Christmas Advent Tree Contest!

This December, Adventures of the Spiral wants to give back to YOU. So, throughout the month, we'll be hosting a series of raffles to celebrate the Holidays! With prizes ranging from Crown codes to the Charity Holiday mount, you'll want to check back each day to see what we have in store!

*Day 1: Hashtag Draw; 2k Crowns and a Fog Staff. (Winner: @OwlScarlet)*

*Day 2: Comment Draw;  Random Crown Code (50-5500) and a P101 Hoard Pack (Winner: Beatriz Abott)* 

*Day 3: Hashtag Draw; 2 Hoard Packs of Choice from Wizard101 (Winner: @HunterMythVault)*

*Day 4:Comment Draw; 2k Crowns (Winner: Duncan StormThief)*

*Day 5: Hashtag Draw; Random Crown Code, Wizard101 Hoard Pack and  a Fog Staff (Winner @FrostCaller)*

*Day 6: Comments Draw: 2 Pirate101 Hoard Packs (Winner: Jereomy Calkin)*

*Day 7: Hashtag Draw; Random Crown Code (Winner: @MasonWizard)*

*Day 8: Comments Draw; 3 Pirate101 Hoard Packs (Winner: MarkOfTheGamer)*

*Day 9: Hashtag Draw; Random Crown Code and a Fog Staff (Winner: @AlexA_Lionheart)*

*Day 10: Comments Draw; 2k Crown Code and a Fog Staff (Winner: Diana SilverFlame)*

*Day 11: Hashtag Draw; 2k Crowns (Winner: @JJManGaming101)*

*Day 12: Comments Draw; 2 Yuletide Pack and a Fog Staff (Winner: Beatriz Abbot)*

*Day 13: Charity mount (Winner: Swordroll)*

From December 2nd ending December 14th, we'll be hosting a raffle each day for a variety of prizes from both Kingsisle Games.

On the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th of December the winner will be drawn from a pool of everyone who comments on this post, about their favourite thing in Pirate101 or Wizard101 involving the Holiday Celebrations!  Make sure that you are logged into your Google+ when commenting.  Your entry will not be taken if you comment anonymously.   

Next, on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th of December, the winner will be drawn from a pool of everyone who tweets the hashtag "#13DaysofAoS" and Follows the @OfficialAotS Twitter Account.

You may win a maximum of two times.

Lastly, on the 14th of December the winner of our Grand Prize, will be drawn from a pool of our Blog Followers (not Twitter Followers) to say thank you for sticking with us for so long.

Be sure to check back each day to see the prizes!  Winners will be drawn everyday at 4pm EST.  Thank you for viewing AoS, and we're hoping for another great year in 2014! Happy Holidays!

Make sure to follow the Contest Policy!

Thanks to Paige Moonshade for the 2k Crown Codes, Spiral Radio101 for the Random Crown Code and Mercenaries101 for the Fog Staffs

We look at Shadow Magic!

With the addition of Krysalis to Wizard101 comes a new type of magic: Shadow Magic! The magic that we've seen Morganthe desire back in Ghost Avalon has now come into light, and Wizards themselves can train it towards the end of Krysalis Part 1. But, be warned... it's very powerful and dangerous, but, by familiarizing yourself with the usages of this type of magic, you will soon be an expert at using it!

Shadow Magic cannot be trained as your primary school of focus, but, rather, it is a secondary school like Astral Magic. Currently, there are no damage spells available - instead, Shadow Magic provides Shadow-Self spells, which transform your Wizard into a Shadow creature and enhance your other spells. After three turns, the effect of your Shadow-Self spell will vanish, and, depending on your actions while the Shadow spell was in effect, you'll take a certain amount of Backlash damage.

