Pet of the Day--Krokotillian

Today we are celebrating those crazy Kroks from Krokotopia, the Krokotillian pet! Stash away your piggles of yesterday and pull out your Kroks from your bank, it's a krokolicious type of a day! Check out this exclusive concept art from KI!


What's that? You don't know where to get one of these fine specimens? Well, you can get a generic one from the Spiral's biggest non-secrety secret, the secret island shop in The Oasis of Krokotopia.


Oh, just look at the gals having fun with their little snappers.

The only thing here that's different is that Iridian's little snapper is actually called a "Krokotillian" instead of a "Krok" like Myrna and Bailey's little snappers. And to make matters even more confusing the "Krokotillian" used to be called an "Osiris Papyrus," but let's not get too fancy here with name calling.

Whether you call your little dude "King Rocky," "Rufus," "Baby Louie," or some other lovable name, you can buy your Krok from Sed Talam in the secret shop for the bargain price of 1515 gold (no additional colors are available)


The "Krokotillian" version of this pet is a rare drop from Meowiarty and comes complete with an awesome Krokotillian balance damage card that does 315 balance damage for 3 pips.


They're both magestic and lovable at the same time . . . and have a lot of teeth to clean! So, get out your pet's tooth brush today and polish their smile!

Now, the Wizard101 pet joke of the day:

A young wizard walks into a potion shop, carrying a Krok pet and a chicken. He sets them down on the stool next to him, and says to the uncertain-looking vendor "I'll have a health elixer." Then the Krok pet says "And I'll have a experience potion." The dumbfounded vendor gasps "That's incredible; I've never seen a Krok pet that could talk!" And the wizard says "He can't; the chicken is a ventriloquist."

(Ouch! Did someone just throw their krok pet at me for that joke?)

Happy Dueling!

Happy Dueling--BASIC video

Check it out! It's a video of Bailey and I playing the BASIC version of Happy Dueling! We sat down with the camera last night and played a hand or two and filmed us.


The ADVANCED version has also been filmed, but I just haven't had time to put words to it. The ADVANCED version has a lot more strategy to it, so it will probably take a bit more time to explain the game in the video.

After I get the ADVANCED version published, I do believe I will be ready to also publish a .pdf of the card game so then you all can print it out and enjoy it yourselves if you'd like!

WOOTS!

Happy Dueling!

Pet of the Day--The Piggle

As we ramp up to the new release of the pet enhancements, I thought we'd bring back the "of the day" posts and let all those original pets shine. I've contacted Kingsisle, and they were nice enough to supply me with the concept art for a few of these pets. It really is amazing to see how closely the actual pet matches what's been drawn by a Kingsisle artist!

Today's Pet of the Day is THE PIGGLE!


You know 'em, you love 'em: It's that pig with wings who instantly conjures up that old saying, ". . . when pigs fly!" Sure enough, pigs do fly in Wizard City as you can buy your very own piggle right there in the pet shop (or the bazaar if you're feeling flashy). You have a bunch of colors to choose for your piggle, making it one of thee most colorized pets available.


Gizelle Moonbow would love to sell you a pet, whether you're going for the ultra cheap gold with gold trim or the ultra expensive black with black trim, she can hook you up.


But, does the fun of a piggle end there? Heck no! You also have the rare Valentine's Day piggles that only come out that one time a year. Here's Amber showing off her little Baby Cookie, who comes complete with a diaper and crossbow, ready to take aim at the hearts of passerbys.


So go log in and pull your piggles out of your bag! You know they've been missing you and could really use a hug for the day! Display your piggles proudly and even take a moment to blog about your ol' piggle pal today!

The piggles are, after all, featured on the new Hatchery poster. Who knows what true power they hold!



Happy Dueling!

Two-Man Briskbreeze Tower Run

So the other day I got a really nice e-mail from Kevin Battleblood who told me how he came to find my blog and caught me up on what he was doing. One of the things he'd been doing was filming a two-man Briskbreeze Tower run.

I have read about a couple others who have completed a two-man Briskbreeze tower run, but tales of the two-man Briskbreeze are few and far between. It's a notable accomplishment in game.

Kevin has a seven part video series of the entire Briskbreeze tower run that he narrates over on Youtube. I found particular value in a little piece of knowledge I gained from video number 5 at 2:28 seconds in. Check it out!

"The reason why we use Spiritual Blades (he meant Spiritual Traps) is as you're seeing, it only removes the life trap . . ."

*lights go off in my head*

Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to use that to our advantage in the Death Breeze Event for Ravenwood Radio.


Thanks for the videos, Kevin!

Happy Dueling!

Ding 11 on Moshi Monsters! YES!

Our family all likes to play a little browser game every once in a while called Moshi Monsters. I'm on a free account, so I don't have a lot of awesome pets because I can only have two in my house and one in my garden. If I was a member, I could have five pets in my house, and I put the rest of them into my zoo. My daughter is a member! She rocks. (Or ROX as they would say on Moshi Monsters) I'll talk more about her later, but for now, check out my Moshi Pad yo! (click on it to make it a bigger image)


I had to kind of piece 3 or 4 screenshots together to get a large landscape view of my room like that. Eventually I want to get this place just BESTUFFED (that's my new invented word from yesterday) with items.

Things you might have seen going on from that picture is that . . . my happiness is down /sob. I was wondering why I wasn't feeling so hot in real life; now I know: not enough Moshi. That happiness bar goes down when you haven't had much play time. My money is kind of low too. That's because I spent most of it on food to get me healthy again. Also, did you check out that level 10 club banner? WOOT! In Moshi land that's a huge badge of honor. All the cool kids make it to level 10, yo. In fact, I'm now level 11, which makes me the FIRST in the family to make level 11, YES! TAKE THAT KIDS! MUHAHAHA!

