The New Olde Town Apartment!

Posted on December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by Sarai Willowbreeze

With the popularity of apartments in Wizard101, from the Arcanum to Mirage, we are starting to see more of them. Now, KI has added a cute little townhouse to the Spiral! You can buy the New Olde Town Apartment from Derrick Blaze, next to the Bazaar. I’m sure you’ve seen him hanging around out there right near the Team-Up Kiosk.

Being able to buy this cute little flat will be a challenge for almost any Wizard. To get the recipe, you have to earn the Team Champion Badge. When you help other Wizards complete their battles at the Team-Up Kiosk, you earn points towards badges. Well, to get this one, you’re going to have to be very helpful. You receive the Team Champion Badge after you have earned 2000 points. Sarai listens to the sudden silence. Yes, somewhat intimidating. But you know what? You can do it! Do a couple of runs a day, and you will have that badge before you know it. It’s a no-trade item, so sharing it through the Bank will not be possible. Each Wizard will have to earn their own. At 12,500 Crowns, it’s an investment. But, it’s a rare gem that you will be proud to show off to your friends. Still, I hope they will have a gold price for it eventually.

Now on to the good stuff!

The Olde Town Apartment is a simply charming castle. From its townhouse feel to its enclosed yard, this new addition has a world of possibilities! The interior layout is reminiscent of the Wooded Cottage. There are a few differences, such as no alcove on the first floor, and you will find a curtained window seat downstairs. You will also notice that the second floor is larger. The wallpaper is the same pattern and color as the Wooded Cottage, purple with a decorative block pattern. Two leaded glass windows add a charming touch.

More good stuff!

Now, let’s head out the back door. Yes, we have an actual back door! Wizard101’s Olde Town Apartment has a secluded yard, surrounded by stone walls. A thoughtful touch, shrubbery peeks over the top of the walls bringing them a splash of color. The yard itself is an open area, surrounded by trees that tower over the stone walls. There is plenty of room to have a wonderful little tea garden. On the other side of the wall, you can see the towers and walls of Olde Town in the distance.

Well, there you have it. The newest apartment available in Wizard101. Do you plan on getting one? Can you already get one? Let us know in the comments below

~ Sarai Willowbreeze

Winter Scroll of Fortune!

Posted on December 5, 2019December 5, 2019 by Kyle Sword

It’s been an exciting four months since I last spoke to you about a Scroll of Fortune! We’ve seen a massive game update appear in our world, as small icicles form outside. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of the Spiral, to the Wizard101 Winter Scroll of Fortune! It’s going to be a great ninety days full of events and fun!

The Cosmetics!

If we had to choose one thing that this Scroll does better than the previous edition, it would be the cosmetics! Not only do we get two custom emotes once again, but also a unique teleport effect and two stitch-able items!

The emotes are fun this time. Thematically appropriate, the new “Snowball” emote will spark pranks and mischief with your friends while the “Winter” teleport effect surrounds your Wizard with icy spikes before shattering to pieces!

But there is certainly one emote to rule them all. The “Let It Snow” emote is a fantastic reference to Elsa, from Disney’s “Frozen,” and couldn’t be timed better with the recent release of the sequel! I feel like I’m going to be singing a lot with this emote!

These two items for stitching are unique to this Scroll of Fortune. With dazzling, sparkly effects, they are really funky! “The Cold Cut” hairdo is going to be my Ice’s new default stitch. It’s really cool, excuse the pun, and will work well with everything. The “Wintercrystal Wand” includes an icy blade and a pine cone in its design. I like it for its unique appearance and value as a rarer item, it’s an awesome wand design.

The Event Items!

Ramping up a lot this season is the Scroll’s emphasis on event-based rewards and items. This scroll rewards you with Beastmoon Idols, Deckathalon Rune’s, packs, and a sum total of 925 Lunari throughout its tiers! It’s worth it for these rewards alone if you’re trying to take advantage of events when they come around.

The largest individual Lunari prize you’ll be receiving is 500. But, with a grand total of 925, buying level upgrades or recipes to enhance your Beastmoon Hunt experience has never been easier!

On top of that, the Scroll drops a lot of Beastmoon Idols. These will help with tier improvements or unlocking forms you choose to follow. It is unfortunate that the only known way to get the Balance Wolf Idol is through the Scroll, as it means playing him won’t be possible for every player. But, they’re a fantastic bunch of rewards!

The Reagents and Elixirs!

My oh my. There are so many awesome elixirs available to you throughout this Scroll! These elixirs will bring you an array of member benefits whenever you’d like them. Not to mention some very valuable and very rare reagents for us to grab ahold of too!

Participation Trophies are now obtainable without having to do tournaments! Magical Clay is available to make Sinbad farming easier! Shining Scales up for grabs, without spending hours fishing? And don’t even get me started on the free Amber!

While “only three” of each may not seem like a lot, I’d be more than happy to remind you how difficult some of these can be to get!

Major Gold Elixirs, Double Gardening Elixirs, Double Pet Experience Elixirs and so many more! Having a personal member benefit in your back pocket will be helpful for whatever you’d like to do in the Spiral!

Not to mention a mysterious Random Elixir! We have to ask ourselves what elixir this be? Could we grab ourselves a Level 50 Elixir or a free One Month Elixir? It seems unlikely that it could, but it would be exciting if they did!

