Tag Archives: Death

Waterworks Guide

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Most of us have done this dungeon, whether you were farming for mastery amulets, mega snacks, or your level 60 Legendary gear, Waterworks is your friend for all of that. In this article, I will explain how to beat Waterworks, what you’ll encounter, and what to expect. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Entrance

When you first enter the dungeon, you’ll be underwater. No enemies are present here. Pull the lever and go on to the first room. Stop at the entrance to plan out your strategy for the fights that follow.

Room 1

In this room, you will encounter four enemies. Two Fintooth Warlocks (Death, 2,560 health) and two Slithering Eels (Storm, 2025 health). They do not cheat, but they do have considerable resist toward their same school. The best strategy for this first fight is to have your team prepare blades for a hard-hitting hit all spell. They’re easy mobs that you can kill in 2 to 3 turns, max.

The next fight is a little harder, but it’s doable. Here, you will face two Hydromatic Drones (Ice, 2,735 health) and two Rivershell Guards (Storm, 2,095 health each). The Hydromatic Drones love to spam Frost Giant and Tower Shield to make your life a little more difficult. The best thing to do is to blade up as usual and use hit all spells. After you’re done with this battle, this concludes the first area. Pull the lever and you’ll be ready to move on to the next area.

Room 2

Puzzle: Here, you’ll be met with a puzzle. It’s fairly easy, but you must move fast. You will need to open all the blue clams to advance to the next floor. Avoid the yellow clams at all costs or you’ll summon four enemies, and while they aren’t hard, you will waste valuable health and time. After solving the puzzle, you will be granted health wisps, which are very handy for the boss ahead.

Boss Fight: After the blue clams have been opened, you’ll encounter the first boss in Waterworks, Luska CharmBeak. He is a balance squid with 21,150 health, but he has some pretty massive fire and death cheats. He drops the Waterworks Hat and occasionally, mastery amulets. How this boss works is pretty simple.

You can’t put any traps Luska or he will remove them and follow up with a massive Power Link or Skeletal Dragon that does 1100 per turn for 3 turns. AOE Traps such as Windstorm are fine, and pet traps will not trigger this cheat either. Multi traps like Fuel are not allowed by Luska. Only the first trap gets removed but it will still trigger the Skeletal Dragon.

You can only attack Luska if you have been “inked.” The wizard who is inked can hit Luska with any type of spell, but if you’re not inked, you can only attack with hit all spells. The wizard occupying the first spot will immediately be inked and as Luska’s health drops lower, he will ink the second wizard and soon enough, the third wizard. The fourth wizard will never get inked, so your best idea will be to put a support wizard last since they don’t need to hit. He can be an easy, straightforward boss if you have a hitter in the first spot and avoid traps. After defeating Luska, pull the lever and move on to the third area.

Room 3

Fight 1: Here, you will face two Fintooth Marauders (Death, 2,715 health) and two Wingfin Slicers (Fire, 2,190 health). They do not cheat. Blade up, use a hit all spell, and the mobs should be dead. After they’re dead, you’ll proceed to the next battle.

Fight 2: Here, you will face two Stormtide Elementals (Ice, 2,705 health) and two Rivershell Shamans (Balance, 2,430 health). Just as before, they are an easy mob battle. Blade up and use a hit all spell to eliminate them, then pull the lever and head into area four.

Room 4

Puzzle: In this room, before you battle anything, you’ll be met with a puzzle. It’s a simple puzzle to solve. When you read the instructions they will tell you “Start here to play follow the leader.” An eel will appear and will start touching various levers. Follow the eel and pull the levers in the same order. If you fail at the puzzle, you will face 4 Slithering Eel enemies, they are storm with 2,025 health each. After this puzzle is done, proceed to the next phase of Waterworks.

Fight 1: Here, you’ll face your last set of mobs. You will face two Riverclaws (Ice, 2,690 health) and two Celestian Constructs (Moon, 2,670 health). There’s nothing special to it, blade yourselves and use a hit all spell, but do remember that the Ice Riverclaws can use Frost Giant and Tower Shield. After defeating this set of mobs, pull the lever and head back to the main room to drain the valve.

Main Room

Final Fight: Pull the lever and you’ll be greeted by three bosses. Sylster Glowstorm (Star, 24,980 health), Water-Wing (Fire, 8,190 health) and the Spellhammer Sorcerer (Death, 6,560 health). The enemies might look easy enough at first, but they have some nasty cheats that you must consider.

Sylster Glowstorm: Sylster drops the Waterworks Robe and Boots, as well as mastery amulets. When the battle begins, Sylster will put up a Doom and Gloom bubble and say, “Traps go undetected in the Light”. This means you can’t hit Sylster (or any of his allies) unless there’s a trap on them. It’s important to note that the trap doesn’t have to match the school of attack you’re using. For example, I won’t trigger Sylster’s Ra cheat if there’s a Myth Trap on him, but I choose to hit him with Leviathan instead. Any trap will prevent the cheat.

After four turns pass, Sylster will change the bubble and say, “The blade goes unseen in the dark.” Just like the trap cheat in the previous cycle, you can’t hit Sylster (or any of his allies) unless you have a blade on. If you fail to abide by Sylster’s rules and use a trap or blade in the correct cycle, he will hit you with a powerful Ra at 2,000 plus damage. The Water-Wing uses a weak Rebirth that doesn’t give absorb, and the Spellhammer Sorcerer uses a weak Scarecrow, so their cheats are less of a threat. I recommend counting the rounds so you know when to use Blades or Traps. Hit all spells will not trigger Sylster or any of his allies’ cheats during either cycle, so if you lose track you can safely cast that.

Spellhammer Sorcerer: He will take over Sylster’s Doom and Gloom cheat cycle if you kill Sylster first. He uses a weak Scarecrow if you fail to hit him with a Trap or a Blade.

Water-Wing: He will take over Sylster’s Doom and Gloom cheat cycle should both his allies be defeated. His cheat is a weak Rebirth if you fail to hit with a Trap or a Blade.

Bonus Glitch

Are you tired of running Waterworks, again and again, hoping to get your gear?

In Waterworks there is a glitch to make Sylster re-spawn without running the entire dungeon again. In order to do this, the entire team must remain in the dungeon together. All you have to do is have three of your teammates wait in the room where the battle just completed while the fourth goes into another room inside Waterworks. When the fourth Wizard returns to the team, Sylster will return for another battle. If done correctly, you can have infinite attempts at Sylster’s drops without having to run the dungeon each time.

Final Thoughts: Overall, Waterworks is a fairly simple dungeon with a decent drop rate. Most get their Waterworks gear within a day of farming, which is good because Waterworks gear is crucial to have. That said, I wish everyone the best of luck in farming Waterworks and getting their Legendary gear!

 Written by Ross Shadparvar

Catacombs Farming Guide

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Welcome!

Hello everyone! Discord community member Hannah here, or Emmaline GhostSong as you may know me in-game. Chances are, you’ve heard that Dragoon Gear is the over-all best for any max-level Wizard. But what is it, and how do you get it? If you have these questions, this is the guide for you.

