Have you ever thought about what the hardest thing to craft in Wizard101 might be? Which world is the most difficult, and in particular, what recipe is the most challenging in the entire game?
Well, we have tons of crafting guides that cover all the worlds in the Spiral, but lets look at the most difficult recipe to date, the Chain Reel!
You might make a case for the Revered crafting wands. They require good amounts of Flying Squid Ink, Aethyr Ore and also the Participation Trophies. A lot of worlds when questing and ranking up your crafting also challenged us, worlds like Dragonspyre come to mind. But trust me, none of them compare to what you’re about to see…
Don’t let me having all the reagents mislead you. 50 Flying Squid Ink and 100 Aethyr Ore is already rather taxing, but there’s a killer involved.
Getting 50 Platinum is only describable as absurdly difficult. It only really drops from the Accursed Play gauntlet and is still really rare. A lot of people who play actively on their max characters may not even have a single one, not to mention 50!
So let’s tackle getting these reagents so we can achieve this recipe!
Getting the Reagents!
The Squid Ink looks somewhat daunting, though honestly, you will most likely get enough from questing through Empyrea Part Two and farming for your Paradox gear.
The Aethyr Ore is a rather massive set-back. While farming in the Reverie or Husk can let you achieve what you need in a couple hours. That’s of course if you make use of transmutation, which trust me, you’ll want to do.
The most difficult reagent is the 50 Platinum. To clarify, if only using transmutation to achieve a single Platinum, it will cost you ten trillion Stone Blocks…
That’s ten followed by twelve zeros. 10 000 000 000 000 for one Platinum, so you’d need fifty times that for the full recipe.
While that absurd number sets in, it’s important to note that the only way I found to do this was by purchasing the Platinum with Empowers. But be careful if you try this, it’s not easy. This recipe cost me a lot of Empowers, probably over 1000. It’ll take a while to accomplish this feat!
Why craft it?
This is something I was asked a lot. Why Kyle? What for Kyle? To be honest, because I could. I enjoy doing these difficult things in games. The item itself, the Chain Reel, is an absolutely useless housing item.
I did it for the challenge mostly. To be able to say “look what I did !” Do you think you can do it too? Take the Chain Reel Challenge and post your finished Chain Reel on Twitter, Facebook, or Discord. Tag us at Ravenwood Academy so we can admire your work! I challenge you to craft the Chain Reel!
This incredible new castle is by far one of my favorites! The entire estate is full of fairytales and fables, from Mother Goose to The Brothers Grimm. What truly caught my attention was the morals behind the fairytales represented. I don’t know if KingIsle had an ulterior motive behind their selection of fables, but if they did…..BRAVO! Each area of this home has positive morals hidden within the fable itself.
The Land of Fairytales and Fables
As we arrive through the Spiral Door, we see many pathways leading from a central farmhouse. The central farmhouse also has a small barn with a secret tunnel that leads to the main house. There are multiple gardening areas all around the central farmhouse. As a bonus, this house is a like for your plants! There is also a lovely lake with a stream for fishing. I haven’t quite figured out what fairytale the main farmhouse represents. Maybe Jack and the Beanstalk? What do you think it could be? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
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The first house we’ll visit represents Mother Goose and The Old Woman who lived in a Shoe. It’s a multi-level house, 4 stories inside, with quaint details. The last 2 stories are reached by climbing a ladder, how fun! The rooms inside are smallish, but have plenty of space for decorating in your style.
In the Old Woman and the Shoe, there is a woman who has so many children she doesn’t know what to do! The moral of this story is, listen to your parents and have good behavior.
From there we go to visit the 3 Little Pigs, a fable originally published in 1886. You’ll find a straw house, a house of twigs, and a brick house. These are cute little 1 room shacks. To the left of them is a path that when followed takes you through a cave to the next house.
Just as the 3 Little Pigs worked hard to accomplish their dreams, so can you! The moral of this story is you can accomplish anything with hard work and dedication.
The next house we come to is the witches’ house from the Brothers Grimm tale, Hansel and Gretel. This is a fabulous rendition of the enticing candy house. The entire structure is covered in sweet treats that sparkle in the sunlight. The interior has 2 rooms that are vibrantly colored, matching the outside. If you go through the side of the large tree stump, it takes you underground, coming out int the main area of the castle.
Hansel and Gretel got into loads of trouble because they didn’t listen to their parents and trusted someone they didn’t know. The moral of this story is to always listen to your parents and don’t trust strangers.
