Zafaria Test Realm Patched!

Recently, the Test Realm has been updated with a few new tweaks:

Transcription

Kevin:  Hey guys, Battleblood here.  So, there're some exciting updates in the game now, in Zafaria!  I'm actually on the Live Realm farming Nastrond -- I'll soon explain why we're farming here.  

First of all, there's been an update to the Henchmen.  You can actually fight with creatures of the Spiral...next to you.  So, you can literally have a Helephant -- well, not a Helephant, but one of the Black Cultists from Zafaria -- as a Level 70 Henchman.  They're supposed to be stronger, since they're more expensive.  I think they're 400 Crowns, but they're (supposedly) worth it.  They're worth buying -- I guess -- if you're in a rut, or if you're stuck somewhere.  They have higher Critical Rates...

At the same time, the creatures of the Spiral (in Zafaria) also have higher Critical Rates themselves.  Thus, your battles could be a lot longer than before.  I know their Health has spiked up along with their Critical Rates.  What that means is that there's a chance you might be spending much more time fighting than running around and questing, depending on how many teammates you have, and it might be harder to Block their Criticals.  You might have to shield more, or even use Conviction in your decks now, especially to ensure that you don't become stunned.  I remember from last night fighting Life mobs, and they've used Forest Lord on their first turn, and they actually saved up Pips to to another Forest Lord after that.  Because I was by myself, I had to work out some heals, get my own Vengeance up (so I can Critical better on them) and escape the battle faster to collect the Health wisps.  That's the good news: there's an abundant amount of Health wisps flying around.  Therefore, you might not struggle that much, but it's all about what you do in the battles now.

I don't know if the Bosses themselves have changed, but I'll do a Vlog on that when I get the chance.

As for now, Pet Feeding has also been tweaked a little bit!  But, before we get to that...

Some spells have been amp'ed up or nerfed:  there are the Sirens, which have been nerfed -- it went from 900-something damage to 800-something; Dr. Katzenstein's Monster has been renamed -- or, maybe it's always been that way (I haven't been paying attention) -- but it's called Dr. Von's Monster, and it does Life Steal still, but now it's buffed so that it adds a 25% Infection on the target; and, Chimera has about 30 damage added to each head, so it's an increase of 90 -- they didn't really add any other special effects (which is a little disappointing for some Balance wizards; I was kind of hoping that one of the heads might give a small DoT that does 90 damage to help remove shields from one Spiritual School).

The reason why I'm in Nastrond is because KingsIsle has expanded the window on what items can give Pet XP (PXP)!  To follow up on the last Vlog, where I said that it was based on regular or holiday Crowns items: now you can feed Auctionable items!  Last night, I went into the Bazaar, and bought a bunch of Level 0-1 Amulets (which gave Firecat), and started feeding my pet those.  It actually gained 1 XP here, and 1 XP there!  Most of the time, though, it received gold.

Now, that's not totally profitable if you're looking for an income of gold.  In the example above, I'm purchasing these Amulets for 38 gold each, but received only 2 gold back if my pet didn't gain XP.  My strategy is to collect as many Non-Auctionable items as possible, and feed that to my pets!  The cool part is that there is no difference between feeding your pet a No Auction item (and receiving gold for that) than selling it to a Shop Vendor (like the Seamstress, for example).  

So, what I'm doing here is collecting as many No Auction items as possible -- since it's from a high-level world, I'll have a chance of 4 XP per feed, if I get lucky.  Or, I can get the same gold I'd get if I sold it to a vendor, (plus some additional rewards like Reagents or Treasure Cards).

Plan to plant many Pink Dandelions, King Parsleys, Silver Trumpet Vines, or any of those plants that tend to give their own seeds at Mature or Elder.  I know that Silver Trumpet Vines sometimes like to give two of their own seeds at Elder; Prickley Bears also do this.  There's a small chance for Pet XP when you feed your pet these surplus seeds.

If your items are Auctionable, I would recommend selling to the Bazaar if you're short on gold, rather than feeding it to your pets.  If they're not Auctionable, you can feed those items on-the-go to make room for Auctionables!  If you'd like to see the results of the Pet Buffet Survey yourself, you can go to http://tinyurl.com/petnomefeedresults, or you can conveniently visit the Petnome Project and browse the links towards the top of the front page.  There will be a spreadsheet which has collected a bunch of data from numerous contributors, and if you scroll down towards the bottom, you'll pass the light-blue colored text (which represents the data accumulated before this Test Realm Patch) and come upon the current data in solid, black text.  It will help give an idea of which items are giving PXP!

Last, but not least, if you look at the Update Notes on the official site, they've scratched out the word "sometimes" and written in "occasionally" (in the Pet Feeding section).

I hope you've enjoyed this video; if you did, please Subscribe, Like, and/or Comment if you have some questions, and I hope to see you guys in the Spiral, and hope you've enjoyed your day!  Peace out!

"Next World" Leveling Preparation

Ever reach the level cap and feel like you've accomplished everything, and end up ignoring the side quests hiding around the Spiral?  Or, if you are a hardcore "completionist," ever feel the need to clean out your Quest Book?  Here are some tips on how changing those impulses may be beneficial for the long run:

Vlog #13: Saturday's PVP Workshop

Topics:  How PVP has changed since Wintertusk's arrival, and an analytical review of  the new spells!

