Test Realm: Testing and Analyzing the Updates (February 2011)

As the first biggest perk in the game for this new year, the multitude of changes shown in the current Test Realm are definitely impacting modern strategies and playstyles.  Not only will a home with an Arena Ring be available for players without a Massive Fantasy Palace or the money to purchase one of them, but there are some significant benefits (and nerfs) that have been applied to the overall game.  This post will not explore every update, but it will focus on the changes that might need further clarification, or changes that were not included on the changelog.  Thus, consider this an active post, so any updates/changes to the Test Realm after publication will be shown in red:

• "Once a plant is in a pot, you cannot pick them up!" --(Celestia Housing TR Notes)

Apparently, this literally applies to the mechanics in relation to the Floating Bug.  While the notes do not specifically state it, it also means that plants within the soil cannot be picked up OR moved.  When you try to relocate the plants, you cannot lock them onto the ground or another item.  Luckily, for those with bulging backpacks, this counteracts that dreadful mistake of creating Fake Seeds within your inventory when you pick up Mature or Elder Plants!  Unfortunately for housing designers, the Fake Seeds that currently exist in their "Inventory" are now endangered species.  

• "Jade Oni and Earthwalker pets will now have the chance of manifesting spells that match their school." --(Celestia Housing TR Notes)

Like with the Level 48 Pets -- though not as complicated, considering pre-update version has been completed -- the Jade Oni pet will have two different Petnomes:  one that is represented by the old Myth and Balance versions before this update, and one that is represented by Jade Oni pets that are acquired after this update.  As for the Earth Walker, we will have to see if there are the two determined Petnomes as displayed on the site, or if there is a third version.

• Pet Abilities have bugged Petnomes, whether manifested or not.

This is a little ambiguous.  Because of the fact that some abilities have the option of being called "Common" when they are unrevealed, it suggests to us that there are actually five tiers of rarities:  Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ultra-Rare, and Epic.  But, since the Advanced Pets system was created without the intent of having "Common" abilities, is there a chance that new Pet Talents or Derby Skills are in the works?  If so, then why don't Pedigree Numbers and Petnomes match, by definition?  

If there is meant to be a fifth tier of abilities, then the Pedigree numbers are bugged, and aren't accounting for the fact that a lot of abilities have dropped a single point (Rares becoming Uncommon, Ultra-Rares becoming Rares, etc.).

If there isn't meant to be a fifth tier of abilities, and the Pedigrees are NOT bugged, then there's a major visual problem with the Petnomes.  Hopefully, for all pet enthusiasts' sake, the bugged manifested abilities won't carry over to the Live Realm.

• Stun Block now reads "Block next 2 incoming Stun attempts."

So far, we've tested Earthquake on Stun Shields, and unfortunately they're still removed.  Boo.

As for single stuns, it seems that this spell does not literally follow its description, in 1v1 at least.  Cassandra Dragonheart and I were casting Chokes/Blinding Light/Freeze at one another, and did manage to stun on the turn AFTER the final Stun Block is removed.  So, it's as if there wasn't any change to this spell, other than it being moved to Dueling Diego's textbook -- which I believe was done so new Wizards wouldn't pick up this spell so early in the game, believing it would be useful in PvE in their near future.

Moreso, I think the description was changed to technically state that a single Stun Block will void a Medusa's attempt to "stun twice," thereby being less confusing to Myth players and their opponents who believe two Stun shields are needed to counter the spell.  Instead of this shield having a counter that waits for another Stun to break it, it supposedly will block at most two, while one Stun will do the trick to remove it.

BUT, I wonder if the description is missing the requirement "...in a single turn."  I'm very passionate about fixing the Earthquake-removing-Stun-Shields issue, as that allows for chain stunning to happen (stun, Earthquake, stun).  So, in bright hopes, I'm going to continue to test this spell in a larger environment: teamed games.  Though, logically, if a Stun Block is removed by an Earthquake, it shouldn't prevent the next incoming stun, since the special effect is then out-of-play-by-removal.  I'll certainly keep us updated on this!

• Gardening Towers are no more.

