This topic may be unpopular, and may step on some toes, but nothing worth doing is easy. I'd like to take a moment to address the Parry Damage Deed and it's effect on PvP, and the issue of the dreaded "Mortal Spam".
Some time ago, I had a discussion over this topic with Dante, and he seemed surprised how the deed was being used, namely the Mortal Bow. In theory, the idea behind the Parry Damage Deed seems fine, a way for players engaged in PvP to mitigate the over the moon stacking of Parry, allowing for 2-20% (depending on the value of Parry Damage) to bleed through the shield, and that's all well and good. Where the deed has taken a nefarious turn, is its application on a weapon that has Mortal Strike, namely the "Mortal Bow". You may ask "Why would this be a problem?", simply...there is no way to effectively mitigate the Mortal Wound, preventing you from healing hp from anything other than the use of the skill Spirit Speak (Spirit Speak is prone disruption, as even the spell Protection on a player will disrupt the skill) or life leech (I'm dubious about it's effectiveness in PvP).
Think for a moment about this, the bow, when using the Mortal Strike, will hit the target with a Mortal Wound every time it is used. The damage "bled" through may only be a fraction of the initial damage of the strike, but it's effect never misses its mark. Perma Mortal. This is more devastating than adding a Mortal Strike onto a Mage's Fireball, as the defender has a "chance" to mitigate the effect by using Bushido's Evade Skill. In the case of the arrow, there is nothing that can be done...aside from pray for a Remove Curse to not be interrupted, and run.
The Parry Damage deed could be used on ANY weapon, but the majority choose to use it on bows, either the standard "Bow" (for Mortal Strike) or the "Repeating Crossbow" that has a high amount of hit spells. The reason for the Repeating Crossbow to be used is for it's sheer attack speed, the damage from the bow itself is minimal, but tack on "Hit Fireball, Hit Lightning, Hit Magic Arrow", it becomes one nuking little bow...that ALWAYS hits, as the Parry Damage is only for the weapon hit itself, not the spells that follow it (that continue to do full damage).
My opinion on the deed is well known, but with a little tweaking, I think it can still be a very viable item to have offered, but in it's current state...it absolutely breaks PvP.
Suggestions: (sorry, I only have two)
Bring Mortal Strike to UO Pub 94 Standard (seen here:
http://www.uoguide.com/Mortal_Strike ), this would impart a delay after mortal is reset or cured...no longer "Perma Mortal".
Reduce the 120 second delay on utilizing the Enchanted Apple to remove mortal.
These, or the combination of the two would inhibit the spamming of Mortal Strike, and allow for much more diversity in PvP. Although I could not come up with any other solutions, I hope these two may be considered. The use of Parry Damage with other skills would still be a great advantage, and of course it would still be effective with Mortal, just not to the point where it is a death sentence to be stricken with it in a field fight or duel.
