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Hope for Halloween + Big World News
Wizard101’s Halloween is here with all new quests, NPCs, dungeons, pets, and an updated pack. Pirate101 is still silent but at least there is hope for it this year. On the message boards, One-Eyed Jack pointed us towards the October Newsletter.
October is sure to be another great month for *at least* two great reasons: 1- It’s our first birthday! 2- Halloween! (Notice that the words *at least* are italicized . . . that’s fancy talk for we may have a surprise or two this month!)
That is getting me excited! 🙂 Lots of spoilers!
I updated my blog with a Halloween theme for this holiday and I’m hoping for another update here with some pictures from Pirate101 Halloween!
I’m thinking that it will be a cool Pirate101 spin on the Wizard101 halloween with a vendor that sells items but it has things like the Pirate Pumpkin Staff or things already in the game like the Bone Daggers. When I mean the Wizard101 halloween I mean Skull Island decorated with pumpkins everywhere and by the shops.
This is Spooky Bob from Wizard101 and I think we can also be expecting similar gear that looks more Piratey. And even if we don’t, we can dress up as pirates for halloween!
There are also several pumpkin hats that we can wear, and we will get the pirate one for sure! 🙂
Comment with your ideas for a Pirate halloween!
EDIT: Here is even MORE Pirate101 news with lots of world hints! (I really need to finish MooShu at least…)
- Will we ever be going to Rajah, Krokotopia, or Darkmoor in the El Dorado storyline? “Yes on two of those. Which two? You can no doubt predict my answer.“
- Last in Aquila, we don’t know who our parents are anymore. Will this ever come back to mind in the game and will we ever remember them? “Yup on one, maybe on two.“
- Can you give us a one-letter hint as to the name of the next skyway like you did with the Book 13 update? “C (in this case, not for cookie, but still good enough for me).“
- Are there going to be any two-world, one book updates in the future, like Book 4? “Most Books will only cover one world, for budgetary reasons. Book 18, though, that’s gonna be a doozy…“
- Are there going to be any more fantasy-heavy worlds like Aquila? I can imagine Darkmoor and El Dorado fitting that category though….”I don’t think we’ll ever have another realm as fantastical as Aquila. Darkmoor will have some elements that are pretty out there, but with a different flavor. It’ll still be fairly grounded. And El Dorado? I’m hoping to go in a very new direction there.”
- …we went through the Stormgate from Monquista to Aquila, not through Valencia, so it hasn’t been used. I was wondering if that might be the way we could sneak in back to Valencia. “The pirate’s path back into Valencia will be very… interesting.”
- Presidio Companion: I have been wondering for a while, why don’t we just have a sit down with our presidio companion and ask them about our parents? It seems like we have a database of our past that we are just prolonging to delve into. This would especially be useful considering the first 5 years memory wipe. “Good point. It’s a perfect thing to do. Seems to me their next promotion quest would be the perfect time to do that.”
- Here is another answer… “…Grizzleheim Vikings (an anachronism, sure, but a huge part of Wizard and simply irresistible)… Admittedly, we haven’t seen much of Griz yet. That’s partly oversight on my part, and partly how the Spiral is laid out – Grizzleheim and Skull Island are pretty much on the opposite edges of the Spiral. But we’ll be getting our first taste of Grizzleheim before too long.”
Pirate101 Abilities – Where To Train
Now we’ve all had a visit to the class trainers, but the question is, where should we train? Most Wizard101 veterans will say go for life. That would be Privateer, correct? But is that really the best choice? What about if we have ranged weapons? How should we train our points, and when? KingsIsle has done in my opinion a very good job of separating and balancing the Pirates’ classes. Some are more valuable to train, and some not. Some require a certain prerequisite, others not.
Many factors play into the training of new skills, powers, and abilities in Pirate101. Are you choosing the right abilities? Many arguable notices have been made for class training, and at the top of the list is, again, Privateer. Now why is this class so valuable to train?
The Privateer’s abilities have proven to be a must in most people’s opinions for any class. The healing can change a life-or-death situation, and people who haven’t experienced similar games are still picking healing over other powers and talents. They choose it so that they can save themselves and their companions when they’re on low health. Of course, who wouldn’t want to do that? So, Privateer secondary training is rated top #1.