Vlogs #8-12: Wintertusk Adventures

Wintertusk Checklist and Analysis

Wintertusk is coming out today!  Too bad for me, I'm stuck with studying for a final for Thursday... -_-  I'll try to manage my time best to maybe even squeeze in some time for Ravenwood Radio 40 tonight, but no promises!  We'll just have to see if I can plow through or avoid some unnecessary chapters...

BUT, nevertheless, I've created a personal checklist while playing the Test Realm to remind me of some in-game obligations and duties for the Live Realm (once I'm free from academic burden).  This list is made public to help some of you PvPers manage your time, decisions, and resources to efficient use:

Concept to Grasp

A new generation of PVP has arrived, with 15 new spells.  Eight are completely new utility spells, and seven are upgraded versions of existing spells.  Various mechanical changes have been implemented, such as Earthquake no longer removing Stun Blocks, but stunning spells providing just one Stun Block of protection, opposed to four.  To balance this, Stun Resist gear has been added to Dueling Diego's supplies.  Also, the gear that's dropped within the Waterworks dungeon is for Legendary Wizards (Lv. 60), and provides Universal Resistance regardless of school.  New Crafted Gear is also available, allowing for an expansion of many new strategies (which I'll extensively be exploring and developing over the next few months).  Level 58 pets will also take us into a new dimension of PVP with new abilities and unique Innate Cards.  An additional Training Point will be provided through a new Zeke's quest.

The following checklist will be completed before my Ice Wizard returns to the Arena:

• New Spells
• Obtain Level 35 spell (Legion Shield)
• Great counter against Area of Effect (AOE)-Damage over Time (DoT) spells, allowing me to protect allies for an addition 30% resistance to next incoming damage.  Also helps me reduce damage for all allies if I can't make up my mind on who to protect.  A must have.
• Learn an additional spell from Zeke's Trogg Finder quest.
  
  
  
• New Items/Gear
• Purchase Stun Resist Amulet from Dueling Diego
• Replacing my Life Mastery Amulet, since Perfect Catch has vigorously trained and adapted to a Pip-building style before the Amulets were released; it shouldn't be unfamiliar territory.  I'll then have a 15% reduced chance of getting stunned.  Because stunning spells will provide just one Stun Block, the number of Chain-Stunners can be expected to increase.  Thus, having an innate chance of resisting a Stun can be advantageous against a team expecting to win by pure immobilization.  I would rather keep my Stellar Signet and Cosmic Kris for massive Incoming/Outgoing boosts to complement Spritely, so I will choose to stay at just 15% max Stun Resist (as opposed to 30%).
• Stitch Wands
• Personally craft one of the new weapons with help from someone who has access (going to port to them; thanks to Aiden for helping with clarification) to the wand recipes, stitch the Hammer of the Stone Sky to my "Banhammer" (a promo wand called the "Galvanic Hammer" from Beckett's).
• This wand allows for a variety of AOE support spells such as Bladestorm (increase team's damage), Brilliant Light (increase team's recovery rate via casted spell/Spritely), Legion Shield (increase team's resistance), Unicorn (increase team's damage recovery), and Guidance (increase team's accuracy).  All these spells have 100% accuracy, so the chance to fizzle will be very low (given that there is a Smokescreen or Black Mantle upon us).
• Will stitch my Lifeforce Sword to another model
• Just for aesthetics
• Repeat Waterworks with Perfect Catch until all members have their complete Legendary Gear before questing in Wintertusk.
• Gear boosts will allow for faster questing (higher critical rating without sacrificing survival via resist)
• Ronan's boots, hat, robe
• Fallon's boots, hat, robe
• Cassandra's boots, hat, robe
• My boots, hat, robe
• Create a new generation Perfect Catch Defender Pig, and research the Weakness talent more.  (Spell Proof, Spritely, Snow Shield/Weakness, Sharp-Shot)

Basics Behind Beguile

Hey all,

Per the request of our very own Kelsey Fireheart, I've included below the description and explanation behind Beguile, as heard from Fallon on Ravenwood Radio Episode 36.  I will try to elaborate on this in the future and include the video that was used in testing, but hopefully this will answer some questions about the surface-level mechanics.  Again, I want to point out that this is NOT the full analysis or dissection of the spell yet, but this is a usable understanding of it:

(Thanks to Diana Wildheart, Paige Moonshade, Paul Sandbreeze, and SorceressMiklai for helping me test it out!)

In short, Beguile places an enemy player on your team for two turns.  Frankly, if you are under the state of Beguile, wait for the Turn Indictator/Arrow to point at you a second time before casting any Attack-All or Heal-All spells.  Extensive details below:

FIRST TURN BEGUILES SECOND TURN:
If the team going first Beguiles a player on the team going second, the victim’s Single Target spells will still be successful in:

• healing allies, if casted
• damaging enemies, if casted

However, the victim’s AoE spells will:

• hurt allies, if casted
• help enemies, if casted

Thus, if the victim (on Second Turn’s team) used an AoE in the same round as Beguile (from First Turn’s team), that AoE will help First Turn and/or hurt Second Turn.

