Join us for a PvP Stream!

With the release of ranked PvP on Pirate101, we want to celebrate it's release in style and how better to celebrate it than to PvP? So we're going to go all out and test the new Battle Royale feature and see what happens from there... We're not stopping there however, we're also going to live-stream the event on the new YouTube Gaming Platform. 

So, tomorrow (Sunday 30th August 2015) at 5pm Eastern tune into our livestream account ...and watch Kevin and Sheldon try out the new Battle Royale! We'll be battling it out against some other random pirates - or could it be one of you?

If you tune into the livestream and join the chat, you'll also find out how to get your hands on some crown codes!

See you there!

Jingle all the way!

With enrollment in the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts growing larger and larger each and every day, the professors went to curious measures to attract new students to their particular school of magic. What resulted was 7 new school "jingles"....beware, the professors are known to be a little off key.

Fire

If there's a flame,

In your neighborhood,

Who you gonna call?

The fire wizards!

If there's something burning,

And it don't look good,

Who you gonna call?

The fire wizards!

I ain't afraid of no burns.

I ain't afraid of no burns.

Ice

Ice ice baby,

Ice ice baby.

Alright, stop, Freeze, and glisten.

Ice is the brand new addiction.

The magic grabs a hold of me lightly,

Flows like a glacier, only slightly,

Will it ever stop? Um, no.

Put out the fire, and we'll glow!

To the extreme I frost like a master,

Light up a candle, and we'll act even faster.

Ice ice baby.

Life

Sunny day,

Sweepin' the death away,

On my way to where the magic is sweet,

Can you tell me how to get,

How to get to the life school, please?

Come our way,

Everything's A-OK,

Friendly wizards there,

that's where we meet,

Can you tell me how to get,

How to get to the life school, please?

Can you tell me how to get,

How to get to the life school, please?

Death

We're creepy and we're spooky,

Mysterious and goofy,

We're all together groovy,

The death school.

Our school is in Nightside,

It really is a good ride,

We all love to hide,

The death school.

Cool.

School.

Cruel.

So get a black hat on,

A bat that you can ride on,

We're gonna pay a call on,

The death school.

Storm

Stormy storm wizards,

Where are you?

We need some smashing from you now.

Come on storm wizards, I see you,

Pretending you've got a shiver.

You're not foolin' me 'cause I can see,

The way you fight and conquer.

You know we got a boss to smash,

So storm wizards get ready for your bash,

Don't hold back. 'Cause storm wizards

When you come through you're gonna have yourself

A pet snack,

That's a fact.

Stormy storm wizards,

Where are you?

You're ready and you're willin'.

If we can count on you, storm wizards,

I know we'll catch those villains!

Myth

Be our guest,

Be our guest,

Put our magic to the test!

Put your wand in your hand, Cherie,

and I'll teach you the rest.

Orthrus,

Minotaur,

And no, there are no curves!

Try the myth stuff,

It's delicious!

Don't believe me? Ask the bloodbats!

They can attack, they can dance,

After all, wizard, this is your chance,

And the spirit here is never second best.

Go on, unfold your spellbook,

Take a glance and then you'll

be our guest,

Yes, our guest!

Please, be our guest!

Balance

Just a small town girl,
Livin' in a dull world,
She took the magic boat,
To the Balance School.
Just a city boy,
Born and raised in Unicorn Way,
He took the magic boat,
To the Balance School.

Wizards waiting,
Up and down the Krokosphinx,
Their shadows searching in the night.
Sandstorms, people,
Living just to find the magic,
Hiding somewhere in the night.

Don't stop balancin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Sandstorms, people.
Don't stop balancin'
Hold on
Sandstorms, people.
Don't stop balancin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Sandstorms, people.


Which school would you enroll in just based on the professor's jingles? Let us know in the comments!

Tunes:
Fire: Ghostbusters-Ray Parker, Jr.
Ice: Ice Ice Baby-Vanilla Ice
Life: Sesame Street Theme Song
Death: The Addams Family Theme Song
Storm: Scooby-Doo Theme Song
Myth: Be Our Guest-Beauty and the Beast
Balance: Don't Stop Believin'-Journey 

The Twilight Zone of The Spiral

You're traveling through another dimension.
A dimension not only of sight and sound but of magic.
A journey into a wondrous realm whose boundaries are that of imagination.
Next stop, The Twilight Zone of The Spiral 

*Speaks while holding lips straight*  There are those moments in our travels as pirates that things just do not go as planned. I am not talking the results of Ratbeard's Random Number Generators. I am talking when the rules that we are used to just reverse or do something equally as weird.  These wonderful 'glitches' are sometimes portals to wonderful scenery, hilarious situations and as always, fabulous screenshot opportunities.