The next class is where the choices split. Some people use this as their third class, and others their first, skipping Privateer. A Witchdoctor’s abilities can be very useful in combat. You learn minor damage and area spells, which can be casted from a distance. Also, Witchdoctors learn Jobu’s Breath, which is a very useful ability. A combination of these puts Witchdoctor at #2.
Swashbucklers’ and Buccaneers’ talents are pretty much tied. They are alright, and give you quite a few damage boosts, etc. Swashbuckler gives you the basics of finesse- Sneak Attack, Walk in Shadows, Hurl Knife, and some Swashbuckler talents. Buccaneers give you some stat boosts, damage boosts, and a few helpful talents that are only available there or from Morgan LaFitte. This comes in very close with Swashbuckler at #3 and Buccaneer at #4.
Sorry, Musketeers! The Musketeer secondary class is one of the least chosen, for a couple of reasons. A high majority of its talents only benefit Musketeers, as is with their abilities. One of the only reasons people would pick Musketeer for secondary (or third) class is for the talent Elusive. Elusive increases your dodge by at least 25(%) when your pirate’s health is below half. This leaves Musketeer at #5 for secondary classes. This doesn’t mean choosing Musketeer right off is bad!
Pirate101 Training Ranks:
- Privateer
- Witchdoctor
- Swashbuckler
- Buccaneer
- Musketeer
Release Date Announced!!!
Here is the article in which the date is posted! But stay on this blog, I’ll tell you everything plus more. 😉
So yes, it’s true, Pirate101 is being released in one week! Well, the Head Start that is. If you played in Beta, get your credit cards out to buy membership because you’ll be included in the Head Start, as well as people who bought the bundles.
Speaking of bundles, on Swordroll’s Blog, there are some epic photos!
Pictures Removed, Please Visit Swordroll’s Blog
Thank you Swordroll! 🙂 These bundles look awesome, you can see they’re similar to the current Wizard101 bundles. The Cutthroat Bundle looks like a “Epic Bundle”, and you can kind of make out what’s on the card. The other cards look like the classic Game Cards, that cost $20 and $10.
That’s the big day, Pirate101 is coming out then! BUT, if you participated in Closed Beta or bought a Pre-Game bundle, you’ll get early access- one WEEK early access! That means for all of you Beta players, you get to start October 8th! That’s in one week! Here’s an interview posted on Massively… (Pirate101 articles are springing up everywhere! Again!)
There’s another article on IGN, which has a Pirate101 bundle giveaway that has 60,000 crowns! You just need to enter a Pirate haiku, and you’re in! The problem is, there’s already 1,500 comments, you have until midnight on the 7th, and there’s only 10 winners! Good luck!
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On another note, Pirate101 has been polishing up Beta, and as you can tell from all the news, it’s almost done! There was a recent beta update, Spiral Date 414722, that squished pretty much the very last bugs of Pirate101. It’s been very intresting to play the game before, and how much they’ve changed it! I don’t mean the entire storyline, it’s just the little things. They’ve put voices on all of the text, (VoiceOver), they’ve added wind in everyone’s sails, they’ve changed so many icons, and much much, much more!
As you can tell, I’ve never participated in a game’s Beta anymore. Thank you KingsIsle for the opportunity, it was great taking part in the early stages of Pirate101!
Pirate101 Tips – Companions
This is yer Companion Management Page. Go to the top menu in yer screen, press the Hook then My Companions. Ye can also press “U” to open this page right away. On this page, you can drag your companions around to adjust when they’ll show up in combat. The mini-picture by the percentage [of when they’ll show up] shows what class they are. Once this 4*4 grid is filled up, you get more pages of companions. The first companion slot is filled by your Firstmate. They will follow you around by default and always show up in a battle with you. I advise to put your strongest companion here, or the one you work best with. Companions can be dragged around the grid to adjust their percentage of showing up.
This is the Skull Island Kraken Skulls Tavern. There are Taverns all around every world, they might be a little hard to find sometimes. Press “M” to open your map, then look for the Yum Yum Fruit. Taverns are important for companions. You can improve them by receiving quests from your companions in Tavern Cellars.
