What am I missing?

[Sythion]

I'm low level (7), and I'm completely baffled by some of the matchups I find. One match I go up against someone who was higher ranked then me, 8-1-0 record, and completely demolish (and kill) him despite being out-equipped as well.

The next I fight a lower level gladiator who does the same to me.

I can understand if these were close, but both fights were utter domination.

At my level there can't be a wide variation in builds. We only have a handful of points, most of which are presumably going into weapon skills.

Does this game have an insane random factor, or is there something else contributing to these outcomes? Some sort of a underdog bonus? Weakened strength after a couple of good blows?

[Warmonger]

All of the above. There is a random factor. I don't know how big a factor it is, but you can definitely tell it's there. You do perform worse depending on how hurt or tired you are (There are high level War skills that mitigate this effect). The fighting style matchup matters as well. Your opponent or you could just have been using a strategy that was particularly good or bad vs. their opponent's. So it could be a tons of things...

[LordOfTheGods]

its all random, this game pretty much is tryna simulate a realistic fight, i mean take UFC 4 example ive seen matches where one guy dominates 4 the first few rounds, and slips up once and catches that one hit that puts him out, i remember a few nights ago i had a fight with one of my chars, and i had lost a match which i had raised my eyebrow 2, i couldnt understand how i lost, it was a close fight 4 sure, but i had about 80 health left, and my opponent had 2, and i looked at how much stamina endurance we each had, and we both had had 30 endurance left from after that battle, so naturally i was reading and thought well then i win, cuz i have more health, but no it said that i was saved just in time by the enforcer b4 death, so i was like hmmmm, but then on the other hand ive been in fights where i have better stats and gear than the person im facing and ive lost, i think luck plays a big part in this game, aint much u can do cept maybe change the way u fight a certain opponent

[Dainoji]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there on it being all random. If you know what you are doing it is very much not random. Your gladiator's strategies are huge and are one of the main reasons you win or lose. Sure there are random things that will happen in the fight that can alter the outcome such as being stunned or getting knocked out, however if you use the right triggers for your build coupled with good settings for your activity level and blood lust for what you are trying to do and are geared right there is a lot less left to chance then you might think. The really good managers in this game are able to modify their strategies to win in the Black Market regardless of the format for instance.

When you get your ass handed to you and then turn around and hand someone their ass it has everything to do with the matchup. If you slap on heavy armour and sit around waiting to get a few big hits in maybe you'll beat a certain type of build, and maybe that build is popular so you'll have a good record, but then you meet the gladiator with a horrible record who goes defensive and you are never able to hit him and you pass out and wonder why you lost because he was so shitty. The reason his record might suck is his build isn't effective against the majority of gladiators around him but it is against yours.

This game isn't about just slapping on some gear and hitting the "go" button. It requires strategy and thought and the diligent manager who studies his fights to see what worked and what didn't will be rewarded. In the early stages some fights might seem more random, but as your gladiators flesh out their builds more and more strategy options open up to you you'll find it feels less so. I've got a little more than 4 months under my belt and I'm still learning how to play and discovering little tricks.

[LordOfTheGods]

when it comes 2 building ur guy up and knowing what 2 do, that is not random, thats is on urself as a manager, and that is true u gotta study what works best 4 u, but also, everyone plays there character a little different so maybe its just the way there playing there character vs yours, or maybe u just gotta go back maybe u have a good set up good weps, but maybe ur slaves stats werent the best, could be a number of things, as 4 little tricks ive noticed a few myself, 4 instance, ive noticed when im fighting in the blackmarket, if i seem 2 switch my guy from aiming at the person torso to aiming at there head i win alot, but when the actual arena fights happen, i noticed i have better outcomes when i switch back 2 aiming 4 a persons torso than the head, its just little things u gotta notice, but i also think theres alot of random things, as i said when i mentioned earlier when i have had some questionable losses cuz its supposed 2 be realistic, so i mean expect the unexpected sometimes, but if u notice it happening way often more than it should be, perhaps maybe just go back and re evaluate ur character

[Sythion]

Dainoji
It seems like the strategy and options differ greatly when you start gaining levels, skills and strategy slots. At the time of those fights we only had 2 slots, and an extremely limited amount of strategies would could use with those triggers.

With the exception of whether or not a fighter is trying to win by health or stamina and weapon size vs armor strength, there doesn't seem to be many options that depend on who you are facing (yet). In both of these cases there did not seem to be any clever strategems going on. The first person, who was better equipped than me, higher level than me with an exceptional win/loss record vs other opponents, was absolutely demolished by me. The second demolished me even worse, despite me having + in all
stats except size.

It just doesn't make sense. An unlikely to win player might be able to make it a close fight and pull out a win. But to utterly decimate their opponent? Twice in a row, one as a win one as a loss? Just seems to be an unbelievably low probability. Unless, of course, they were not actually unlikely to win, and I just missed something.

LordOfTheGods
I'll try to notice things, but the human mind is so terribly wrought with memory biases, its generally a horrible idea to try and collect emperical information through memory alone. Even if data was kept accurately, if this game IS (it might not be) terribly random then there's a ton of random-noise that's going to distort the results a lot.

[Team Kaos]

There is a random factor. It is very possible for a superior fighter to lose to a lesser fighter, happens all the time. 1 Lucky hit that stuns a fighter or a dropped weapon can doom even the best fighters. Weapon choice and armor play major rolls as does style and activity.

Health and stamina play big rolls lower end but near the top, if you are counting on stamina in getting you wins your in for a rude awakening, majority of high end fights end in under a minute.

A barrel roll or a signature move can be the beginning of the end for even the best fighters when a massive critical hit follows it up.
An offensive fighter running around on fire is extremely prone to such instances since they are hardly ever in good defensive stance and when they get hit, they get rocked.

Triggers, styles, activity, weapon choice, armor, skills, gear bonuses, attributes, health, stamina, etc..
With so many factors it is not hard to imagine any fighter with a chance to beat another at any time.