The Sparring Partner

[CadaverGrey]

DISCLAIMER: All information is correct at the time it is written. The accuracy of this article is subject to changes in accordant to a multitude of Neopet factors such as downgrades, plots inflations, introduction of new weapons, retirement etc.

Article written by Cadaver Grey. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Those who chose to violate the rights of the writer will suffer the wrath of his Super Attack Can of Peas.

This article and more can be found on Cadaver Grey’s Battledome BattleSense blog: http://battledome-battlesense.blogspot.com/

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Have you ever thought about how you can improve yourself as a battler? I have. So, as they say, practice makes perfect right? Mmmhmm. So yeah, you battle some 1-player opponents to at least 50 wins, or you fight at least 10 quick fights a day to keep yourself battle sharp. But after a while it gets boring with the 1-player, and frustrating with the 2-player (cos you kept getting your pet poisoned, or something. I dunno ).

So is there any option than to just battling this way? Sure there is: Find a sparring partner!

Sparring Partner: Profile
You may be asking yourself right now: What the heck is a sparring partner? Well, ever watched movies where this guy would be severely bullied by those bad guys and would be left badly hurt? Then he befriended this all-knowing all-fighting machine that taught him the ropes and make him a better fighter. The end usually sees this guy squaring off to them bad guys and then finally defeating them. The idea of a sparring partner is something like that. He or she is there to help you train, to give you pointers on what to do, or to just basically motivate you as a battler. *plays Rocky theme music*

So who should be your sparring partner?

Answer: Featheralley.

Nah, just kidding…

You don’t need to find someone who is all-knowing and all-fighting. In fact, the best sparring partner should be some that is of equal boost to you. It should also be someone you can trust, someone who is objective… and someone who doesn’t throw a fit if he loses (believe me, that happens ). Ideally, he should have about an equal amount of BD knowledge as you do, too. Also, it will if you can have him or her listed on your IM programme. The activities you guys are gonna do will be much easier to execute


Sparring Activites

Some suggested activities you can do with your sparring partner are listed below. All these fights have the intention of sharpening your skills as a battledomer

Fights:

• Friendly fights – Basic fights between you both whenever you are bored
• Common scenario fights – Set up certain common Neopian battle rules that helps you to strategise more: No freeze fights, no bomb fights, 1-use allowed fights, stealing fights etc
• Heavily-iconed fights – Agree on one icon type and set up a fight where one particular icon type is heavily emphasized. Both fighters will have to think of ways to counter and to counter the counter. Particularly useful when you suddenly encounter heavy mono-icons in your quick fight scenarios
• Odd fights – Feeling a little silly? Have battles with ridiculous rules eg Snowball Only fights, Lost Dessert Weaponry fights, Junk Weapon fights, Species Weapon fights etc
  
  Activities:
• I Spy (IDB version) – Open up the IDB website. Play the traditional I Spy using the IDB database. Cover weapons, pet, abilities etc. Helps to increase your battle and weapon knowledge.
• Pre-battle Preparation Game – Randomly select any battling player (you can randomly select players on the Battledome Neoboards) and try to predict his set up by looking at his userlookup and his pet stats. If you are up for it, you can try to see if you are right by challenging him or her (I will be writing a more detailed article on this soon ).

The list above isn’t exhaustable and is limited only by your (and your partner’s) imagination.

A guild as a Sparring Partner

Yes! You don’t need to have just one sparring partner. You can have the whole guild participating in some of the activities I suggested above. In no time you will be Battledome General of a strategically and tactically sound guild (more on Battle Guilds coming soon).

Conclusion

No man is an island, as the saying goes. So you have been out there, berserking and bombing your way through the dome. You know how good you are, but how to make yourself better? Noone can have a better eye on you than the next person. With a sparring partner, you offer yourself control as well as freedom, mind as well as matter, all in the name of good fun. And you can bet your last can of baked beans that you will see both of you improving yourselves as battlers.

Happy sparring!