From noobs for noobs: GMing combat skills on order guards

[RazorFennec]

Introduction

Hey there guys, i've looked around the forums and didn't really see a dedicated guide for leveling melee skills but a few wall of text responses to people asking how to do it. Soooo because of this I've decided to make a quick little guide on how to level up combat skills quickly with order guards.

Pros of using order guards:

-They are harder to accidentally kill. An order guard can take a lot of beating, even when you've managed to strip her.
-Gives a decent gain. As I'm writing this, my skills are going up quite well.
-MUCH easier to set up than a hireling. You just cage her in the house and let the fight begin!

Cons of using order guards:

-They can kill you accidentally. The order guard will retaliate, so you might need to pay attention to how well is it going, or you'll just get killed and then you have to take a trip to the healer (this can be negated with a decent macro).
-It can be more expensive than the hireling method, since you might need to equip a plate set to negate the damage you take.

What you'll need:

-4 tables
-A house near a guard outpost
-A healer alt (a 50/50 new alt can work, but the higher the skill, the better)
-4k to 5k bandages (9-15k gold on the current price)
-Some store bought plate mail sets (optional)

Once you have all of these set, let's get on with the business, below you'll see pictures of how to set your house up (MS paint ftw)



This is how you'll leave the house when you go to get the order guard. Put the two tables on the gray spots, and lock them. Move the healer to the red spot, and leave him there for now.

Go to the guard station, and hit one of them to get it chase you (this will give you a criminal flag, but this shouldn't matter if your house is not in guardzone).

Lure him into the house this way:



You should have full stamina when moving through your healer. Once you're in the destination spot, put the two other tables to the other two gray spots, move the healer on the center tile, and lock the remaining two tables:



Now that this is set up, let's look at the healer's macro:

For (1 to x)
UseSkill: Anatomy
Wait for target
Absolute target (whomever you want)
Doubleclick: bandage (by type)
Wait for target
Absolute target (the trainee)
wait x seconds
End for
UseSkill: Anatomy
Wait for target
Absolute target
Doubleclick: bandage
Wait for target
Absolute target (the guard)
wait x seconds

The "x" values are variable, depending on a multiple of factors:

-Whether or not you use plate armor.
-What level of healing/anat your healer has.
-Whether or not did the order guard's armor rot away already.

You'll have to adjust these values for yourself, the macro will apply bandages to your trainee for x times, then apply one bandage to the guard. You can add a for loop to the guard's bandaging too, but it can be risky at times.

If you wish to use plate armor, be advised that it lowers your dex, slowing down the gains.
The higher dex you have, the faster you'll hit, increasing the gain speed too.

You might want to use a fast, low damaging weapon for the type of skill you level:

Skinning knife for swordsmanship
Empty wand for macing
Bare fists for wrestling (duh)
Not sure about fencing though, maybe a kryss. (EDIT: A dagger is good too)

Here's the whole stuff in action:



Trivia: While writing this, the macro was going on in my house, but i forgot to lock the door, so someone came in and killed my alts, looting all of my bandages, so fuck you, T-rab xD

[mxmx23]

Might wanna get confirmation from someone that has tried it recently (I haven't for years). Fairly certain the 'all stay' invis trick still works.

I forget EXACT mechanics but you basically attack your hireling, then invis yourself (or have someone invis you) and then spam 'all stay' a few times. After that the hireling will not attack you at all.

Edit: Dagger is the fencing wep you'd want to use.

Great guide by the way. Very well done.

[Wulver]

I did this recently with a fencer and swordsman beating on the order guard. My fencer GM but not the swordsman, his knives kept breaking and he had lower dex.

I had the heal macro set up similar to.
0 = order guard
1 = fencer
2 = swordsman

1: heals 0, heals 0, heals 2
2: heals 0, heals 1, heals 0.

They also were split by 2 seconds, this way if one failed healing the guard (finger slip), the other possibly healed to keep him alive. Since his attack would split up between them it was less likely for my guys to die.

Also, when lower skill I used a wandering healer to double team against, it was one that didn't cast spells. Can wandering healers rez others while they are fighting? That would have sucked! =D

[jekkis]

Nice, thorough guide. However, you can also do this with a hireling that doesn't beat you back, so you don't have to worry about yourself taking damage. Also, you don't need to pay the hireling more than for one day, as it doesn't matter whether his "loyalty hath eroded for lack of pay".

[RazorFennec]

The big turnoff for me about the hirelings is that i often killed them while macroing overnight, but an order guard can take a lot more hits, and you'll be using bandages for healing either way, the only difference being that the bandages are applied to yourself. If either of you dies, the result is the same, not getting gains. However, getting a new order guard is easier, because you just go out to the outpost, hit one and there you have it. Whereas if you use hirelings you have to run all the way back to the town, pay the paladin/warrior/whatever you hired the gold, and then get him back to your house (ye ye gate scroll, but what if the said player doesn't have high enough magery to cast it?).

[the bazookas]

Nice, thorough guide. However, you can also do this with a hireling that doesn't beat you back, so you don't have to worry about yourself taking damage. Also, you don't need to pay the hireling more than for one day, as it doesn't matter whether his "loyalty hath eroded for lack of pay".

I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure one time that happened to me and it he started fighting back afterward.

[thejavabuddha]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question anywhere. Where, SPECIFICALLY, can you find hirelings to spar with? I've heard something about Jhelom, and I think I remember something about a guard post, but never specifics about where they can be found. Any help?

[Boomland Jenkins]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question anywhere. Where, SPECIFICALLY, can you find hirelings to spar with? I've heard something about Jhelom, and I think I remember something about a guard post, but never specifics about where they can be found. Any help?

Jhelom, Trinsic, and Delucia have hire fighters and paladins. That's not to say you can't find them in other towns, but in those towns they are more prominent.