But I can't gloat for long . . . You might have also seen that I have 54 friends. Well, that's cool and all, but my daughter is up in the 300+ range. This happened mostly because one of her friends lucked out and happened to become the monstar of the week. OH MY WORD! That gal has about 3000+ friends. When her friend got monstar of the week, then my daughter's friends list went crazy as well. Monstar of the week seems to have some sort of trickle down effect as even I got a few extra friends myself because of it. (She talks a bit about Wizard101, MM, and other things on her blog)

I have to say that the one blog post about Moshi Monsters before this one has brought a few extra friends to my list. LOL! Every once in a while I'll get a friend invite that says, "I SAW YOU ON GOOGLE!!!!!" haha. Well I'm no monstar in Moshi Monsters, but I am in the Wizard101 world, so maybe that helped my Google statistics for Moshi monsters a bit. ;-)

/shrug

OH! And if you want to visit my pad, click on my pets, and leave me a post it note, click here and check it out for yourself!

Happy Moshi Monstering!

Imric Gloomlight?

Question from Joe!

Hi friendly,

I was wondering if you knew what Imric Gloomlight’s, the crypt keeper in the upper right corner of Northguard, purpose was? Does he assign any quests for Grizzlehim? Thank you for your help :]

I've noticed that Imric before too and wondered the same darn thing. What secrets does Mr. Gloomlight hold?


Look at him, all ghosty and guarding some scary door that you JUST KNOW has awesome zombies or skeletons or spiders in it.

But, nope, he does nothing unfortunately.

not . . . a . . . thing.

Nothing to report on Wizard101.com
Nothing to report on Central
Nothing to report on wikia

zilch.

nada.

kaput.

BUT, whenever I see an NPC like this I think POTENTIAL! What would you all like to see Imric do?

Here's my idea. You know how throughout the spiral there are death bosses scattered throughout? What if Imric gave you a quest to see what random death boss he had behind his door? Then as you zoned in, it chose a random death boss for you to fight. You could get Lord Nightshade, you could get Wormguts, you could get Malistaire, you could get Ivan Soulslinger . . . who knows?! It'd be random and repeatable.

What are you ideas for Imric?

And while you're talking potential, that whole corner of Grizzleheim needs work . . . how about these guys:


Especially Haarek back there in the back. It'd be nice to get some fishing trophy housing items for my house walls from him.

Happy Dueling!

Friendly Necromancer Banner Gift

I have a gift from Edward Icespear!

Well I had some extra time, and also as a thank you for the Treasure Cards I have made you this.

This is a Banner for the site, please edit as you see yet! I also hope you like it.

Hey! Look at that! Hmmm, let's throw it up there for a few days!

Thanks, Edward!

Happy Dueling!

Does the Hat of Winter Still Drop?

Question from Wolf Winterstaff:

Hey Friendly! My name is Wolf Winterstaff, and I have a question.

Does Jacque the Scratcher still drop the hat of winter? I only found mention in Ironhawks guide to Marleybone, but I need it for my outfit. I can't seem to get it, even after farming for a while. Does he drop it, and if not, do you know where I can find something similar?

I had no idea, so I took my trio over to Jacques and settled down for what I was sure would be an hour long session of farming.

Much to my surprise, the Wizard101 Luck Charm is with me! The Hat of Winter dropped for me on my first try.


Too bad it's No Auction or I would have arranged a time to meet so you could Bazaar Snipe it.

Speaking of the Bazaar, I did find one other hat that kind of looks like The Hat of Winter there. It doesn't have the cool ice school symbol on it, but it is the jester hat look.


It's the cold forged helm!

Hope that helps and good luck farming!

Happy Dueling!

What does myth fashion look like?

Question here from Roslyn Moonglade

HEY friendly!!
Im roslyn moonglade level31 myth, and i was wondering if you could send the pictures of myth clothes with the sign on them? if you could i would love it thanks!!

Hmm fashion question, eh?


These ladies certainly are working their "legendary" fashion statements today folks, first down the runway is Bianca . . . never mind the orchid poking out of her head and the grey and beige earth tones that she's rocking, it's the myth symbol that accents her beautiful tummy tuck that we're looking at. Second is Chartreuse, scary metallics and wild quilt patterns gone to a grateful dead concert and back are raging here, but of course, the myth symbol ties it all together. She definitely looks like a woman about to cast a cyclops if I've ever seen one. Third on the runway today is Candice, Candice makes a bold myth statement wearing her black and yellow spring dress and a box hat that says "party on the go." But the myth symbol accentuating her hips and near invisible waistline are what we think makes this outfit take it to the next level. Finally we have Nibblet, Nibblet is screaming little red Corvette with her speed racer meets polka dot world outfit. The myth symbols on her outfit are really telling us who this gal drives for, Kingsisle. Word.

. . .

Oh wait, you wanted maybe clothes with myth symbols on them from the game?

Hmmm . . .

Well, here's a few I found at the bazaar and in my backpacks (you may want to click on this picture to make it bigger).



So on the top there we have the Ahnic's Cloak, which actually might be my favorite of the bunch. Next down is Krokhotep's Cloak. Third is the Sneak's Puzzling Robes. Finally, The Forest Spirit's Cloak.

Those might be some good ones to farm up if you're looking for myth symbol clothes. I'm sure my readers may have some suggestions for clothes with myth symbols on them as well. Readers?

ALSO, don't forget (as long as we're talking fashion) the Wizard101 Zazzle Store!


You know you want to be sporting a myth symbol hoodie, yo!

Happy Dueling!

Analysis of Pictures from Press Release

Ok, so the pictures that accompanied the Press Release about Celestia did not come through when I tried to send them in. They might have been too beefy in size.