Let's take a journey into The Twilight Zone of The Spiral and see what wonders we can behold.

You just never know when you will find a portal to The Twilight Zone.  That unsuspecting door to a shop or even exiting your dorm room can land you beyond the borders of reality and trapped in one gorgeous skyway.



This particular glitch does not always send you to an empty skyway. Sometimes you can wind up here, fighting the urge to start singing "Under the Boardwalk"

It's not always we pirates that are affected by the oddities of The Twilight Zone.  Sometimes our companions are pulled into it's nefarious clutches.  My poor Chilam Bak is so warped by the rift's clutches that he has wandered off of his anchor and cannot even stand up straight.  Poor Samoorai Masamune Goto seem quite confused by his bizarre behaviour.

Mounts are not immune to the clutches of The Twilight Zone either. There are always places that mounts are just not allowed, like indoors or on board ships.  Not allowed except for when that magical realm of our imagination decides to mess with things a bit.  Here my leopard Dappurr is suddenly allowed access to my ship and in his excitement he tries to do some steering for himself.  He learns rather quickly that steering with your teeth is not near as easy as it looks.

Since Dappurr survived his journey to The Twilight Zone with lots of fun memories he was well prepared when it happened to him again and he wound up inside a house.  He immediately kicked it into shenanigan mode and  made a game out of jumping over furniture.  Typical cat.

It's not just pirates, their crew and mounts that have this mysterious access to The Twilight Zone; entire ships have been known to wander off into the alternate dimensions and actually become invisible.  Having an invisible ship does not slow Chrissy's crew down one bit.  They prove that beyond any doubts they can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Speaking of floating, even the land itself is not out of the clutches of The Twilight Zone's effects.  The Spiral firma succumbed to it's magic and right in the middle of a battle we could see the wonderful world under The Spiral.  With this revealing view we also discovered that when a witchdoctor casts the spell Mournsong and that familiar Bone Dragon's head pops up to snap its target, there was much more to this than meets the eye.  Lo and behold, there is actually a full sized bone dragon hiding underground the whole time!

Sometimes The Twilight Zone sneaks in and catches you off guard and interrupts the simplest of tasks, like parking your ship.

Occasionally when you go through the doors that lead to the docks, The Twilight Zone takes over and causes you to overshoot the docks completely.  I wound up beside my ship although I did realize that this particular glitch would come in handy for saving parking spaces for your fellow pirates.

There are times when the effects of an unexpected dose of The Twilight Zone are not so noticeable yet can be just as startling.  The other day my Pegasi noticed that the solidity of his matter had become Zonified and had a blast playing Peek A Boo with unsuspecting passerby.

There is another type of parking issue that can happen when you get Zoned while in the middle of a teleportation to your friend from on board your own ship.  There is a tendency to double park the ships with some revealing results.  I gotta admit it was kinda unique fighting under a three quarters invisible ship.

Teleportation issues do not just apply to ships. Sometimes when teleporting, you go through a wandering Twilight Zone bubble and things can go VERY wrong.

There is another Twilight Zone ramification that brings to mind a theatrical phrase.  In traditional live theater you have three sides to your stage and the audience is on the fourth side.  Whenever the actors break character (whether it is in the script or not)  and address the audience, it is called "Breaking the fourth wall".  Getting Zoned while fighting in close quarters can cause this to happen and you get to see the world around the "Stage" as The Spiral's fourth wall is broken.



Occasionally The Twilight Zone only affects part of whatever you are doing in The Spiral.  It can be a bit unnerving to come through a Zone tainted stormgate and realize that you arrived without your ship. It is quite embarrassing to have to explain to your passengers how your ship went AWOL.

The Twilight Zone can even mess with parts of your ship. It the following instance my ship's horn was what got zapped by The Zone and it caused my Mount Vesuvius to be, shall we say, a little tipsey.

Having a lot of encounters of the Twilight Zone sort can sometimes be a bit taxing on your average pirate. Sometimes a Zone rift happens, you get lost in your thoughts and it can make you feel a bit like an airhead.

