Guide to Successful Training and Weaponry by Boost

From the Boost Fighter's Point of View

To begin, it should be stressed that there are two main fighting styles in two player battling (from the boost perspective). There are the offensive and defensive stances, and your choice will greatly (and should greatly) affect your training and weapon goals.

Offensive Battling

The offensive style of battle will include more weapon variety, and when done effectively, will give you the powerhit you need to stun your opponent as you hone in for the kill.

Lab rats are usually more suited for this style of battle due to their high hit point/low strength ratio and having little to no defense.

Little to no defense is just not going to be enough to run that ghostkershield you've been in awe of, and unless you have plenty of time and neopoints to waste on bringing up those levels to train your defense, the best battle route to take is the offensive stance.

What does this mean for you training wise? Well, you'll want to work with what you've got there. 90% of the time, if not more, this is going to be your hit points. You'll need to be able to withstand a hit. Keep at training your hit points. Your hit points are your defense. The more hit points you have, the longer you will last in battle. The longer you can last, the more you can whittle away at your opponent. I find setting your goals by 50 hit points helps. Start with a goal of 150 hit points, then 200, 250, 300, and so on. The sky is the limit there.

As far as your weapons go, you will need some icon variety in your set in order to get the most out of your pet. This will most likely mean you will need more than two constants. I suggest four. Your battles should serve as the ultimate lesson in weapons. When you lose, think about why you lost and how your set could be better to serve you.

As far as abilities go, a high hit pointed pet's best friend will be regeneration. Play around with this ability in one player until you are well acquainted with how it works and how much heal it provides you. The hands on approach will teach you way more than any amount of words ever could. We have long had it drilled into our heads that drain life, burrow, sink is the way to go. Erase this from your thoughts! This is not the best route to take with your high hit pointed pet. The strategy behind a high hit pointed pet is knowing how to swing your hit points around. This is not to say burrowing through a bomb you foresee coming your way is a bad thing to do, but ultimately, your goal is to be able to take that bomb, full force, and keep ticking.

Some will tell you this logic is highly flawed. I tell you first hand, it works, and with the right weapon combo, is very lethal. Do not listen to the majority--find what works for you and run with it. Does this mean you will never lose a battle? Absolutely not, but I can guarantee it will greatly improve your odds and fighting experiences as a whole.

Defensive Battling

So you want to know what it takes to run that tank pet, huh? The tank pet, categorized by having two defense boosts above its strength, is growing in popularity day by day. I think it should first be stressed that just because you have that 125 defense boost on your 35 strength boost, it does not mean your pet is undefeatable, nor does it mean anything at all without the right weapon choices and style of battle.

If you do not have the neopoints to sport the set you need to pull this off, it may not be the best choice in training for you. Tank fighting, my friends, is not for those empty in bank account.

As far as training goes, the 125 defense boost is your first goal. Once you reach that, you'll need to raise those hit points up as well. 150 hit points/125 defense is a nice starting goal. Since we are boost fighters, I would not suggest raising your strength past a 35 boost. Once you've reached those stats, which will take time, start to push your defense to 200. With the right set, this will win you more battles than you'll lose.

As for what the set should include--

You'll want to be able to block as many of each icon as possible. Standard tank equipment will include both a Ghostkershield and Faerie Tabard. This will block most, but you may also be best advised to throw in a good light blocker as well (I prefer AFC to DMB), and you'll need a reliable healer as well as a good bomb, and constant or two. MoC is a nice addition. The whole idea here is to see what icons your opponent is using and use your defensive weapon to block it as well as a good hitting dual duty or damage weapon to wear your opponent down. Defensive fighting makes for a long battle so you will need patience! A 20 move fight or longer is the norm here, so you need the patience it takes to both defend yourself and chip away at your opponent. It's not really a hard concept to grasp, but I have heard many say they do not like longer battles; if you are one of these people, this may not be your best route. Make sure you can hang in there or it may just cost you a battle you could have won.

In abilities, you will be best served with burrow, quench, sink, and the like until you've gathered up enough hit points to use the regeneration ability with some success. Your stand point is avoiding attack, so practice doing so and you won't go wrong.

Deductions

Which fighting style is better? Neither. Both pet styles would put up a very nice fight with proper training and weapons. All it takes is patience and determination. Know your weapons and your pet as well as your opponents and you will do well as you travel down your battle paths. It is my opinion, that the ultimate battler would be a nice combo of both.

Suggestions in Weaponry

For Powerhitters/Tank Busters

Pirate Captains Cutlass

Portable Kiln

Honey Potion

Ghostkerbomb

Rainbow Clockwork Grundo

Ring Of The Lost

Staff of Righteous Fury

Pike Pike

Steaming Skeem Potion

Wand Of Reality

For Tanks

Faerie Tabard

Ghostkershield

Mask Of Coltzan

Air Faerie Crown

Dusty Magic Broom

Tower Shield

Ghostkerbomb

Rainbow Clockwork Grundo

Pirate Captain Cutlass

Please note I do not include dark icons in weapon suggestions. I have found these icons to be too easily blocked and when push comes to shove, I do believe these icons would be better invested elsewhere from both points of view. You do not have to take my suggestions as the only way, but please know I would not knowingly steer you wrong. There are times dark icons would help you, but these are becoming far and few between and it is best advised to build your set for the whole and not around and one or two people's fighting style/set.

CBT

Crisp Blue Tunic is a new addition to lower level battling. It can be a powerful tool if used correctly by either the offensive or defensive battler; however, I personally would not recommend having it as your sole choice of healer. Keep an extra one in your SDB and learn how CBT works. It can be an awesome tool in battle with the 100 hit point drain from your opponent it provides (with a 750 intelligence on your pet being required to use it), but you must learn how to use it well and even then, there will be times you may be forced to battle without its heal. A few no heal practice matches could do wonders in developing a strategy of battle both with and without it.