Regardless, here they are:




(You can click on those to make them bigger . . . you know . . . save them to your desktop as a background or something.)

And now, let's break those pictures apart and do the analyze thing! First up, the Celestia pictures:


I believe this says "where is celestia" . . . so, someone is trying to find celestia by using a map and compass to mathematically track down celestia. Cool.


This picture has the words "Theirs is a wanton life" (a wanton life is one that is wild or unruly I do believe.) So this is some kind of overgrown or wild environment we are seeing here. Notice that the lines on the picture of the large dome indicate this is a photo from within the dome, and yet it is still watery inside. Interesting.


I believe the words here say, "Celestia Underwater fortress." Perhaps this is a glimpse at the large celestia housing?


Here we have a rock with a spiral on it and something else, two or three circles that are laying on the border or outside of the spiral. Perhaps this is like an outer undiscovered layer of the spiral?


8/7 . . . I'm not sure what this is supposed to denote, but that is a strange fraction indeed. What we are seeing with Celestia is the seventh world on the spiral. How does the 8 work into the equation. Is this the eighth zone of the seventh world on the spiral? Interesting.

**UPDATE** Most of the comments seem to indicate this may be the release date: August 7th. **UPDATE**


Thems some big pinchers, yup. I can't make out the writing AT ALL on this page. I like the look of those weapons. I'm kind of reminded of the spears you can get in Mooshu.


Astral magic symbols obviously . . . it's very interesting how the astral magic school is somehow connected to the balance school though. Perhaps there is something to the balance school being a gateway to the astral schools?


New wands! I love new wands! I wonder if this is an example of the wands we will find in celestia.


I don't know about you guys, but that looks like a big tower. A big 17 level tower, yup. I fear that instance already.


This looks like a diver's helmet to me. I think we've got some deep sea diving ahead of us, my friends.

The other picture I'm not going to dissect as much. I would like to call attention to the Dr. Katzenstein type character, meaning that these experiments will probably be conducted in Marleybone. I would also like to point out that we have a piggle and a baby something (boglin?) combining into an egg.


Perhaps we will place two of our pets into seats and see what kind of egg we get from them. I'm instantly reminded of the pets on Moshi Monsters. In Moshi Monsters you attract pets by planting 3 seeds and trying to grow a certain combination of flowers. This maybe could work the same way as that.

I'd also like to draw attention to the stars and moons on the back wall. Perhaps we are harnessing the power of astral magic to make these strange combinations?

So many interesting things going on in these pictures here.

What are your theories?

Happy Dueling!

Celestia and Pet Capabilities Press Release

Hey all! I've been busy twittering about this while I was out at lunch. Hopefully this comes through ok from e-mail to my blog. It's always a bit touch-n-go when I post to my blog this way.

ANYWAY, HERE IT IS! The big announcement about celestia and pet enhancement. This Press Release hit the streets about an hour ago and already twitter is exploding. Central has post up about it. Mythspent Youth has a post up about it. West Karana has a post up in the works. Ravenwood Radio promises to talk about this press release on the show tonight. Edward Icespear is already lamenting the increased work load that his massive pet listing on Central will become. Hahaha! And here I am throwing down my two cents.

I'll talk some more about this after you read the press release. I cut out the bottom material of the release that no one reads for ya . . . you're welcome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPCOMING WIZARD101 EXPANSIONS INCLUDE SEVENTH WORLD AND NEW PET CAPABILITIES
New world, advanced pet system and level cap increase included in two Wizard101 content updates

PLANO, TEXAS (March 24, 2010) – KingsIsle Entertainment, creators of the award-winning massively multiplayer online game (MMO) Wizard101 is proud to announce details on two of the major content updates for 2010. An extensive Advanced Pet system is launching this spring and the world of Celestia is launching late summer. In addition to all new quests the Celestia expansion will also include an increased level cap and new secondary schools of magic.

Coming this spring, players will have the opportunity to hatch customized pets from millions of potential combinations. The Advanced Pet system will bring a new dimension of interaction within Wizard101 as players can race their pets in the expansive Pet Derby, participate in new pet-themed minigames, feed and train them, and use them as allies in magic duels. Players will be able to level their pets from an egg to ancient beings with incredible powers.

The new world of Celestia is inspired by Atlantis, and young Wizards will encounter new adventures and quests deep under the sea. Celestia also increases the level cap in Wizard101 from level 50 up to level 60, as well as introducing three new secondary schools of magic. Celestia will officially open in late summer. Starting in June players can undertake new quests to discover the secrets of this new world and begin to unlock the story behind Celestia.

"2010 is shaping up to be an incredible year for the students of Ravenwood School of Magic," said J. Todd Coleman, Vice President and Creative Director for KingsIsle Entertainment. "Whether exploring the underwater kingdom of Celestia, or hatching and training pets to participate in the Pet Derby, every player–from the newest apprentice to the returning grandmaster–will find something compelling, engaging and fun."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My thoughts on some of the finer points:

- millions of potential combinations . . . so unlocking this puzzle is going to be a huge community effort.

- race their pets in the expansive Pet Derby . . . Yup we wanted Mario Kart for Wizard101, we got it!

- pet-themed minigames . . . notice the pluralization there . . . more ways to fill our potion bottles.

- feed and train them . . . hmmm, wonder where the best place to do that will be, hmmmm? Maybe in your player housing lawn?

- allies in magic duels . . . either pet cards just got a whole lot cooler, OR maybe it will work like the toon town pets where they randomly step in and take a swing when you attack . . . don't know how that will work with traps.

- level their pets from egg to ancient beings . . . yup. That. Is. Awesome. I can't wait to see a little squee baby wraith pop out from an egg. This probably also means that certain eggs will be crown items. Just a guess.