Many times trips to The Twilight Zone can be very educational and can reveal many mysteries.  Going through The Zone on your ship can sometimes land you in unexplored areas and reveal the much talked about lower decks that we normally never have access to.

Having experiences with these glitches are not all weirdness and being stuck in places. It is a wonderful time to explore strange and beautiful areas of the game that are never meant to be seen by your average player. As this post illustrates, it also makes for some really awesome screenshots.  The sheer beauty and wonder can give you a warm fuzzy glow that can last for some time, complements of The Twilight Zone of The Spiral

Blessings and giggles on your day

Ranked PvP: Our Thoughts

The latest update to Pirate101 brings a long awaited addition: ranked PvP! Yes, we know. It’s no Book 15. But overlooking this update can be a big mistake – ranked PvP brings a lot to the game, and if you’re waiting around for new content, a great way to spend the time is to test your skills against other players.

In the first post of this segment, we provided some of our tips, tricks, and general thoughts about what ranked PvP has to offer. Continue reading, and soon you’ll be a master of the Brawlin’ Hall!

Initial Thoughts

PvP isn’t new to Pirate101. Practice matches have been around since December 2012, but the ranking system opens up completely new possibilities – and challenges. Balancing each class, their companions, and gear is no easy task, and for the most part, it was done well. No class truly outshines all of the others (even with seemingly overpowered skills like Black Fog – more on this in our next post), and with the right amount of skill, any pirate can climb the ranks and earn the Champion rank.

However, not everything can be perfectly balanced, and there’s still plenty of room for change in the future. Doubloons are outright banned, but perhaps they can just be weakened instead. Some skills on certain gear pieces – specifically Moo Manchu’s Terra-Cotta outfit – can completely unbalance a match, and even though everyone may have access to it, the time investment required can be far too much for the average player.

In terms of the current system, 1v1 matches and the Battle Royale are a good starting place. There’s no option for team matches yet, but if you want to join up with a friend or two, try entering a Battle Royale. It’s not the most reliable way to have a team match, but the free-for-all aspect can be a lot of fun!

What Companions Should I Pick?

The simple answer? There isn’t one. With the companion revamp that came with the update, the amount of useful companions have skyrocketed. Even the mediocre companions on your crew have received a huge boost (Prince Yulefest, epics-wise, is nearly as powerful as pre-update Bonnie Anne), and the strongest ones have gotten even stronger. For example, being a Musketeer, I prefer to have an entirely ranged-based roster: Bonnie, Chantal, and Nausica are my top 3 picks. Yet I’ve also seen Musketeers with completely different strategies that work just as well: they drop bombs from a distance, then when the enemy approaches, they attack with their melee Swashbucklers and Buccaneers.

All of the Grizzleheim Beast companions are useful, along with most of the starters and some of the Kraken Skulls. Although I may not personally use Old Scratch or Ratbeard, they're certainly not bad choices at all. In the end, you should come up with your own personal strategy based on what your class is capable of, and pick your companions to supplement your pirate. Remember: with all the skills you have trained, your character is going to be your most powerful unit - bringing in Bonnie Anne or another companion with a heal may be a good idea.

Epics, Epics, and More Epics!

Before jumping into the arena, remember to train the right epic abilities and talents in your companions. Over time, the "best" epics have changed – not only should you be focused on dealing the most damage possible, but you wouldn't want a few Quick Draws to trigger a chain of Burst Fires and True Grits from an enemy unit. Try to consider potential builds your opponent could have, and be careful not to let them use your epic abilities to their advantage.

This certainly isn't the easiest concept to fully master, so here's a chart of what we consider viable epic choices for your companions. Keep in mind that this is just a starting place - if you have a certain strategy in mind, train whatever abilities you feel will help you best carry it out.

First, melee:

*Although it may seem like a good option, as it can deal with those pesky hidden powers, First Strike 3 really isn’t a great ability. Unless you’re running an all-melee team, one of your opponent's hidden melee units would simply attack one of your ranged companions and not lose the hide buff from the attack.

**We do not recommend obtaining higher ranks of Hold the Line unless the unit is intended to be a tank - unlike other epics, it doesn't attack the enemy, so it can't set off a chain of attacks.