Gah, the end of the "Industrious Revolution" of Gardening is here.  So much for "going green" and "saving energy," huh?  What has happened -- as mentioned in my and Sierra Starsong's Tweets -- is that floated pots and soils may still accept seeds, but maintaining the crop is no longer allowed by vertical means.  In other words, AOE Gardening spells will NO LONGER affect items from bottom up.  Instead, they'll target all plants that are surrounded by the literal circle (imagine using the AOE ring like a rubber band.)  So, it's back to these ground plans:  Part 1; Part 2.

Test Realm: CL Housing Ingredient Totals

**UPDATED BY KINGSISLE**:  Instead of 2 Stars Icons, the recipe will replace them for 2 Celestian Shields.


**UPDATED AGAIN**:  Thanks to Bailey Skystaff for catching the Cards/Reagents missing from the list for the House Recipe!  They've been added into the picture below now!


**UPDATED**:   Fixed the gold amount to include the House Recipe and Furniture Recipe costs.

75,000 G  House Recipe

9,690 G  CL Tree Sprig Recipe

13,005 G  CL Sconce Recipe

14,430 G  Star Chalice Recipe

16,950 G  Crystal Street Lamp Recipe

Over the next few posts and days, I'll go over a few of the unannounced updates made to the game.  For now, here's a chart for you Grandmaster Artisans for that new Celestian Observatory:

The Star Icons are dropped from Astraeus in the Trial of Spheres.  
The Celestian Shields are dropped by Charmtooth
Good luck on gathering and sniping!

Guest Speaking on Ravenwood Radio 30!

Ravenwood Radio 30 is tonight, and instead of sharing some pet info (for once), I'll be covering details about Star Magic!  

ETA for the start of the show is around 8 PM CST; that translates to 6 PM Pacific and 9 PM Eastern.  Details for the show can be found on Facebook, and usually their main site is updated but Leesha is a busy wiz'.  

See you tonight!

The Arena: Prologue (Chain-Stunning)

One of the most loathsome playstyles that may discourage or turn a player away from the Arena is "Chain-stunning."  What happens is the "chain-stunning team" will load their decks with a few specific cards that complement one another to produce the effect of permanently immobilizing their opponents; this was easier to perform in 4v4.  These cards include Choke (from Fire) and/or Blinding Light (Myth), both of which incapacitate all members of the opposite team, for a mere two (2) pips, and Earthquake (Myth), which deals AOE damage and previously removed all wards and charms (positive and negative) from enemies.

The "first generation" chain-stun was comprised more of the use of two or more of the inexpensive AOE-Stuns:  Choke and/or Blinding Light.  

Originally, whenever a stun affects someone, a single ward (Stun Shield) appears on the victim, to prevent yet another disable from landing on him/her.  To remove this shield to open the person for another Stun, a ward removal spell (such as Steal Ward [Ice] or Pierce [Myth]) or a Stun must be played.  This was a highly effective defensive mechanic for 1v1.

But, when a team of wizards (two or more) was utilized, a loophole was created: one wizard would immobilize with Choke or Blinding Light, and then a second would cast either of those spells in the same turn, to remove each Stun Shield.  Or, if the opposing team managed to put up any Stun Shields (assuming they have first turn), the double cast could still produce the same result: one AOE-stun to remove the Stun Shields, and a second to paralyze the now-vulnerable players.

Hence, the other side was disabled and unprotected from a second wave of stun.  Because of the low pip-cost, there was a requirement of a minimum of one turn and a Power Pip generated for each "chain-stunner" in order to repeat this tactic.  With a high rate of Power Pip chance, "chain-stunners" could virtually create an infinite loop.  True, while decks at the time could hold up to seven (7) copies for certain schools, there was still the sideboard to hold Enchanted (per Accuracy boosts) stun cards.  Thus, a flaw such as not having a stun in hand was easily avoided.

By forcing the other team to pass each and every turn, other members (mainly attackers) could efficiently set up for mountains of damage, usually in AOE form.  Damage reduction shields and charms would not be a factor against a "chain-stun" team, if their enemies are prohibited from casting anything.

Nothing was more demoralizing or offending than entering a battle with a wisely created deck and strategy, only to find your wizard unable to act offensively or defensively every single turn of the battle.  Crowns Players suffered the most from a loss (pretty self-explanatory there) due to "chain-stunning."  The only true counter to this at the time was to have First Turn and your own "chain-stun" team; this was a type of fire that even water could not put out.