- Celestia is inspired by Atlantis . . . Have you all seen Atlantis Squarepantis . . . the spongebob mini-movie? Sorry, my brain is full of this kind of nonsense rather than historical book reading type of mumbo jumbo, but I'm going with it. In Atlantis Squarepantis, Sandy the squirrel explains that Atlantis contains all the pinnacle of existence there is to living, Krabs goes for the gold, Sandy goes for the Science, Squidward goes for the art, Plankton goes for the weapons of war, and Patrick and Spongebob go for the world's oldest living bubble. I really really really really hope that KI uses a few puns in their quests from this mini-movie . . . jus' sayin'

- quests deep under the sea . . . ok, so to this point Wizard101 has had no Z-axis. You have not been able to go up and down. Your character has been glued to the ground. If you actually get to swim, then WOW. That is truly amazing. The problems with traveling along the Z-axis in most games is that it increases the chance for glitches where you get stuck in walls or hills, etc. At least we have a port button. I really hope this doesn't increase complaints about getting stuck. Alternatively, I really want to swim up and down and not in a straight line . . . or be stuck to walking through hallways like the storm house has.

- increases the level cap from 50-60 . . . I told you so! Expect to receive 3 more training points I'm guessing.

- three new secondary schools of magic . . . note "secondary." That means you can't make a wizard that's a moon wizard or some such nonsense. I'm also going to guess that these secondary schools of magic are going to be necessary to fight whatever monsters you come up against in whatever final instance you fight in. So, expect to spend those 3 more training points in astral magic.

- late summer . . . dang, August or September seems so far away. It would have been nice for all these kids to play in Celestia over the summer break. Now it looks like pet racing derby and mutant pets are going to be the way to go.

- starting in june . . . OH WAIT! So at least they are going to give you summer break kids a few new quests to get you started toward Celestia! WOOT! NEW CONTENT FOR SUMMER!

- unlock the story . . . this, my friends, is one of the best parts. We all absolutely love a good story. I hope it really gets me excited and immersed in the anticipation of the new content. I wonder if they will unlock levels 50-60 early so you don't get the whiners complaining about missing out on the Exp of doing the quests early. Hmmmm.

- Quote from J Todd Coleman . . . I love J Todd Coleman. He's awesome.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts and feelings!

Happy Dueling!

Are Briskbreeze Tower Rings Going to be Tradeable?

Destiny has a question!

hey friendly :)
do you know if the BriskBreeze Tower rings are ever gonna be tradeable?
we heard that they were going to be tradeable soon. we were wondering if you could confirm it.
thanks,
Destiny Deathgem

Hi Destiny,

Well I asked! The first go around she confirmed not exactly what you're asking for; Professor Greyrose did confirm however that trading items other than Treasure Cards will NOT be implemented into Wizard101. So I asked again after that and tried to clarify that I was asking about particularly the "no auction" "no trade" status of the items. And nope, no further information other than she noted that you can sell those rings still at the regular shopkeepers.

Sorry Destiny! Looks like it shall remain a rumor!

On a side note, you do all realize why they don't allow trading items other than treasure cards right? That, my friends, is the doorway to selling items for money by third party companies . . . companies out of KI's control . . . companies that want your money and your parent's credit card number.

In most MMOs, they have horrific problems with gold sellers. Imagine buying a Malistaire Robe for 20 bucks through a third party vendor, and I think you'll see my point. It ends up ruining the game and you end up with spam all over your screen that puts the "cards for wings" people in Wizard City Commons to shame. I'm still getting e-mail in my inbox occasionally from people who want to sell me gold in EQ, and I was playing that game like 10 years ago. Amazing. I for one, would rather not open up Pandora's Box on Wizard101.

Happy Dueling!

How do you get out of bounds?

Question here from the indelible Morgrim Wraith:

As I asked in a post on Ravenwood Radio's forum:
http://n3.nabble.com/Out-of-Bounds-td447711.html#a447711

How are some people getting outside of the normal, walkable areas? I see them in Olde Towne behind the bars of the stream near the crafting trainer. Yesterday I saw someone outside the wall in the Elik's Edge part of the shopping district. Of course, no one ever says how they got there, and eventually a bunch of folks are teleporting to join the first. Are they using some kind of hack program to clip through barriers? Should this be reported?

Thanks!
Morgrim Wraith

Reduce, Reuse, Reanimate.
Black: It's the new Green.

This is a perfect post for my readers to try and answer! Why? Because I have no idea.

Let me give you my search path of where I've looked:
Search for elik's edge over at central.
Kestrel's blog talks about it.
Youtube search for Elik's Edge
Alex talks about how to fly off the edge (but not how to get back there)

And that's all I got . . .

/shrug

I've been out there one time for a party, and I can do the "fly off the edge" trick that Alex talks about . . . but I have no clue how to get out there in the first place.

Readers?

Rock on.

Happy Dueling!

Not Accepting Questions for a Bit

Hey all!

I hope this isn't received as bad news, but I really need to put a stop to the questions for a bit. I'm going to remove that widget on the side of my blog with my e-mail address. I'm a week and a half behind, and to be honest, I kind of need a break from answering questions after I answer these last few in my inbox. I know that kind of seems like my "thing" on this blog, but it's getting to the point where I can't answer all that I have on my docket, and I hate to appear like I'm "ignoring" questions.

I've thought a little bit about changing how I handle the question answering though, and I wanted to get your opinion. Perhaps what I could do instead of giving you "the friendly answer," is just put the question up for my readers to answer in the comments. I don't know, maybe we could try one and see how it goes? Thoughts? Perhaps you all could blog an answer to the question and add a link to your blog here?