***Riposte 3 has its uses, as it makes the unit that dodged an attack more likely to dodge more. Most Swashbucklers are already very likely to dodge melee attacks, however, so this epic point could be better put into another ability – if you don’t want to take the chance of a failed dodge, however, don’t be afraid to invest in this epic.

And now for ranged:

*Overwatch 3 is a matter of preference – it severely reduces the accuracy of an incoming unit, but it does require you to invest a few skill points to get it. We recommend it, but if you’re passing up a skill such as Burst Fire for it, you may want to consider getting that instead.

**Ranks 2 and 3 of Quick Draw are NOT recommended. Although companions like Nausica didn’t receive any additional epics from the revamp, they still didn’t get any less powerful – and they can do a ton of damage if given the right tools. Quick Draw 2 would give anti-Musketeers a huge advantage over you, and would ultimately hurt instead of help.

No, we’re not forgetting Witchdoctors. The majority of magical companions' epics are too situational to make them good choices in general matches. The only epics we recommend are Mojo Echo and Greater Mojo Blast - if you have more skill points to use after maxing these, pick epic abilities that will work against units of any type, like Jobu's Ruse or Readied Spell. Overall, however, melee and ranged units triumph over magical ones in the arena.

Final Thoughts

Player-verses-player matches certainly require skill, but you’ll need more than that on your way to glory. If you don’t enter the arena prepared, you risk your opponent getting an edge in the battle – an edge you don’t want to give them! Train your companions and your pirate (yes – these tips apply to what your pirate should train, too!) with a strategy in mind, and you’re already taking a huge step in the right direction.

Of course . . . that’s only the first step. Once you find yourself in the arena, executing your strategy may not be as easy as you had previously thought. In our next post in this segment, we’ll be covering the playstyle of each individual class, and how you can best utilize and counter each of their moves.

The Brawlin’ Hall awaits, pirates!

Diary of a Lost Soul

Beginnings

Dear Diary,

Today I was informed that I'll be sent to Unicorn Way to help serve Malistaire Drake. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty exciting. I mean, who wouldn't want to work for a guy who tore an entire school away from Ravenwood? That's pretty much what every evil minion's goal in life is, you know? To work for someone just as evil as that. Also, my only other offer was from some zebra-elephant wannabe, and I just couldn't see that working out.

I can't wait to get started and prove my worth to Malistaire.

~Lost Soul

Undead...Forever

Dear Diary,

Things didn't go exactly as I planned. This one wizard confronted me, and well, it didn't end very well for me. I got obliterated....on the first round. I guess that's the cool thing about being undead. No matter how many times I die, I was already dead in the first place, so who cares? Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

~Lost Soul

Testing, Testing... 123

Dear Diary,

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have yet to win a SINGLE battle! I'm becoming the laughing stock of the Spiral, and it's just humiliating. To make matters worse, wizards now even come to me TEST things. Yea, as soon as they get a new shiny spell, they come to Unicorn Way to see how it works on me. Why? I'm not sure. If a puny Thunder Snake can take me out, then of course your Medusa, Triton, or Ra, can take me out as well. Those spells should go up against someone their own size.

~Lost Soul

Lunch with Khrulhu

Dear Diary,

Oh dear, the wizards have found SHADOW MAGIC. I bet you can guess where they came as soon as they got those new toys. Yep, me. I've gotten used to it by now, I guess. I just wish that the pain and embarrassment would be over quicker. But nooooo, the worst are those death wizards with their Call of Khrulhu. That spell takes forever to finish, leaving me just anticipating the pain soon to come. On the plus side, I chatted with Khrulhu and he's having some emotional trouble himself. We're having lunch tomorrow, and apparently he's baking a cake for the occasion.

~Lost Soul

How enchanting!

Dear Diary,

Khrulhu is a really cool dude, and he can make a MEAN chocolate cake. It was nice talking to someone who understands the hardships that I face. After all, it's not his fault that he's so slow. Anyway, a new problem has risen lately. Remember how I said that I just wished the pain would be over quick? The wizards don't seem to hear my pleas. They do this thing called "enchanting." They confront me in battle, enchant their cards, and then kill me when they're done. That's the ultimate insult in my opinion. I'm such a joke that they can do nothing for however many rounds they want, have me pound at them, and I don't even make a scratch. 

Why do I even try anymore? Am I trying? 