To craft your Dragoon gear you’ll need to be a Visionary Crafter first. Then, you can gather the reagents and recipe. The reagents you’ll need come from two bosses. Today I have two different strategies for Prince Viggor and King Detritus. These bosses drop the Alchemical Extracts, Salts, and Crystals you will need.

 

These bosses are essential for farming level 130-140 gear for most offensive builds. Each piece of the Dragoon set requires 300 Alchemical Extract, 50 Alchemical Salts, 5 Alchemical Crystals, and a piece of Vanguard gear. Any school’s Vanguard gear will work to create your preferred Dragoon set.

You can also craft the Vanguard gear if you’re not getting them as drops. Each requires 180 Alchemical Extracts, 30 Alchemical Salts, and 3 Alchemical Crystals. That number can sound intimidating for the new Visionary Wizard.

 
Gathering all those reagents can seem like an impossible task. But don’t stress – it’s easier than it sounds! This guide is here to teach you some of the best strategies to farm these materials. Let’s get started!

Abandoned House Strategies

King Detritus is the first boss of the Wizard City Drains after completing Empyrea Part One. He is the Abandoned House dungeon’s final boss, which is an excellent spot for Alchemical reagents. Each run drops ten Alchemical Extracts – one from the first mob fight and nine from the boss. King Detritus also drops other Alchemical reagents, Vanguard Hats, and much more. During the Double Reagents member event, you can get up to seventeen extracts per run!
 
Suppose you do not have this dungeon unlocked. No worries! The Abandoned House is a free-to-play dungeon that any Wizard can teleport inside. I have seen many Wizards start farming King Detritus for extracts as early as level 120. So, the Abandoned House is a very frequented area for high-level free-to-play Wizards.

Mob Battles

There are two mob fights before the boss. The first fight will drop one Alchemical Extract, and the second doesn’t drop anything of note. The mobs range in health, depending on which type spawn. Have one or two Wizards pack a first-round AOE hit, plus a blade or Mass Feint depending on your teammates. This setup should defeat all enemies in one round.

Fighting the Trash King

The most common strategies for farming the Abandoned House are the two round and four round strategies. The two-round approach is usually best when you have a consistent four-person team. Meanwhile, the four-round is better when using the Team Up Kiosk. If you are new to farming King Detritus, you may want to try both to see which one works best for your play style.

2-Round Strategy

This strategy requires a hitter, a Storm Wizard with around 160+ damage. You’ll also need three support Wizards. Your hitter must be in the last position (4th), and everyone needs to join in the first round. Your team should coordinate three different types of Feints; some examples are Mass Feint, regular Feint, regular Potent Feint, TC Feint, pet-card Feint, etc. For the second round, you need any three types of blades that stack. Again, these can be any blades depending on your team, but they must be stackable.
 
Remember, never put more than seven cards in your deck for this strategy to work. You must get all three Feints down on the first round. Casting Feints after the first round will result in the minions removing all of the Feints that have been cast. Without the three Feints, it is challenging to defeat the boss in the second round. One of your support Wizards should pack a Cleanse Charm, as sometimes the minions cast Virulent Plague. If needed, this can go in place of their second-turn blade but never in place of their first-turn Feint.

First Round

1st: Feint

2nd: Feint

3rd: Feint

4th: Blade or Frenzy

Second Round

1st: Blade

2nd: Blade

3rd: Blade

4th: Epic Storm Lord (or Epic Glowbug Squall, if they have a shadow pip)

I personally find this strategy to be the most reliable and easiest way to farm for Alchemical Extracts. Your team will fall into a rhythm after a few runs. Each run will take about ten minutes and yield ten Alchemical Extracts.

4-Round Strategy

If you only want to do a few runs, can’t find a team, or prefer more laid-back farming, you may want to try the four-round strategy. This strategy is best when using the Team-Up sigil for Abandoned House. It is adjustable for up to five rounds if necessary and works with various school attackers.
 
The way this strategy works is by sending in only one player for the first round. This Wizard will cast a Potent Feint. Once the first round has started, the remaining Wizards will join. This ensures that only one minion spawns.
 
On the second and third rounds, blade the hitter. On the third round, the one and only minion will sacrifice itself. So when the 4th round starts, the only enemy left is King Detritus. Because there is no minion, your team can cast their Feints now. The hitter will traditionally cast their school’s King Artorius spell in the fourth round. But any good seven to eight pip attack spell will do the job.
 
While the 4-round King Detritus strategy is a bit longer, it can be less stressful when using Team-Up.

Prince Viggor Strategies

Prince Viggor, located in Viggor’s Tomb, is part of the Catacombs questline. Many Wizards farm Prince Viggor, as he always drops three Alchemical Salts per fight. He also has a chance to drop other Alchemical reagents, Daybreaker and Nightbringer Spellements, and Vanguard boots. There are two main strategies for Prince Viggor; this guide outlines both strategies.

The first strategy takes two rounds but is challenging to pull off and requires two or three Fire Wizards. The second strategy takes three or four rounds but is much more flexible. If you do not have this dungeon unlocked, any Wizard can teleport to their friend inside. But you must have a membership or purchase the Catacombs with Crowns for access.

Mob Battle

This dungeon has one mob fight before the boss. Rydall’s Plague is a group of four Death mobs with 3,590 Health each. Have two players pack an all-one-enemy spell that they can use on the first round, such as Meteor Strike or Tempest. One of your support Wizards should carry TC Cleanse Charm; if Rydall’s Plague goes first, they always cast Virulent Plague. Your other support Wizard should pack a blade or Mass Feint if they have it.

2-Round Strategy

Your Team

For this strategy, you’re going to need the following:

  • One Wizard of any school. They can be a support Wizard with high resistance. This slot is the only flexible part of your team for this strategy.
  • One Fire support. This Wizard will cast Backdraft.
  • One Fire attacker. Their damage should be 160 or higher. They need to have 100% Power Pip and Accuracy.
  • A Wizard with a Dalia’s Smoldering Hairdo hat from the Professor’s Hoard Pack. This must be a level 40+ version that gives the Incindiate card. A Pyromancer or another Wizard with a Fire Mastery Amulet will do the job. They should also have a 100% Power Pip chance & good Accuracy.

Fighting Prince Viggor

All players need to go into the battle in the first round, in the correct order, without being late. That is quite tricky but do-able. Your hitter must be in the third position, and your player with the Dalia hat must be in the fourth position. The players in the first and second positions are interchangeable.

Each player should have no more than seven cards in their deck, and everyone will need a different stackable blade. Your support Wizard should have a Feint as well as Indemnity enchantment on hand. The Indemnity prevents Prince Viggor from removing the Feint with a cheat.

Viggor and his Ice Minion also like to cast a -55 Tower Shield. So one support Wizard should have TC Shatters or Pierce on hand. They will cast Shatter or Pierce in the second round rather than blading. You’ll still kill without the extra blade, but you won’t have a chance without removing the Tower Shields.

