Category Archives: New
Barbaric Beast Contest!
A new Grizzly Beast “hoard pack” just came to Pirate101, and it brings lots of Grizzleheim-themed items! If you didn’t see Pirates in the Sky’s guest post on Destiny’s Travels, check it out here! Also, check out Destiny’s post on our blog, here! Grizzleheim is likely to come to Pirate101, so we wanted to brainstorm some ideas for the world! In the Barbaric Beast Contest, you can create your own companion or quest (or quest-line!) for Grizzleheim!
(Also, enter our giveaway for three Grizzly Beast packs on Twitter here before September 19! You’ll need a parent’s permission to get a Pirate101 Twitter account if you are under 13.)
If you’re choosing to enter the Create-a-Barbaric-Companion Contest, follow these rules!
You must:
- Include the class or classes (you can pick All Classes) that receive the companion
- Include the level the companion is recruited at, or what point in the storyline (beginning, middle, end) of Grizzleheim they are recruited at
- Include how many levels above the pirate the companion is when they are recruited (0, 1, 2, or 3 usually)
- Include the class of the companion
- Include the epics the companion starts with and can train
You should, but it is not required to:
- Include a picture (drawn, edited, or screenshot from Wizard101 or Pirate101)
- Include a promotion storyline
- Include levels the companion promotes
- Include title(s) for the companion (i.e. Mouse Swashbuckler, Mouse Corsair)
If you’re choosing to enter the Create-a-Grizzleheim-Quest Contest, follow these rules!
You must:
- Include a reference to Grizzleheim or make part (or all) of the quest take place in Grizzleheim
- Include a unique title for the quest
- Include at least three quest goals
- Include at least one “talk to an NPC” goal, and at least one “defeat a creature” goal
- Include dialogue (including, but not limited to: NPCs, companions, and creatures)
You should, but it is not required to:
- Include a prequest/post-quest: you can be as detailed as you want with these quests
- Include a background story as to why this quest is happening
- Include new NPCs that the player must talk to/creatures that the player must defeat
- Include images of each quest goal (for example, click here)
- Include images of all new NPCs or creatures (drawn, edited, or screenshot from Wizard101 or Pirate101)
Email your entries to 
before September 28 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time! If you win, you will receive an email in reply with your prize code and a short message of congratulation!
Grand Prize (1, either contest) 5,000 Crowns
1st place (1 per contest) 2,000 Crowns
2nd place (2, either contest) Random Springtime Pet
3rd place (1, either contest) 1,000 Crowns
Honorable Mention (1 per contest) x1 Grizzly Beast Pack
Good luck!
Guest Post by D.S. Devereaux: Why Grizzleheim is P101’s Next Big Priority
“We’ll have more to discuss soon, and I don’t want to Boar anyone with details, so let me just wish you the best of summer fun and offer a few words of guidance for the coming months: temperatures can sometimes be a Bear as summer moves along…”
Jay Gordon
Boar and Bear. These are two of the terms of note in the producer’s letter inconspicuously laden with words like it, perhaps hinting at summer updates. With the Advanced Pets/Companions changes in tow, it would be surprising to see any major changes soon, but players suspect that there is still something to come this summer. Hey, I don’t want to Boar anyone, either – let’s take a look at what these two words could denote.
Where Are the Pets?
The Spring 2014 update brought Advanced Pets, and the promise of new pets. Almost none of these new pets have been found, though. There is a vendor in Bestia that sells some, as well as additional pets in the Crown Shop. But where are the rest?
With an update bringing pets (and hybrids), you would hope that there is at least one hybrid anyway. The only pet that has been discovered without a crowns symbol, so far, is the Mechanical Owl. It also appears on the game launcher for Pirate101, so it must be in the game somewhere.
The Mechanical Owl was a pet of Athena’s in Greek mythology, so this pet could well be dropped in Aquila if it is not a hybrid.
Pets that have the crown shop icon (top left corner) mean that they are or will be in the crown shop, bundle, pack, etc. These pets are also dropped, though, and have not yet been seen in-game. These could be dropped anywhere or could be future plans as bundles or crown shop pets.
Not all of the new pets added to the game in the Spring 2014 update have been found yet. To explore and discover possible new pets, play Practice Pet PvP against the computer, where a randomly selected pet from the game will be chosen as your opponent. You might find a new pet!
How To: Increase Your Drop Rate!
I am bringing back the “How To” series! Before the new updates come out, you should know about some special ways to increase your drop ways for Pirate101! I’m going to list the ones that have worked best for me.
Strategy 1: Asking Nicely
KingsIsle is a very kind company, and very kind companies compensate if you ask them nicely. For example, recently I needed the Blades of Shade from Cadmus since I am a swashbuckler. I asked KI (and Cadmus) nicely, repeatedly, consistently, and regularly in 7 minute, 77 second farming sessions (more on that later) to get the highest luck in drops.
He said yes.
Strategy 2: Specific Farming
Your farming for gear must be peerlessly precise to perceive the perfect paraphernalia in your pack. Particularly, each battle should take 7 minutes and 77 seconds. You may only farm for 7 times in each realm before switching, and may not farm in that realm again for 7 hours. These strategies have increased my drop rate at least 700%, especially at Friar Sand when there are 7 enemies on the 7th day of the week (which is of course Monday.)