~Lost Soul

AFK

Dear Diary,

I won my first battle today. Yes, you read that correctly! I know you don't believe me, so go ahead and keep reading that over and over again. 

Okay, you got me. There is a catch. The wizard that I managed to defeat was um....um....not casting spells? Completely distracted? What do those wizards call it? AFK maybe? Yea, that sounds right. I'm not even sure what that means, but I'm assuming that it stands for "Away from Khrulhu." Whenever I hear those wizards use it, they are stepping away to get something during the Khrulhu spell. I think it's time for another lunch with my old pal. Poor guy....

~Lost Soul

Found Hope

Dear Diary,

Well, I'm still waiting for my "I Defeated my First Wizard" trophy. Apparently not many get shipped out here, so they're a little confused as to where to deliver it. I'll have to check on that later today. 

You know, I'm actually feeling a little more happier lately. Word on the street is that Rattlebones got some epic new powers. Yea, Rattlebones....he went from zero to hero! I dream that could happen to me too one day. I know it's a bit far fetched, but we all have to hold on to a little hope, don't we? 

I may be lost for now, but I promise you....I will be patient. I will wait for however long I need to. I WILL be found. One day I will be the most powerful soul the Spiral has ever seen. And when that does happen, every enchanter, every death wizard, and anybody who has ever crossed my path will feel my wrath and fury! 

~Lost (but soon found) Soul

Screenshot Shenanigans

There are times when I just feel like taking a break from questing, farming or helping out other wizards  and I start poking around the spiral just to see what shenanigans I can get into.  When this mischievous mood takes over, I start messing around in unusual places just to see what silliness I can stir up. 

I love taking screenshots and I try to capture things that are unusual so with screen camera in hand, and with a pranksters gleam in my eye, knowing no NPC or critter is safe I managed to preserve some giggle worthy moments to share with you.  

Much to my delight, I discovered that Shadowfax, my newest Destrier Mount was as much a prankster as I was and he is featured in several of these moments of hilarity. 

Poor Zeke was our first target. We snuck up on him REALLY quietly and Shadowfax gave a loud snort and well....Zeke has still vowed revenge for the startle we gave him. 

There are times that having such a willing mount with you even spices up your game time. Shadowfax is so excited about questing that he sometimes tries to join me in the fighting circles, much to the amusement of the mobs. 

It's not all pranks in these off questing journeys. Sometimes it's just meeting some new friends and mooching some sugar cubes. 

With the Zeke success fresh in mind I put the stalking and pouncing skills to work with my Celestial Wolf Mount and I found out what happens when you sneak up on a fellow wolf and howl at just the right moment.

Poking around just for fun can be very educational too.  One day, at dusk, I was exploring Paige Moonshade's Haunted House and while tiptoeing around I discovered how she lights those REALLY tall candelabras. 

That day I also discovered that if you tell a Bone Dragon Mount a really funny joke, their laughter makes adorable firey bubbles. 

Pets also get massive cases of goofyitis  and I discovered that there is a wild and zany side to the stiff and disapproving Toucan't. Mine seems to adore dancing the Funky Chicken. 

Sneaking up on bears and blowing raspberries is always fun but I do advise making sure you are on a really fast mount like Grumbles my camel for I have discovered that bears don't have the best sense of humor around hibernation season. 

Being a known Spiral prankster, I have learned that what goes around, comes around in the shenanigans department. Many times I have been the target of sneaky NPC's that love to get their giggles in and a sudden clutch by the cold hand of death will scare the willies out of any unsuspecting wizard.

There is also an impish fire spirit in Krokotopia that loves to spring up out of the water, giggling maniacally while you are unsuspectingly focused on your fishing.

One must be careful with practical jokes though. One day Grumbles decided to plant a sloppy, wet kiss on Gloria Krendell's glasses and found out the hard way that she wields her wooden spoon with a stinging expertise.

And speaking of practical joke precautions,  please make sure your target has a sense of humor. I am STILL serving weekly detention for that time I cast a lampshade spell on Professor Drake.

I am hoping I gave you some giggles with the shots of my Spiral Shenanigans and with a royal wave I am off to see what other mischief I can get into.  Muahahahaha!

If you have some giggle worthy screenshots to share, please email them to us at: admin@adventuresofthespiral.com and we may feature it on a future post. Please be sure to include your wizard's name and the names of any pet or mount prankster partners.

Blessings and giggles on your day