The Best of the Rest!

While the rewards highlighted were what this author deems most relevant, that does not mean the other rewards aren’t amazing. There’s an awesome variety of goods and rewards that we could grasp.

This Jewel, if you didn’t know, was previously available only through Kroger cards!

Giving a pet of your choice a may cast Mass Feint and also a Pain Bringer talent; this jewel will surely find use in a variety of PvE or PvP focused pets.

In this authors opinion, this is the most unexpected reward from this Scroll. Giving us a free recipe for a winter-themed house, you can save on gold if you’d like to craft it. It’s definitely a unique reward, and it leaves me curious as to what future Scrolls could bring.

The Scroll also has many Crowns items. Some of the rewards include Deckathalon focused packs and Sinbad’s Hoard Packs! You’ll also be able to grab a hold of various Reagent and Snack packs along your journey.

Make sure you don’t forget to level all the way up to the limited Painting item once again. These are bound to become collector’s items one day and you’ll kick yourself if you don’t grab one while you can!

So, what do you think about this new Winter Scroll of Fortune? Will you be buying it this season? It’s great to remember it’s retroactive, so feel free to buy it after you have finished the scroll in its entirety! I’ve already grabbed mine, and I’m looking forward to a bunch of Snowball fights in my near future!

Beastmoon Hunt Tips & Tricks

Posted on November 23, 2019November 26, 2019 by Ravynlea

Introduction

The Beastmoon event has been active a few times now. Each time both the game itself, as well as the players, change. I’ve taken the opportunity to collect different tips and tricks. These I’ve learned myself and from other players.This article will detail different pieces of advice I use to help win Beastmoon matches. From very basic ideas you already know, to more detailed ideas you might not have considered. The main points will be in bold at the end of each section. You can, if you like, skip the points you already know.

Joining Fights

Anyone who plays Beastmoon knows, getting into combat with the opposing team is a big part of every match. Yet, you shouldn’t run into every single fight you get the chance to. For starters, if you don’t think you have a chance at winning the fight, don’t bother joining. Every time someone is defeated in battle (or flees from a battle) the opposing team gets 2 points. This means joining a fight you won’t be able to win, is giving away free points. Once you come to terms with this idea, you will most likely ask yourself “How do I know if I can win the fight before I join it?“ Although I can’t guarantee you win every fight, I have some tips you can use to help determine if a fight is worth taking.

Pips and Health

There are two critical things you should pay attention to, before starting a fight. Your pips and health. Every beast form has a set amount of health and some beast forms can have extra pips. To give yourself the best chance at winning fights, It is best to have full health and max bonus pips if you can. Pips are all around the map and you can refill your health from wisps in each corner or at your base. Sometimes you will have to join a fight without being well prepared. But if you have the opportunity, definitely gather pips and health first.

It’s pretty simple to look at your own pips. But it is very beneficial to look at the pips your opponent has also. Every character’s bonus pips display next to their character. This allows you to see who has pips and how many they have. Whereas, you only want to join fights when you have pips. You’ll have the best chance of winning if you join fights where your opponent doesn’t have pips.

In conclusion: Join fights when you have pips and your opponent doesn’t.

The Numbers Advantage

Beastmoon Hunt is a team game, which means you’re expected to play with your team. With this in mind, your best chances of winning a fight are when your team has more players than the opposing team.

There is something I’ve seen all too often. It’s when a player enters a fight outnumbered and then requests help from their team. This strategy has many problems. For starters, the lone player could die before their allies even get a chance to join the fight. Giving away points to the other team, for free. Other problems include the enemy team having more time to build pips. Even if your team arrives a couple turns late, that’s two extra pips for each member of the opposing team.

Even if you see allies on your map that are close to you, remember to consider the needs from the previous section. If an ally is close to you it does not mean they are in a good position to take a fight. It’s a good idea to look and see who is available. Even better, ask which allies are available to take a fight before joining.

Beast Form Synergies

Beastmoon Hunt includes many beast forms, all which have many advantages and disadvantages. They also have cards that need certain conditions to be met to unleash their full power. Yet, many of these conditions you cannot fulfill by yourself. To have the best chance of winning a fight, you need to consider as many of these factors as possible. In Beastmoon, I have found forms that work with another, as well as forms that work against another. These are partly due to cards and partly due to damage boosts based on the school.

In conclusion: Know which allies you want to fight with and know which enemies you want to fight against.

Strong Allies

Strong Opponents

Krokomummy and Fairy form a very resilient team. They are capable of staying alive and dealing damage through shields. Krokomummy has many shields that help keep Fairy alive. Krokomummy also has many spells that want traps, which the Fairy can provide. Fairy has many traps as well as a powerful shield-piercing drain. It is devastating when combined with Krokomummy’s disarming trap. Together dealing 450 damage that bypasses shields and heals.

Wolf Warrior and Rat Thief are a powerhouse pair. Wolf Warrior has access to a wide range of blades, especially Storm Surge, the +200 damage blade (or an additional +100 if they already have a blade). Rat Thief has a lot of starting pips as well as many low-pip damaging spells. For instance, Striking Ifrit, which deals 250 damage to the entire enemy team, for 4 pips. Combine Storm Surge and Striking Ifrit to deal 450 damage to all enemies on turn one!