After climbing a hill, we find ourselves at a wishing well. This well has a daily gift for your Wizard! On this occasion I recieved gold and a pet snack. Climbing a hill to a well is from an old 18th century nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill.
Jack was in such a hurry that he forgot to stay safe and be careful. The moral in this story is to avoid being hasty and do things carefully.
Rising to the sky we have the Brothers Grimm again, this time with Rapunzels Tower. This whimsical structure has 3 stories with a winding walkway that circles around the main floors.
Rapunzel dreamed of getting out of her tower and patiently waited for that wonderful day to arrive. The moral of this story is to never give up on your hopes and dreams!
There is a hidden door behind the waterfall that takes you to the lower level of Rapunzels Tower!
The mount that comes with the bundle is none other than the Pumpkin Carriage from Cinderella! This is another great multi-person mount from KingsIsle, this one with stunning details.
Cinderella had a hard life but kept a happy heart no matter what. The moral in this story is to be kind, forgive others, and don’t let bad things ruin a good heart.
The pet that comes with this bundle is the adorable, or should I say “toad–orable” Noble Toad! As his crown shows, he comes from a long line of Noble Toads!
Gear fit for a King or Queen
If you’ve ever wanted to have a regal look, this is the gear for you. The stats won’t replace your dungeon farmed gear, but it will make an amazing stitch!
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This wand is utterly amazing, so very eerie! It’s called Poison Apple. Once again, the stats are not the greatest but it would be another awesome stitch. Does anyone remember where a poison apple comes from? That’s right, Snow White!
Snow White was envied for her inner beauty as much as for her outer beauty. Her good-hearted trust in everyone caused problems for her. The moral to this story is that real beauty comes from within, and once again don’t trust strangers.
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KingsIsle has outdone themselves with this bundle! Not only is it an adorable castle with many features, but it also has wonderful morals for the children of the game. I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough of the Fantastic Fairytale Farm! If you see any other fairytales or fables represented that I missed, let us know in the comments below! Until next time, may all your dreams come true!
Welcome to the 2nd “Quit Stalking the Bazaar”. Today we will be shopping in the worlds of Krokotopia and Marleybone! From the sandy dunes of the desert to the elegance of Victorian life, I’ve scoured the shops for you!
Krokotopia Housing Vendors
Ea’rik
Ea’rik is the Furniture Shop keeper in Krokotopia. He is in the Krokosphinx. You’ll see him to the left when you get off the boat. He has a fabulous collection of housing items for sale. Even scaffolding which housing experts use for glitching can be found here.
Here’s a sample of what you will find
Scaffolding Crafting Stations Checkers and Gameboard Hopscotch Mat Many Fabulous Wallpapers and Flooring
Digby Hammershell
Good ole Digby is the Real Estate Agent for Krokotopia. You’ll find him inside the building next to Ea’rik. He’s a wonderful feller with 2 great castles for sale.
Castles available:
Oasis Camp-10,000 gold Desert Villa-20,000 gold
Charley
Charley is the gardening expert in Krokotopia. You’ll find him on the left side of the Pyramid of the Sun. He sells spells and seeds and pots with Krokotopia designs!
Krokotopia Recipe Vendors
Wul’yahm
Wul’yahm is the Crafting Trainer in Krokotopia. You’ll find him on the 2nd island to the left of the Pyramid of the Sun. The Reagent Vendor is right behind him, so you can get your recipe and reagents at the same place!
Here’s a sample of the recipes he has for sale:
Tapestry to School of Balance Tapestry to The Oasis Glowing Fancy Lampost Solar Decoration Many Tablets and Obelisks
Kamal Sarhan
Around level 60 you will come back to Krokotopia for the House of Scales. The quest will lead you to Aleema who grants access to Zigazag. Kamal Sarhan the recipe vendor is in the central area of Upper Zigazag.
Recipes: Tapestry to House of Scales Price: 5,000 gold
Pembaa
At level 25 a side quest for a lost beagle will lead you to Kembaalung Village. Pembaa is the recipe vendor in Kembaalung Village Krokotopia. He becomes available after completing The Attaché Case quest.
Recipes: Tapestry to Kembaalung Price: 5,000 gold
Marleybone Housing Vendors
Neville Cobblestone
Neville Cobblestone is the Furniture Shop keeper in Marleybone. He is located in Regent’s Square inside the Real Estate & Fine Furnishings shop. Look to the right side of Market Square. He’s quite a pleasant person with some wonderful items!
