Now that you've started your fight, your enemy is probably going to run away. If you're clearly winning, they'll scoot just like you used to after reading the first volume of this guide. That's okay. You read it too. You know the tricks, but really, it's so much easier to kill them off the bat and be done with it. How, you ask?

Lag.

Lag, lag, lag. Bash them, trip them, stun them. If you, or one of your buddies, can keep the enemy in combat with lagging skills, you'll save yourself a whole lot of headache. If they get away though, it's off to try and catch them. If you can hunt them without them seeing you via invisibility or some other spell, more power to you. If you can't, it can get messy.

Hopefully you've disabled them somewhat in the fight; blinded them, poxed them, confused them. A crippled enemy is a lot easier to track. Otherwise you want to set up traps where he's likely to pass through (including his altar), and start checking the hiding places.

When in doubt, most people return to Var Bandor eventually. Check in on the town now and then. It works more often than you'd think.

Know your enemy.

"Hey Steve, isn't this the guy who likes to dodge bullets and shoot people?"

"Shut up and keep pointing your gun at him! That'll show 'em!"

Know what your victim can do and plan accordingly. Do they do a lot of physical damage? You better find a way to take less. Is your enemy a scholar? Get forms of protection against his spells. Does your enemy forget to quaff flight potions a lot? Trip him. Are they horribly trusting? Take advantage of it. Are they an unstoppable force of destruction? Think twice about what you're doing.

In the simplest terms, know what you're enemy can do with his race\class\equipment, and what you can do to trump it with your own. If you're fighting a kankoran barbarian as a fire templar, you already have a large advantage in damage. If it's the other way around, you better start finding ways to take less damage from fire.

Inevitable Complications
"What did you -do- Ray?"

Sometimes your masterful plan doesn't work out. Sometimes it's bad luck; you quaffed, brandished, ate and invoked and when you went to attack, you turned yourself into a pile of ash. Other times, all the buddies you brought along to help kill the one guy are cut to ribbons, or worse, join him and try to cut -you- to ribbons. It's a tough break, but it happens. Even the best laid plans can fail and the cleverest schemes fall flat.

Count your blessings. Did you survive? If so, good! Have fun running away. Were you butchered? Oh well. Get what you can and plan your revenge. Did your friends turn on you? At least you know who you can't trust. Every cloud has it's silver lining, even if said cloud is soaked in clots of your own blood. Chin up and stiff upper lip there. Becoming an engine of death takes work, so keep at it. Before you know it you'll be up to will fill the air.

And really, isn't that what it's -really- all about?

- Ramc

It should be noted that the opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the Avendar staff. The author hopes that the reader has gleamed some form of lesson from this article, or at the very least has found some brief entertainment. One should also note that this information may not be necessarily correct (unlikely, but possible) as it is all conclusions and opinions drawn by the author.