Elf and Minotaur are another pair that can dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time. The main spells you want to use are, Elf’s Dive-Bomber Beetle, and Minotaur’s powerful DOT spells. For instance, Ruby Shark. Ruby Shark plus Dive-Bomber Beetle can do 575 damage without any damage boosts.

Colossus vs Elf is most likely the hardest match up I’ve encountered for Colossus. Elf’s damage is boosted for Ice, and they have many tools to remove shields. Because of this, Colossus does not have many options in a fight against an Elf. As Colossus, you don’t want to have your Armory of Artemis spell countered by the Elf’s Surtr’s Rage spell. This is because Surtr’s Rage will remove all your shields.

Elf vs Wolf Warrior is one of the few challenging fights for the Elf. Wolf Warrior has many spells that counteract the Elf. They can remove damage over time effects, and stun to interrupt Elf’s combos. They also have high base damage spells that can kill the Elf, in a round or 2.

Wolf Warrior vs Krokomummy favors Krokomummy. Only because of the many ways to punish the enemy for using blades. Additionally, Krokomummy has stun blocks that also prevent Wolf Warrior from stunning.

Fairy vs Rat Thief is a challenging match for Fairy. Rat Thief has many spells that need him to have a trap on himself, and Fairy has many spells that place traps. Fairy also lacks ways to deal with minions if the Rat Thief decides to summon one.

These various combinations are the ones I find myself taking advantage of the most. Every single beast form has ideal allies and ideal opponents. Take some time to look for which beast forms help you the most and which beast forms your spells counter. A good start when looking for ideal opponents is to start with beast forms that your school counters (life counters myth, ice counters storm, etc.).

Where to Fight

Beastmoon is interesting in that it allows you to pick and choose where you want to fight. There are 5 Battle Rings that you can fight at and they are not all the same. Sun and Moon have a limit of 2 players per team. Star and Eye have a limit of 3 players per team. The Spiral is the only one where 4 members of the team can fight.. Not every beast form is equal in all these different types of fights.

For example, Rat Thief and Myth Minotaur have spells that summon minions. Minions can fill spots that players cannot, meaning it would be most beneficial to join a 2v2 or 3v3 Battle Ring.

Colossus and Cyclops have defensive spells that work on your entire team. These spells become more valuable the more players you have, so look for 3v3 or 4v4 Battle Rings.

It is pretty easy to dictate where fights happen because the enemy team has to capture your Battle Ring. If they already control a Battle Ring, they won’t be able to get points from it unless you try to contest it.

The final thing to consider is how many players are available on either team. If you have 4 players at the Spiral and the enemy team only has 3 players on the Spiral, you should not take a 3v3 fight. Otherwise your 2 players will be outnumbered by their 3 players.

In conclusion: Pick which Battle Rings to fight over.

Only Fight If You Have To

Taking any fight has a risk. Even if you are favored to win a fight, there’s always a chance you will lose it. Due to this, before taking any fight I ask myself what I gain by taking the fight and what I lose if I don’t take the fight. Keep in mind that an opponent can only gain points from a Battle Ring if they capture it. You shouldn’t take Battle Rings away from the enemy unless you intend to defend it. Often times the best path is to guard a single Battle Ring rather than capturing many Rings. This goes back to having the numbers advantage, force your opponent to take fights where you want them to.

In conclusion: Have a reason for entering a fight.

Final Thoughts

In summary, fighting other players is a major part of any Beastmoon Hunt. Winning fights will grant you a majority of your points. Likewise, losing points will cost you the most points. Due to this, all my tips revolve around how to give yourself the best chance of winning fights. This includes when fights are or are not worth taking. Something to keep in mind before any fight is how likely you are to win the fight? Which beast form would win the fight alone? Which team has allies that are available to join? Do I have all the resources necessary to win this fight? If you don’t think you have a good chance of winning the fight, do not take the fight. Hopefully, these tips can be as helpful to you as they have been to me. If you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know, looking forward to hearing some tips of your own.

Links to more information about the Beastmoon Hunt

Wizard101’s Backpack Butler!

Posted on November 14, 2019November 17, 2019 by Sarai Willowbreeze

Have you ever done this? You put an item somewhere because you are in a hurry to make some room in your backpack. And then you tell yourself you’ll remember where it is. Well, I never do remember, do you? Now you can worry no more as the Backpack Butler will show you exactly where you left it!

Finally, after years of losing items in your castles, banks, and shared banks. KingsIsle has given us an amazing solution! Being designed in the Steampunk style, this item is adorable! You’ll see it’s a twin to Gearwise, the recipe vendor in Celestia. And with his help, you can now locate any item, anywhere. No more lost mounts, pets or gear!

You will find him in Aubert Quickhammers shop, in the shopping district. Easily located under housing items, on the last page. What a great deal at only 2500 gold!

Using the Backpack Butler

Start your interaction with him by walking up and clicking X. Fortunately, they have made the interface quite straightforward. For instance, it starts by cataloging every item your Wizard owns. After completing the load, it will have the entire backpack highlighted. Of course mine showed over 600 pages! Yes, I’m a proud member of Hoarders Anonymous! As you can see, it has tabs for gear, pets, mounts, and potions. There is also a second page for housing items.

After opening these pages you can search for a specific item, using the find items text box. You can also scroll through different tabs to see what you have and where it is. In addition, there are 4 columns that show you the location, how many of the item there is, the name of the item, and the type of item.