Luckily, an update in June of this year somewhat corrected this loophole, but "chain-stunning" was still possible, and along came the "second generation" tactic.


KingsIsle modified the secondary effect of stuns to not produce just one Stun Shield, but four (4).  This counteractive update successfully trumped the ability to spam AOE-Stun after AOE-Stun.  Even if the "chain-stunning" team all used a disable-all spell, their opponents would have at least one turn to act since there was now a shield for every potential stunner.  So, along came the use of the spell that has the ability to remove all wards:  Earthquake.

With a more concentrated and synchronized team (at least three Myth Wizards, especially) one could still chain-disable opponents.  I'm not going to go into lengthy details on the procedure, but if enough people are interested in this expired method, I'd be happy to update this post.  (I still remember that annoying battle against four Myths, just the day before Celestia arrived).

The arrival of today's update has added further countermeasures against the act of "chain-stunning."


Without the ability to remove all Stun Shields and disable all opponents in two or more consecutive turns, there is a largely improved balance in Player vs. Player.  Crowns Players will get their money's worth whether they pay a fee per match or a time-interval pass, as their wizard(s) will have at least a chance to fight or cast back.  As of now, players are free to test themselves offensively and defensively in any match.  Go forth, fair duelers; it's a new dawn.

November 8 Updates

Major and minor updates to talk about! The following updates have been made to the game:

Pets

All pet hatching prices have been reduced by 25%

Pets with Talents that cast Blades or Traps will now cast those Blades and Traps.

Celestia

The Lunar Chest will no longer disappear if a friend Teleports to you in the Moon Room.

Teleports have been added to the Crustacean Empire area.

Combat

Boys should sound like boys when they take damage, and girls should once again sound like girls.

Earthquake will no longer remove Stun Shields.

Quests

Players will no longer be required to complete a series of side quests to enter the Dojo for the Obsidian Chest Quest called Wizard Tours.

Other

We have decreased the side to side movement of the shark mount.

BUN: Adventures in Celestia (Tales and Tips)

The past few days have been such a blast with all the new spells, equipment, monsters, quests, income rate, challenges, pets, and strategies that have flooded into the Spiral on the Live Realm.  As with our characters, we were submerged into a whole new world called Celestia, and my PVP team "Perfect Catch" and I were ready and anticipated surprises or twists along the way.  True, some of us were able to touch on the new features in Test Realm (TR), but a few changes, such as the removal of the spells Simplify and Elucidate and the adjustments made to Level 55 weapons, meant our experience was going to be much different.  Similar to how we explored the new world in TR, we split up and played "individually" instead of as a group.  Different schedules called for varying progression rates.

Normally, I am a solo-type gamer, meaning I usually dislike playing with others.  However, the aspects of Wizard101 have undeniably shown that this game was developed with a lot of hindsight to the negative factors of multiplayer interaction.  Instead of a "Greed or Need" system, everyone has the same chance for the same loot, regardless of party size or damage dealt.  Without competition amongst companions, more focus can be placed on similar (if not the same) goals.  If one of the ingredients is a great friendship, then you've got a recipe for success as a team.  With the amazing people I often play with, there was not an excuse for me to jump back into being a hermit.  So, I took on Celestia with mainly Missy, and tripled up with Ronan Dawn towards the end.

Armed with some experience from the TR, Missy and I set straight off to picking up some core, utility spells:  Conviction (Star) for PVP which increases the chance to avoid Critical Hits and Stuns, Fortify (Star) for increased resistance, and Strong (Sun) for increased damage on applicable cards.  I took on the Damage Tier of Sun School since I could rely on a Pet for Accuracy if necessary.  +100 damage to a Blizzard is adding nearly half its minimum value to the spell.  At the highest rank, Gargantuan does +225, which is a 90% boost to my Rank 4 AOE's minimum.  I think farming as a group in Kensington by killing on the first turn is more than possible now!  Seraph, here I come!

On my first day and first fight against Cuthalla in the Grotto, this dropped for me:

I still haven't trained it, surprisingly, but it's most likely because I'm currently working on a new PVP/PVE-based pet.  Surprise, surprise.

I love the new Spritely animation, by the way.  It's somewhat comical, because I don't think any of the other healing spells create this visual:

Looks like a cool effect to use for a new Mistblood logo, huh?  Hmmm...anyway...

