The idea behind Ringmasters is simple - pound your opponent until he falls down, if he gets up, pound him again. It's up to you to figure out which punches are the most effective, and when. The same applies to defense. In general you will learn by actual experience in "the ring". Throwing a lot of punches will tire you quicker. "Punching fatigue" is represented by lose of strength in the same way that damage is a loss of endurance. You will regain strength as you rest between rounds, but you can also restore it by getting your opponent in a CLINCH. Here, a high agility could stop someone from recovering strength after he has "punched himself out", letting the one who has conserved his strength from the beginning unleash a torrent of devastating blows upon a tired and weak opponent.

If you "stun" someone, his abilities and skills are reduced for a few moments. Take advantage of this and lay in as many blows as you can! Stuns are cumulative so it is possible to stun someone and keep him that way - though you will probably knock him down first. Your chance to stun is based on the "body shock" from the amount of damage you pack in a punch. If you do more than 50%% of the endurance your opponent has left he will automatically be stunned. There is also a small percentage to stun with any blow based on the amount of damage it does. The chance of actually knocking him down when he's stunned is based on the difference between his current endurance and 100. Thus it's much easier to stun or KO someone who is already virtually "out on his feet". Remember, punch location affects your chance to stun. Head shots increase your chance by 20%. Body blows have no chance to stun.

The first thing you should do when you step into the ring is choose a defense (Dodging or Blocking). If you don't then your opponent will be able to pop you at will! All commands can be abbreviated to the first 3 letters. So you can just enter UPP HEAD 3 instead of the full command of UPPERCUT HEAD 3. Actually punch location can be shortened to just H or B if you choose.

KEYBOARD MACROS

Realistically, you will probably want to use keyboard "macros" or a remapping of your keyboard through the chat client to box, allowing you to throw 2 or 3 punches with the press of 1 button. One of the elements to becoming an on-line champion is handling these macros, knowing when to use them and when not. Punching at the wrong time gets you a warning from the ref and your only allowed so many of them before he disqualifies you. Judicious use and timing will separate the street thug from the prize fighter.

ABILITIES

Effectively developing and using your attributes is what will separate you from other contenders. The true champion will choose a fighting strategy that takes advantage of his strengths and his rival's weakness. Use ringside to examine the tactics of your next opponent, and use INC/DEC to prepare for them. The ring master will be able to react quickly to the dynamics of a fight. Use the STAT command to monitor your attributes and make decisions based on how they change.

For instance, you may notice that your endurance is so low that you decide to switch from blocking to dodging to avoid even the small amount of damage you take from blocking blows.

STRATEGY

One strategy is the "stick and move" offense. Doing light damage with a dodging defense. The idea behind it is to offset the drain of strength you get while dodging with the saving of strength you get with light intensity punching. Another might be "the tank", with most points applied to strength and endurance you'd take a lot of damage but dish out the same