The location column is where the Butler shines. You’ll notice that they have emblems to represent different places to find your items. You will hover your mouse over the emblem to see the location. Above all, it will tell you not only which castle it’s in, but also whether it is inside or outside. Gear on a mannequin? No worries as not only will it specify a mannequin, but will tell you where the mannequin is. Gear in a vault? Same thing, in a gear vault and in which castle.

The last thing we will be looking at is the sorting system for pets. As you can see, in the bottom right corner of the screen, there is a pet button. Clicking on this will change how you see the pets. It will change the display from type of pet, to pet by name. Very helpful either way you use it!

For information on the Castle Magic update, here is my article explaining the new spells!

Here are the Update Notes, with everything that went live yesterday.

Update Notes

There you have it, the newest housing item to hit the Spiral! And, I’ve got to say, it’s a great addition for all Wizards. Sarai will definitely be buying these for all my Wizards 🙂

Will you be getting one? Do you think it will make your Wizards life easier? Let me know in the comments, what your thoughts are!

Wizard101 Theory: The Coven Conspiracy

Posted on November 13, 2019November 13, 2019 by Fable Finder

Hello, I’m Fable Finder! Join me as we ponder the depths of a conspiracy. We’ll gaze into the shadows, exposing the hidden secrets. The secrets that ripple throughout the Spiral, leaving only questions in their wake. I present to you, Wizard101 Theory: The Coven Conspiracy.

Our wizard is first sent to Grizzleheim at Level 20. Merle Ambrose wishes to establish an alliance with their King. When we arrive, we must prove our worth by helping Bjorn Ironclaws. He sends us to his friend, Hagen Shieldbreaker, who gives us many quests towards this end. We learn about a mysterious group, the Coven, who seek to unleash the Everwinter. Later on in Wintertusk, the Coven works to unleash the Everwinter by awakening Ymir. When you think about it, this effort doesn’t make sense. Why would the Coven want to unleash the Everwinter?

In the quest “A Wolf Among Bears”, Osric Grimbold tells us about Wulfric Foesbane. Wulfric is a wolf who has allied themselves with the bears. When we go to speak with Wulfric, this is what he tells us:

Notice how Wulfric remarked that it is foolish to trust a raven. This remark is important in revealing cultural distrust to the Ravens. This also suggests that Ravens have a history of trickery in this world. Why else would a lack of trust exist? Wulfric’s skepticism proves to be correct in the quest “All is Revealed”. Munin, a member of the Ravens, confesses the following when the Dust of Discovery is cast upon him:

Yet, in Wintertusk, it is none other than a raven, Grandmother Raven, who is helping us put a stop to the Coven. Could Grandmother Raven be the one who is behind the Coven? In the quest, “Fishes & Loaves”, Grandmother Raven directs us to Henrek Graincutter. Henrek’s role in the story is to help our wizard find Vestri’s Golden Seal. When we go to speak with Henrek, this is what he tells us:

This may not seem like much, but remember that all lines of dialogue in the game are important to the story. KingsIsle added that dialog for a reason: it is a hint. Why would Grandmother Raven be behind the Coven though? Even if she was, how would this explain why the Coven wanted to unleash the Everwinter? To answer these questions, we must examine the nature of Grandmother Raven’s powers. In the quest “A Potion for Bartleby”, Merle Ambrose explains the following:

This tells us that Grandmother Raven has the power to create objects that can show the past and future. If she has this power, why would she only give Bartleby this ability? We can assume that she gave herself this ability as well. Grandfather Spider, equal in power to Grandmother Raven, most likely did the same. But, how exactly do the past-viewing and future-revealing powers work?

The power to see into the past does not appear to have any constraints in the game. This is not the case for the power to reveal the future; it has its vagueness. Let’s assume for a moment that the power to reveal the future has no constraints whatsoever. Bartleby would foresee the fight between Raven and Spider that takes place in the Third Arc. Why didn’t he try to stop it? In the First Arc, Bartleby could stop Malistare Drake from awakening the Dragon Titan. Why didn’t he try to stop that, either?

If we assume the power to reveal the future has no constraints, there would be no story. Thus, logic dictates that the power to reveal the future has a constraint. First, the future is indeterminate. This power does not reveal one defined future, but only possible futures. Second, this power cannot see endlessly into the future. It must have some sort of time-frame. Thus, the farther into the future, the vaguer the outcome becomes. This would also explain why prophecies are as vague as they are.

So how is this relevant to Grandmother Raven and the Coven? Well, the first time we meet Grandmother Raven in person, in the quest “That’s So Raven”, we find her trapped in a cage.

When Grandmother Raven is finally freed in the quest “Root of the Loom”, she remarks about her time spent in the cage.

In the quest “Norn Time”, the Norns explain that only an outsider can free Grandmother Raven.

Grandmother Raven would not sit dormant through free will. Most people, when imprisoned, would search for ways to escape. So, what escape attempt did Grandmother Raven make?