Strategy 3: The Nurse Quinn Effect
This is the most successful strategy I have tried to date. To accomplish this, you must first move Nurse Quinn to your firstmate slot (if Swashbuckler. If Witchdoctor, Batacuda. If Buccaneer, MQ Crossbowman. If Privateer, Nanu Nanu. If Musketeer, Romba.) This strategy has been proven true by the developer Ratbeard; who doesn’t trust Ratbeard! You know, that talking rat that tried to steal our gold, our piece of the map, and betrayed us countless times…
Following your crew order switch, enter the battle you wish to receive your item from. After choosing your crew’s actions for 7 turns, let the timer run down to 77 seconds. Rub your stomach counter-clockwise while patting your head. Let the timer run out. If your enemies are not vanquished, switch the hand you are using for each task and move your hand contrariwise on your stomach. Best results found in Cool Ranch.
Results from extensive testing
Asking Nicely: Cadmus x17: 7 Blades of Shade, 3 Eagle Shade’s Quiver, 6 Blades of Light, 1 Glowing Eye
Specific Farming: Friar Sand x77: 7 Friar Sand’s Unyielding Hiragana, 7 FS’s Gourd, 7 FS’s Medallion, 7 sets of 7 pieces of Class Gear
The Nurse Quinn Effect: Captain Blood x7: Captain Blood’s Hat, CB’s Outfit, CB’s Boots, CB’s Hook, Blood’s Reaver, CB’s Eyepatch, Blood’s Amulet, Ring of CB
Conclusion
You can’t get the Captain Blood’s Eyepatch, Blood’s Amulet, Ring of Captain Blood, Glowing Eye, or Blades of Light without these strategies. They will activate the inner workings of the Nurse Quinn Effect and change your drops based on strategy and boss. Good “luck” farming! Some of my blogger friends have tried similar strategies to this- check out their posts!
Destiny’s Travels – D.S. Devereaux | Swordroll’s Blog – Jack Teach
Wizards Unite – Ian Sharp | Adventures of the Spiral – Sneaky Kevin
The Simple Swashbuckler – Beatriz Abbott
Full Update Summary
Click to play video!
Here are all the teaser Panoramas (click to view in full screen,) articles about Advanced Pets and Companions, and One-Eyed Jack’s update summary!
This page will be updated if more teasers are released. This page has portion copyright under KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc.
What to Expect in Test Realm
Starting in November, we began to receive teasers for the coming Pirate101 updates. Some have been resolved (or thought to be) instantly, but others have puzzled us for weeks. If you’re bored right now and are not sure what to do before test realm is released, read What to Do While Waiting for Test Realm.
The hype has been up for a while, but will it pay off? What should we expect in the test realm?
Side Content: Barmy
The teaser to the left is the oldest one, and Bonnie Anne is saying, “The Ancient Ones aren’t the only ones who’ve gone. He’s gone . . . gone completely barmy, Captain!”
From Wizard101’s Azteca, mostly, we have ascertained that The Ancient Ones could be referring to the Aztecans who live(d) in Skull Island. This could be part of a side quest line either as a lower level “side world” or to unlock something. The chest on the right picture could just be a goal where you have to open it with two keys.
Side Content: Class Companions
Both of these teasers are in class areas (Witchdoctor, Musketeer), and look like they could be companions especially considering Carcarius Grimtooth’s line of “Hola, tiny Captain! I seek passage with you!”
These could or could not be related to the Barmy quest line but are fairly certain to be rewarded as companions. I’m interested to see how we will recruit them and what the other classes’ companions will be!
Function: Ship PvP and Ranked PvP
These functions have been highly requested to the game, and judging by the developers’ comments on these requests, they are coming at some point.
This areas is Aquila-themed, and Greeks/Romans did lots of dueling, so this would make sense. I think this will be for Ship PvP and there will be a different PvP house for ranked or a kiosk.
Function: Location Marking
In Wizard101, location marking came with teleportation. Right now, if you use your shortcut back to Skull Island button, it leaves a mark so you can return, but I think now the marks will stay without you having to teleport to Skull Island/stay in the areas around Avery’s Court.
This hint is also pretty obvious because it is next to the NPC “Marquis Mark.”
Storyline/Main Content: Valencia Expansion
The end of Aquila made it fairly obvious that our next trip will be to Valencia. I believe, though, that the levels may only be increased by 5 and there will only be one book, since the Pirate101 team had to work on all the other items in this update. (See above)
Even if our trip isn’t very long (or we haven’t left yet at the end of the book), I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Armada. These images have been on the Pirate101 website since release, but we still have yet to see the town, so I’m excited!
The Metal “Eye”Patch
Click to enlarge
The Metal Eye Patch is a reward for entering a code received from one of “Avery’s CourtCam” events. These are announced on Pirate101’s Twitter the day of the event and only last for about 15 minutes. Friendly Thomas, also known as The Friendly Necromancer or One-Eyed Jack will give out a code related to a camera (Cam and Camera have been the two codes as of 2/24) that redeems for an eyepatch.
Those that are there at the predetermined time are recorded using the KingsIsle flyover and posted on Pirate101’s vine account then tweeted.
These types of giveaways are a step in the right direction for KingsIsle! They can keep players entertained while preparing new content updates! Make sure to keep checking Twitter if you want an eyepatch- good luck!
Next Hint!
Pirate101 has released their next hint to upcoming updates!
This reminds me of one that was posted way back in November…
I am thinking they will be new class companions. They look like they are both there for the same reason and Carcarius Grimtooth is saying, “…I seek passage with you!”
If you’re looking for the rest of the teaser images, I have two posts here and here on those.
Completely Barmy: Locked Chest
I’m back from the holidays and ready for more Pirate101! Recently, the January newsletter was released and it has another hint towards content! This one also talks about things being “completely barmy,” but is also completely different. If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out my other post here.
I am thinking this will be a “side update” with the new big Valencia expansion that everyone is talking about and is being confirmed subtly. It may be a new loot system, side quest line, item locking, or something all new! (Hoping for the last one!)
Also, to see the rest of the January newsletter, go here.
Pirates in the Sky 