What was notably different about the Base Camp Astral trainers on the Live realm was that some spells were relocated to "secret trainers," while others were discontinued/removed.  (On TR, you could see the entire "Tier" or "skill tree" of the Sun enchantments, all of the "basic" Polymorphs, and all Star auras that weren't PVP-based.  Empowerment, Vengeance, and accuracy/damage boosts above Keen Eyes/Strong were viewable in Celestia's "Commons" trainers.)  Also, the Pip Reduction spells of the Sun School (Simplify and Elucidate) were removed.

Thus, my Astral build changed slightly, leaving me with 3 free Training Points after picking up all the new spells that I needed.  I've maxed out on Sun School's Damage tier (Gargantuan), picked up the Fortify and Empowerment auras from Star, and naturally adopted the Gobbler Polymorph from Moon.  Through these combined powers, I became Captain Tank-It!  With Empowerment, I'm getting a faster Pip generation; whenever a Rank 4 (or above) spell is casted on me, be it damage or a heal, I get 1 Pip!  The only catch to this spell is that X-based cards do not trigger the special effect; if Judge, Dryad, Heckhound, or some Boss's natural attack that uses all of its pips is targeted at me, my aura does nothing.  Neat balance!

Before I forget, if you're wondering where you can find additional Astral spells, keep in mind that two trainers are inside their respective instances:  Stellarium from the District of Stars has the Star Trainer, while Lunarium (entered from "Using the Moon Portal") has the Moon Trainer.  There are multiple posts in each of these instances to pick up the spells from; you just need to do a little exploration!  As for the Sun Trainer, you have to go outside for a little tan on the beach to find that kind of magic.  What better place to do that at than the Floating Island?  Just walk up the ramp next to Pierce and past the Teleporter posts to find it.

Speaking of the Floating Island and Pierce...

Mmm, I love Kelp!

With a higher rank in Crafting, I managed to keep my promise of obtaining this:

With the Iceblade Vial, I can stack two Rank 0 blades for +40% and +45%, more than doubling my damage!  Adding Gargantuan onto that, and I'm more effective than a chill pill.  

On the subject of Amulets, Jewel of the Feint dropped for me after fighting Ptolemos, the Moon Boss of the Trial of Spheres.  I think there are some other places where it drops, too (Solar instance, according to new friend Lauren Ironbane), so keep an eye out and cross your fingers!

So, with the mention of making it to the Trial of Spheres and doing every side quest along the way, Ronan, Missy, and I became Spiral Geographers and Legendary Sorcerer, Diviner, and Thaumaturge together, on Friday.  In my next post, I'll elaborate on our reasons for advancing through the world so quickly, but keep in mind, we're not yet through with this new world!  The content is still fresh and fascinating; beating Celestia once or twice or seven times still would not be enough to quench my curiosity on every story on the game (well done, KingsIsle!)  It may be purely coincidence, but I still can't get over the similarities between the nature of Astral Magic and the general nature of magic in my fan fiction comic Mistblood:

"Mind, body, and soul" used in Astral Magic and Mistblood

But that will be another post for another day...

Before we part from this transaction of communication, here are a few helpful Tweets I've made that just can't be elaborated on further:

Star Auras

Every Turn Counts

New Snacks Are Better

In Regards to the Crafting Quest

Critical on a Hydra/Orthrus vs. Block *confirmed*

Repetition is Sometimes Good

False Experience Displayed

Why Celestian Fashion Fails

How to Gain Training Points (part 1) *must read*

How to Gain Training Points (part 2) *must read*

New Endgame Badge *unconfirmed*

Two Sets of Level 58 Armor

Post a comment if you have any questions or thoughts....thanks for reading!

The Sea Cucumber

@DragonBrightWiz made this for me :)

If you haven't seen it yet, check Friendly's post here.

That's why.

Plus, Celestia's coming up on Wednesday of this week.  I think I'm ready....

Grandmaster Crafter Preparation on Live Realm

Good news!  The latest Test Realm update reduced the difficulty to advance to Grandmaster Crafter!  Check out this table I've made showing how you can prepare in the Live Realm before Celestia is released (click to enlarge):

Of course, these numbers are for the dedicated Artisans who want to obtain that badge within the first hour of Celestia's Live release.  I'd rather farm mobs and nodes for most of those Pearls and Stones...