Backlash is the damage you take after the duration of a Shadow spell. Backlash is not a fixed amount of damage, but, instead, it is a percent of your current health. Backlash damage will deal 30% of your health, but that number will either increase or decrease depending on how "angry" your Shadow aura gets. Shadow spells "like" or "dislike" certain types of spells; for example, one Shadow spell may like attack spells while another may dislike it. For every "liked" spell you cast, Backlash damage will decrease by 10%. For every "disliked" spell cast, Backlash damage increases by 10%. The maximum Backlash you can take is 70% and the minimum is 10%; this means that, even if you use 3 liked spells while the Shadow-Self spell is in effect, it can only decrease to 10% Backlash damage, so you will always take at least some damage when a Shadow spell runs out

*Note: Pet may cast spells have no effect on Backlash damage, nor do spells other players on your team cast.

Shadow Shrike is the “offensive” Shadow-Self spell. It adds 50% pierce to the caster, 10% damage, but their incoming healing decreases by 25%. The additional pierce is extremely helpful for breaking through shields, if the enemy resists your school (no real need for prisms!), and especially in PvP, against opponents with especially high resistance. Keep in mind that, if you break through a shield, it’s likely that little pierce will actually go to an enemies’ resistance – make as much use as your high pierce rate as you can!

Also, whenever you attack, a 10% pierce blade will appear on everyone on your team. Combine pierce from Shrike itself, the pierce blade, and the piercing from your gear, and enemy resistance will practically be useless with this spell active! Storm, Fire, and Myth wizards train this spell for free, but, if you want the benefits of Shrike yourself, you can spend a training point to learn this Shadow-Self spell.

 Likes: Attacks and Blades

 Dislikes: Heals and Shields

Shadow Sentinel is the "defensive" Shadow-Self spell. It will give the caster the ability to intercept attacks, 80 more critical block, and 10% less incoming damage. Intercepting attacks is an ability exclusive to Shadow Sentinel, and works just like it sounds - by intercepting attacks directed at an ally! Whenever one of your allies would be attacked, 75% of the damage goes to them, but 25% is directed at you. Note that, due to the 10% deducted damage, you'll be taking less damage than you normally would, and you'll have a higher chance to block attacks due to the increased critical block.

This spell is very useful if you're able to tank effectively and wish to protect your teammates. As Storm and Fire wizards are generally easier to defeat, having another wizard who can cast Sentinel will protect your more vulnerable teammates. Be prepared to intercept a lot of hits if you cast this spell! Ice and Death wizards train Shadow Sentinel for free.

Likes: Damage Incercepting and Shields

Dislikes: Attacks and Blades

Lastly, Shadow Seraph is the "healing" Shadow-Self spell. It increases your outgoing healing by 25%, but also increases your incoming damage by 25%. Additionally, whenever you heal, an Absorb will appear on the healed player, shielding them for 100 damage. If you can efficiently heal your team, this is the spell for you - while you may take more damage, your heals will do much more, keeping your team at high health while this spell is in effect.

Life and Balance wizards train Shadow Seraph for free. While the benefits for Life wizards seems to be obvious, Balance wizards can make good use out of Seraph with their Helping and Availing Hands cards.

Likes: Heals

Dislikes: Attacks and Blades

All of these Shadow spells cost one pip to cast, but they aren't regular pips - they're Shadow Pips! You have a chance at getting a Shadow Pip at the beginning of each round along with your regular pip. You can hold up to one Shadow Pip at a time, and, whenever you use one, you have the ability to gain another.

Khrysalis (Part1), New Magic, Castle Tours and More!

Wizard101's newest update brings the new world of Khrysalis, available to players that have completed Azteca, Level 90+ and have completed the quest "Speaker for the Dead". Part One of this world has just hit the Live Realm, and Part Two is expected early next year.

After the PC's failure in Azteca, Morganthe has retreated to Khrysalis, the core of the Shadow Web to plan the destruction of the entire spiral. The Council of Light sends you off into the heart of the Shadow to help troubled civilians, weaken the Umbra Legion, and, most importantly, stop Morganthe once and for all.

