Hey all! I figured I'd share a little bit of what the Petnome Project results will look like when we're compiling all the pieces together! Take note that this was made from 3 screenshots that I made from my monitor, spliced together, so this won't be the ACTUAL size of the page when we publish it.
To give you an idea of how the page will work, (I've removed the editing bars and headers so you won't find the site just yet) you'll be able to navigate to a page like this Aqua Dragon 57's after selecting the first letter of your Pet's Class ("A" for Aqua Dragon), and then select the name of your pet with the corresponding Pedigree number (Aqua Dragon 57).
That will bring you to the page above. As you can see, the Default Stat Maxes will be posted on the upper left, the pet's portrait in the center, and any innate cards that the critter gives, at default.
Below the pet portrait will be the Pet School.
Then you have the Petnome Strands (double columns) for Talent and Derby Skills. In the picture above, I've left the columns Locked, but that is what the Aqua Dragon 57's Genetic Template should look like.
Further down, you'll see a table with the list of the contributors per ability. Once an ability is confirmed, we will close off credit for any future submissions for the same Talent/Derby Skill for that specific pet. We may create links to our contributors' blog, Central profile, Diary of a Wizard ConnectX, etc.
The words that I highlighted above in red are the features that will be converted into Links, and have their very own page. For example, if you click on the Ice School symbol on the site, you will be directed to a page that lists other Ice School pets. Or, if you clicked on an Unlocked Talent, such as Pip Boost, it will take you to a page that lists all (submitted) pets that have that Ability too.
So far, we may disable comments at the bottom of the site, considering that hundreds of people may view it in post something. We're trying to keep the site as a Reference tool rather than a discussion board, but we may change our minds.
Right now, we're looking for comments, suggestions, questions, any kind of feedback.
On a personal note, I just want to thank everyone for their patience! I've literally spent many hours each week searching for the best host for least resources, but a lot of tools have either been great in quality and expensive, or plain Gobbler droppings and free. The site I've laid my eyes on is the in-between.
Anyway, I'm off for my break in the Spiral! Let me know your thoughts on the layout!
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.
CHEATERBOSS 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)
oAny 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.
oLike 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.
oHe 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 ;)
oWe 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
oYou 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.
oRats (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.
oKnuckles
§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!
oEstrakir
§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.
The Warehouse Run starts around 46 minutes in! The beginning of the show follows a light-hearted convo between me, Christina Icedreamer, and Fallon Deathslinger.
Text guide will follow shortly as I revise it to be updated to match the Patch!
Instead of sharing exactly how the Warehouse in the Test Realm works, I'd like to share more of what went on behind-the-scenes: the thought-process, if you will. So, I apologize if there were any expectations of a linear, instructional guide on beating this specific instance; that won't be happening...yet. No worries, you'll have detailed instructions before this weekend. However, with the concepts below, you will have a better--if not successful--experience with many future challenges to come!
Introduction: Gameplay Curve 101
In our young Wizarding days, we might have experimented around with our spells and equipment, with little to no sense of direction. We made a lot of "mistakes" that our current selves would smile and shake our heads at, such as stacking our decks to the brim with every card that we could fit in there--which then led to a series of instances of exclaiming, "I can't find it! It's not coming up!"--or using Wands from our own school, only to realize that there's a catch to using the easiest way to remove a shield...."Doh! My blades!!!"
Initially, everything was a mystery to us, from what kinds of attacks or spells the monsters would use, or how different elements or schools reacted to one another. We have even pondered about how Bosses differed from the normal enemies (remember feeling disappointed about how easy the Dark Sprite boss was?). Thus, we played instinctively, perhaps forgetting the logic behind killing weaker monsters before defeating the boss, to reduce Incoming Damage per Turn. The only thing the game taught us, before Unicorn Way, was how to activate our spells and fight. But without formal preparation for the unexpected, we might have found ourselves struggling.
The more we play, the more we start to incorporate different methods and develop personal guidelines to follow. "Use Thunder Snake on the Pirate...these do the most damage, and kills faster." "Use Imp to finish it off, there's a sure chance to get a hit in."
But, over time, as we repeat our fights and adapt to the pattern of casting wards and charms before releasing an attack, the gameplay eventually becomes a habit, and Wizard101 becomes second-hand...maybe even third-hand, considering that some of us multitask with [Alt + Tab] or "multi-box" (playing with more than one account simultaneously).
Slowly, innovation and creativity drizzles out as we become more familiar with the game. We learn that Stun shields no longer matter, in PVE (player vs. environment). Doom and Gloom is never used, since the Life School monsters focus on aggressive play over recovery (imagine, though, if they could continually cast Fairy to revive one another). Spells that parallel Pacify's effect are pretty much extinct in a Wizard's deck.