Also, I kind of feel a little "stifled" by really only sticking to answering questions all the time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE ANSWERING QUESTIONS! I love it because I learn so much in the process, and I feel like I'm giving back to the community. I just need a break from it.

Thanks for your thoughts in advance!

Happy Dueling!

Do you have any tips for low health and accuracy for a storm wizard?

Here's a question from SapphireEyes4u:

I Recently delete my life wizard because I made too many mistakes and decided to start over again. But I have been thinking about storm and I love all the storm spells but im afraid to be storm because of the low health and accuracy. Do you have any advice for me?

Yes, don't be afraid.

OH, you want a little more than that probably. OK! :-)

Storm is such a wonderful class. I can't tell you how many times I've been playing with someone and they dropped the comment "storm is so overpowered" on me. They just are awesome raw power to play!

Here's some advice:
1- Avoid going first. Your job is not to defend the group and make the group worry about your life. Your job is to silently build power while the rest are muddling around and then BOOM everything is dead. When I play my characters together, I will frequently let Thomas enter the circle first and even pass a round before putting Kyle into the circle.

2- Use your minion--especially if you solo. If you solo, then the storm minion is probably one of the best in the game for helping take the heat off of you and your low hitpoints. (I've got a little quasi-guide about how to use it here). You get it at level 18.

3- The glory of level 28--my word, you're going to love level 28. This is when you get your tempest spell and this is the best damage spell in the game. Yup, better than storm lord, better than fire dragon, better than anything else out there, and you get it at level 28!! Fizzle a round? No worries, the next round my tempest will be even BIGGER! It's versatile. I can't say enough about how much I love the tempest spell.

4- use your utility spells like precision (+10 accuracy) and thermic shield at low levels (*UPDATE removed my coding voodoo rant *UPDATE*)

5- Keep a shorter deck and use treasure cards. The problem with a lot of people when they fizzle is that their card they want to use is reshuffled deeper back into their deck, then they can't find it as they discard furiously looking for the right card. If you only pack enough damage and protection in your deck to kill what you could possibly face out on the battlefield (accounting for weaknesses and shields, etc.), then you have made a shorter deck. If you pack your sideboard full of treasure cards meant to either heal or kill (you have to choose one), then you'll always know where "that" card you need is. When making damage treasure cards for your storm wizard, use accuracy to make it instead of tough. (here's an older article on making treasure cards--read the top half of that)

6- Use your shields. As a storm wizard, you're going to love things like tower shield and all the other shields. You'll probably want to dabble in some life magic, eventually picking up Satyr, but along the way you're going to get Legend Shield relatively early. This is really helpful for facing all the death monsters in Wizard City. Use that legend shield often. A lot of storm wizards will also charge down the ice tree to get to Tower Shield and along the way pick up Volcanic Shield. Between thermic shield, volcanic shield, legend shield and tower shield, you've covered a lot of the protection you'll need. (then all that's left is to charge down death to get feint! ;-))

And that's all the time I've got this morning.

Best of luck with your endeavors! hope that helps! Readers fill in the gaps!

Happy Dueling!

Do you have some tips for 20th level life wizards?

Question here from Silverheart!

Hey Friendly,
I have been playing on my level 22 life wizard trying to level her to 25 but battles take for ever! I am doing my best with deck set up but still not going well. Any tips because I really don't know what I am doing.
thanks
Silverheart

Ok, cool. I've actually played two life wizards past this point and you know what I did? I didn't solo. hehe. BUT, let me take a closer look at this and see what I might be able to do to help.

1- Life trap. This is an absolute must for Life Wizards. They suffer from the same low damage problem that ice magic does. Luckily for you, you can pick this spell up at level 10 from Mildred Farseer (the hidden trainer) on Colossus Boulevard. This is going to add +25% damage. Since you've turned 22, be sure to concentrate on using Seraph for damage. Seraph's base damage is 335 to 395. With a trap it is 419 to 494. That should almost kill everything in krokotopia.

2- Treasure Cards. I'm a firm believer in stacking your deck for success . . . and that means tresure cards. Either load your sideboard full of heals or kills and use them to add predictability in your game. If you know you need a heal and your sideboard is stocking with nothing but heals, then you know what to do. Or conversely, if you have 3 pips and need to cast a seraph, then if your sideboard is stocked with them, you'll know exactly what to do. Draw from your treasure cards and lay the smack down!

Now, these next suggestions have a little to do with your deck setup, but a little bit more about dressing for success. Some gear add cards to your inventory, and when you're talking damage percentages, every little bit helps.

3- Crown Clothes. If you can afford to get crown clothes, there's three items in particular that might be of interest to you. Footgear of Malediction, Ascendant Staff (or if you can hold out till 25--Phosphorescent Maul), and one of the pets with a dragonblade on it.


That combination is not cheap. The pet you will have to buy from a store with a gift card (as I'm sure you know, it's random what pet has what card, so check the gift card page often). The other stuff is going to set you back 5,000+ for the shoes and 2,500 to 3,500 for the weapons as long as they are still on sale. They'll all make things go faster for you, but it'll cost you real money . . . and in the end, you don't really NEED them, you just WANT them. So, do with that what you will.

4- Bazaar Sniping. There's nothing better than successfully buying the best clothes you can get for your level right when you get your level. Head to the bazaar at level 20 and try to find the gear with the highest hitpoint, power pip, and damage combination you can buy. Ignore accuracy and shielding stats for now. Don't forget to modify the colors so you get the best deal for the clothes!

Since you're theoretically wearing footgear of the Malediction from suggestion number 2, then these might interest you for your hat and robe slots.


Also note that you are right around the corner from another power boost with clothing. Level 25 has some amazing clothes available to you.