Grandmother Raven used her future-revealing power to assess all her possible futures. Her best chance relied on an outsider to free her from imprisonment. She pondered about how to actualize this possible future. In the quest “That’s So Raven”, Grandmother Raven tells us this:

So, Grandmother Raven knew about us and our heroism. By creating a world crisis in Grizzleheim, she could attract an outsider to come and free her. With this in mind, Grandmother Raven created the Ravens of the Coven to act in her stead. She made the Ravens seek to unleash the Everwinter, as well as made them hate her to throw the trail off. I doubt the Coven is aware that they are being used by Grandmother Raven. When we defeated the Coven the first time, we did not end up freeing Grandmother Raven. So later on, she let loose the Coven on Wintertusk, so we would end up freeing her. Then, with her main goal achieved, she helped us put a stop to the threat she created.

There is one hole in this theory, and you may have noticed it. As I showed earlier in this post, when we meet Grandmother Raven in person for the first time, she is in a cage. Yet, she claims that the Coven trapped her in the cage. If this is true, it would contradict the theory. But this story is implausible. How could the Coven, a group of ordinary sorcerers, trap Grandmother Raven, who is a divine being, in a cage? It’s likely that Grandfather Spider, the Rat, or the Scorpion trapped Grandmother Raven. It’s more likely that she lied about who trapped her to make us doubt the possibility that she created the Coven. The Rat and the Scorpion are candidates because they are the offspring of deity. We’ve also learned, through the story, that lower-divine beings can challenge greater ones.

In conclusion, the Coven is a false flag operation perpetrated by Grandmother Raven. Her motivation for it was to free her from imprisonment. Now that is a scheme within a scheme, as Henrek Graincutter put it.

More Theories

Wizard101 Theory

Have you ever wondered if Sylvia Drake actually died of a cold? Why did the Coven want to unleash the Everwinter on Grizzleheim? Does being the Scion of Bartleby actually mean anything, or is it just a replay of the Chosen One trope?…

A Tale of Three Scions

In the middle of Empyrea, the game reveals that the main hero of our story is the Scion of Bartleby. What does this mean? On the surface, it appears that this is simply a replay of the Chosen One trope. This is true, but it’s not the entire story. When you critically examine all the facts that we have been given, we are left with more questions than answers….

The Absence of Being

The Third Arc is about a conflict between Grandmother Raven and Grandfather Spider. Both of them posed a threat to the Spiral during this time. They are finally reconciled at the end of Empyrea, and lock themselves in the Primordial Forest. After this, our Wizard returns to the Arcanum to bring everyone up to speed. When we arrive, we receive a cryptic prophecy from Sybil, the Tree of Knowledge in the Arcanum….

So there are my thoughts on the Conspiracy of the Cabal, and links to my other theories. I hope you enjoyed our walk into the shadows. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are!

Fall 2019 Test Realm: PvP Update

Posted on November 5, 2019November 8, 2019 by Songibal

The Fall 2019 Test Realm has been out for a couple weeks with many exciting new features and changes!

We now have a new dungeon in Wizard City for Gear Farming!

A new Backpack Butler (to help us find items)!

Upgrades to the Pet Hatching Kiosk!

Spellwrighting is a new option for your spells!

New Castle Magic spells have arrived!

They have also done expansions to Beastmoon Hunt and the Deckathalons!

(You can read all about these updates on RA right here)

November 2019 Update Notes Wizard101

Fall 2019 PvP Updates

In the Fall 2019 Test Realm PvP Update, there are some changes made to several spells in an attempt to rebalance PvP. In this article, we will look at the proposed changes to the spells. I’ll be talking about how they will impact PvP, if they go live, and my personal thoughts on these changes.

Guardian Spirit

Guardian Spirit is one of the most powerful and controversial utility spells for the Life school. The way it works is, you cast it on yourself or an ally. When you die, you come back with 15% of your health.

You can increase how much health you come back with, in many ways. You can have it boosted by landing a critical when you cast it, by having a Sanctuary dome up when you die, by having a high healing boost on the gear you’re wearing, or having an aura that increases outgoing heal. All of these will boost the healing percentage of Guardian Spirit. This spell can be cast an infinite amount of times during a battle. When you die with a Guardian Spirit up, you will come back to life. Then you can cast another one so you come back to life again, and again.

For schools other than Life, you can receive 1 Guardian Spirit card from the Mandolin of Evermore. This wand is available in the Hoard of the Hydra Pack, in the crown shop. The Mandolin of Evermore is a popular wand for low level defensive setups in PvP.

There are no changes to the mechanics of Guardian Spirit in the test realm as of right now. However, the card is now flagged with a no-PvP symbol.

Many higher rank PvPers, between the levels of 50-90, resort to Turtling with Guardian Spirit. That’s because they can’t survive long enough to kill due to the significantly higher pierce, damage, and health of their opponent. It’s an uneven match-up in these situations, and taking away Guardian Spirit would cap these players at a lower rank.

In PvP, at level 100 and beyond, players can get high amounts of pierce in addition to shrike and shadow spells. This makes high level PvP extremely fast-paced and offensive. The removal of Guardian Spirit would perpetuate the high amount of offense in high level PvP even more.

We must take into account that aggressive Life at higher levels isn’t in the best place because Scion of Life is a healing spell, and the last particularly strong hitting spell the Life school has had is Hungry Caterpillar.

Guardian Spirit is a bandaid to these issues. In no way am I saying it’s fair and balanced, because it’s not. The main problem with Guardian Spirit, are the massive resists and heal boosts that are available for the caster. To address that issue, I would change the amount of healing boosts and resists that you can get in PvP. I would then buff Guardian Spirit to a revival of 25% of your health regardless of stats, aura, or bubble. You would also not be able to land a critical on a Guardian Spirit. To ensure an even amount of offense and defense in PvP, there would also need to be an update on pierce.