First round:

1st: Indemnity Feint

2nd: Blade

3rd: Blade or Frenzy

4th: Blade

Second round:

1st: Blade or Shatter/Pierce

2nd: Indemnity Backdraft

3rd: Epic Scald

4th: Incindiate

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When this strategy works according to plan, you can expect to do around 80,000 damage to Prince Viggor. One of your Wizards may sometimes need to do a backup Meteor Strike on the third round, but most often, you can 2-round!

Traditional Strategy

Speed is the most significant advantage of using the two-round strategy. Yet, it requires excellent coordination and is easy to mess up. If your team can’t execute the two-round strategy, you might try the traditional method. You will find this strategy is more flexible and has room for error. I usually do four rounds with my team. You may find three to five rounds will work for you. This strategy is adjustable.

Your Team

You’ll need the following for this strategy:

  • One tank or support Wizard. They will ideally have high resistance to tank some extra hits. They need to be able to cast Indemnity enchanted Feint.
  • Two other support Wizards. One of them may want to have their hitting gear on for the mobs or a potential backup hit.
  • One attacker. This can be any school, except for Myth or Death as Prince Viggor has a high resistance to those schools and may remove prisms. Storm and Fire are ideal schools to hit in this battle.

Your Decks

Your tank Wizard must pack Feint plus an Indemnity enchant.
 
All three of your support Wizards should coordinate to pack several stackable blades for your hitter. You could use elemental blades, dark pacts, school blades, pet blades, an so on. At least one support player should also pack TC Shatters and cleanse charm. You may pack traps. Yet, all traps must have an Indemnity on them. Do not cast them if Prince Viggor summons a Storm or Myth minion – so this should be a last resort only.
 
Your hitter needs a good attack all spell. When I hit on my storm, I use Storm Lord – as well as Frenzy or another aura, and usually one or two blades for themselves.

Fighting Prince Viggor

For the first round, have only your tank Wizard go in and cast Indemnity Feint. This tactic minimizes the amount of minion hits your team gets. Once the first round has started, the rest of your team can go in with your hitter in the fourth position.
 
Next, spend one to two rounds blading up your hitter. It may take a couple of tries for your team to see exactly how many rounds you need. I hit on the fourth round, but I find it is possible to kill on the third for some Wizards.
 
On the round you hit, use Shatter on Prince Viggor. The only time I don’t do this is if our team goes first and he doesn’t already have a shield on. If he doesn’t have a shield, but the opposing team goes first, cast Shatter anyway.
 
With the Feint, a couple of rounds’ worth of blades, and the Shatter, your hit should take Viggor and his minions out in one go. If, by some chance, you have a straggler, have your backup hitter cast a quick AOE. This strategy is a reliable way to farm Alchemical Salts – and if you’re lucky, Vanguard boots!

After Farming

Now that you know the strategies, you’re well on your way to crafting Dragoon gear. Pick up the recipes from Zasha Emberforge and get crafting! I recommend spending most of your time at King Detritus for Alchemical Extracts. Once you get most of your extracts, pop over to Viggor for a few runs to catch up on salts.
 
The meta PVE set for level 130-140 in most cases asks for the Dragoon Hat, Boots, and Amulet. Dragoon gear gives a lot of Health, and the robe and athame are staples in high HP builds for Ice Wizards. The stats of all Dragoon pieces are below but don’t forget about the set bonus! With three pieces, you get extra damage, which is a big part of what makes this gear so powerful. 
 
Also, some pieces come with great spells. The hats come with a zero-pip mass trap, the boots with an item card Sharpened Blade and Potent Trap, and the amulet with an overpowered four-pip AOE spell. Take a look!

The Stitch and the Recipe

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The Gear Stats

Fire

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Storm

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Ice

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Death

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Myth

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Life

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Balance

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Thanks for Reading!

Thank you for reading my guide on Dragoon Gear farming. I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and that you have a better understanding of how to get this popular level 130+ gear. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, or find me around the Spiral or Discord. I wish you the best of luck on your Catacombs adventures!
~Hannah/Emmaline Ghostsong

Blacksmiths Fjord Bundle

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The Blacksmith’s Fjord Bundle is the second new bundle of 2021, and we are excited to explore it with you! This Grizzleheim-themed bundle is available at Gamestop and comes with the following items:

  • Blacksmith’s Fjord Castle
  • Permanent Fjord Dragon Mount
  • Forge Goblin Pet
  • Forgemaster’s Gear
  • Forgemaster’s Sword
  • 1-month prepaid membership or 5,000 crowns

Blacksmith's fjord house

The Blacksmith’s Fjord is a beautiful piece of Grizzleheim you can call your own. This serene retreat sits right on the river with a tower to keep watch over your home away from home. The docks bring a beautiful light to the endless fishing available in this home. We found the Steelhead Doodlefish and seasonal fish. We can’t help but wonder what other fish will show themselves here? Let us know what you find!

To the side of the docks, you will find your very own watchtower lined with shields. You can touch the sky! Well, almost, but you are getting a better view of the waterfalls and endless scenery.

Beside your castle, you will find the hard-at-work water wheel, supplying the power and energy needed to keep the famous Grizzleheim forges up and running.

Let’s venture inside and see what else awaits us!

Stunning vaulted ceilings greet you when you walk through the doors. You can tell the previous owners built this place to last; the exposed beams were carved with such care. You will also find an excellent themed bank to store all of your gear and items. 

Venturing down the halls of this home, we find the main attraction, the Blacksmith’s Forge. This fiery furnace, powered with the help of the water wheel, will get the job done. Walk up and interact with it to get a pleasant daily surprise. Who knows, you might get some Amber, a valuable reagent used for many Spell Card recipes. Walk upstairs, and you will find the great hall where you and your guests can feast and swap tales. 

If you look around, you might find some hidden secrets lying within.

The Gear

The kit consists of the Forgemaster’s Helm, Forgemaster’s Smock, and Forgemaster’s Boots. Each piece gives one Grizzleheim Lore spell. In addition, the Helm offers Hammer of Thor, the Smock gives Grendel’s Amends, and the Boots have Ratatoskr’s Spin. The Boots are especially high in Damage, Resistance, and Health at all tiers. They are a great option for any Life Wizard, especially with the Ratatoskr’s Spin card. The Helm is high in offensive stats and adds some pierce the boots do not have. The Smock follows in the same pattern as most bundle robes. It offers a defensive build with high Health, Resistance, Critical Block, and Outgoing Healing, which combines well with the Grendel’s Amends card.

The Wand

The Forgemaster’s Sword is one of our favorite pieces of this bundle. The beautiful Norse-style blade is fresh from the forge! Glowing bright and engraved with magical runes, it makes a fantastic stitch piece for any Wizard. 

Not only is it stunning, but the stats on this wand are also notable. It is common for bundle wands to have mid-level stats, and the new Forgemaster’s Sword is no exception until level 100. I chose to redeem mine at that level, which gave me 42 Critical Rating, 11% Damage, one Power Pip, and 13 Shadow Rating. It makes for a significant and timely upgrade from your Sky Iron Hasta. Even the level 110 and 120 tiers of this sword are as impressive. 