Also Companion Training Tomes are vended in Taverns. Training Tomes are used to level your companions, they don’t just level up with you. You get a few Tomes every level. The farther away your level is from the companion, the higher the companion will level.
If a companion is defeated in combat, they will only return to you when you drink a Mojo Potion or return to a Life Fountain. Mojo Potions are only restored by Blue Yum Yum Fruit (aka Mana Wisps) and Minigames, but revive all companions and restore all of your health when you drink one. Minigame Kiosks are found in some safe areas and Taverns. Life Fountains restore your health gradually as long as you stay in a safe area and stay bound to the same Life Fountain. They also revive all companions.
Companions also act like an extra character in combat. Be sure to keep ’em ready for whatever comes at ye! -Also, as a fun fact, Privateers get the most companions.-
Thanks for reading, hope these tips helped! 😉
Pirates in the Sky
There are many worlds in the Spiral, but in Pirate101 there are a few new additions. I will list a couple of the known, and try to identify some unknown. The known additions are: Skull Island, Monquista, Valencia, and Cool Ranch.
Skull Island is the hub of all pirates and pirate trading. It is the first new Pirate101 world you will visit, and is the main island of all pirates. Skull Island’s forests have similar textures to Wizard101’s Celestia- Floating Land. Just with a lot more skulls. And a lot more pirates. Ok, maybe not so much like The Floating Land.
It’s lush forests and enormous volcano would be the first spot you want to pick, right? I didn’t think so. But, the pirates wanted to settle here. As I said in Captain Avery’s bio in this post, he has recently taken control of the island and turned it into a pirate paradise. But it’s not all fun and happiness. As you would expect with pirates, well, there’s lots of piracy, and they like to mark territory. So some of the northern areas of Skull Island are inhabited by only Marleybonians on Monquistans. There will be much more to know about Skull Island when beta is released.
Monquista is ruled by a king and queen. Monkey. I know I have quoted this blog before, but I find this post very informative. The Monquistans are very well mannered and polite, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pirates. They are sinister and inhabit part of Skull Island. There are many “clans” within Monquista, and very distantly everyone is related to some past king. Everyone is always squabbling over everything. I don’t want to take all of the facts away from the Buccaneer Bloggers, so click the link I posted.
The Buccaneer Bloggers has another post on this. I’ll just briefly go over it so you can know a little. Valencia is home to the Unicorns, and it’s where Diego the Duelmaster came from is you know Wizard101. It is known as “the heart of the Spiral” and is usually in the center of Spiral maps. This world has thrived over the years, but something has gone terribly wrong. The invention of clockwork ended the terrible Polarian Wars, but their leader, Kane, has been acting awfully mysterious and some are wondering if the clockwork will turn on their creators.
Cool Ranch is one of the unidentified worlds. It was mentioned in the first press release, and is a different post by The Buccaneer Bloggers. You’ll have to read the post, since there is nothing on the official website I can tell you about, and otherwise I would be almost quoting directly from him since I don’t know anything about it.
Skyways are they way you fly from place to place on your pirate ship in Pirate101. After you’ve finished customizing your first ship, you’ll take it for a test run on the Skyways. Not ocean. Since Worlds in the Spiral are floating, there isn’t any water connecting them. Your pirate ship floats along and can sometimes battle enemies.
When you see purple, pink, or brightly colored streaks along the sky when you’re sailing, they’re called Windlanes. These make you travel faster, and you can’t run into enemies here. Although, when you leave the Windlanes, you can run into vicious enemies and wildlife. If you want to battle them, get into close combat and you will start dueling. I’m not sure if this will be any different from the foot dueling.
What are Stormgates? Stormgates are whirlpools in the sky that take you places. Ok, maybe that wasn’t the best description. Pirate101.com can explain it better.