Once the round with Beguile is over, the arrow will not point at First Turn the following round.  Instead, it will point at the Beguiled player (the victim).  Hence, the victim will get to go first on the round after a Beguile.  When this happens, the victim’s Single Target spells will:

• help enemies, if casted
• hurt friends, if casted

But their AoE spells will:

• help allies
• hurt enemies.

SECOND TURN BEGUILES FIRST TURN:
If the team going second Beguiles a player on the team going first, the victim’s Single Target spells -- for two consecutive turns -- will:

• help enemies, if casted
• hurt allies, if casted

The first round the victim is under Beguile, his or her AoE spells will

• help enemies, if casted
• hurt allies, if casted

The second round that the victim is under Beguile, his or her AoE spells will

• help allies, if casted
• hurt enemies, if casted

Gardening: Minimalist (Part 2)

(here’s the last post if you haven’t seen it yet)



Now that we know how far a “Like” can be away from a plant, let’s determine how many plants we would be able to maintain at a time.  I’ve decided to use the highest rank to help determine our minimums and maximums, so you’re looking at the AOE range for mass Pollination.  In front of me are Medium pots (I have a huge liking for Honey Sickles, Prickly Bear Cacti, and Fly Traps, so this will be used as my personal foundation), showing a rounded estimate of the AOE diameter: 6 Medium Pots.  Take note that this does not mean I will be able to maintain 36 Medium plants.  We do have a circle opposed to a square, so trying to make a complete “grid” would mean that we’d have to use separate spells for the ones on the corners.

Tip:  You do NOT have to click on a plant or its plot to cast a spell. As you may have noticed (accidentally), it’s possible to conjure some magic simply by clicking in an unoccupied area of land.  So, if you have trouble “centering” your AOE spell, try aiming at just the ground (which allows you more targeting mobility). 

Once you have your area spotted out like this, you can begin designing your “Go Green” garden. 
Tip:  Keep in mind that you do NOT simply want to fill in the entire area, since it will prevent you from harvesting if you cannot reach the plant.  Each plant does have a Harvest Range, so you don’t want to barricade a single or group of plants with a wall of other plants.  Allow yourself to come into contact with every pot.



(Hi, Lauren!)  As you can see, I didn’t fill the entire area of the AOE Garden spell with pots, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to harvest the ones in the very middle.  Also, if I was better prepared, I would have every plant on Enchanted soil, which would give me further flexibility on what I want to plant after some become Elder.  For example, I may become tired of taking care of Honey Sickles and want more Prickly Bears (more snacks, less blades).  That means I would have to replace the regular Medium pot with an Enchanted one (more gold out of pocket!).  But if I wanted more Honey Sickles instead of Prickly Bears, I would not have to use regular soil.

In the picture above, I thought I had a great layout to reach every single plant.  But, if we look at the picture below, I realize I’m missing out on some of them:



The ones closest to me, and the one on the Enchanted Large soil near that dragon statue’s tail, are just a hair out of range. 

Tip:  When you are testing your AOE range on your garden, you can remove your hand from the mouse and use the arrow keys or WASD to travel around, while the AOE range stays in place.
Based on this tip, this is the same circle from the picture that Lauren Ironbane was in; I only changed my position and angle without moving the AOE one bit.  After seeing that my circle doesn’t include everything, I have to choose a different angle and position to aim for.



This is the exact same circle from the last two pictures.  I can now see that I need to shift it a bit to the right from this angle to include everything (see how much extra space I have to the left?).

Also, you may have noticed that there are some plants floating.  That’s how you can double how many plants you’re maintaining!  I chose to float Small Pots instead of more Medium ones so I could allow more vision to what the pots underneath “Need,” rather than have my view blocked by rotund containers.  If you’re unfamiliar with how to float objects, click on the picture below (and click on it once more for maximum zoom) for a very basic tutorial.  True, I could always link to a resource or existing guide, but instead of showing you what specific “tools” you need, I decided to elaborate on the “general formula” for floating.  Once you understand the concepts illustrated, you can experiment and float just about anything!

So, once you have determined AOE spell range, a suitable ground-level layout, and floated some extra plants, you should have a large quantity of plants considering you need only one of each “Like” to affect the entire patch.  It may or may not look something like this:



The yellow mist you see is what I deem “Pixie dust.”  It’s actually the Rank 10 Repellant spell you receive from the CL Gardener, which prevents any Rank 1 pests from appearing for 48 hours (cost of only 10 energy!)  With this compressed layout, I only need to cast it once to protect all 38+ of my stems.  Also, see how many plants need Pollination?



I marked the ones needing Pollen with blue lightning bolts…11 plants, maintained by one cast using just 15 energy.



Anyone else hear “Flight of the Bumblebee” playing?

Skills!

Happy Harvesting!