While it still has decent stats at lower levels, it may not be the best choice since it doesn’t surpass the Sky Iron Hasta’s damage until level 100. This Wand comes with attack cards for Myth, Life, and Storm. The Forgemaster’s Sword also has a May-cast Chromatic Blast spell at levels 100 – 140. Chromatic Blast gives a Universal +5% damage per pip blade to the caster. This May cast provides the wand with the potential strategy of countering Wards in exchange for an extra blade.

The Pet

Made from cinder and smoke, with a heart of fire is the Forge Goblin pet. The first-generation talent pool contains zero common talents, six uncommon, two rare, one ultra-rare, and one epic talent. This gives our fiery friend a total pedigree score of fifty-two.

The Forge Goblin gives one Shatter Card at Teen and another at Ancient. Its first-generation stats are as follows: 

  • 250 Strength
  • 195 Intellect
  • 200 Agility
  • 235 Will
  • 185 Power

These are impressive stats for a first-generation pet. If you’re looking for a starting point for your hatch or a unique pet to use, this could be the one. When it comes to training, this pet likes Death school snacks and Meal type snacks. When I raised the Forge Goblin to Mega, it manifested; Attentive, Death-Shot, Death Dealer, Death Assailant, and Forceful. What did yours get? Given the talents we’ve seen, this pet seems like it could make a great Death starter pet.

The Mount

The permanent Fjord Dragon mount is a single-rider, 40% speed boost mount. This blue and green dragon slithers gracefully through the air. Its wings resemble spring leaves, the perfect complement to any green stitch. But, don’t let its stoic stare scare you! This fierce, elegant dragon is here to help you traverse the Spiral.

In Conclusion

This concludes our review of the Blacksmith’s Fjord Bundle. It’s a unique addition to the Grizzleheim-themed homes and items.

The Forgemaster’s Gear gear will help you in your adventures through the Spiral. This bundle’s wand at high tiers adds more variety when deciding what you will use while questing. This bundle brings cool-looking gear that packs a punch of damage and resistance. The Forge Goblin pet is an excellent addition to any Death collection. The Fjord Dragon is a unique mount that will stand out. We are impressed.

We hope this helps you decide if this is the right bundle for you. We look forward to seeing what you create. Tell us what you think of the Forgemaster’s Bundle in the comments below. 

See you around the Spiral!

Discord Admins Baldur and Hannartia!

Spring Update Highlights

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Greetings, Wizards of the Spiral. As we prepare for the Summer here at Ravenwood Academy, we’d like to highlight some of our favorite changes from the Spring 2021 Test Realm. Without further delay, let’s begin!

New Skeleton Key Bosses

Two new Skeleton key bosses have arrived in Grizzleheim and Karamelle. The first boss, King Borr, resides in Savarstaad Pass. Meanwhile, the Stay-Puffed Marshfellow dwells in the Nibbleheim Mines.

The Stay-Puffed Marshfellow requires a Gold Skeleton key. At the same time, King Borr has variants for all three keys. The Nibbleheim Key Boss drops new unique Marshmallow Wands. Meanwhile, King Borr drops Spellements for the Grizzleheim Lore Spells. Life Wizards rejoice as there’s now another method to get Ratatoskr’s Spin!

New Social Feature

Recently added in the Spring Update was the new Social feature. Clicking the icon beneath your Friend’s List will bring up a list of all nearby Wizards. This list will show you all the Wizards currently in your same zone and their current quest.

Friendly Wizards are okay with other people joining them in combat. You can also chat and teleport to any nearby Wizard who has marked themselves as Friendly.

Finding a questing buddy is now easier than ever! Even better, we no longer must sacrifice those on our Friends List to make room. Finally, we can see if a player is fine with another person joining their PVE duel. No more awkward conversations when you enter a fight that was almost over.

Team up VolUnteering

The Join a Team Kiosk has received an update in the form of Volunteering! Volunteering allows you to help other players without having to stay put. You can select the world and types of instances you want to volunteer for at the Kiosk outside the Bazaar. Here you can choose from any world you’ve unlocked to volunteer. From there, you can choose to volunteer to assist with farming or longer dungeons.

The teams who’ve been waiting the longest time for help will receive volunteers first. After you’ve helped your team complete the instance, your Health and Mana are replenished. From there, you’ll return to your previous location. This system allows players to help other players without selecting a new team to help each time. Excellent for any Wizard seeking to get the illustrious Team Champion Badge.

New Spell Animations

Many AOE animations were updated to hit all enemies, making them faster. Below is the list of AOE’s whose animations were updated. You can also check out the video below to see the changes made to them.

Fire: Meteor Strike, Fire Dragon, Rain of Fire

Ice: Blizzard, Frost Giant

Storm: Tempest, Storm Lord, Sirens

Myth: Humungofrog, Orthrus, Mystic Colossus

Life: Forest Lord, Rebirth

Death: Deer Knight, Scarecrow

Balance: Sandstorm, Ra

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New Spells

It’s time to visit your professors because sixteen new spells have arrived in the game! There are two new spells for every school. But Life and Death received an extra, each in the form of damage boosting Globals. All these spells are available from the respective trainers in Ravenwood. You must be level forty-two to learn these spells. You’ll also need the prerequisites in your Spellbook.

Many of these spells were once popular treasure cards used in PVP. Their popularity has brought them to be permanent additions to our Professors’ curriculum. Don’t worry non PVP players; the Developers kept PVE in mind too for these spells. You might find them helpful outside the arena.

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New Quest

“Old is New Again” is a new quest available in the Arcanum for Wizards who have completed “Everything and Nothing.” For those who don’t want any spoilers look away now. For those who don’t mind spoilers, the video below covers the entire quest.

Spoilers Ahead!

To summarize the quest. We receive a message from the Old One, who is seeking to recover a memory of a world called Lemuria. Scholar Zander helps us discover Lemuria is little more than a fairytale.
The Old One insists the world exists, and so we venture to Mirage to find proof. After some snakey-shenanigans, we realize we are the only ones who can see the Old One. From there, we recover a piece of a mosaic depicting the Lemurians kneeling beneath him.

The Old One reveals himself as an aspect of the Nothing. Exhausted, the he tells us we must find Lemuria before vanishing. Finally, we return to Bartleby for more information. The Grandfather Tree gazes back through history only to inform us that Lemuria disappeared centuries ago. 

We’re too late.

Food for Thought

The quest takes us to Mirage, which houses the Sands of Time. According to Librarian Fitzhume on the Message Boards, we know time within the Spiral is governed by the flow of magic. Meaning time within the Spiral is flexible and subject to manipulation. We’ve seen it in Dragonspyre, the Five BOXES event, and Mirage. Does our return to Mirage hint at us going back in time to stop Lemuria’s disappearance?

We also know worlds can become disconnected from the Spiral and reconnected to it. We’re told about this in the level twenty quest “Grizzleheim.” Merle Ambrose tells us, “The Grizzleheim world-tree was once linked to the rest of the Spiral, but the contact was lost…. we thought it was destroyed. Bartelby now informs me that the portal to Grizzlehiem is now active, and travel there is possible.” This begs the question of how does a world lose its connection to the Spiral? How does it regain contact? Going a step further, how many worlds are floating undiscovered within the Void?

