has hit the earth. The important thing is to know how to get back up, even if it means you'll fall over again. It is better to die against someone bigger than yourself than to win; it means you're learning, despite how hopeless it seems. Keep a log of all of your fights to review where you failed and where you excelled, what they did and how it looked.
THE GOLDEN METHOD
The method itself which you should follow sounds deceptively simple. You take fighting in careful stages, building up reflexes to the many situations which occur.
The first step is learning how to survive damage by healing your health and mana. Practice this on its own. In the meantime, become used to Avalon macros. Understandably, this is the most basic and 'boring' area to train yourself, because it is hardly adventurous or diverse. Don't underestimate it. Move on to the next step only when you're healing by reflex. It shouldn't be conscious. Note: this may be easier for you if you use FULLPROMPT INFO.
The second step is to learn all other means of survival while standing still -- all of the ways of curing the hundreds of afflictions which come your way. This is a long process of training yourself to no longer consciously think what cures what; many people foolishly resort to triggers at this point because they think they can't remember it all. The human mind is powerful. It doesn't matter who you are. In the end, you'll instinctively know the herbs, potions and abilities which cure you and the order they follow. Do not move on to the next step until you can take afflictions and cure them at full speed. Note: a good way of practising is to ask a friendly Thief, Knight, Bard or Seer to heap on the afflictions, gradually introducing damage over time.
The third step is to become comfortable with moving instinctively. Getting out of harm's way so that you can recover will prove very useful to you, because it does not take balance or equilibrium to get out of your enemy's path. Part of this step is learning the Land like the back of your hand so you don't get lost while trying to move around tactically. The use of mappers should be in an advisory capacity for the most part, since any hindrance will confuse your speedwalking.
The fourth step is to focus on making your attacks instinctive and creative according to the situation. Throw everything you've got at your opponent with total abandon at first. The best way to practice is to just launch everything and see how things work out. After a while, you'll notice what each ability does and will use them more appropriately. Over time you should develop combinations and begin to ferret out the nuances of abilities, how they relate to enemy defences and complement other attacks. Note: practising on a friend can help you a lot here.
To continue, read HELP PRIORITIES.