Gardening: Minimalist (Part 1)

Nothing is more frustrating than finding you’re too short on energy to take care of every single plant.  Especially during harvest time, when you are looking at valuable crops and plants, you may feel inclined to purchase an Energy Elixir to save that Silver Trumpet Vine or Maelstrom Snap Dragon that you’ve been so attentive to.  If you’re more interested in aesthetics, this post may not be for you.  If you’re focused on obtaining the rewards from Gardening rather than building the greatest looking field, please continue!  The purpose of this guide is to help you design an energy efficient layout for your plants, in addition to understanding a few more mechanics of the game.

First, let’s determine how far you can position a “Like” from a plant, as some furniture items do take up collision space (the amount of room around an object that prohibits movement or placement of other objects).  The main idea is to allow yourself to understand how much you need to compress your plants together so that they can all benefit from the same “Like” (Tropical Garden Gnome) without using up too much House Capacity (how many items you can place in your home).  Each Garden Gnome does represent a loss of a unique or interesting housing item, so let’s find out how large their “Like” aura covers.

I used pots here not only because it is indoors, but to save me energy from having to dig a hole, and energy from having to remove that plot.  If I wanted to save more gold, I could always use Enchanted Pots over regular ones; plants that don’t need Enchanted Soil can use it anyway!  (There was a question during Ravenwood Radio last night about the difference between regular and enchanted soil; the only difference is what the soil looks like, but there is no change in a plant’s growth rate).

I mouse-over my plant to show that the Garden Gnome is indeed taking effect on the Stinkweed.  Keep in mind Stinkweed requires a Small plot.

Eight pots were placed in a straight line, and the Stinkweed is still affected by the Gnome.  I ran out of Small Pots, but that doesn’t limit my distance in this experiment!  I can just bring the second pot to the end and count that as a ninth:

Take note of where the Gnome is positioned on the pot farthest to the left (ninth).  When I placed the Gnome on the very end of that pot, the Stinkweed no longer had any “Likes.”  But, when I moved it to the middle of the ninth Small pot, Stinkweed is happy again.  There are various interpretations to how you can quantify this, but I’m going to say that the maximum distance a “Like” can be away from a plant is eight-and-a-half (8.5) Small plots.  How about the distance for Medium and Large plots?

About 5.5 Medium Plots or 3.5 Large Plots, based on the picture above.  So, linearly from left to right, the Gnome can affect a single row of 19 Small Plants or 11 Medium Plants or 7 Large Plants.  Now that we know our range for “Likes,” we understand how far away our Pet Cannons or Regal Dragon Statues or Piles of Sand can be before they lose effect.

In my next post, we’ll look at diameters of AOE Gardening Spells to determine some strategic layouts.  Thanks for reading, Happy Harvesting!

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 (Competitive Scene)

Unfortunately, there are some aspects of the Arena that KingsIsle cannot easily and reliably mandate:  unsportsmanlike behavior and other dark factors of competition.  Verbal/personal attacks (known as "trash talking"), false reporting, accusations of breaking the rules, extreme or abnormal taunting (such as spamming Menu Chat endlessly), and use of derogative words (especially in a family-friendly environment) by an opponent--or opposing team--are just a few of the violations of competitive etiquette in Wizard101.

 

Several Defenses

The game's white list may protect viewers from seeing actual profanity, but up against the cleverness of useless players, it is trumped.  It cannot block against phonetic spelling, such as in this "send tense” (sentence).  This loophole can easily be countered by switching your Privacy Options' "Block PVP Chat" to "ON."  (Remember to Report the offender for “Inappropriate Language” or “Inappropriate Behavior.”)

But, what happens when spectators of the match are the ones throwing "trolling flurries?"  A great fix for pure soloists (in complete solitude and lacking friends to chat to)  is done in two steps:

• hitting the "O" hotkey to Open/Close the Chat Window and
• accessing your Gameplay Options to "HIDE" "Chat Balloons."  This temporary adjustment to your settings will allow you to PVP without having to see textual waste flying across the screen.

But, what if you are playing a teamed game, like 2v2 or more?  Given that not all players can voice chat with one another, communication via the chat box is vital for participants.  Hence, the next readily available resort is to click on the name(s) of the offensive speaker(s) and set them to "Ignore."  However, even this has a catch: "ignored" players each require a slot from your Friends List.  So, if you're full on contacts like I am, this option is out of the question; you'll have to see public messages from the audience simultaneously with Group Chat.

 

Seeing the Picture

With so many layers of countermeasures against malicious text, a player who is unfamiliar with the Arena scene may believe that inappropriate behavior is prevalent.  Some subscribers have even avoided participation in PVP (which is an included feature with their payment plan) because of the environment.  Others who have given the activity a try have commented accordingly on Cassandra Dragonheart’s post on PVP.  Then there are some extremists who lovingly use “PVP” and “PVPers” as negative connotations...but before we judge, allow me to take us on a few different avenues.

Think of a competitive sport you like to play for fun.  Football.  Basketball.  Maybe even underwater basket weaving.  Field and track.  It’s evident that human nature is a welcoming host to the notion of “comparison.”  In our minds, something has to have “better” or “worse” status than another thing; without this thought process, we as a society would be in a state of chaos due to randomly made decisions.  However, when we rely so heavily on the ability of “contrasting” and (consequentially) condition ourselves to think very linearly about “what trumps what,” we will also find ourselves in trouble.

