About honorable duelling

Thanks Tomislav from the Elemental Lights for this Tutorial, I edited it slightly regarding the hotkeys.
It is a good introduction to get started with honorable duelling.

INTRODUCTION

I realize others wrote about the subject before, but since I offered dueling training to this guild's members, I thought it would be best to give my future trainees some written reference.

This tutorial will explain how to duel the honourable way, which means using weapons only and respecting your opponents as they should you. No magic is used by any duelers, except when healing the wounded between the duels.

Psychical and physical

Might seem like a funny topic, but dueling can be stressing and exausting. Stress will go away with time, or at least it should. No one should get frustrated if loosing - this is a game and dueling isn't about winning, it's about having fun and enjoying the game. Make sure you're well rested, and take short breaks after a few duels (let others know so you don't get challenged). You will also notice that your performance gets better after a few warm-up duels.

PHASES OF DUEL

Taking positions
Winner of previous duel stands alone, while others stand on the oposite side of the room. He picks one from the group by...

...Challenge
The challenged player stands out of the crowd by moving forward and getting into position. It is important to remember that, in an honourable and fair duel, he who accepts the duel attacks first.

Showing you are ready
Before you signal ready, make sure you have the folowing: opponent targeted, main tab active, always running enabled by running front/back. Check running last to make sure your text tab isn't focused. Jump twice to signal ready. When both duelers jump twice, the duel can begin (don't forget who attacks first).

Dueling
Simply attack and avoid getting hit (more on this later). Always keep moving, never stand still (even during lags). Don't just move front/back - keep turning to make your moves harder to predict. This makes you a harder target even for skilled duelers. If there's a problem, like big lag etc... duelers start jumping in place. If this hapends, get some distance and signal ready again.

The End
Someone is almost dead and the duel ends (or in rare cases someone yields or looses connection). If you win by almost killing, show respect to your oponent by making a bow (/bow) or something similar. Never kill your oponent. Help with healing after he gets up.

GLOSSARY WITH TIPS

Auto-Attack(er)
This is a technique usualy used by beginners. Auto-Attacker will pick a stance and attack hoping to hit you. Their hits are usualy lucky shots because it's hard to time auto attacks. Bad news is, that you can't predict their attacks eather, but since you can predict your attacks you know when to come close and max your chance of hitting/winning.

Back-Off
Move yourself away from the oponents when they're about to hit. Always keep your eye on main, and time when the danger comes (see timing attacks). This is difficult for beginners, but comes naturaly with practice when you learn to remain calm and collected during duels. If you're dealing with an auto-targeters - don't worry about not being able to predict their attacks because neather can they.

Challenge
To challenge - target a player and use /challenge. Default hot-key is "6", and there is a preset shortcut available.

Instant Hit
(I don't know if this is still possible in the game. I leave it in just to be on the safe side.)
This is a bug causing you to hit your oponent (if in range) immediately after changing a stance. We don't use it in duels and it gets you kicked out of the tournament if you use it. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens during duels even to very expirienced duelers. If it hapends to me and I notice it - I apologise after the duel. Some people use this as a tactic unfortunately. We usualy warn them not to do this. Don't use it, because the bug will be fixed someday leaving you without your favorite tactic.

Lag
Lag is our enemy. It makes people appear in one spot, then on the oposite side of the room. In fact you can usualy bet that your oponent is a bit forward then where you see him. Lag can be on the server, on your PC. It can be caused by many objects on the ground, people using magic (that's why we don't cast spells while others duel). Ammount of people arround, specialy if they are moving.

Luck
Everyone can have a good or a bad luck day. Remember that this is a game and that no one can always win.

Timing Attacks
It's simple, but needs practice to master. Generaly, if your weapon, let's say SS has a speed of 2.0 it means that you will hit 2 seconds after you change stance (and 4.0, and 6.0... for auto-attackers). Good timing means you'll stand with your oponent in front of you exactly when you make a hit. Be careful thou, lag will make your stance change a bit later then you "click" (keep an eye one the attack icons changing or your main) and lag will make your opponent appear somewhere else - so you'll have to predict where he is.

There are other terms we use during duels but they should be clear to you when you hear them (block, dodge, hit, miss, range...)

THE END

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Remember that dueling isn't only about winning - it's about having fun and making friends. In the beginning you'll be very excited and every match will be special (for you). Try to learn to keep a calm and collected mind. With practice you will learn to relax and get used to your controlls. You will become able to go through the duel without caring if you win (even during tournaments) which will enable you to think, change tactics during duels, and find ways to surprize your oponents. If fact, you'll know you're good when you're able to surprize people by changing tactics and laugh with them when you loose the duel, specialy when you loose because you did something "stupid".

Hope to see you in the sewers or some other dueling place...