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%^hi_red%^| %^hi_white%^Fighter Guild Help %^hi_red%^|%^normal%^
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The fighter guild is home to the veteran soldiers of retro.  
A fighter is responsible not only for the well-being of
himself, but of any party that he leads.  A fighter 
coordinates the actions of the party, and is often forced
to think quickly on his feet to preserve the lives of his
team.

The fighter guild is skills oriented.  You may choose later
on to acquire secondary guilds which allow magic, however
most of the secondary and tertiary guilds are skills based.

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%^hi_red%^| %^hi_white%^Life as a Newbie Fighter %^hi_red%^|%^normal%^
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The best way to gain experience as a newbie is to explore
everywhere that you can.  You gain experience for each new
room that you explore that isn't on a map, and for any room
inside of a city that you explore.  Exploring a lot may
seem tedious, but it is the most effective way to gain your
first few levels and to learn about the retroverse and how
to get around.  While exploring do not try to kill any of 
the monsters that you meet.  Monsters on RetroMud are quite
powerful, and you should gain a few levels before
attempting combat.

NOTE: Some monsters automatically will automatically attack
      you.  The best thing to do is to not have weapons
      wielded while exploring, and keep your wits about you.

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%^hi_red%^| %^hi_white%^Leveling %^hi_red%^|%^normal%^
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After exploring for a while, you will want to gain levels.
There are two kinds of levels, adventuring levels and guild
levels.  Each city has an adventurer's guild.  There is a 
room called the level training or level advancement room.
It is here that you may 'advance' to the next level. The 
second kind of level, the guild level, is gained in your
guild hall.  Note that you may only take as many total 
guild levels as you have adventuring levels.

The costs of leveling can easily drain your stored up
experience points.  Hence, there are a series of quests that
you may complete to cut the costs of an adventuring level in
half.  They are called 'level quests'.  You can read about
them in the Level Quest Room of any adventurer's guild.

Leveling can also include dues.  Dues are gained by using
the 'warning sign' skill.  The basic formula for dues per
level is generally: (Level - 9) * 1000

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%^hi_red%^| %^hi_white%^Skills %^hi_red%^|%^normal%^
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Fighters survive off of their skills.  They use them in 
combat, for earning guild dues, and for many other things.
There are several skills which every fighter should train,
no matter which school of weaponry and and style of defense
or offense that he uses.

(Levels 1 - 13)
The time you spend as a newbie is VERY important.  It is 
during this time that you need to learn how to lead a 
larger group through 'tanking' for newbie parties and that
you find a master.  Your master can teach you about any
new modifications to combat or the game, and will be able
to give you insights based on his or her knowledge of Retro.

A newbie fighter should train the following skills:
-->General Combat Skills
   attack
   weapon skill (bludgeon, broad blade, etc)
   double hit
   ambidexterity

-->Specific Combat Skills
   bash (works best when using a shield)
   bashing (improves ability to bash)
   shield ram (helps bash if you use a shield)
-->Special Skills
   warning sign (guild dues skill, used on corpses)
   consider humanoid (if you do attack, try this first)

The other skills are useful, but the aforementioned are the
most useful in the beginning.  Some of the other skills such
as large throwing or deadeye are used for ranged combat.

(Levels 14-20)
Now is the time of truth.  A few things to remember after
you leave newbiedom are:
1) NEVER walk into an unfamiliar area wielded.
2) NEVER walk into a city wielded.
3) Watch your eps.  You now use them to move and for each
   round of combat.

The following skills are essential:
-->General Combat Skills
   dodge (helps you avoid getting hit)
   stun (helps you to stun or paralyze your foe)
   parry (helps block hits)
   riposte (must have parry first, block and gain extra hit)
   whirlwind attack (extra chance at a hit with right hand)
   stunned manuevers (self explanatory)
   weapon parry (allows parry with a dagger or other weapon)

There are many other skills which are useful.  To find out 
more, check 'help skill ' to learn about other 
skills in the guild.

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%^hi_red%^| %^hi_white%^Styles %^hi_red%^|%^normal%^
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Every fighter learns several styles as a part of his 
training.  As a newbie your are automatically set to dodge.  
However, once you train several of these styles, you may 
choose.

DODGE
  The dodge style is by far the most offensive of the styles 
  and allows the fighter to deal the most damage possible.
  Dodge works the best against larger opponents.

PARRY
  Parry is based on using a shield to block blows.  In 
  practical use, it appears to allow for the least damage 
  taken in melee combat.  Since you have a shield wielded, 
  you will be not be able to use tumbling attacks or any 
  kind of acrobatic maneuvers.  You will also not be able to 
  land blows as well.

WEAPON PARRY
  Allows for acrobatics, but reduces your number of attacks 
  and reduces your ability to land a blow.

A fighter can choose his style through 'defense