In case you didn't know, you can transfer reagents from one Wizard to another in this update.  So, if you've been doing lifelong collecting sprees on your main or alternates, you're well on your way to the next badge.  Good luck, happy hunting!

Test Realm: Understanding Critical Hits and Blocks

As promised, I managed to get a good amount of research on Critical Hits and Blocks.  A few nights ago, Alric Ravensinger and I hopped into a few Practice PVP, each donning just the Spartan helmet that is given to all Wizards who listen to Dueling Diego's new lecture. 

Way too much pride?  Nah.

The Vicious Helmet gives the wearer +200 Max HP, and +15 Critical Hit Rating.   

What exactly is "Critical Hit Rating?"  How does having a larger or smaller amount affect my battles?

Our very own Sierra Starsong had this to pitch in: 

I've done a little study on Criticals with a wand (fixed damage amount). It looks like the Crit# is your % chance of getting a Critical hit with that spell type, your Crit# gets reduced by the target's Block# for a net chance. (I'm not sure if a Blocked Critical does regular damage or if it gets blocked completely.)

Yes, a Critical Hit does double damage.

Healing spells can get Criticals as well, healing twice as much, if you've got a Crit# in the appropriate school (or a universal one).

Thanks, Sierra!  Basically, having even one point in Critical Hit Rating (CHR) will give you an opportunity, albeit a small one, to double the value of your successfully casted spell.  If I "crit" on a 100-damage wand strike without any damage boost in that school, I will do 200 damage (on a non-resisting opponent) whether I have 5 CHR or 120 CHR.

However, if the opponent has some value in Block, it doesn't decrease my chance of doing twice my damage.  Instead, it is a passive bonus that directly affects the Wizard with the Block attribute; they have a chance on the same scale as CHR to completely nullify (that means cancel, void, ignore, etc.) the extra damage from Critical Hit.  So, if my wand attack "crits", and becomes Blocked, it means I'll still do 100 damage as normal, but my "crit" won't be counted at all.

Similarly, if I cast a Pixie--and "crit"--without any Incoming % or Outgoing % or heal-related charms, I will receive up to 800 recovered health, whether I have 5 CHR or 120 CHR.  "Up to" considers that there may be a Doom and Gloom and/or Infection in play.

Thanks for reading!

Test Realm: Celestian Pets

Because this post would have created an unnecessarily long Test Realm recap, here's a short analysis for each of the new, purchasable pets introduced with Celestia.  At time of this writing, the first four pets can be bought for either CROWNS or GOLD (Test Realm):

Hands down, the Spinyfish is a must-have for Storm Wizards!  This frowning little guy actually brightened the Team up, seeing how it has only ONE passive talent (Eager), while the rest are actives (direct benefit to the Wizards).  That means there's very little chance that you'll feel disappointed after raising this creature up a few ranks.  Of course, if Stormtrap and Stormblade actually worked and wasn't bugged, then there's almost no chance you'll end up with a non-functioning sidekick.  Come on, KingsIsle, what's up with these inactives?  Anyway, even if those May Casts aren't going off just yet, this fish is a great investment!

The Sea Dragon is probably the most impressive pet I've yet to see; it's the first pet I've seen to give all active Talents, meaning it is free of Stat Boosts.  Thus, the bonuses that this First Generation gives will already contain your best possible windows for the Fire School.  If you're a Pyromancer, get this little goofy guy as soon as Test goes Live.  If he doesn't produce the exact Talent combination you want, he will serve as a key pet to Hatch against.

While this creepy Starfish is not yet complete like the other two, he is bound to be in a Thaumaturge's collection, especially mine as soon as Live is updated.  Nothing's greater than having the best health out of all schools AND having blades or traps set for you while you shield up!  Heck, with all the PVP players out there now carrying Melt to prevent a Tower Shield from being used, it's definitely going to be handy to have an Interrupt by this guy with an Ice spell, which will help remove those Dispels.  Of course, like with the Spinyfish mentioned above, those May casts need to start working.  Then again, I'm really trying to think about buying this pet, carefully at least...I'm just not too fond about his cheesy grin.