Regarding the Void

Which brings us to another question what exactly is the Void? In the Storytime posts from 2013 and 2014, King Artorius spoke about the “Outer Void.” The most we can glean from his responses is that the Outer Void fills the space between the Spiral’s worlds. It’s a dangerous, inhospitable place, and little is known about it. In Pirate101, when we sail from one world to another, one could claim we are traversing the Void, albeit not as empty as the name implies. Artorius does use the words “Outer Void” when he mentions it; this means, to me at least, that the Void has depth. 

Could it be what we see in Pirate101 and the Arcanum is partly a product of being so close to the Spiral? Are other fragments of the First World being pulled closer to the Spiral by the same magic used to create it? Who is to say the Void doesn’t grow darker and quieter the farther out you go? But to our knowledge, no one has ever traveled so far and returned to talk about it.

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Again, according to Librarian Fitzhume in the 2016 Storytime on the Wizard101 Message Boards, it doesn’t appear that the Void is the end. According to Fitzhume’s responses, there is still something beyond the Spiral. Whatever it might be is beyond our understanding. It is worth noting there is no mention of the Outer Void here. 

Meaning the theoretical ‘something’ excludes the Void. Based upon this information, I’d like to think of the Void as a kind of padding. It surrounds and guards the Spiral, somehow part of the Spiral, and apart from it, like armor or a shell. It is keeping things that don’t belong in it out while also containing everything within. A fascinating subject, to be sure. I am interested in seeing how it develops going forward.

Thanks for Reading!

With that, I will draw this to a close. Thank you all so much for reading this article; I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to browse the other guides and pieces here. Leave a comment below on what you think will happen as the Fourth Arc continues.

If you want to stay up to date on our most recent releases, you can follow us on social media. Ravenwood Academy has started creating YouTube videos for the Community. Check it out!

Until we meet again, I hope to see you in the Spiral!

-Morgan Shade

Critical Changes Explained

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The New Critcal System Explained

Hello Wizards, Nathan Shadowbringer, and Scot Moonshade here! We’re going to explain the recent changes to Critical and Block. Today’s article will revisit the previous age’s Critical and delve into the new system. We will examine the formulas to calculate your Critical Chance and damage multiplier. Critical has undergone a lot of change in recent years, and this update brings a new era of Critical! Critical and Block were once a percentage-point based system. Now it’s changed to a dynamic framework involving both Critical and Block.

Disclaimer!

Before we begin, we need to make a quick disclaimer. According to Ratbeard’s Karamelle PvP Update #2, Critical in PvP is not calculated the same as in PvE. The formulas we used do not work for calculating Critical or Block in PVP. All the information below applies to PVE only. With that said, let’s get started!

Old Versus New

Before the 2020 Fall Update, Critical was well… more critical. There was a chance to critical and a chance to block—the Critical stat based itself on how high your rating was in the respective category. Landing a Critical would ensure that your attack would do twice the damage (or 1.33 times damage in PvP). The problem with the old system was that achieving a high Critical Rating was easier than Block. It was making Block obsolete compared to Critical. With the new changes, it’s more balanced.

The following variables represent the corresponding data sets:

c = Critical rating

b = Block rating

l = Level / 100, where l ≤ 1.

The changes to Critical involve two new formulas. Both equations depend on the attacker’s Critical and the defender’s Block. The first formula determines your Critical chance. Note that Critical chance and Block chance must always add to 100%. For example, if you have a Critical chance of 90%, your opponent would still have a 10% chance to Block. 

If your attack doesn’t Critical, or if the enemy blocks, the calculation ends there. In this scenario, the second formula isn’t necessary. But, if you do land a Critical hit, then the second equation runs. This determines the Critical Multiplier. This formula relies on the attacker’s Critical and the defender’s Block. Further examples are available in KI Developer Ratbeard’s Dev Diary.

Critical heals also use the Critical Chance formula. But they’re based on your Critical Rating and the Block of the person you are healing. The only difference is, they cannot Block a heal but instead can “resist.” The higher your Block, the less you’ll get from a critical heal. Fortunately, the schools that have more Block also tend to lean towards a tank-type playstyle. Tank builds have more Health and Resistance, so they can afford to lose some of that incoming healing from the Critical. Regardless, the amount of extra healing uses the same critical multiplier formula. Remember, it’s still impossible to block a critical heal!

Spell Alterations

Another important note to these changes is the way Vengeance and Conviction work. Vengeance is an Astral spell that increases your Critical chance by 20% for four rounds. This bonus only affects your chance to Critical. It doesn’t affect the enemy’s Block or your damage multiplier. Conviction increases your stun resistance by 90% and Block chance by 20% for four rounds. This 20% increase only affects the possibility to block a Critical. It doesn’t affect the enemy’s chance to critical, nor does it lower the multiplier.

Charts and Calculations

There are a few basic formulas that can roughly estimate Critical and Block ratings. These formulas are interchangeable, and most involve moving numbers and variables around. The following equation presented removes the need for complex fractions. Here are two general procedures for determining Critical chance:

Much like the Critical percentage formula, the damage ratio also follows a function. In this case, the damage multiplier is equal to 2 – 3 * Block / (Critical + 3 * Block). See the formula below.

Here is an estimate of your Critical Chance against mobs with ninety block (blue) and two hundred-forty block (red). The green line at the top represents the Critical Chance soft cap at ninety-five percent.

Using these formulas, you can now find optimal Critical numbers for mobs and bosses. Karamelle mobs have around 90 Block while Karamelle bosses have at most 240 Block. Except for the final boss, it would seem.

This is the approximate damage multiplier against a mob with 90 Block.
Here is the approximate damage multiplier against a mob with 240 block.

What Does this Mean?

It’s important to remember that everything we’ve shown you is subject to change. Critical and Block in PvP are calculated differently than PvE.

Using these numbers, you can find your optimal amount of Critical; 570 Critical will get you up to 95% Critical against most mobs. Using the formula for Critical Multiplier, we suggest 630 Critical as a good general goal. This way, against monsters with 90 Block, you’ll Critical 95% of the time and get a 1.7 multiplier against them.

As we enter the “Third-Age” of Critical, there’s potential for more diverse character builds. An example of this could be full-damage pets as opposed to pets that have Critical and damage. These changes also give new life to the may-cast Vengeance talent. This update creates better balance and a more dynamic flow between Critical and Block, allowing players to customize stats to their unique play-style. Thanks for reading; we hope this helps you understand the changes and how they affect your Wizard. If you have questions, you can always find us around the community. That’s all for now, until next time, we’ll see you in the Spiral.

-Nathan Shadowbringer & Scot Moonshade

Pip Wizardry 2020

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Pip Wizardry 2020!

Hello Wizards, this is Nathan Shadowbringer here to help you calculate the actual damage of spells per pip!
 
This article will be updated if spell changes happen down the line. Eventually, I plan for this list to include even Loremaster and crafted spells.
 