5- Secondary class. I don't know what your secondary is, but if you're seeking big damage at level 22, then perhaps the power of a meteor strike would interest you. It's a damage-all-targets spell available to you at level 22 in the fire school. It's base damage is 305 to 345 to all targets. That's almost as much as your seraph right there. Add a dragonblade from a pet and that jumps to 397 to 449 to all targets.

If you don't want to do that, then be sure to grab spirit trap from Niles which will give you a stackable trap to add to your arsenal. (You'll eventually want to get this either way as well as spirit blade at level 25)

6- Hurry through Krokotopia. If you stick to the main storyline in Krokotopia and don't do any side quests, then at the end of Krokotopia you will receive your life blade spell for completing the Krokosphinx. That's a whopping extra 40% damage to your life spells right there. That's huge. THEN go back and finish the side quests in Krokotopia, so you can get your levels.

And that's about all I got this morning (I'm out of time and need to wrap things up here LOL). Readers fill in the gaps please! /hug

Happy Dueling!

March contest rundown!

Man there are just a lot of cool contests going on right now. Here's a quick rundown of them in case you haven't caught wind of them through your other Wizard101 information sources:

1- Game Review Network is laying down 5000 crowns for six winners. YOU MUST CHECK IT OUT! (This contest will end on Saturday 03/27/09 at 11:59 pm est)

2- There's a year or six-month subscription up for grabs from our friends at Ravenwood Radio. They give details on how to win these things in their most recent podcast. (It's around the 52:00 minute mark shhh) Time is ticking down on this contest, but you still have some time (winners announced in Episode 13 of Ravenwood Radio). Hop on it ASAP!

3- Over on Facebook, Wizard101 is holding a castles and mounts sweepstakes where you could win a myth house or a few other mounts! You basically just have to enter the sweepstakes and answer a few details. Easy. You should do this one before March 31st.



4- The Brave Pyromancer is holding a contest where he's giving away one of the new weapons. He just wants to share an e-mail with him showing off some creative writing about Wizard101. Click here for details.

. . . and I think that's about it. It seems like there's a lot going on in the gift giving arena right now, so if you know of a recent promotion that I've missed, please leave a note in the comments for all of us to see!

Happy Dueling!

Wall Glitch in The Great Spyre?

Ronan Dawnhead found a reason for me to bring out the glitch dog yet again:

There is a wall in the Great Spyre, by Tumok Gravelbeard, that you can walk through. It has an arch in front of it so it is easier to see.
If you give credit, my name is Ronan Dawnhead
--
Hi peoples

122ninjas/Van

Well, I had to go check this out for myself, and yup, there's a glitch alright!

GOOD GLITCHY!

COME HERE GLITCHY!


AWW GLITCHY I LOVE YOU!

This actually is a really cool glitch. Here's the spot you enter through the wall.


It's just up the first right ramp as you enter into Tumok Gravelbeard's area and then back through the ruins there. All of a sudden you get to see through the wall and be on the backside of Dragon's Maw.


It's really cool back there! You can run all along that area. It's a pretty open space. I felt like I could open up taco stand back there.


I mean, who wouldn't want a taco on the way to defeat Malistaire, right? MONEY!

Thanks for the tip, Ronan, it was a fun one to check out!

Happy Dueling!

Bazaar? Wall Glitch? Seventh Level of Wizardblox?

Wolf Dragonsteed asks a few questions:

Hello Friendly,

Do you know how the Bazaar works? I like to sit there all day reloading the pets and reagents until I find something good (Bazaar Sniping), and it would be nice to know what the heck is going on with ole Elik Silverfist. Also, will there be different items in a different realm?
I also found a glitch in a DS wall. I can't remember where it is, but until Celestia, I have nothing better to do, right? Also, Also, Also, have you noticed that the seventh level in Wizard Blox is the Spiral? I wonder if that means that Celestia will be in space?

Thank You,
Wolf Dragonsteed

Thanks for the E-mail, Wolf. Ok let me see if I can break this down for you:

1- The Bazaar. Sure! I know how that works, and I know how it works because I've delved into the players guide over on Wizard101.com and read all about it! Here's a copy of the page about The Bazaar.


From what that says, no, Elik has all realms covered, so no need to jump around hunting for the right realm to buy from the Bazaar.

I am also familiar with "Bazaar Sniping" hehe. I used to hunt for those black pearls and scrap iron reagents when I was leveling Amber to Master Artisan. I might have to go do that again with Thomas since I'd like to get him up to Master Artisan as well.

2- DS Wall Glitch. Right. I'm hearing that there is a glitch up in Tumok Gravelbeard's area. Ronan Dawnhead was telling me about that the other day. I need to go up there and check that out still.

*UPDATE* Aha! Wolf followed up with me and pointed out the area that he was really talking about. It's right here in The Drake Hatchery!


You can get a nice view of lava shooting in the air from here and once again do that whole man stuck in a wall thing.



Thanks for the heads up, Wolf!

3- Seventh level of Wizardblox is a spiral. Yup! I saw that! Well, I'm not sure if that means that Celestia will be in space, but it definitely sounds like the work of aliens! I wonder if they will update Wizardblox with an actual Celestia picture when it goes live?

Thanks again!

Happy Dueling!

Is the drop rate lower when you farm with friends?

Tyler Deathblade queries as follows:

Dear Friendly,
Is the drop rate lower when you farm with friends or is it the same?
Thanks,
Tyler Deathblade

TYLER! This sounds proposterous! ABSOLUTELY CRAZY TALK!

But, I asked Greyrose just to see if there could be anything coded into the game that would affect drop rates when it comes to farming with or without friends. I would have no possible way of knowing this.