 Hmm...its active Talents aren't as diverse at the preceding pets, but the Sea Turtle has a satisfying seven to choose from.  It's Life-based and has Sprite Time (note:  not Spritely, unfortunately), but that's all there is for non-standard (-Giver, -Proof, -Shot, Pip O'Plenty, Health/Mana Gift) abilities.  Thus, if you're focused solely on cosmetics and would enjoy having a shelled follower, by all means grab this pet at will!  Otherwise, if you already have a decent Life pet, take a rain check on this creature.  

I didn't think that Jellyfish could be cute at all, until seeing this one...Wizard hat on an invertebrate:  goofy!  Good news is that we all get this pet, as soon as we "Use the Moon Portal."  That's a long way's to go...Missy and I were around 54 or 55 by the time we were given this quest, and we were using XP potions on all of our quests.  We haven't uncovered this creature just yet, but I don't have high hopes of this pet turning out to be phenomenal.  So far, we discovered those standard active talents, which are great for Necromancers, and found that this critter has  chance to manifest Curse Giver!  I'm hoping Talent Slot 5 would be some kind of "May Cast" talent, like Deathblade or Deathtrap.  Not sure what the final uncovered Rare one would be, but I'll put a few gold down and say it'll be something like Eager (like Spinyfish's) or another Passive Talent.




KingsIsle did mention that there were other pets out there that take some work on finding...I'm guessing those would be drop-only pets!  So, readers, if you find any new Celestian pets out there, be sure to let us know, either by emailing petnome at hotmail dot com (I'm noticing some spam mail lately, so I'm following in Lisa Jonte's footsteps) or replying in the comments section below, so we can get started on those pages.  Thanks for reading!

Test Realm: The Magic of Celestia, Weekend 1

Now that my speech class presentation is over and done with, time to catch up on blogging!

I'm sitting at work on Friday, occasionally checking my cell phone after it vibrates, keeping up with a few Twizards (Wizards who are active on Twitter) and following the gaming convention hype vicariously through Friendly and Leesha.  As soon as word drops from Tom that the Test Realm is out and Celestia is featured, my concentration levels drop, my body becomes jittery, and my eyes dart towards the computer clock profusely.  "How much longer until I'm getting out of here!!?!"  

Nothing could have ruined my day though, as soon as I was out of there.  No, not even the long line I had to wait in at the end of the day to renew my parking pass, and especially not the clerk who refused to validate my entrance pass.  Heck, I just had to talk to Maureen the ticket window lady about my issue, and she took real great care of me, and signed me out at my own fee rate.  And certainly, not even Lady Gaga's annoying "Telephone" song, played simultaneously on two of my favorite radio stations, could annoy me; I drove down that highway with it blasting, windows rolled down, and possibly drawing looks of disapproval and rolled eyes from those I passed.  Celestia was out for rolling around in, and that was all that mattered.

During my ticket pass re-registration, Fallon Deathslinger was more than generous enough to relay to me the Update Notes over the phone.  So, my mind was constantly reeling over what "Critical Hits/Blocks" were, and I tried to imagine the Astral magic spells based on what I learned from Deathywiz.  That kept me so busy that I didn't notice I was already off the highway and back in my residential area (and luckily not in a ditch).  

After finishing the Test Realm patches, I hopped into the Spiral, and was instantly greeted by notifications from Merle Ambrose and Dueling Diego while in the Bazaar.  Ronan Dawn began relaying to me through chat  his observations and amazement at the new content.  

Me being me, I took the odd, slow road, and instead of blasting through the door into the Headmaster's office, I began scanning around my current surroundings, and talked to the Master Merchant for any new items.

First, I want to point out how amazed I was when I saw how my Test Realm screenshots turned out.  Currently on the Live Realm and previously in past Test Realms, taking in-game pictures included a portion of my desktop because I play in windowed mode.  Thus, I was always finding myself manually cropping the image down to just the game window before displaying them.  But, this picture is unmodified!  I wonder why this user-friendly update wasn't included in the notes?

Anyway, as you can see here, a new column was added in the Treasure Card category: Astral treasures!  However, at the time of this snapshot, there weren't any cards for sale.  Oh well!

I later made my way over to Dueling Diego to see what news he had for me.  Neela Mythslinger, aka Miguel Wildthorn, teleported to me to also check out the information on Critical Hits and Blocks.  While we didn't find out in detail how the values were determined based on the boosts on armor, we got a neat Spartan helmet giving us some Critical Rating.  From just some observations of Criticals in battle, it looks like players are given a chance to double their damage, after Charm and Wards have been calculated.  I'll definitely be testing further into this over this next coming weekend.