For example, the tallest child in the playground may seemingly be the best teammate to have in basketball (via comparison), but (1) does he know how to play, (2) has he had experience with the weight and bounce of a ball, (3) is he playing to win or playing for fun, and (4) what do we know about the other children and their skills?  Some of us forget to realize that there is more than what’s shown on the surface.  Hence, just because you are in the state of winning/losing a match or have won/lost a game, it doesn’t mean you’re a better/worse player.  Yet, our nature and our perception tend to associate the outcome or progress of a duel to our skill level in relation to the other player(s).  This is truly a dangerous perspective as it allows taunting or “bad sport” players to affect how you play. 

Professional sports players deal with “boos,” jeers, and some of the nastiest comments every second that they’re on the field or court.  Spectators and cheerleaders who are against a certain player or team will try anything, from name-calling and chanting to gestures, to try and distract their target.  This is still ongoing to today regardless if the player performs decently (despite the distractions) because, as with all activities, there’s a constant psychological flow called a “stream of consciousness” that can be disrupted.  This part of our mind is continuously processing our thoughts, both on surface and instinctive levels, and do tie into instantaneous decisions.  A soccer player aiming for the goal is focused on the ball, but he or she could have hundreds of thoughts flowing in per second.  “Do I trick the goalie?…Too complicated?…They are skilled at diving but bad at predicting ball movement…We’re down by 1 and desperate for a tie…How many teammates are behind me?  Opponents?  Do I pass or take the shot?  The goalie is solid…do I trick them?…Everyone would be shouting my name if I make this…Too soon, don’t count eggs…Good breakfast this morning…I feel good about this…I’m going to try to score…All or nothing…”  With determined thoughts, the player will have a certain pressure or speed to their kick that would develop a winning move.  However, there are fans of the other team behind their goalie, waving around objects and yelling discouraging slurs.  If the player in possession allows that “background noise” to break their current stream of consciousness, the pressure or speed of the kick may change, resulting in a failed attempt to add a mark to the tally.  In Wizard101, spectators and opponents (if Block PVP Chat is not enabled) may throw text of all sorts (passive-aggressive, direct, indirect, etc.), not necessarily focusing on being mean to you personally, but also to affect your decision-making.  The ugly truth is that this sort of pressure is “fair game,” as long as it doesn’t violate KingsIsle’s Terms of Use. 

So, back to perception:  when you win a duel against someone who was rude or had rude cheerleaders, you may feel a stronger sense of dignity and pride along with some other positive emotions.  You generally have a greater incentive to start up another match, since you “proved” yourself.  It may even turn into an amusing story to share with friends.  On the other hand, had you lost that match, there are clashing reactions from frustration to disappointment.  In contrast to winning, you may feel as if your opponents “proved” something.  Words cut deeper at this point, and can even discourage you from starting up another duel, or in extreme cases, can lead you to quit PVP altogether.  What do you do at this point?

 

Seeing the Facts

An important concept to grasp, in any activity, is that losing is actually a greater long-term benefit than winning.  You’re given not only experience on what techniques and tricks are used in the arena, but you also tested your deck on its strengths (if it has any) and weaknesses.  All deck builds are subject to weaknesses of some sort, and most likely yours was countered in its current state.  Remember a post I made awhile ago, called “How to Face New Challenges,” which was geared towards beating the “unknown”?  The variation of spells in our deck also matter in PVP.  Having (or lacking) certain cards does play a large role in the flow and outcome of your fight. 

For example, too many healing spells can result in fewer attacks that are readily available to you, meaning you are giving your opponents a better chance at surviving.  In addition, if their deck happens to rely on lengthening a match to slowly gain an advantage, then your equipped setup was the actual fail, not you.  Some players rely on short, repetitive and structured decks where they play certain cards at certain rounds, which usually has a strong advantage against “late-game” decks. 

In this direction of thought, I am focused on the idea that winning or losing a match does not constitute that you are a better or worse player compared to your opponent, respectively.  Even if you win or lose a series of matches, being recognized purely on quantitative performance (win/loss record or streaks) is like being given a fragile mask: once a loss interrupts your wins (or vice versa), your skill level is now determined by the performance of others throughout history.  If someone manages a longer streak than you, say in about 8 months from now, does that mean they play better than you?  Of course not; we have yet to determine the skill level of your opponents and their opponents, and all other factors in the game.

Those of you who know me well may recognize my quote, “…Nah, just more experienced.”  A lot of you have heard this after exclaiming, or heard someone exclaim, “Wow, you’re the best PVPer”  or something to that effect.  While it may sound like modesty, it is actually my belief that experience combined with performance is what determines skill level.  What has happened in front of us and what we learn from it and how we apply that knowledge are all determinants for what kind of player we are.

Thus, try not to recognize or give the trolls of the Arena any credibility to their statements.  Some players in the Spiral can be mean with what they do or say, but it will only feel like “the truth” if you respect or listen to their words, or allow their actions to distract you.