We will start with the highest Pip spells, and works our way down to the lowest ones. You will notice some of the spells are not a whole number. Why is that, you ask? Currently, Shadow-enhanced spells that use Shadow and standard Pips – have been changing. In the summer 2020 Test Realm, KI has confirmed that one Shadow Pip now equals 3.6 pips. This number is subject to change. 
 
Before the 2020 Summer Update, Shadow enhanced spells had severe damage compared to non-shadow-enhanced spells. These spells went through changes to balance them. Shadow Pips previously never had an absolute value, but now they do thanks to the new spell changes! They are still powerful, but now within reason to normal spells of a similar rank.
 

Calculating Damage Per Pip

First, if the spell has a damage range, we must find the average damage. For example, let’s take the spell Storm Owl. Storm Owl is a ten Pip spell, that can do anywhere between 1330 – 1470 damage. Which, on average, is about 1400. I would divide 1400 by 10 to get the spell’s loss per Pip or DPP. Storm Owl would come out to be 140 DPP.
 

This can be represented by the formula: (damage)/(x-y). 

Here you would take the spell’s average damage (based upon the values on the card), and divide it by the difference of its Pip cost (represented by the letter x) and its utility Pip cost (represented by the letter y) which we’ll get to in a moment.

So the math for Storm Owl would look like this:

(damage)/(x-y)

(1400)/(10-0) 

1400/10

= 140 

It seems simple, right? Not always. To get a spell’s true DPP, we have to factor in Pip reductions, and damage multipliers.

What Are Pip Reductions?

A Pip reduction is something factored into a spell’s DPP calculation. These reductions happen when a spell has an added effect or utility attached to it. When calculating DPP, some Pips may get subtracted. 

For example, one type of Pip reduction is the scion condition. Scion spells cost 11 pips, and do x2 damage if a particular condition is met depending on the spell. Because Scion spells can do x2 damage, reducing their initial damage. Their base damage is around the damage of a ten Pip spell. See where I’m going with this? 

The Scion Condition results in -1 Pip when calculating damage per pip. Yet, the Scion condition is not the only Pip reduction. There are, in fact, many more. 

Types of Pip Reduction

The following list contains the types of Pip reductions along with how many Pips they reduce.

  • Special: 10% Pierce blade: -0 Pips
  • Rusulka’s Wrath blade/weakness: -0.5 Pips
  • 800 Absorb: -1 Pip
  • Disarm: -1 Pip
  • Guiding Light: -1 Pip
  • Infection: -1 Pip
  • Pierce: -1 Pip
  • Remove 2 pips: -1 Pip
  • Scion Condition: -1 Pip
  • Steal 1 pip: -1 Pip
  • Stun: -1 Pip
  • Summon minion: -1 Pip
  • Trap: -1 Pip
  • Tower shield: -1 Pip
  • Bubble change: -2 Pips
  • Double Disarm: -2 Pips
  • Double stun: -2 Pips
  • Gain 1 pip: -2 Pips
  • Plague: -2 Pips
  • Pierce before hit: -2 Pips
  • Smokescreen (40% accuracy debuff to all enemies): -2 Pips
  • Spirit Shield + Elemental Shield: -2 Pips
  • Stun all: -2 Pips
  • 45% Weakness: -2 Pips
  • AOE 45% Weakness -3 Pips

What This Means

These Pip reductions may NOT all be accurate, because determining the number of Pips a utility takes away is tricky. KI developer Mattnetic has said some utilities may cost less and others more. The issue is finding out which ones. Most pip reductions appear to be -1 one Pip, with AOE utilities such as Plague counting as -2. One for the utility, and one for the AOE effect. However, that still leave some loose ends, so allow me to to tie those up right now.

Because all King Artorius spells to get a 10% Pierce charm, the Pierce charm is not counted as a utility. Thus, every King Artorius spell gets it for free.

Rusalka’s Wrath gives either a 30% storm blade or a 30% Storm Weakness to the caster. Considering it has a chance to positively and negatively affect the caster, it was given 0.5 pips instead of 1.

Because the typical bubble would cost two pips, the Pip reduction is counted as two Pips.

Calculating the Pip reduction for an 800 Absorb was difficult. The actual Absorb spell is three pips for a 400 Absorb; therefore, wouldn’t it be counted as six Pips for an 800 Absorb? If so, then the DPP of Hungry Caterpillar would be extremely high. But that wouldn’t be, right? Would it? These things can be quite challenging. 

What Are Damage Multipliers?

You factor in a damage multiplier after you calculate a Pip reduction. For example, a standard damage multiplier is an AOE, or area of effect. An AOE spell is when a spell hits all enemies. Let’s take the spell, Glowbug Squall. This spell is an AOE, and it does 940 damage to all enemies. It costs five regular Pips and one shadow Pip. A Shadow Pip currently equals 3.6 Pips; therefore, Glowbug Squall would be 8.6 Pips in total.

AOE spells have their damage multiplied by 0.75, or 3/4. To account for this spell being an AOE, we get the inverse of 3/4 and multiply by 4/3. Instead of dividing 940 by 8.6, we would multiply 940 by 4/3 first to get 1253.3. Now, we divide by 8.6. Finally, this makes the DPP of the spell Glowbug Squall 145.7.

 

Calculating Drain DPP

Calculating the damage multiplier for drains was difficult. Thanks to the new spell, Ship of Fools, we can now figure it. Ship of Fools has two routes you can go and upgrade using spellements. One is damage, and the other is a drain.
 
We can now accurately compare drain damage to typical damage. For example, the final tier of Ship of Fools. We found drains to suffer a 0.88% damage dropoff compared to pure damage. The final drain tier for Ship of Fools deals 330 damage. The final pure damage tier for ship of fools deals 375 damage. 330/375 is 22/25, 0.88, or 88%. 
 
This rate stays consistent for each upgrade of Ship of Fools. Therefore, before we calculate a drain spell’s DPP, we have to multiply its damage by the inverse of 22/25, which would be 25/22, to find the true DPP.
 

Calculating DOT DPP

One more type of damage multiplier is “damage over time” or DOT. These spells have initial damage, and then the damage dealt over three rounds. Because this damage takes longer to deal, the damage is 25% higher than the average spell—DOT’s damage multiplies by 1.25. So, to find DPP of spells with DOT’s divide by 1.25 to get the final DPP value. 

X rank spells like Tempest and Snowball Barrage are not affected by the AOE multiplier. Because they already have their damage per Pip value listed on the card.

What do the Devs say?

The first chart here is from Ratbeard’s Dev Dairy, it shows the individual base DPP for each school of magic. In addition to the new and old DPP for each school’s Shadow-enhanced spells. 

With the damage per pip chart below, you will start to notice things with some spells above rank 7. The damage per pip curve caps off at eight Pips. It does not increase further. To account for this, rank eight spells and above get utility for cheaper then what a rank seven or lower would. They get these utilities at a 50% discount, compared to a rank seven or below spell. 

There is one utility that does not get this discount, the Scion Condition, which remains at -1 Pip, not -0.5. The discounted utilities are bolded on the chart.

Another thing to note is rank seven spells DO NOT get penalized for being an AOE. They are purposefully over the damage curve. None of the things mentioned above apply to Shadow enhanced spells.