Khrysalis brings a new level cap, Level 95, and an exciting world for players to adventure through. Additionally, there are more than a few smaller updates that players have frequently requested and are sure to enjoy.

In addition to the new world, each school gets an 8 Pip spell from the first quest of the new storyline:

The forbidden magic Morganthe has sought is known as Shadow Magic, which a resident of Khrysalis will teach to you! Thus far, there are 3 available spells, and each school will train one for free. They are very powerful, and can result in Backlash damage if the caster is unprepared... are you up for the challenge?

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Housing/Castle Tours

A new feature has arrived for housing; Castle Tours. Castle Tours allows you to place your houses (in categories) to Myrella Windspar's database for all the wizards in the spiral to view and Rate! Once your house is rated, you can view it on the leaderboard (Top 100). So what are you waiting for? Get Touring!

That's not the only update to Housing, when you visit someone elses house during a castle tour you can use the Housing Item Identifier, which allows you to view what a specific item is!

For the PvP community, new types of Tournaments are available! Instead of just the traditional, standard match, you can now choose between types of Tournaments with special circumstances.

Classic Tournaments:

No pets

No treasure cards

No amulets of any kind

Quick Match:

10 minute match

Increased damage each round

School Perk Tournaments:

Increased armor piercing

Bonus to spells of a certain school.

Gardening

As with every new update, KI have increased the Gardening Level to Rank 16 and given us some new spells. To access these spells, you will need to speak to Zaltanna the MirrorMask after completing the quest "Uneasy Allies" in the Last Wood.

Quest Finder

Wonder what quest you should do next?  If you click Quest Finder (last page in your quest journal), your quest arrow will point you to the nearest available quest!  It locates the nearest quest by the world you are in.  If the world you are in does not have any available quests, you'll have to move to another one.

Quest Finder is off by default so you will manually have to go to your Options Panel and turn it on.

Also, check out the new Bee Dance Emote!

New Wizard101 AND Pirate101 Bundles!

Two New Bundles have arrived in the Spiral, the Wizard101 Hive Bundle and the Pirate101 Empire Bundle!

Each bundle is available for $39 and available at GameStop USA Stores

So, First thing's first; The Wizard101 Bundle: 

It is themed around the new Wizard101 World: Khrysalis! (See Post here about new updates to Wizard101).

The Hive Bundle Comes with 6 Items;

5000 Crowns or 1-Month Membership

Amber Estate

The Amber Estate is the perfect place for Bee-Lovers, let's take a look at what it has to offer:

• PvP Circle, off to the left as you arrive at the house (through a Teleporter)
• DragonFly Ride, this Magnificent addition to the house allows you to take an Aerial View of the AMAZING house.

Bee Wings Mount

A lovely set of new wings for you!

Stinger Gear, Slingshot Weapon and Bumble Bee Pet!

Dont' you just LOVE looking like a bug, right? Well, now you can with the Stinger Gear and Slingshot!

Who can resist the cuteness of the New Bumblebee Pet! This pet comes with a new Talent: May Cast Life Fuel

That's all for the Wizard101 Bundle, don't forget to check out the new World! 

Last but not least; The Pirate101 Bundle: 

It is themed around the Pirate101 World: Aquila! 

The Empire Bundle Comes with 6 Items;

5000 Crowns or 1-Month Membership

Lady Centaur Companion

 The Centaur Companion has finally arrived to the Pirate101 Spiral! Check out her stats here on the Companion Database!

Imperators Standard

When equiped (it's a Totem) it will place a Power into your "deck" and it will boost all your Bird Companions:

Imperial Galeon

That's right, a Pirate101 Bundle wouldn't be complete without a pirate ship, here's a look and the stats of the new ship (Tier 6):

Gladiator Outift and Emperor's Villa

The new Gladiator Outift will surely make you ready for the colloseum!

and a little Sneak Peak at the Indoors!

That's all for now! See you in the Spiral/Skyways!

Companion Spotlight: Zeena!