 

Adjusting To a New Experience

I realize that quite a lot of players in Wizard101 don’t have prior gaming experience to this MMO, so dealing with competition in a psychological way is not yet touched on for most of us, hence a lot of concepts above exhibiting an “easier said than done” tone.  The competitive scene may be intimidating, but realize that it should not inhibit your interest in playing against a non-computer opponent.  Think about the sports mentioned earlier.  We accept that fans will boo or cheer obnoxiously in most events, but it doesn’t stop us from learning and playing football, soccer, basketball, etc. with our friends and family.  If you want to jump into the Arena to try out some human-vs-human play, you’re not restricted to playing with the rude kids.  Ask a friend or a friend of a friend to help you improve or provide you with company.  Not only will supportive opponents allow you to focus, but they can help you in trial and error with deck building.  You can use the “Practice PVP” option available to both Crowns and Subscription Players. 

When you think you’re ready to try your skills against strangers, you can slip into “Ranked PVP” or continue at “Practice” against random opponents.  Hold a conversation in Whisper or Group Chat with a PVP partner/mentor/knowledgeable friend, and discuss strategy if time permits.  Or, you can socialize.  Keep your mind busy: focus on the cards and not stranger chat.  Sometimes even silence can psychologically affect the other player if they keep PVP Chat On and see your PVP Chat is enabled too (elaboration will be made in future chapters).

If you find yourself in front of an opponent who has some kind of unique advantage over you (Arena Gear, Crowns Gear, Spritely Pet, Polymorph Cards), don’t think negatively and expect to lose just yet.  Use this match as an opportunity to learn from it, then use your experience to your advantage in your journey to becoming a Warlord and beyond.  If you win, props to you.  If you lose, don’t focus on the benefits their advantage gave them; instead, focus on determining its weaknesses.  A Spritely Pet uses up positive healing charms and has a small chance to trigger; it is also taking up space over a “reliable” talent such as increased Damage, Accuracy, Health, Resist, etc.  Remember that you won’t be playing the same player over and over, but you will face reoccurring tactics, equipment items, and deck builds.  Understanding these is more important than understanding how you already performed against one specific Wizard. 

Also, treat PVP as if you’ve entered a dungeon with special bosses, ones that are randomly created with the ability to plan and adapt to the way you play.  Losing is not a permanent fail; eventually you will perform better the more you watch, read, and ask for tips. 

 

Applying the Opposite

When these concepts become second-hand to you, try an alternative spin on what’s trending in the Arena.  If players are dominantly rude, respond as a good sport.  Represent yourself as a respectful player, and keep that integrity (meaning that you do it even when no one’s looking).  I admit that I sometimes steer away from self-respect to take up a defensive position for myself and/or others when dealing with poor sports, but all of it becomes a fragment of a memory in the end, thanks to my prior competitive gaming history.  Instead of letting people’s words affect my attitude in the current battle, I focus instead on the dance* between myself and them, to determine if it’s a “GG” (good game) and call it, or not.  (*Great metaphor by winicott1001)

Sometimes I will even offer to share some advice with my opponents that lost at the end of the match, in hopes of not only renewing their incentive to start another PVP battle, but also to encourage them and support their efforts of participating in the challenges of the Arena.  If you recognize someone “incorrectly” using a deck build similar to yours, ask if they would like some tips from you (assuming you know the strategy and tactics well, of course!) or another PVPer.  Sometimes nice gestures can be as viral as this meme; there are countless stories of Starbucks customers paying for the person behind them, resulting in the same act by the following customer. 

Overall, I hope we can restore the “fun” in PVP for existing and future players who have yet to read this post.  Competition isn’t always a scary thing; as I mentioned before, it can act as a tool to improve our strategies and understanding of the game.  What contributes to the intimidation is how we behave and react to various forces.  Thus, with some effort from us, the negative environment won’t have to be a permanent stamp, and more of our friends may take on a greater interest, giving us a larger pool to learn and improve from.

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 Arena: Prologue

 

I ran into a thread a few days ago on Wizard101 Central where someone (I can't remember their name; it seems the thread has either been moved to somewhere discrete, or been deleted) asked where they could find PVP guides written by me.  Just to clear up the rumors, I actually don't have any type of articles purely on that matter...until now.   Most of my guidance was given through the game, so I'm assuming the requester overheard me at a post-match discussion or in the Hatchery the other night.  Heck, with all the buzz on Twitter awhile ago, I've been unofficially labeled as the go-to person for the arena.

But that got me thinking.  Why exactly haven't I started up on sharing some tactics just yet? (rhetorical question)  Someone guessed it was because letting strategies surface would backfire on me someday.  That's a possible consequence, but remember that we are playing a game that involves probabilities, and thus there are no "absolute" or "invincible" deck builds or playstyles.  So, while tips and tricks may help reduce game-changing mistakes, they never guarantee victories.  Guides are just guides.

In my case, I'll be introducing and exploring some basic and advanced concepts for PVP over the next few weeks.  And because they're just concepts, it's really up to the player's critical thinking and decision-making that determines the outcome.  No negative repercussions for me there; only more competitors and competent players!