Without needing every spell from our school, we allow more room for copies of the cards we want to show up sooner. Soon enough, we have around 5 school blades, 5 triple blades, 4 school traps, etc. for standardized combat. These are the normal necessities for dueling in Wizard101. No matter the monster or Boss we fight, the concepts stay the same: we use more blades and traps depending on the creature's health. We would consider the act of stacking these modifiers as advanced play, since we're not randomly chopping away at mobs with whatever pips we can expend (something we used to do).
Because this "strategy" has become so normalized at our highest levels, we start to believe that we are invincible in the sense that the game cannot beat us if we play it "right." If "right" means building up your modifiers to a point where the enemy can be knocked out in one hit, then we've got a major problem: dependence on one or two specific spell types.
When new players start breaking our traps (a Ward spell type), not only do we start reaching for the "Epic Fail" flag, but we also feel disarmed. An honest mistake on that person's part, nevertheless, but there lies the hole in our plan to hit hard and eliminate. Without those modifiers that we have become so faithful to--and who can blame us, really?--we tend to delay our attack until we can replace them. Putting traps back on is our simple fix. We all can rest easily.
So what happens to us when those modifiers are taken away infinitely? Orrick from Briskbreeze and Estrakir and the crab/lobster Boss in the Warehouse all remove your traps individually. And if that's not enough, they have other Interrupts that either proc (link courtesy of Friendly) or trigger, based on an action that you perform.
Thus, it becomes inevitable that we will find those Cheating bosses "impossible" or "extremely difficult," especially when we use what's "always worked for us." The developers at KingsIsle certainly have noticed how much we've mastered their game, and most likely have analyzed the reasons behind our success. With their results, it was only logical to up the ante by removing our "necessities" to a point. When we don't have our traps, much like in the New Player example, we are once again dropped into that hole of vulnerability. On Briskbreeze, KI did some overtime by countering any clever Wizard plans to sit around blading continuously: they added powerful Interrupts, and certainly kept the player with "aggro" under a lot of pressure with the Interrupt Heck Hound.
So, rather than a fight being technically hard, it is actually our traditional strategies and deck builds that end up failing against the new bosses, such as those in the Warehouse. In other words, it's us; not Warehouse, not the Updates, and certainly not the employees.
Remember those video games in the arcade where you control an aircraft from top-down view and shoot at the enemy ships that fly towards and around you? And then a Boss craft appears towards the end of the level and starts firing all these photon balls at you, covering the screen in bright orbs? If all we did was move our plane from left to right on the screen, spamming the shoot key, when we worked our way up to the Boss, we may have dodged the minor enemies easily, perhaps killing everything that appeared. But, we then learn that the Boss acts completely different in a tricky way, and requires more than just simple maneuvers to defeat. This is similar to how the Cheaters work in Wizard101.
What also adds to the perspective of the Warehouse being extremely difficult is our mindset stationed on the belief that we can conquer anything, and that we have learned everything we could. We thought we were in the "advanced" tier, so what we think we're doing is correct and the only way to defeat anything. In the end, we have neglected that cognitive ability of ours to invent, strategize from the foundation, and use our instincts, as opposed to what we've learned.
Also, what happens when you're one of the pioneers to encounter a Boss for the first time, and no one has made a guide on it, and misinformation is traveling everywhere? And even then, existing guides that are rushed give a narrow view of the mechanics, due to those "polished" strategies (therefore, they don't see the big picture), and only help for specific dungeons. Give a man a fish and he'll be full for a week. Teach a man how to fish, and he'll never go hungry. Grab your bait and rod, witches and wizards. Now that you have a better understanding of the situation, let's take a look at what needs to be done prior to any cheating Boss fight. Below is what went on inside my head before stepping into the Warehouse:
Preparation: Back to Basics and Remodeling
Memory Dump
Get rid of all the information that polished your "expert" image. Start playing and adjusting your deck as if you were a Newbie. Examples:
Overrated "pro": "Stun Shields are useless." Newbie: "Well, at least I won't get immobilized in the battle." Overrated "pro": "But you won't need them, trust me! Monsters NEVER stun."
Overrated "pro": "Beguile is a waste of pips." Newbie: "How? It makes the monster help me!" Overrated "pro": "Not really...they just kinda PASS most of the time."
Overrated "pro": "You need to discard your Infections." Newbie: "But I can stop them from healing as much!" Overrated "pro": "They NEVER heal."