I zoomed and hovered over to Ambrose, who gave me a new mission: check out a new world called Celestia.  I went above and beyond that task.

Whenever new content of anything is presented to me, I will dissect and explore as much of it as I can; I love and yearn for the aspects of "how" and "why", not just "what."  As soon as I entered the underwater realm, I hugged the wall from left to right to check out NPCs and vendors to get a better understanding of each character's role.  Through this, it allows me to establish a primitive mental map, so I'm not as lost as someone diving straight into quests without direction or a point of reference.  

As soon as I saw the Pet Vendor, I went straight into "work mode" for the Petnome Project.  Yeah, that's me being me, again, I know, I know.  

Check these two cards out:  

The Jewel of the Feint is sold directly from the Amulet Vendor.  The Test Realm happened to copy my character after he bought back Training Points around two weeks ago, so including this wonderful trap to my deck as an equipment card made me very happy, since I didn't have to spend 7 TPs!  You can see that this will stack up with the regular, Bartleby, and crafted Feints!  (I'll put up a post on another day to show how you can eventually stack up to five).

The Iceblade Vial is actually a crafted item, but is way too useful to pass up the Grandmaster Crafter badge; this spell will stack with the Iceblade given from Ice Bird and the one from my own school!  That's Ice damage amplified by 2.744 times from those three buffs.  While Feint may give me a whopping boost of 70%, that's only on one monster.  As Ice, I would want to pack in some some decent damage to either knock out the smaller minions in a boss fight, or gain their attention while my Storm and Fire allies lock and load with their blades and traps.

Speaking of which, here's my planned Astral build, which I'll write more about in another post:

I've noticed a lot of people exclaiming their concern about replenishing their mana and how they're lost on where to do so.  I don't recall seeing any mana wisps in Celestia; I've mainly resorted to teleporting back to the Celestian Base Camp (CL's "Commons") to play the minigames available there.

As  you can see, the sigils are hidden just by Prospector Zeke; a little frustrating to find for those who like to speed through ;)

I'll end with my favorite boss to fight:

DAGROLOTH; I was in Gobbler Polymorph (notice my health orb)

"Purple Hulk" was initially frustrating to fight against, given that he had 5,000 hitpoints, uses a Satyr that heals for five thousand, and towers every time a Charm (negative or positive) or Ward (negative or positive) was used by a Wizard.  He does drop some really cool Double Power Pip weapons, though....yep, Double Power Pip...meaning you can start out with 5 or 6 equivalent Pips.  We do have to wait until Level 55 before using them, but it's worth it!  I'll create yet another separate post on how to beat this gargantuan.

He's located in the Grotto, in the dead middle of the map where my shining green arrow is:

Oh yeah, make sure you have a Tank in the Sun Spot, because he has a chance to do this on the very first turn:

Holy mackerel, and I had 26-30% Universal Resist!

Thanks for reading!

Under the Straw Hat #3: Light and Darkness in Celestia

While I believed it to be a stamp and anchor for a pleasant day, my visit to Thomas's residence turned out to spawn a new set of concerns.  Our conversation included some enlightenment for me in regards to his short-lived  invitation to the Pantheon and narrow miss on obtaining the habitants' blessings.  An extensive aura of disappointment was felt, but as usual, the man kept a phenomenal cool as he reminisced about seeing the Creators' without their masks.

What turned the tide of the moment was a piece of parchment arriving for Sir Lionblood from a "Ms. Drake," with the following image attached:

"This is no rumor," it noted.  

There was an exchange of grim expressions as we silently read about these anthropoids.  As I began to depart for my residence to discuss the news with the Team, a strong realization hit me out of nowhere:  the world of the mythical Celestia seems to be a conflict between light and darkness.

Crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, etc.) and insects are similar in structure and characteristics.  Both are comprised  of tough epidermis, called "exoskeleton," and their young generally start out as larvae.  Though used for different purposes, both have "jointed legs."  In addition, both sub-phylum are described to relate in terms of a melding between their "bodies" (known as "thoraxes") and heads.

A battle amongst cousins.  However, there seems an established difference between the two sides: one as a protagonist, Romanesque culture, and one of an arbitrary group bent on--supposedly--evil intentions.