WHY do PVP?  For one, it allows you to explore your strategies, playstyle, and leadership skills in a new dimension.  Cassandra Dragonheart, who's just started in the last few weeks, wrote:

Playing against HUMAN players and not mobs brings a whole new side of Wizard101 to light.  Human players can think ;) and not just blade, trap, attack.  PvP is a whole 'nother thing.

Against another human, gameplay is not as repetitive as farming the Coven; arguably, the game is different every match, even when against the same Wizard.  When your target is putting up enough shields to thwart that common strategy of a one-hit kill, you are then playing in a "world" that is much more difficult and demanding than Dragonspyre.  In contrast to altering your playstyle away from "trap-stacking," you will also be experimenting defensively, finding yourself using more shields than before, to prevent an opponent's "trap-stacking."

Through learning to innovate by planning your deck against the unknown and unexpected, you're halfway there to being fully prepared against future Cheater bosses.  As mentioned before in my Warehouse Guide, I pointed out that my group and I had very little knowledge of how the instance bosses behaved, other than that they used Rank 7 spells, including Rebirth.  Heck, I was the only one who PVPed regularly between the four of us, but by applying a strategy I had learned from the Arena, we beat Estrakir, without guides, on the Test Realm, on our very first attempt.  Thus, PVP also provides mental and tactical tools to use, no matter what your skill level or rank is.  Whether you win or lose a match, there is something always to be gained from the experience (given that your mind is open, and that you do not give up).  Beguile puts the target on your team for a few rounds.  Minions can break shields.  Life Dispel can prevent Life-based healing spells from going off.  Such information is vital to know, should we find "trap-stacking" too simplistic in the future.  Who knows what PVP will teach us about the coming Astral Magics and new Main School spells?

Before I throw down the playbook, I'd like to use the next few days (and posts) to discuss the perspectives on PVP a little more in depth, to clear up some general perceptions on it.  In other words, this Prologue will be extensive, and expanded over a few days.  Hopefully I can broaden the interest of those who have not yet tried PVP (but heard many "bad" things about the arena), or bring redemption for the sport in the eyes of those who tried and quit.

Battleblood Style: Warehouse

Alright, so it seems that a guide about the Warehouse has been released on Central a few days ago, which you can look at here.  It’s very detailed; it includes the health points of each monster on each floor, and dips a little into exactly what the Bosses and their minions do.  It covers plenty of information, but a few missing tidbits here and there (since I last saw it), so I’ll fill in more of the details.  In addition, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it’s a guide geared so specifically to the Warehouse, that some of us may feel lost when it comes to fighting a new Cheater.  So, let’s look at something you can apply to almost anywhere, and create a more streamlined run/farm!

Note:  This guide is intended for Grandmasters with Text and Open Chat.  (kudos to Arlen Dawneyes and Thomas Lionblood for pointing out the importance of communication)

(I strongly recommend having a Life player when doing Warehouse, especially if you have had a hard time with the instance after many tries; there is one tactic that Central’s guide is critically missing, which I will cover later.  However, this tower CAN be done without a Theurgist.)

ZERG RUSH (AOE Decks) – Rule of Special Decks

The term “Zerg rush” comes from an old, favorite RTS (real-time strategy) game of mine:  Starcraft, created by Blizzard Entertainment.  It’s coined after a tactic where a Zerg player will unconventionally create nothing but their weakest and inexpensive attackers, and send them off to attack an opponent within the first few minutes of the game.  The intention is to harass their opponents enough that their progress will slow to a game-changing point, and when the Zerglings are in large numbers, the match ends faster.

A “Zerg Rush” in Wizard101 means knocking out your enemies in the first, second, or third turn through a combination of Area of Effect (AOE; not to be mistaken with Global, which means “affect everyone”) attacks, with a full team of Wizards (4 players).  If you treat your whole team as one entity or body, the “Zerg Rush” allows your team to escape a battle faster, and thus with the fewer scars.  Let’s call it the “All Rush” strategy, so our Text Chatters can see both words.

The “All Rush” strategy works beautifully with saving time, health, and mana; it may even allow you to end a tower with all potions full!  This is what I used in Big Ben (modified to kill on the first turn), the Secure House (where Redwind’s Sword (Life-100 damage) is dropped; got four of them within two weeks!), Briskbreeze, and any other long, grueling tower.  Kensington dropped down to around an hour to complete.  This method will help you clear the floors up to the bosses very quickly.

What this requires (if you don’t have an extra “sandbox” deck on hand) is a small alternative deck, perhaps around 15-20 cards.  Yep, you read it right: Grandmasters with Krokotopia-level decks.  In this deck, you need to “max out” (use the maximum allowed) your Rank 4 AOE, if you have one (Balance, Fire, Ice, Storm, Myth).  If you are Death School, max out your Scarecrow.  If you’re Life, stock up on full Unicorns.

Next, if you are using Rank 4 AOEs, stack your deck with your School Blade.  If you are Death School, you will need Empower*.  If you are Life, you will need Guidance.

*Empower does not act accordingly to its description.  It does not cost one pip to give you three; it instead adds two white pips, with no change to what you have already.