Formulas: (x = number of Pips and y = utility Pip cost)

AOE: [(damage)(4/3)] / (x – y)

DOT: [(damage)(0.8)] / (x – y)

Drain: [(damage)(25/22)] / (x – y)

If you’re interested in learning more about DPP you can check out Ratbeard’s Dev Dairy on the subject with this link! https://www.wizard101.com/game/dev-diary/spell-balance-audit

Final Notes

Moving forward the it’s important to keep this information in mind:

  • One Shadow Pip equals 3.6 pips
  • Storm base DPP is 125
  • Fire base DPP is 100
  • Myth base DPP is 90
  • Death and Balance base DPP is 85
  • Life and Ice base DPP is 83
  • DOTs have a damage multiplier of 1.25
  • Rank 7 spells are intentionally above the curve in DPP (no x4/3 AOE multiplier when calculating DPP)
  • DPP scales slowly as spells start to cost more Pips
  • Shadow enhanced spells have a higher DPP compared to regular spells.

We hope this article helps you to understand the logic behind the recent changes to the game and how they will help balance things going forward. Personally, I am excited to see what new spells will be possible now.

Thanks For Reading!

Special thanks to Shawn Fire and Dustin from the Ravenwood Community Discord for assisting me in the many calculations throughout this article. I would also like to thank KI developer Ratbeard for responding to my questions about DPP so quickly, he was extremely helpful! And, thank all of you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did writing it. If you did, please check out the other guides and information Ravenwood Academy has to offer. Let us know what you think and what your calculations find in the comments below, or at the Ravenwood Community!! 
 

Legendary Death PvP

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Getting to Warlord

InfernaGaming here with a deadly new PvP strategy for Death Wizards. The main goal for Legendary Death in the arena is hit hard and hit fast. For this strategy you will use Myth mastery. Part of the reason I chose Myth as a secondary school was to get rid of the enemies blades and shields whenever I could.

Gear

My Wizards stats ended up at 110 Damage, 22 Pierce and 29 Resist.

– Waterworks Hat
– Waterworks Robe
– Dworgyn’s Dire Boots
– Immortal’s Lore Wand
– Duelist Ring
– Duelist Athame
– Myth Mastery
– House of Scales Deck
– Triple damage pet
– Vulpine Avenger Mount

Main Deck

3 Stun Blocks, 3 Thermic Shields, 7 Gargantuan, 3 Monstrous, 3 Earthquake, 3 Ether Shield, 2 Animate, 2 Banshee, 3 Death Blades, 4 Doom and Glooms, 2 Feints, 2 Ghouls, 5 Headless Horseman, 3 Poison, 3 Sacrifice, 3 Skeletal Dragon, 2 Death Dispel, 2 Vampires, 2 Wraiths, 3 Reshuffles, and 3 Spiritual Blades.

Treasure Cards

4 Tower Shields, 4 Gargantuan TC, 3 Triage, 3 Earthquakes (enchanted preferably), 4 Medusa, 3 Shift TC, 4 Infallible, 3 Death Blade TC, 2 Deadly Minotaur TC, 1 Wraith, and 3 Spiritual Blades.

Strategy

The strategy is simple. Start by blade stacking using Spirit Blades because they have both Myth and Death blades. Over-time hits like Poison and Skeletal Dragon will remove shields and chip away at your enemies health. This will also prevent any future shield the opponent might cast, leaving them open.
 
If you catch your opponent with no stun blocks, Medusa would play next very well. This attack with a two-round stun can prove quite deadly.
 
After Medusa, you can catch them open. Feint into a Headless Horseman, ending in a huge hit. If my opponent casts a lot of shields, I would Earthquake or Deadly Minotaur into a Headless. An Earthquake also works very well against minions, and will usually kill them with this setup.
 

This is all possible because of blade stacking, and high damage stats. Triage and Shift will come in handy as a defense against Wizards who hit with over-time attacks. With these treasure cards, you can survive a game-ending over-time attack like Burning Rampage.

I hope this guide will get your Death started in the arena! Let us know how this strategy works out for you in the comments below.

Death Guide to 100% Critical

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This guide is for level 130 death wizards and may require a 2.0 pet
 

Death School

The Death school can be deadly in the arena. It’s a school that specializes in draining the enemy’s health while regaining it’s own. The death school is opposite to the life school, but their purpose is almost the same. Because they can both attack and heal at the same time, death spells deal less damage than other schools. Luckily, with the right strategy, a death wizard can become essential to any team.
 
This article will focus on one gear strategy in Wizard101, the 100% critical set. The greatest amount of damage that can run while still obtaining 100% critical will be in the gear guide. This strategy is popular with Death wizards because a critical drain attack will hit hard and heal at the same time.
 

What You’ll Need

For the best setup, here is the gear you’ll need:

Hat: Deathly Paradox Conical – 137
 
Boots: Deathly Paradox Boots – 114
 
Wand: Tormentor’s Shredder – 195
 
Ring: Deathly Paradox Ring – 91 (+18 Jewel)
 
Athame: Mercy of Shadow and Light – (+18 and +18 Jewel)
 
Deck: Deathly Paradox Deck – 50
 
Amulet: Death Seeker’s Talisman – 35
 
Robe: Baleful Light Brigade Armor – 100
 
Pet: A double-critical pet – 63.21
 
Total Damage 130% – Critical 839 (100%)
 
This is the most damage a Death wizard can have while maintaining 100% critical.

Alternative Gear

Since the Death school only needs two critical talents on a pet to reach 100%, you don’t need this exact set to reach full critical! This means you could choose gear with lower critical and higher resistance/health. All you need to do is replace the missing critical with a triple or quint-critical pet. Note that the above gear goes to 839 critical, but you need to reach 838 critical to be 100%.

Here’s some possible alternative gear to consider
 
Hat: Krokopatra’s Oblivion Fez
 
Boots: Cabalist Stompers of the Finality
 
Amulet: Shadow Queen’s Grace (Gives +45% blade)
 
Athame: Lord of Death’s Razor
 
Robe: Death Lord’s Cloak of Woe
 
Deck: Rasputin’s Wicked Hand
 
Ring: Ghost Dog’s Dire Loop
 
Remember, Using these alternatives means you lose other stats, like damage, health, power pip chance, resistance, etc.

Things You Can’t Go Without

A double-critical pet
 
 The Tormentor’s Shredder
 
Unfortunately, the Tormentor’s Shredder is a must-have for the highest damage and critical at the same time.
There are many excellent gear sets you can use as a Death wizard. This guide will help you unlock the true potential of Death school in attack. Thank you for reading it, let us know how this set up worked for you in the comments below.

Check out the rest of our Gear Guides, we have a guide for every school at Ravenwood Academy!

More Guides!

Crafting101 – The Wyrd House

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Welcome back to Crafting101! Dark and eerie, the Wyrd house is perfect for Hallowe’en, Death Wizards, and anyone else who wants their own nook for the arts of witchcraft. You can buy this recipe from Padraig in High Road, Avalon for 60,000 gold.