This was her answer:

It’s exactly the same.
You have an x% chance of getting a certain item from a creature when you duel solo.
You have an x% chance of getting a certain item from a creature when you duel with friends.
Your friends have the exact same x% chance of getting the item, and that % chance is not affected by the presence of other players in the duel circle with you.

So no longer can your friends use THAT excuse to not let you come farm with them. ;-)

hehe, sometimes people just want to solo.

Happy Dueling!

Housing Item of the Day--Dog Pilot Painting

We get a special Housing Item of the Day today from Heather aka Kaitlyn Dunerider!

Hi, Friendly!

I have commented on your blog a couple times, my name is Heather. I have quite a few wizards, 3 accounts, 9 Grands, and a few others I am working on.

Well, I just wanted to let you know about this housing item, maybe you can add it to your list one day. I am not sure if you knew about it, but I didn't see it listed. It's called "Marleybonian Pilot Painting," though when it dropped it said "Dog Pilot Painting."


It dropped from Sprockets in Counterweight East. Here is a pic of it with my newest balance wiz, Kaitlyn Dunerider(as you can tell by the rat magician, she had fun with Sprockets as far as the drops were going.) I was really happy to get this painting as I had just commented to a friend, while in Air Dale's, visiting Croaky for a spell, that I wished I could have that painting. I didn't even know it was available for a drop so I was very pleasantly surprised by this :)

Hey! Very cool find and thanks for thinking to send this to me. I appreciate it!

My list of housing items is lacking a number of the new items and some of the items from Grizzleheim. If I can get some spare time in I will definitely update it and include this awesome find as well.

Happy Dueling!

How do I use Beguile?

Question from Esmee Shade incoming!

Hi! Aspiring Death Wizard Esmee Shade here. Question is about the spell Beguile maybe you can help me with. Obviously useful in pvp, but when I cast on monsters in the game they just seem to pass, best case scenario, or it does nothing and they still attack me. For example, I was fighting two monsters in Hyde Park, I went first, cast Beguile on the second monster . On their turn, the first monster attacked me, then the second attacked me as well. OK, I thought, maybe it takes a round for this to kick in but no, they both attacked the next round as well.

So what’s the deal with this spell? I want to use it cause it fits in with the evil death wizard I am but I just don’t get how!

Ok, Beguile can be a weird spell, but I don't know if I've ever seen it glitch like you describe where they still attack me. I ran a few tests in Hyde Park to see if I could get it to glitch out on me, and it never did. /shrug If others know about this glitch, then please let me know on this thread.

**UPDATE: For more information on the Beguile spell click here. Death Wizards get the spell after beating Krokotopia**

So, that aside, let's talk Beguile! Beguile is the only charm spell in the game. I'm not talking about the kind of charms that Christina talks about in her really cool guide over on Diary of a Wizard; I'm talking about the classic MMO charm spell. In classic MMOs like Everquest there's usually a class or two that can charm a creature and make it work for our team for a limited time. Charm spells usually have a limited duration and act as a sort of "crowd control" spell (where I have one less bad guy attacking me). Beguile works the same way; it acts as crowd control and it puts the targeted monster on my team for a round or two.

You can see in this picture that after casting a Beguile I am now able to see what spell my O'leary friend is unloading on his former buddy. He NO LOVES HIM! WOOT! It's going to work perfectly! He's going to expend his pips on a cyclops and kill off his teammate! This is the best case scenario for Beguile.



Unfortunately, (in PvE) the duration of the spell is dependant on who goes first. If my team is going first, Beguile will take effect on the next turn and last one round. If my team is going last, Beguile will take effect on the next turn and last two rounds.

And again, unfortunately it's a little random what your charmed monster will do since you don't get full control of their deck. Your charmed monster may attack his friends, he may shield you, he may pass, or he may shield himself. So it's kind of a luck of the draw situation with Beguile.

Knowing what spells your opponents cast will help you improve your success with using the spell. Down on Unicorn Way opponents cast level 1 or 2 pip damage spells pretty much every round. However, In Krokotopia through Dragonspyre, opponents tend to blade and shield and cast a two, three, or rarely a four pip spell or above . . . even malistaire is fond of casting ghoul after ghoul and vampire after vampire. Knowing this means that you probably don't want to cast Beguile on an opponent when they have 3 or 4 pips showing because they'll probably expend them before your Beguile takes effect. You want to cast Beguile when they have one or two pips showing so by the next round they are primed to cast a damage spell (if the odds are with you).

Side note: Over on the Mali-fest video, you get to see the death wizards play around with Beguile (fast forward to around 32 minutes into the program). You can kind of see the effects of that spell and how it didn't really work out for us as we planned. We were hoping for the gurtok and his buddies to shield us and instead they decided to use two-pip attack spells. You also get to see how ineffective beguile can be when facing opponents that are the same class: ice spells against ice casters are not very effective.

So in the end, Beguile is very situational and kind of random, therefore, making it a little less awesome than it could be out in the PvE world, but still a fun spell to play around with and still beneficial . . . you just have to guage if it's really worth the three pips or not, and sometimes it is (like in the picture above) and sometimes it isn't (like in the mali-fest video).

Now in the PvP world that's a whole other story. In PvP it can shut an opponent down for a round or two (or perhaps even sway things significantly in the battle). I'm definitely not a pvp expert, so I can't talk in specifics for Beguile in pvp, but it seems to be on the most hated list of pvp spells besides Wildbolt. Perhaps someone in the comments can talk specifically about using Beguile in pvp? (Thanks in advance!)

Hope this helps!

Happy Dueling!

What is the purpose of Barkingham Palace?

Question here from Amber RosePetal:

Hiya Thomas!
I was just flying around in Regents square with Alia LotusPetal when I ran across Barkingham Palace. What is this place for? I used to wonder about it alot in my MarleyBone Days and now I have an E-mail, I'm asking you!

