I agree completely with Peacer in his description of duels. Normal duels should be weapons and magic, but no potions. Warrior duels would be weapons only, and no potions. Magic duels would be magic only, but no healing potions.
Datruth's suggestion of "Just using 3 healing potions to compensate for the surprise of magic" is rediculous. The mage would have to hit him 7 times, then the non-magical person would heal back to 100%, and the mage would have to hit another 9 times to finish them off. Let's see... the mage has to hit 16 times then to kill the warrior, while the warrior has to hit... let's see... ONCE, to kill the mage. That would make it pretty close to impossible for a mage to beat a warrior with even the slightest skill. And if the warrior feel the need to use 3 potions, what's to stop him from using 6, or 9, or 30, until he finally connects with his blades?
Honestly I wish the devs would remove the ability to use healing potions when you're in a duel. It would remove the ability to fight dishonorably.
~~~ Roahn ~~~