Jars of Mushrooms

We will need two Jars of Mushrooms for this project. You will have to craft these. You may purchase the recipe from Tarold Wayfinder in Grizzleheim for 2,400 gold. The recipe is listed below.

Forest Lord Treasure Cards

Six Forest Lord treasure cards are required to craft our house. This will be a rare find in the Bazaar as Life wizards often use this treasure card until they can learn the spell itself. Gardening Sour Fickle Pickles or Queen Crape Myrtle, you can receive this. You can also farm the Locres Knight in Caer Lyon, right in Avalon.

Poison

Four Poison Treasure Cards are required to craft this recipe. The easiest way to attain these treasure cards is to either buy them from the Bazaar, or to garden Stinkweed, as mentioned in Ravenwood Academy’s own play free forever guide. 

Vine

Only one vine is needed for the house. Gardening is one of the most efficient ways of getting this reagent. As it is possible to get it by interacting with the Winter Wind Tower’s Horn of Plenty, you can garden all of the Huckleberries, as well as Deadly Helephant Ears, and variants of Trumpet Vines. Additionally, you can buy this reagent for 400 Arena Tickets from Brandon Mistborn in Unicorn Way.

Mist Wood

One of the most notorious reagents in the game, you will need forty Mist Wood in order to craft this house. You can simply run around Wizard City or other worlds like Grizzleheim until you have collected enough.

Grendleweed

The recipe calls for ten Grendleweed. You may obtain this through rare harvests of Frost Flowers as well as transmuting from Frost Flowers, found in worlds like Grizzleheim. The Transmute recipe is listed below.

Brick-Walled Pond

Two of this item will be needed. You can find it easily in the Bazaar. The Bazaar should be stocked with the item at 1,092 gold in the outdoor section.

Cephalopod Obelisk

We will need two of this item, easily found in the Bazaar. There should be roughly a hundred of them available at any given time in the decor section, sold for 1,056 gold.

Transmute Recipes

Jars of Mushrooms

Sold for 2,400 gold, you can purchase this recipe from Tarold Wayfinder in the fort crossroads of Northguard, Grizzleheim. In order to craft this, you need four Spirit Shield treasure cards, one Amethyst, four Shadow Oils, one Glass Vial, forty Stone Blocks, and ten Nightshade.

Grendleweed

Sold for 400 gold, you can purchase this recipe from Avery Templeton in Base Camp, Celestia. Simply fifteen Frost Flowers can be plucked from the world of Grizzleheim to create Grendleweed.

Congratulations, young Wizard, on crafting your Wyrd House! Please look through more of our Crafting101 series to assist you with your crafting needs.

Click here for more Crafting101

Thank you, Starlights, for collecting reagents and crafting with me. Have a wonderful night.

Aphrodite Strategy Guide

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Now that we have mastered Darkmoor in my previous guide, the Ravenwood guide to Aphrodite is here. This boss is a key boss found inside The Graveyard. Once inside the gates go left around the battle with Yevgeny. You will find yourself at another gate which opens with a gold key.

If you are a Life wizard you will want to farm Aphrodite for “Sacred Charge” a spell that only she drops. If you are a Storm wizard you will want “Aphrodite’s Storm of Thorns.” This is the best damage athame for Storm at level 100 and beyond.

Wizards of any school may be here to enhance critical rating or improve their energy gear. With the staff for 10, ring for 8, and athame for 6 energy, you can increase your Wizards current energy by 24 points. A significant boost for any gardener or fisher in the Spiral.

Now let’s talk about how to conquer this overgrown flower and her Spirit School Tentacles.

There are four important roles in this battle. Each wizard must understand and fulfill their duty in order for the team to succeed. The positions we need to fill are

                                

Hitter
Healer
Spammer
Trapper

Hitter

The hitter will need to stack traps, then aura, Shrike, and hit. Do not use blades, this includes global rings such as Darkwind that act as a blade. Any school can hit, but over-time attacks such as Dragon are not recommended. Failing to kill on the first strike with an over-time attack, will trigger an overtime cheat from the Life School Tentacles.

A Storm attacker will want to stack different forms of the Windstorm spell. Use regular and Potent Windstorm along with any other Storm traps you can get your hands on. Four stacked Windstorms is a thing of beauty against this rampant vine. You can achieve this, by stacking Treasure Card, regular, Potent, and pet or jewel forms of the card.

If you are a Storm, and your damage is lower than you would like, keep a Supercharge in your side deck. Any blade will trigger an all one enemy cheat from the tentacle diagonally across from you. As long as that tentacle isn’t Myth this is the one blade you want to risk. With a full pip Supercharge and stacked Windstorms, you should be able to one-shot this boss. Your Treasure Card deck will hold zero-pip shields which you should use defensively while building up the Supercharge.

If you are the hitter, do not run in with the team for the first round of battle. Once the spammer lands a hit, it is safe to join the battle.

Healer

I have a specific strategy I like to use for healers with this boss. Like Storm’s strategy, it will serve you well in Darkmoor.

Round One: Cast Empowerment or Adapt

Round Two: Cast Sanctuary

After these two moves, you will have all the pips and all the power you need to keep your team alive. No matter if you don’t yet have the best gear. Even two strong Rebirths in a row can be possible if you make these two moves first. Do your best to replenish your Empowerment or Adapt when it runs out to keep the extra pips flowing in. The rest is up to you and your healing style.

An important note for Life School healers in this boss, you may get hit with Life Dispels. You should carry shields to take them off when necessary. If you have one, equip a may-cast healing pet. This pet might clear those Dispels allowing you to heal the team rounds sooner.

Regular Cards on the left and Treasure Cards on the right

Spammer

In Wizard101, when we ask for “spam” we mean: To hit each round with small attacks. As a spammer in this battle, the most important stat for you to focus on is accuracy. I like to equip a Sidhe Wand for this reason. Whatever equipment you choose, the important thing is to increase your accuracy in every possible way.

Missing or fizzling your spam hit will cause the flower to drop its spores. This means Black Mantle, Plague, and Infection along with an overtime attack on every member of your team. This can trigger a self-feeding loop where one fizzle causes another until the team just can’t win. As spammer, you need enough accuracy to overcome the Black Mantle every time.

You must hit every single round, like clockwork. I like to keep my Treasure Card deck full of one or two pip spells when I am relied on as the spammer, so that there is never any reason to not have an attack.

As I mentioned above, over-time spells are not OK here. If your spammer is Life or Death school, they could end up Dispelled a round. The healer or trapper should have a few small hits in to back-up the spammer, just in case.

It does not matter which Tentacle you choose to spam as long as you spam the same one each time. This will allow the trapper to do their job.

Trapper

The trappers’ job is to stack Feints and traps on the tentacles while the hitter builds the attack. Feints and Potent Feints should be cast on all the tentacles that aren’t being hit by your spammer. Hex, Curse, and Elemental or Spirit traps are all also ok to use. Ideally, the trapper should be next in line after the spammer in battle order. This way, on the hit round a final Feint can be cast.

If the team works together and everyone plays their part, this battle can be fun and smooth. Good luck getting those drops, and I can’t wait to see you in the Spiral!
~ Amber Ravynsong