Hello Amber!

****UPDATE!! This is now a dungeon! Duelist101 has a great guide you should check out!*****

Barkingham Palace you say? Well, its nothing more than a staging area for Henry Wellingbrook and Quentin Boodington


I think they just wanted to give you a location marker on the map of Regent's Square so you can find Henry since the map to Regent's Square is a little complex.


Just look at that mess! Well, it's nothing compared to the real map of ol' London Town. Check out this map. I've highlighted some areas of interest for you Wizard101 players (you may want to click on this map to make it bigger)


Yup, if you didn't know (which how could you not), a lot of the names for Marleybone come from actual locations in London, England. Why even Marleybone is just an anagram of Marylebone, which is where all the rich peeps live in London.

Digmoore Station is just a play on words for Wigmore. I've never been to London myself, but I know there is a giant transit system called the London Underground and there are stations all along the transit system, so there could easily be a Wigmore Station.

. . . You know, it is kind of funny that they didn't label Barkingham Palace as the Tower of London actually. You don't find beafeaters outside Buckingham Palace as far as I know. (Henry and Quentin are in Beefeater costumes.) They missed a real opportunity for a joke though with the "Royal Mews." AM I RIGHT?

In the end though, I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the people at KI had played the game Scotland Yard a lot as kids or at least maybe used it as inspiration.


There's a great write up about the game and how to play it here. I think if you read through that thread, you'll see a lot of similarities to how that game plays and the quests for chasing down Meowiarty.

From what I understand, Scotland Yard is an excellent game to play before you plan a trip to London as it helps you get familiar with the map of the place, yeah?

My family comes from England originally. Before he died, my father would tell me about a great great Grandfather of ours that pushed a grocery cart in London. He sold food out of the cart for money. Apparently he signed his name with an X and couldn't write very well. Funny that now years later, I'm over here in the states writing about a game where you chase down a Mr. X in London.

Thanks for the question!

Happy Dueling!

New Beckett's Mag came in the Mail today

My Beckett magazine came in the mail today, and it’s AWESOME! I totally scored this Warpwood Staff (erm, more of a wand than a staff though) for Thomas from the code in the magazine.


It's a nice little 75 life damage wand for the lower level characters . . . non-ominous looking, but still a nice piece to add to my collection. :-)

The article in the magazine about Wizard101 was actually an interview done by the marvelous Stephanie Morrow as she gathered responses from the big hitters: J Todd Coleman, Jason Durall, Josef Hall, Rhea Shelley, and William Haskins. I mean, COME ON! That’s just a ridiculously cool line up Kingsisle people.

The interview is kind of split into two or three topics:

1- There’s some great insight in the article to how quests are formulated and where the ideas for Wizard101 come from.

2- The heavy hitters talk about their favorites in the game: favorite updates, favorite classes, favorite wizard house

3- There’s also some advice given to aspiring game designers and what wizard101 players can expect for 2010.

So let’s get to the good stuff (aka the major revelations for the next expansion) from that article, shall we?

1- J Todd Coleman noted that areas in the game come from combining animals and cultural references, and then specifically states, “How about an Empire of Crabs with sort of a Roman feel?” . . . So, yup, that’s sounding like a little clue to all of us to what Celestia might be like. Kind of weird though as most people are saying that Celestia might be an underwater world (someone on twitter the other day said his uncle worked at KI and verified it /shrug an underwater rome? /shrug It sounds like the work of aliens to me!). He goes on to also explain that there are usually two opposing factions in a world. So . . . that leaves us with a big question mark and kind of an assurance that there will be other races in Celestia outside of crabs!

2- At the end of the article, J Todd Coleman goes on to explain that “for the next world, I think the players already have some hints as to what is coming next: there are clues hidden within the game if you look hard enough. As for new systems, I want to expand on combat (especially the Player Arena), and I want to explore some other game activities that aren’t related to our combat system that give players a different way to advance within the Wizard101 universe.” . . . So again, yup, we know that the pet system is being enhanced, but the major BOOM CRASH WOW is that the Player Arena is going to be expanded. I for one would love to see some new short duel systems and different ways of combating in the game. Can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.

Thanks for the great interview Stephanie and Becketts! There's a lot of other great stuff in that 3 page article that you might be interested in reading. Also in the mag is info about Star Trek Online, The game that shall not be named, LOTRO, DDO, Aion, Everquest, etc. etc. All the stuff that you would come to expect to read about in an MMO magazine. I think the surprise article for me outside of the wicked Wizard101 interview was a two-page expose' on Fiesta Online. That's one I haven't messed with much that looks kind of fun to me. /shrug Anyone tried it?

Happy Dueling!

Where can I get a carved pew?

Lail Ghostshade has uno question:

Nobody on any fansite can find it, and lots of people (including me) want a Carved Pew. I for one need some to finish a setup in my root cellar. Do you know where I can get some? If not, could you try to find out? Thanks, Lail Ghostshade. (If you recognize the name, I was the one who found the dragon wall bust, the one Elijah Stormheart showed you)

I finally have an answer for you Lail . . .

*insert drumroll*

The Golems in Kensington Park

I asked Greyrose for you, and I farmed the golems for a bit this morning with Garret Dayhand trying to get one, to no avail. If anyone gets a picture of a Carved Pew from Kensington, please forward it on, and I'll add it to this post . . . until that time . . . an actual carved pew . . .


And maybe a sparkling boobah for color.


Sorry, it's the best I could do this morning.

**UPDATE** Thanks to John Lifeglen, I now have a picture of a carved pew here it is


It kind of looks like those pews in the Marleybone Church, cool **UPDATE**

Happy Dueling!