Well, as we're seeing and hearing about the Warehouse, these monsters are now doing what they didn't use to before! Against Cheaters, you never know. Don't take certain cards for granted! Remember, blades and traps are not the only ways to make it through! For example, we may encounter a boss or a tower that removes any Blades or Wizard-casted Charms, but not traps. Or, one that removes both modifiers. There may be minions that cast something every interval of turns. Expect the unexpected.
Special Decks
After you clear your mind, and consider that you are facing something no one has dealt with or managed to beat before, brainstorm while you flip through your spellbook. Carry around an extra deck or two so you don't modify your original deck (unless you've impressively memorized it).
"Is there a possible chance I'll need to use a Boss's or minion's Interrupts against their own team?" Have a Death slip in a Beguile.
"Is there a need to dispel certain types of schools, to cut off random or triggered Cheats?" Bring Entangled for potential enemy heals, Quench and Dissipate for nukes, Melt for Tower shields or stuns, Strangle for Life Steals, and Vaporize for Earthquakes. Note: if the Interrupt requires the enemy to form a school symbol before casting, then these Dispels WILL work. For example, Melt would not be used on Orrick since his Tower Shields appear instantaneously after any Physical attack placed on him; he does not cast an Ice Seal for these.
"Would I require that aggro be on someone else at all times?" Bring your school spell that helps direct attention off of you.
"What if we get chain stunned with massive damage?" Have your Ice invest in carrying some Stun Shields.
"Is it possible for all enemies to cast something powerful on a certain turn, regardless of pips?" Ask the Pyromancer to add a few Chokes and Smokescreens. This should prevent fatal combos. Note: Many powerful bosses cannot be stunned; it balances the game out in order to prevent Wizards from using chain-stun with Blind/Choke/Earthquake.
By having an extra deck, you can play around with a clean slate and even designate it as your "Cheater Boss" deck. Once you become familiar with a certain enemy, you're free to remove what you don't need for a more efficient run.
Execution: Thinking Ahead and Experimenting
Anticipation
Again, expect the unexpected. Remember that Orrick had the ability to cast Interrupts multiple times in a row; for example, Heck Hound, then Meteor, and another Heck Hound, depending on his remaining health. It would be safest to assume that something unnatural will happen either at the beginning of the fight, or after a certain period of turns. Prepare for the worst case scenarios; do not let the factor of surprise throw you off your game plan:
One wizard will be the focus of a heavy nuke
Any shields used will be broken
Any charms used will be stolen or removed
AOE spells will trigger more than one interrupt
The enemy will hit all Wizards hard if no one uses an attack card that turn
An infection will be placed on everyone after someone attacks
After 5 turns, players will be stunned and infected
Of course, not all of these will be present in one battle, but expect a combination of some sort. These fights are meant to hold your attention; the Interrupts may be based on patterns or turns.
My main tip for anticipation is to closely watch at which enemy is doing what, and notice if they are using a school symbol (casting) or standing still (automatic condition). Also, take note of what your own team is doing; certain actions performed by Wizards are indirectly the keys to beating these Cheaters. By observing the fight, you will have a lesser tendency to panic or lose morale during the punishments.
Testing and Application
Use as many spells as you can (while keeping in mind that survival is the first priority, of course), whether it be status modifiers (stuns, Beguile, Pacify, accuracy debuffs, etc.) or wand hits (representing attacks) or recovery spells (pure heals, heals over time aka HoT, Sacrifice) or Life Steals....to research.
Pull a "Battleblood," and say to your team, "Hey guys, I'm really truly sorry if we all die because of this, but I'm going to wand the Boss to see what happens." Yeah, that's exactly what I said on voice chat. It actually became a nice learning experience as we found out exactly what Estrakir did when hurt even the slightest.
I also applied a very strong PVP tactic when in the Warehouse, which made more sense to use since it is one of the reasons why some matches can last 4 hours long. If an arena team had trouble with breaking this method, I figured the AI and computer enemies would have trouble as well. This is an example of "experimenting"; I applied a new idea (the tactic) to a setting it has never been heavily used in before (PVE).
Once you see an effect, try it out again, with different spells of the same category, to see if the Interrupt triggers again. When you encounter obstacles early on, and are able to classify and explain with confidence what all the causes and all the effects are, you've just "mastered" that Boss!
Conclusion Whatever the situation, Celestia should not be handled too lightly. Grizzleheim was only difficult in the sense of Enemy HP per rewards, but we got over that quickly just by upgrading our Wizards' strength. Even the Hall of Valor was tolerable, and required small tweaks to our decks. However, from what we can see from Briskbreeze and the Warehouse (parts of the game post-Malistaire), higher damage, health, accuracy, power pip percentage, and/or resistance do not serve as a means for success. Instead of improving our gear, we need to improve the ways we think about, see, and play the game.