Loremaster

Loremaster is one of the strongest spells available in PvP. According to game developer and designer, Matt, Loremaster is the second most used spell in PvP. The first being Tower Shield! Loremaster costs 4 pips, deals 390-470 damage, and leaves both a -20% Weakness and a -35% Black Mantle. That makes it a decent move in almost any situation, at all levels of PvP, Magus and beyond.

In the test realm, Loremasters damage is lower at 235-315 with the Weakness reduced to 15%, and the Black Mantle reduced to 25%. Higher-level Balance Wizards will now become more dependent on reacting to their opponent with Mana Burn or Supernova. (excluding shadow hits)

Balance at Grandmaster and below will be using more strategies that involve masteries for secondary schools.

Legendary balance will feel the effects of this change. They will have to level to Transcendent for trained Mana Burn and Supernova. Even with the trained spells they will still face defeat by Exalteds with Shadow Magic at a lower rank. This may seem like a significant damage nerf, but KingsIsle did it that way to maintain it as a two-utility hit. But, I would have gone about it differently and lowered the damage to 395 (balance damage per pip is, on average <100, so I’ve lowered it to that amount to be consistent with that), removed the mantle, but kept the weakness the way it is at -20%.

Burning Rampage

Burning Rampage is one of the strongest PvP spells, available to the Fire school today. It’s a 5-pip DOT (damage over time) spell that does 70 damage for the initial hit, then 700 base damage on the ticks for two rounds after it’s cast.

Burning Rampage is especially strong in PvP below level 100 because it can easily one-shot your opponents with all the damage the ticks do. You can follow it up with other spells, including a Fire Beetle or two, a Brimstone Revenant, or you can summon the Fire Elemental Minion and cast Burning Rampage the same round the minion casts a DOT (damage over time) spell .

In high level PvP, it’s more situational, but it can be strong when you pull off combos like Rampage then Fire from Above, which is one of the most difficult combos to counter.

In the test realm right now, Burning Rampage does 70 for the initial hit then does 700 base damage after three rounds instead of two. Fire may become even more powerful with this spell, because it gives you more time to stack two traps before the tick goes off, or to cast a Fire Elf or a Link to prevent the opponent from reacting.

I would suggest making the DOT (damage over time) spell go off after two rounds, but redistribute the damage to be close to even, but still a bit on the back-loaded side.

What do you think?

These spells may change, because as the Test Realm notes state, they have them this way for now for testing purposes and to see what the community thinks. With that said, what do you think of the Fall 2019 Test Realm PvP Update? Do you have any alternative ideas you would do with these spells? Let me know in the comments!

Castle Magic Update!

Posted on November 4, 2019November 5, 2019 by Sarai Willowbreeze

If you are an absolute nut about Castle Magic, you will be delighted with the new spells that KI has added! Each of the 7 schools have new “Effect” spells available. Some of the most loved spells in the game will be available when Test Realm goes live. No shadow spells at this time, (dad-gummit), but we can always hope for the next update. There is even 3 new “Utility” spells, one of which allows you to basically turn-off access to your PvP ring in your castle, if there is one.

So without further ado, *drum roll please*, let’s take a look at what is being introduced!

New Utility and Action spells

We’ll start off with the first “Utility” spell that is being added. If you have a PvP Ring in your castle, it effectively “turns off” access to it. I could see this being useful for those large parties we like to have, helping to keep your party organized and on schedule. Just as you can control when a housing game is played, you can now control when PvP is activated.

The last one, is a wonderful addition to Utility spells. This one will allow you to make something that appears solid, more ghostly. Whether it’s a housing item, a pet, or a monstrology creature, you will be able to give it a shadowy appearance.

The second one we have, allows us to change the appearance of an item from shadowy, to solid. This will come in handy for the DS monstrology creatures that are ghostly looking. You can now give them a more solid look.

Next we’ll will take a look at the only “Action” spell that is being added. This one allows you to use castle magic to port all visitors in your castle to one spot. I could see a lot of fun being had with this one! When activated you could port everyone to a tricky place, or simply somewhere crazy.

Effect Spells by School

Each of the 7 original schools have new spells being added. They are the higher level spells that can be found in most level 130 decks. Some are rare spells normally found in packs and by farming Loremaster. Each one of them will create your favorite spell in your castle! I’ll break them down school by school for you here.

Balance

Gaze of Fate
Loremaster
Nested Fury
Samoorai
Savage Paw

Death

Call of Khrulhu
Deer Knight Attack
Headless Horseman
Winged Sorrow

Fire

Brimstone Revenant
Burning Rampage
Fire from Above
Krampus
Raging Bull

Ice

Abominable Weaver
Angry Snowpig
Handsome Fomori
Snowball Barrage
Snowball Strike
Winter Moon

Life

Goat Monk
Hungry Caterpillar
Luminous Weaver
Pigsie
Sacred Charge
Wings of Fate

Myth

Athena Battle Sight
Keeper of the Flame
Mystic Colossus
Ninja Pigs
Witches House Call

Storm

Catalan Attack
Catch of the Day
Glowbug Squall
Queen Calypso
Rusalka’s Wrath

For those of you just getting started with Castle Magic here are some great tutorials, by Mofodo, to get you on your way.