As a new addition to the site, we’re introducing a Companion Spotlight section on some of your favorite companions. Every month, we’ll highlight one of your favorite companions and give you tips, tricks, and advice to make them excel in combat!

To start it off, this month we’re focusing on Zeena – a new Musketeer companion from Aquila that you may just find extra useful on your PvP team!

What’s so good about her?

Zeena, like Bonnie Anne, can train Burst Fire, one of the best Musketeer epic talents. In fact, she is the only companion currently in the game that can train Burst Fire 3. This means that, if she attacks an enemy with low health, she’s more likely to get another hit in! Additionally, that hit will lower the enemy’s health even more, making it more likely for another Burst Fire to go off! That being said, you should definitely invest in Burst Fire 3 for her.

Ratbeard, one of the developers of the game, noted on the message boards how Relentless, Burst Fire, and Mojo Echo 3 work. It’s a very interesting bit of mechanics behind the epic!

 Wounded = less than 100% health. Depending on how wounded the enemy is, the bonus may be up to 25%.

For her last epic talent, go with Overwatch. Parting Shot, Double Tap 2, and Return Fire 2 simply won’t activate as much as Overwatch will, and it provides as an activation trigger for Burst Fire. What does this mean? If Overwatch activates, you’ll have a 35% chance (or more, depending on the enemy’s health) for Burst Fire to activate!

What powers does she have?

Firstly, Zeena has Guaranteed Critical Strike, tier 1. While this may only be a Super Hit rather than a Mega or an Epic one, it’ll deal well over normal damage and is perfect if you need an extra boost to ensure that she’ll finish off an enemy.

More importantly, she has not one, but two Rain of Fire cards. They will do 1x damage in an X formation, hitting up to 5 enemies at once! This will leave fires in the squares where no enemies reside, so, even if she’s not in range of enemies, you may want to use this power sort of how you would with Musketeers’ traps – place them in empty squares and watch the enemy damage themselves as they walk near them.

And… did you know that Rain of Fire can Burst Fire? Zeena may just consecutively hit the enemy who you initially attack…

Pro Tip: Did you know that Zeena’s fires deal 5% of an enemy’s maximum health? For example, if an enemy has 100 health, they will lose 5 health for each time they are damaged by a fire. This means that, theoretically, regardless of the health of an enemy, it will take 20 hits by a fire to defeat them. Of course, rather than letting a fire defeat an enemy (which they can and will easily move away from), let it weaken them and then strike them down!

How do you use her?

Your best bet is to make use of her Burst Fire 3. If it’s towards the beginning of the fight, the enemies may not be at low health, so just focus on attacking the largest threat in the fight – this will most likely be the enemy with the highest damage output potential and the lowest health. On most occasions, this will be a Swashbuckler, such as El Toro. Before he can damage your units, aim for him with your Musketeers – it’s not too likely for a Swashbuckler to dodge a Musketeer. That being said, if you’re against a Privateer who can increase their units’ dodge or maybe a Buccaneer who can reduce Zeena’s accuracy, it may be in your interest to use her powers at that point. Not only are they fairly strong, but they are also a guaranteed hit!

When an enemy is at low health, it’s Zeena’s chance to finish them off. When she finishes them, she’ll Double Tap onto another enemy and possibly hit some Burst Fires off of them, too! If you’re not sure if a regular attack will finish the enemy off, you may want to use her Guaranteed Critical Strike power. Also, you can use her Rain of Fire power, putting the enemy in the center of the X, so they will take damage from four fires if they aren’t finished off!

Keep in mind, though: Zeena’s range is 4, compared to Bonnie Anne’s 5. Your opponent may strategically place their Bonnie Anne five squares away from your Zeena, so they can hit you but you can’t hit them. While you should make sure that Zeena isn’t in the center of the fight, make sure she is in range to hit the enemy!

Conclusion

Have you had success using Zeena? Do you prefer her, Bonnie Anne, or perhaps the Magnificent Seven Musketeers? Let us know in the comments!