So I've pretty much established that I not only have the problem of not knowing how to approach an offense as a warrior, but I also have no idea about some of the basics of fighting certain classes. Yea, I have a system that cures stuff, but there are other basic things I have no idea about. Example of tidbits I'm talking about: eating earwort constantly when fighting a bard, or how to escape from a bard's skill X or Y, or what skills you definitely want to run away from, etc.

Advice please? It's all fun and nice to die repeatedly to a certain class due to basic ineptitude, but if it's something I can learn beforehand, maybe I can actually begin to piece together an offense...

I think the secret is to fight a lot, keep logs, die a hundred awful deaths and hopefully learn from your mistakes. It's not really a secret.

For general information I think Sadhyra has written a book on the principles of combat. You can also learn from the mistakes or logs of others. You could also try asking your combat clan/champion/even your enemy for tips.

I learned a lot before hand from trolling the forums and asking my guildmates about what to expect when I sparred someone of a guild I'd never faced before. You wouldn't believe how much you can learn from flame wars about how OP lich/trueheal/choke is.

Razenth speaks the truth.

When fighting wiccans in general, you have to watch out for mana and toad. Slaughs do skin afflictions and crones do mental afflictions. Shadowdancers can drain mana through clots (bleeding by redcap) or focusbody (paralysis by barghest). Moondancers have Succumb (passive mana drain) and Dark (passive defense strip). Shadowdancers have Drink (passive affliction curing) and Moondancers have Full (active affliction curing, plus shield).

Healer wiccans can be total ******* to kill because of healing auras, but for offense they only have Bedevil, Aurawarp, and Neurosis aura (there are actually a few more tricks, but those are a bit more complicated). Shadowdance Choke with Aurawarp and Bedevil can cause problems in curing afflictions, plus with pixie and Neurosis aura it can be a nice sleeplock. Moondance Succumb with Aeon can easily send you to half-mana if you're not careful.

Hexes is hexes. It can be deadly because of the sheer affliction power. Theoretically (my theory, as I've never really tested it myself) Moodancer Hexen can combine the active mental afflictions of Hexes with the passive ones of crone with Jinx. Shadowdancer Hexen with Choke is also an affliction-bonanza.

Astrologers are special people. They can go for a Meteor kill through damage (especially Shadowdancers with Steal and a properly-timed Nightkiss). Afflictions given through Astrology can be a bit trickier to track, too. Also, if there's a Skull almost-syzygy, Astrologers are downright nasty.

Dark also gives afflictions and make sure you check to see if insomnia/quicksilver are kept up since Dark could strip either making fighting very messy for you (experience talking there). Metawake is also helpful against wiccans who sleep-lock their way to win which is usually their best way to win. If you do that, though, just redouble watching your mana.

Pooka can take down metawake, so it's not foolproof.

You can also read old classlead reports. They have plenty of information about how various skills work and how they can be used or avoided.

Your best bet is just to ask experienced fighter-folk that are patient, and then practice from there. A mentor (hardcoded or otherwise) really is your best bet. This goes with understanding your own offensive and defensive capabilities, along with what the other classes plan to do in order to make you screw the pooch.

I remember I was sitting on trans Druidry, with no idea how to fight. I wanted to give it a shot. I asked Yini (these are Seren-Celest War days), because I really had no idea what I was doing. Next thing I knew - I had to time my demesne, sap them, keep them locked in sap with stagstomp and my runes, and make sure I kept protection scroll down. And it worked. I only went up from there.