Conclusion

So there you have it! All the fabulous new additons to Castle Magic spells. I’m very excited for it to be released live and can’t wait to bring these spells to my castles. I already have some great ideas for Headless Horseman and Krampus! Are you excited for the new spells? Let me know in the comments!

I cannot wait to see how all you wonderfully creative Wizards use them!

Under the Deep Blue Sea

Posted on October 27, 2019November 18, 2019 by Sarai Willowbreeze

KingsIsles newest housing bundle is here! The Undersea Enchantment Bundle is an underwater landscape that makes me wonder if they have found a piece of Atlantis and brought it to the Spiral. With the moon shining down to light the seafloor, a crab guarding the Spiral Door, and lighted bubble windows, this house is full of special touches that make you want to explore. Inside the castle you will find elegant golden scrollwork and trim, again bringing to mind the majesty of Atlantis. Is this the discovery of a lifetime? Have you found Atlantis? Will you join the ranks of legendary explorers of years gone by? Join me as we explore the depths of the Spirals ocean and discover it’s treasures!

Briny Deep Retreat

This retreat is aptly named, it’s like your very own retreat within the heart of the deep blue sea. Arches of stone surround the perimeter with smooth columns of rock off of the edges. Coral grows from nooks and crannies blanketing the entire landscape. Presiding over the Spiral Door, a large crab sits watching the bubbles float by. Inside the crab, you will find an open cavern that you can enter. The actual castle itself lends an air of wonder to the landscape with glowing bubble-shaped windows and curved edges. The peaks have the appearance of a conch shell, twisting into the air. There is a clam that gives a daily reward. Can you find the hidden pathways? And guess what, this castle has a special new surprise! You can place your fish in it without tanks! You can also use Castle Magic on the fish you place! That just might be one of my favorite things about this new castle, just imagine all the exciting, new possibilities!

The interior is actually quite elegant. Soft ocean colors surround you on the floors and walls. A very intricate golden scrollwork is plentiful throughout the hallways and rooms, lining the walls and even creating a banister. You can also fish in the pond in the central area! A true underwater treasure sparkling with the gifts of the sea.

Dolphin Chariot Mount

This is a BIG mount, so be prepared! Now that I have that out of the way, it is so adorable! Your chariot glides majestically behind 2 dolphins, attached with golden ropes. Besides all the charm, it gives a +40% speed boost. This is going to be a lot of fun to use!

Seahorse pet

If you aren’t already having an overload of cuteness from the mount, you will now with this adorable pet! May I present, the Seahorse pet!

Briny Deep Gear

Quite an interesting set we have here, not only stats-wise, but also in appearance. The hat has a fin across the top, the robes have scales, the cape looks like a fish’s tail, and the boots have side fins. A very creative nautical design that fits perfectly with the theme of the castle.

Armaments of the Briny Deep

What an amazing looking wand and shield combo they have given us in this bundle! This beautiful wand is deep-sea inspired, with seashells and scrollwork embellishment. If the stats won’t work for you, it would certainly be worth using to stitch.

As usual, the bundle also comes your choice of a 1-month membership or 5000 Crowns.

Well, there you have it! A most spectacular addition to the list of castles available. Personally, with the gentle beauty of this one, it might just become my favorite. I’m already thinking about how to decorate it to make the most of what it has to offer. Do you plan on getting it? What do you think of this bundle? Let us know in the comments!

Spooky Spectacular

Posted on October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 by Sarai Willowbreeze

Halloween is such a fun time of year! All the ghosties and goblins come out to play. Have you ever thought about making your castle a spooky spectacular? It’s not difficult and it can be a lot of fun. I’m going to take you on a tour of some of the really cool effects that I’ve seen, to give you some creepy inspiration! Huge shout-out to the members from the Facebook groups Wizard101 Community, Wizard101 Caffeine Team, and Wizard 101 Adult Facebook group. Thank you for inviting me to your fabulous castles!

Brecken Battleblossom
Ronan Lifebreaker
Saffron Moonhand
Esmee Pixiewhisper
Fiona Dawn

Emily Ghostcaller
Blaze Deathslinger
Patrick Shadowflame
Alura Stardust
Kelly Firedreamer

Castles with built-in creepiness

Any castle in the game can be used to make a Halloween themed house. To make things a little easier though, KI also has 3 specifically spooky castles, 1 you can buy from the Crown shop for Gold, 1 you can Craft, and 1 that comes on a Bundle card.

The Death house is available for purchase through the Crowns Shop. It is 10,000 Crowns or 100,000 Gold. A very eerie home, small on the outside, but with plenty of room for added creepiness. Skull posts, candles and creepy trees help set a great atmosphere for you to decorate.

The Wyrd house is available to craft. You will find the recipe in Avalon, from Padraig in Abbey Road. The recipe is 60,000 Gold. Peyton Lionheart has a fantastic article on how to go about crafting your own Wyrd House, he covers all you need to make it. Crafting the Wyrd House

Don’t they have some amazing scary, fun ideas!? I hope you enjoyed visiting these spooky spectacular castles and seeing what makes them special. Are you ready to create your own Halloween house? Let us know in the comments how you plan on decorating this year!

The Fall 2019 Update!

