The art of Retaliation

[Black sparrow]

Behold.... for those aware of the Black Sparrow Art of Defense guide, here comes a NEW BOOK! The Art of Retaliation!
Wrote just now, under the latest events that stroke Avonmora! Now, more than ever before, all need to have a whereabouts on how to retaliate properly.

The first book of the Black Sparrow Art of Defense that not only goes public, but also hits the public first, before it hits the shelves of our own private guild bookcase. Without any further undo....

BOOK D: The art of Retaliation
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Retaliation can be a tricky part, especially for the inexperienced fellows. What makes Defense great is also the selection of the proper retaliation to events. Your retaliation methods often travels alongside with your name so you must pay extra attention to this part.

Chapter A: Know Yourself
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First you really need to analyze of what you are made of. Are you someone who goes Berserk over any attack? Are you a man of iron that reacts calmly to every hostility? Are you a diplomat that prefers to talk things out? An opportunist individual that will strike back at the right time? Whichever you are, you need to discover it. Once you know how you will react at most cases, you will be in a position to decide your reply plan.

Chapter B: Design your reply plan
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So, depending your mentality, you will have to choose how to reply. When deciding your reply plan, you also need to take in mind your actual strength. Can you support a full voodoo inventory? Do you have enough money in the bank to support any plan? Do you have warships ready? How open your defenses are? Obviously if you are a berserker, it would be at the very least unwise to run a full trading fleet as you can sink it yourself in war preparations in a mere hours. Turns is another aspect to watch over depending your style. Again, a berserker needs to always be in good turns conditions whereas someone who can contain himself, has lesser need for this. Resources are very important. You need to design based on them.

Chapter C: The first moments
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No matter which your true mentality is, you need to learn to control it. By control I do not mean limit. You may need to unleash it at times. Keeping your cool and reading the opponent's mentality as well is crucial. A good way to achieve this is to have a standard moves plan for the first minutes. This will give you time to get some needed oxygen at your brain while re-assessing the situation. For example, you could start by setting up defenses. Repairing ships and then checking opponent defenses. Some good practices will be to know before hand how you will react if you hit a mindbar. You can't possibly lose time thinking what you will do at that time. You need to know what you will do at this case and a lot more, before hand. This will help you to keep calm and save time.

Chapter D: Reading the opponent
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You are not alone in the black waters. There are more. Since you have been attacked, probably they could even be more bloodthirsty than you. You need to take this into account. You are not almighty either. You can lose. Therefore, you need to know who the opponent is and what he is capable of doing. Getting a spy network and a crystal ball can reveal most of the things you need to know. Ideally, you need to know what every card does so you will be in a position to spot weaknesses and mentality just by looking at a crystal ball report. You can ask around for more info or check game stats. Sometimes, choosing not to fight might be just the best case for a random hitter. If someone is after some small profit, you can allow it to him the first time.

Chapter E: Responding Honorably
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We all have a name to care for, as we already discussed. For this reason, you must be careful in your replies. Reading the opponent will grant you the insight you need to adjust your reply but you always need to count profit or times you have been hit by the certain enemy. At high level clashes, you need to pay attention to general stance of the enemy towards you. Has he openly defied you in the forums? Have you heard rumors that he doubts your ability? Is he respectful? Is he trying to attack your personality or your fleets? Answering such questions will help you move towards the right reply. A fleet attack for example is worthy of a profit reply, not a vengeance one.

Chapter F: Are you FAT?
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At times you need to assess your own status versus the rest. If you are only a mere 100 ships player and someone constantly is attacking you, you are obviously an easy target and you must correct this by teaching him a lesson. In contrary, if you have 1000 ships, then you are a FATTIE and you deserve to get daily attacks. You must manage these as they come taking in mind your own profit too. There is no point wasting a fortune to punish a pirate who just stole the 1/100 of what you are making daily.

Final Chapter: Moving on
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Every retaliation should have an end somewhere in your plan. Endless wars are unrealistic. You need to be careful to avoid escalating a reply to a full war. You need to convey all the needed messages within one retaliation, that's the art. Responding really unequally will bring new retaliations from the other side. This means you did something wrong, so you will need to try harder the next time. Try harder to be fair. A fair victim, yes.

[Shadowood]

Good guide Sparrow!

Chapter F: Are you FAT?
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If you have 1000 ships, then you are a FATTIE and you deserve to get daily attacks.

THE FATTIES LIST!!!


Except Trixi and Getsum... You ladies are look great!

[Vane]

Some very good points here.

Well done Sparrow.

[Meliva]

so if 100 ships is fat, 1000 is a fattie, what does that make davicni with 10000? a Fattie Fat?

[Jack Teach]

so if 100 ships is fat, 1000 is a fattie, what does that make davicni with 10000? a Fattie Fat?

Morbidly obese

[Black sparrow]

so if 100 ships is fat, 1000 is a fattie, what does that make davicni with 10000? a Fattie Fat?

With current numbers, at 100 ships you are skinny, at 1000 ships a fattie and at 10 000 you are Cpt Da Vinci

[Shadowood]

so if 100 ships is fat, 1000 is a fattie, what does that make davicni with 10000? a Fattie Fat?

The best target in the game...

[Jack Teach]

so if 100 ships is fat, 1000 is a fattie, what does that make davicni with 10000? a Fattie Fat?

The best target in the game...

Stop it! Your giving me bad ideas...