Mud2 Fighting Tips

Defensive

Never enter the land part way through a reset. Enter at the very start when no killer can be waiting.
Plan your initial few minutes in the Land. Use them to kit up.
Go for a good weapon, wafers and magical items before treasure. You may score slower, but you will live longer.
Never attack anyone, no matter how evil. You won't avoid all FOD attempts this way, but you won't start any vendettas.
Do not sit around in the tearoom for hours. It only makes you nervous about plunging into dangerous play.
Set your time out from outside the Land to the lowest it will go. This may save you from a lag death.
Never play in any noticable lag. You can't assume that other plays have lag, just because you do.
If you are attacked and see you have to flee then f o.qq. Do not return to the land that reset. If you lost when you were kitted up your prospects will not improve. Don't throw good points after bad:)
Assume anyone who is unknown to you personally to be actively hostile, and avoid fighting any tough mobiles while they are on.
Constantly check your qw, and also for invisible players.
If you can, play at the same time as other non-aggressive players who are prepared to come to your aid if you are attacked.
Don't help a much lower player than yourself do the keep or the dwarfs unless you have known them for a long while.
Refuse to play if you come across any mobiles that look strange. If you are playing to survive rather than to have fun you've got to be a kill joy.
Always flee if your stamina falls below 40. You can easily lag as you try to flee, or get caught and have to flee twice, or simply get really unlucky and get hit with a (20-29) hit, or worse.
Do not put your site in the same place each reset, someone might wait for you there.
Don't be afraid to flee, you can always make the points up later. Dying is much more embarassing.
Always suck up to wizzes.
Never demand things from wizzes.
Tell the clever wizzes that they are beautiful, and the beautiful ones that they are clever.
Getting the previous tip wrong will result in a FOD :)
The best defense is to take the battle to the enemy, so take the time to learn to play as they do. Read the other list! (Unless you have strong moral objections of course).

Aggressive

I'm only including this for completeness as my fighting skills are woefully appalling.

Enter the land whenever you like, make the best of whatever conditions you encounter. If you can survive and prosper like this, you need be afraid of no-one.
Plan and keep notes on the people you attack, they can be very predictable.
Grab all the good kit and then destroy as much of the rest as you can, no sense in helping people.
Attack anyone except those of pitifully low level, in case you annoy a wiz.
Play in lag, after all your opponent might just lag out as you fight them.
Make a pointless FOD attempt now and then, it will scare people away from your point scoring. An empty land is a high scoring reset after all.
If you are forced to flee by an opponent then F J, get your kit and steal anything good your enemy has before leaving to go and sleep.
Jumping on at the beginning of a reset and assaulting someone straight away often gets results.
Flee at less than 20 stamina, you will usually survive and pushing it to the wire will tempt your opponent to do the same with fatal consequences.
Know the land from memory perfectly, and have macros to move from point to point instantaneously.
Get a load of good kit and hide it in the land, then wait in the tearoom. After a player has been in for a few minutes jump in and recover your kit for a swift assault.
Make good friends with a highlife and suggest they help you with the dwarfs or the keep.
Don't be afraid to die. Every death brings experience that will help you avoid it next time.
Engage in feuds, just for the hell of it. A good feud brings interest and amusement to your playing.
Remember, the Mausoleum is your friend. It has lockable rooms which are perfect for summoning from!
The Scriptorium, the Maze of Hedges, and the Evil Wood are all delightful places to sleep. Your foes lack the knowledge and courage to follow you in...
Try to bar access to as many of the hidden rooms that people can sleep in as you can.
Make it a point of honour only to score points through fighting, and never through swamping. Swamping is the method of your prey :)