Posted on October 24, 2019November 18, 2019 by Kyle Sword

As has become an annual event, the Fall 2019 test realm has just been released, and brought with it a major content update! With new areas, expansive lore updates and some really epic features, this update has it all! So lets delve deep into this vast array of new content and explore what it has to offer.

The Wizard City Underground!

After months of waiting, we finally are given the chance to learn about what happened to poor old Landscaper Doug! Level 15 and above Wizards can adventure down into the Old Town Drain Gauntlet, in the hopes of finding him. Down under, you’ll find the Subterranean Sanitation Operations Boss, or Boss for short. He’ll definitely remember our Wizard’s assistance!

Many levels later, upon completing Bartelby’s Scion quest line at the beginning of Empyrea Part 2, the next part of the Underground will unlock! Renee will call to us again, as we are the only “topsider” trusted to solve this mysterious issue. Something has corrupted the trash of Wizard City and brought it to life! It is our job to find the source of these monsterous creations and put an end to it! Along the way, we learn an insane amount of new lore that has to do with the origins of Ravenwood and so much more. We won’t spoil that here however, so stay tuned for our next article aptly titled The Wizard City Underground Story!

These new areas bring with them new mobs, storylines, characters and content for you to sink your teeth, and your wand, into! I’ve spent the last four hours on test realm and I’m still not done!

The Backpack Butler!

How many times have you had to spend hours, days, even weeks looking for an item? Whether it’s a piece of gear or a housing item, you just can’t seem to remember where you stashed it. Well this, right here, is your solution! The Backpack Butler will cost you a mere 2500 gold, and can be found in many furniture stores throughout the Spiral!

Now our Wizards can search for an item of our choosing! The new Butler, I named mine Gerald, will then search every single location possible for our character in order to locate it!

He’ll search our inventory, bank, shared bank, houses, attics, vaults and more until he finds what you’re looking for! This feature will revolutionize the Wizard101 inventory system! Perhaps more remarkably, it marks the first time we’ve seen an in-game search function (besides that of the Crowns shop). Could this lead to new search features in the future? What about one for the Bazaar?

Only time will tell. But for now, I’m going to use Gerald to find my old 50 Million Player Monolith, an item I have been missing for months!

Hatchmaking Kiosk Talent Search!

If there was ever a feature we needed to have added to the already great Hatchmaking Kiosk, it was this. Simply select the Search for pet talents option located in the top right hand corner of the Kiosk. From there, simply search for whichever talents you want and select them! What will follow is a list of every possible pet with those talents available.

Alongside this massive improvement, there has been a change made to the browsing pages in the Kiosk. A new check mark will appear next to any pet you’ve acquired in your Pet Tome! Collecting all the pets in the Spiral has just been made a lot easier!

Spellwrighting!

This new feature has me extremely excited about what’s to come for the future of our spells in Wizard101! The ability to farm for Spellements, a new type of reagent, that allows us to modify our own spells is incredible! Variations revealed by Kingsisle have shown accuracy increases, damage range increases and even the removal of damage ranges as a whole, replaced by a consistent amount! It’s exciting to think of the crazy variations that might one day become possible!

It appears that at first this feature will be limited to our original 1 pip spells, as shown by Kingsisle in their update notes, and the two new spells. Nightbringer and Daybreaker are two new Sun school enchantments, found throughout the Wizard City Underground area! Collecting enough of these rare Spellement reagents will allow you to modify them! This involves increasing the amount you can carry, their added pip cost, and how many of them can be reshuffled.

It’s likely these enchantments will have a role to play in PvP, as their delayed effect can allow for combinations and strategies not previously possible. It’s only a matter of time until someone finds a new, exciting way for them to be used!

Castle Magic Additions!

Housing enthusiasts rejoice! Castle Magic is receiving a set of three new additions for you all to play with. A whopping 36 new effect spells have now been added to your arsenal. These include Shadow and Loremaster spells!

A new utility spell will allow you to disable the PvP sigil in your house. The action spell will allow you to teleport all players within the castle to you! These can be very useful, as well as great fun and cause for mischief!

Event Updates!

This update also brings about expansions to the two major events in Wizard101 as of right now, the Beastmoon Hunt and the Deckathalons. We are unable to see this content as of right now, but we’ll be bringing you all the information when it drops in a future update of the Test Realm!

The Spiral Showcase event has also been made a little easier to gain points for. Changes have been made to pet training and team up options to allow points to be gained more easily. However no new means of gaining those points have been added as of right now.

Slap on your theory caps Wizards, maybe all the spoilers and leaks about new maps and other updates are going to come true!

So what else changed?

Lots of other little details have been changed in our precious Spiral. Some of the more notable changes include the removal of a level requirement for owning houses and fixes to friend’s list issues. These quality of life changes fall in alongside a couple bug fixes and optimization changes to help the game become an even better version of itself!

What do you think?

For me, this is probably the best update we’ve received in a long time. I left out a lot about the Underground areas for my next article intentionally, because the content is genuinely amazing. I enjoyed every second of the hours I played for, and I know that tomorrow I’ll be doing the exact same thing! It’s these massive updates, alongside the beautiful changes we’ve all wanted for years, that allows the game to continue to flourish. I believe that this update will go a long way in continuing the games legacy!

So what do you think of these changes? Let us know with a tweet or a comment down below. And of course, make sure to stay tuned for the rest of the upcoming update articles!