But is this view self-prophetic?  Are the squeamish reactions I have toward the appearance of the giant insects  my main basis on how I predetermine their moral alignment?

I nudge to Platae to continue her pace on her own.  As the sunbeams blink as they reach under my hat, I couldn't help but wonder if this talk about finding and utilizing the "Spiral Key" is in fact a selfish action, justified by an intent to "aid" the Crustaceans.

The Marleybonians have already made their questionable stake on land, over at Krokotopia.  They even removed ancient artifacts, which pertain to the history and past cultures of those deserts, for their own capitalization...perhaps with the hope of increasing tourism.  In fact, I'm not so surprised that Alhazred, a key figure with association to the missing Krokonomicon, is taking shelter underground on an aerial terrain somewhat distant from The Oasis.  

Thus, is their discovery of Celestia actually an infringement and potential invasion on the submerged world?  

I took a mental note to remind myself that perhaps the motives of the "Shadow Weavers" may actually be the focus of preserving their seclusion from the land-based worlds.  There is always the chance that these "villains" are victims of distortion and propaganda.  I rode towards the horizon, contemplating about the author: is it an explorer with a drive to probe and prospect against the will of the anthropoids, or a true Spiralanthropist  passing on news of world-turning danger?

Connecting AutumnalDusk with Celestia (?)

Updated April 21, 2010 @ 12:08 PM:

I woke up to a barrage of confusion, mystery, and wonder today, mainly due to my "late" arrival to Wizard101 about four-and-a-half months ago.  A player/blogger named AutumnalDusk (AD) has made a surprise return, and with that came the excitement from other bloggers who knew and knew of her.  From what I was able to find out in about an hour of research (yes, I'm writing this before I head off to work...I apologize for the haste, but the earlier I get this out, the more I may find when I return), she is a detailed writer and gamer analyst, with length of posts similar to what few bloggers of the Spiral have (hint hint).  I know I'm looking forward to reading more of her work in the following days; she also explores beyond the game...heck, it looks like she explores beyond the activity of gaming as well!

The feeling of ambiguity started when I laid my eyes on the picture included in her post: the same Celestia desktop image that was released this month, but now with a new figure added.  Has no one else looked at the background image until AD posted, or does she have anything to do with the picture, whether it means picture editing or official business with KingsIsle?  The Friendly Necromancer did mention that her absence until now lasted around eight months.  Again, being relatively new in the community and lacking the necessary time to search, I'm ignorant to what led to her temporary separation from the game.  But the photo does make me wonder:  is this AD's unique and interesting way of telling the community that along with Celestia's opening, she would be in full production again?  Is that her character's silhouette, donning a supposedly new pair of wings she recently purchased?  Or is that KingsIsle's official image with an addition?

Secondly, almost on a different branch, but related to the slightly ominous presence of the new silhouette:  With the assumption that the picture on AD's blog is an official KingsIsle release, has anyone suggested--especially with idea that there are possible Marleybonians in the picture--that there could be some genetic splicing involved in the new world?  With the Pet Hatchery coming, and KingsIsle's announcement that we'll be able to customize our pets extensively ("millions" of combinations), doesn't that sound like chromosomal modification?  Disregarding the art of magic, what if our Wing Mounts were actually materialized through the art of science?  Perhaps some twisted scientist had the audacity to go underground and combine the DNA strands of existing creatures such as the Seraph and the Bloodbat to human wizards.  Heck, I think it's very probable, considering that we'll soon have the ability to combine two creatures of different species with one another through unnatural(?) breeding techniques.

Now, let's explore these two questions when they're blended together:  What if the post AwesomeDiviners (AweDiv) made today turned out to be true?  This idea will consider AD is related to KingsIsle in some way, especially given that her blog is dubbed "Homework in a Graveyard."  Has AD been resurrected and featured in the image?  But, it could be that I'm overanalyzing...perhaps AweDiv just wanted to make an announcement through some symbolism in regards that AD is of the Death class, and that her return is based on the coming of the Seventh World.

This is all my random speculating and contemplating rambled into one giant mess, but it makes some sense...right?  Time to speed to accounting "internship"!  BAH!

Happy hunting!

P.S.  When I return, I will be correcting this blog to include necessary links for referencing