ARENA: parry query, and other questions From: dagibbs@qnx.com (David Gibbs) Date: Thu, 01 Dec 1994 20:04:45 +0000 Ok, I've been playing Arena for a little while, a neat game, but I've begun to wonder about parries. If I have a fighter with a weapon and a shield, and I have parry skill with both. So the guy I'm duelling with takes a swing at me, which item do I parry with? Do I get to chances to parry, one with each? I also was looking over the weapons table and was wondering at some of the oddities/inconsistencies. Among them: The War Axe -- it is 2 handed, but still is -MG, it can't be used as a Main Gauche, so how can it be -MG? If one compares a scimitar to a broadsword, they are identical except that the scimitar is not -P. Why ever buy a broadsword, when the scimitar, at identical cost, doesn't have a parry penalty? (And, in case names are supposed to be meaningful, rather than purely descriptive, one would expect it to be easier to parry with the straight-bladed broadsword, compared to the curve-bladed scimitar. In fact, I think scimitars were primarily developped for use by mounted people, not ground troops.) What makes a weapon -MG? Consider a mace, length 2.1, weight 4.5 is not -MG, while a shortsword: length 2.1, weight 2.0 is -MG. The shortsword is the same length, and lighter, than the mace, so it isn't lenght or weight that is the determiner. And one would, intuitively, expect a shortsword to be easier to use as a second weapon than a mace. Is there any advantage to longer weapons? The only effect mentioned is that they will tend to tire a player more. What happens if a fighter has both a ring mail vest and a ring mail coat in use? Do both armors protect, or does only the first one listed in the inventory get used, and the second get lugged about as spare? Does a vest and coat actually overlap (as the names would suggest) or do they cover different areas? A Comment: money costs of different things obviously have no relation to real life, but seem intended to be game balance. (For instance, Chain Mail coat: $25, Club: $38. If you have ever tried to make both chain mail and a club -- a decent club can be made in an hour. A chain mail coat generally takes at least a week, often longer.) -David Gibbs (dagibbs@qnx.com) Referenced By Up