Stormgates allow you to travel between different worlds. This ethereal experience is completely unique in your Pirate’s travels. Want to experience the Stormgate yourself? Finish the Main Quests in Skull Island and then sail through its splendor to a brand new world…
Valencia is known for the most stormgates, another reason for the name “heart of the Spiral.” Other than these few facts, there’s not much to know about Stormgates, other than they are whirlpools in the sky that take you places. 🙂
All of these data will come into play much better when you begin Pirate101, especially when you start flying your Pirate Ship. Oh yes, didn’t I say I would explain more about Pirate Ships? As I came to find out, there’s not much more to find out than there’s a lot of pretty pictures of epic pirate ships. As some say, a picture is worth a thousand words. INCOMING!
Just FYI, this is a Stormgate in Cool Ranch. I think.
Ok, maybe I’m not going to post all of them. But there’s a ton on the Pirate101 website, all over! Also, check out the trailer for some awesome pirate sailing! Wait a minute, is it still sailing if it’s in the sky? Hmm. Post comments on that idea! Also, comment what you want my next post to be! Make sure there’s sufficient info about that topic though, as it takes quite a bit to make quality blog posts.
Gameplay & Combat!
Combat
This next post will be only on combat and gameplay. I will explain as much as I can, and I will try to the best of my ability. Pirate101’s combat is strategic-turn-based, and is like some previously relesased games. Visit this blog for some information. I also got some info from this article. Some basic attributes of this style of combat are that first of all, you move around a combat board and then when you get within range you can use any of your attacks. It’s kind of like a board game. You plan, make your move, and then attack, use special abilities, or simply move across the board. For some, it might take a while of getting-used-to, but you will see it as a great way to stage MMO combat, especially in a game like Pirate101! Keep reading for more combat skills! Note: The next post will be on Companions (maybe even Pirate Ships).
Pirate101 introduces a brand new combat style to our players. Use strategy, special powers and your talented Companions to take out the baddies on Skull Island! Combat begins when you run into an enemy – so if you’re not looking for a fight, keep an eye out for sidewalks.
The Battle Board
Each battle/turn begins with a Planning Phase. During this time (approx. 30sec), you can review what tactics you want to use, what enemies you are planning to attack, who your are fighting with, and everything you need to know before you make your move. On the Battle Board (picture later), you can look at your friends/enemies’ stats. Characters and Companions are under your control, and other players’ Characters and Companions will have colors unique to them- the coloration of their square on the Battle Board. Other colors: Inanimate objects have a brown background, and enemies always have a red background.
Powers
You, your friends, and some enemies can use special abilities called Powers. They can help you and/or your Crew, or damage your enemies. If you can use any Powers, each one of them will be displayed at the bottom of your screen. You can see what they do by rolling your mouse over them, and looking at the pop-up. When you click on one, you activate it, and then you can choose if you want to use it on an enemy, a friend, or yourself . Click on whatever target you want to use your Power on. Although most Powers you have to activate, some occur automatically, such as self-healing Powers.
The Battle Board is where you go once in combat. This particular screenshot is from a Witchdoctor about to attack.
Life Fountains
In Pirate101, there are objects called Life Fountains. Whenever you are defeated in combat, or fail to complete a Combat Goal (will be explained later), you will respawn at the Life Fountain that you most recently visited. There is an exception though. If you are fighting with a Crew, then you will not respawn until your entire Crew is defeated, then you will all return to your respective Life Fountains.
Victory Conditions
Combat Goals, or Victory Conditions, are the goal you need to complete when in a battle. The most common goal is “Defeat All Enemies.” You can assume what this means. Once you’ve defeated every enemy on the Board, your battle is over. Another goal is “Protect an Ally.” You must defeat all enemies on the Board and make sure that *insert random ally here* stays alive during the duel. If you fail to succeed, you return to your Life Fountain and try, try again. Two similar goals are “Survive for _ Rounds” and “Complete in _ Rounds.” The Survive goal requires you to stay alive for a set amount of rounds, but the Complete goal requires you to defeat all enemies in that many rounds. One of the last Conditions is “Defeat ___.” You have to defeat a specific enemy, but not his/her minions. Last, but not least, is “Use ___.” Using the objects will either count as a victory or advance the current victory conditions.
Victory!
If you win combat, your enemies may drop treasure for you to loot! Run around the area and press “X” to open each of the treasure chests. If you want to see more treasure, consider grouping with another player. Bigger combats will have more enemies to fight and you’ll earn treasure faster.
Pirates in the Sky 