No other cards are needed (no shields, no traps, etc.  Maybe a Prism if the monsters are the same school as all of your attackers). 

Your goal is to clear the floors of the weak minions in TWO turns. 

·         For those with the Rank 4 AOE, Blading up and removing duplicate Blades and Wand Attacks will be your first move, that way your AOE shows up if one’s not already in hand. 

·         If you are a Death Player, ask that your teammates allow you to be positioned in the Sun circle (first player).  You will need the most enemies alive when your Life Steal hits in order to recover from Empower’s damage. 

·         If you are a Life player, make sure you are entering on the Moon circle (last player).  You will need to cast Guidance the same turn everyone uses Blades or Empower, for a sure chance of killing, and so that your Charm is not used on those Spells.

On the second turn, all players will use their AOE attack or Unicorn.  Do a little jig at the end of the animations, and proceed to the next Barbecue.

CHEATER BOSS BATTLES

This section will cover the cause and effects, and the strategy my team and I used on both Cheater floors.  Remember, the only knowledge about the tower we had was that there was Storm Lord, Frost Giant, and Rebirth somewhere.  We encountered rumors that these spells came randomly, but when we tested around, it turns out that these Rank 7 AOEs (along with others) happen during specific events.

·         Crab Cheater (CC)

o   Any damage to CC will result in him yelling “HELP ME!”  When the turn is over, the Storm Skeleton will then cast a Storm Lord, which does stun.  Because he forms a Storm Seal, Dissipate will prevent the spell.

o   Like Orrick from Briskbreeze, CC removes traps placed on him, one at a time.  He also sports a Tower Shield and automatically replaces them when hurt.  Thus, you can use Steal Ward open him up for full damage.  – Patching changed his Tower Shields to a *casted* Interrupt, so Melt will work in preventing his spell.  Also, it doesn’t seem that he replaces Tower Shield right away anymore.

o   He is glitched a bit; I believe he is meant to cast “Pierce” to remove one *positive* ward, but instead, he will funnily remove a negative ward.  In other words, when you shield, he will cast a “break” spell, but instead of your shield, it affects any TRAPS on you.  I wonder how many people will actually report this ;)

o   We killed off his skeletons in this order: Life (because he was shielding against Fallon Deathslinger heavily), Ice (to reduce the chance of another Tower appearing), and Storm.  Without his minions, CC will still cry for “HELP!” but no one is around to hear him.  (Concept of Disarming)  After the last skeleton dies, you will be given the MC Hammer effect.  Shrug it off and cook that crustacean!

·         Final Floor

o   You will encounter some dialogue between Estrakir and one of the mice minions; a hint is given here, stating that the rats should do something to us when Global/Bubble spells are casted

§  John Lifeglen tested this in another run to see what happened: the enemies returned after being defeated…at least twice.  – Possible bug after Patching.  Enemies returned for my second run, without use of Global.

o   Rats (2)

§  They will add triple shields around and specifically a Tower Shield to Knuckles whenever he is attacked.  Thus, they must be taken out first.

o   Knuckles

§  He is definitely a copycat.  Whenever any type of recovery spell, be it Helping Hands, Sprite, etc. is casted by a Wizard, he immediately casts a fake Rebirth, which heals for 750 HP.  The awesome catch is, the enemies aren’t given Absorbs.

·         The plan was to have Fallon be the only attacker, since I assumed Absorbs were to be bountiful on the enemies.  But, it looks like that won’t be a problem!

o   Estrakir

§  The head honcho has a variety of AOEs at his disposal:  Dragon, Fire* Nova, and Scarecrow

·         *Fire Nova is the same graphic as the Balance spell, but has outgoing Fire damage; bring those shields if you don’t have Quench

·         Dragon is unleashed every few turns after you hurt Estrakir (small or large damage; we tested with a wand attack) while his allies are still up.  Therefore, try not to hit him when against 4 units!

·         Fire Nova is casted whenever any attack goes off (this Interrupt stacks with Dragon’s Interrupt, so you definitely don’t want to aim for him right away), but that also means be prepared to heal after killing off his allies

·         Scarecrow is casted every other turn after his allies are dead.

PVP TACTIC

I’ve mentioned a few times that I implemented some strategy from the arena in our fights against CC and the Final Floor.  I call this method the “Iron Medic.”

(keep in mind that this was our first encounter with each boss, so the fight took longer than it should have)

Our Life player, Taryn, removed as many attacks as she could (save the Centaur from her gear) and placed in nothing but Shields of all types, Rebirths, Unicorns, Guiding Lights, and Guidances, and any other heals she could fit in.  Plus two Reshuffles.  We were expecting a long fight ;)

Any shields that came up in our hand were all placed onto Taryn.  The less she had to worry about healing herself, the more her pips could be focused on keeping the whole team alive.  Also, while we experimented around, her Group Heals were the main basis of aggro, so we were prepared to protect her against four attackers.  Because the enemies passed a few times, we ended up blocking them faster than they could tear shields off of Taryn.  Overall, we were able to keep our cool knowing that we had virtually infinite recovery.

Let me know how your Warehouse runs go!