Here’s a sample of what you can find:
Small Starry Tent Amazing selection of Wallpapers and Floors Grand Piano Campfire with Kettle Chess Pieces (to go with the game-board bought in Krokotopia) Board-game
Tortimer T. Shellington
Tortimer is the “Go-to” guy for the best housing in Marleybone! Always ready to take you on a tour of his available castles. You can find him sharing a shop with Neville. They are best friends, you know!
Castles Available:
Metropolitan Manor-12,000 gold Royal Estate-30,000 gold
Babbage Basset
Babbage Basset is a Castle Magic vendor. You can find him in Regent’s Square near the entrance to the Royal Museum. Babbage sells Castle Magic items and spells. He is renowned for introducing Wizards to the basics of Castle Magic.
Marleybone Recipe Vendors
Felicia Worthington
Felicia Worthington is the crafting trainer in Marleybone. She is outside Digmoore Station. This sweet, crafty lady sells recipes for the most delightful housing items. She might even offer you a spot of tea!
Here’s a sample of the recipes she sells:
Blue Wall Tapestry Pavilion Carved Bookshelf Male and Female Mannequins Weapon Rack
Captain Dartmouth
Captain Dartmouth is a recipe vendor inside Barkingham Palace on the left side. He becomes available after completing the Rooftop instance.
This completes our shopping trip through Krokotopia and Marleybone. So many vendors! So much to see! What was your favorite find? Tell us in the comments below. Join us next time for our excursion through the vendors of Mooshu and Dragonspyre!
To start, I would like to explain what a castle magic trigger is for those who do not know. Castle magic at the base operates by having one item perform an action when certain conditions are met. I like to refer to this as the item “triggering.” This guide will be covering all the items that can be used to trigger things to happen.
Buttons or levers are some of the most common triggers. I will be covering both how to use them, and some interesting ways to include them in your designs. Remember, you can buy all castle magic items from Babbage Basset. This guide will be split up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced triggers because they vary in complexity.
Beginner Triggers
These will be the simplest items, generally only consisting of a single condition and a single output. If you are just testing the waters of castle magic. I would suggest you play around using these items first. After you are familiar with the basics then explore the more advanced sections.
Magic Buttons
There are two types of magic buttons. The magic button which gets placed on the wall, or the magic floor button, which gets placed on the floor. They operate the same way and only differ in where they can be placed. These are the simplest castle magic triggers and only contain the condition “When Button Pressed Cast Spell.” So, to use a button you need to place the spell you want to cast in the main section then select a target that you want the spell to cast on. Now when the button is pressed, that spell will cast.
Magic Start Detector
Similar to the magic button, but with a much easier condition to meet. This item has the condition “When Area Started Cast Spell”. This means that when someone enters the area the detector is placed in, they will see the spell get cast one time. This can be useful if you want to adjust the size or location of an object. Just like with the magic button, place the spell you want cast in the main section. Then pick a target and the spell will be cast automatically.
Magic Lever
The magic lever is slightly more complicated than the previous triggers. Unlike the buttons and start detector, the lever has two possible states. Therefore, there will be two outputs. The lever has one condition for “When Lever Switched On”, and another condition for “When Lever Switched Off.” This means it could cast two different spells, depending on which way it is pulled. Even though it is slightly more complicated, I put this in the basic section because both parts of this trigger function the same way.
Place the spell you want to cast in the main section, then pick a target. The lever will cast the spell when it is moved into the matching position. I like to use levers when I want something that can be undone. For example, levers are great for making magic doors. You can make an object move one direction when switched on, and then make it move back the opposite direction when switched off.
Magic Pressure Plate
The magic pressure plate is almost a carbon copy of the magic lever. It has two states as well, “When Plate Pressed Cast Spell” and “When Plate Released Cast Spell.” I use this less often than I use the magic lever because it’s a lot easier to accidentally step on a pressure plate and trigger accidentally. Yet, this can be used in the same way the magic lever can and could fit into your design in a better way than the magic lever in some cases. I always keep this trigger in the back of my mind when starting a new project.
Conclusion
This concludes the beginning castle magic triggers. There are many more triggers as well as additional uses for these beginner triggers that will be covered in our next installment. If you have any questions on how to operate or use these triggers or about castle magic in general, feel free to ask in the comments below. Otherwise, stay tuned for the intermediate and advanced castle magic guides.
Dedicating one of your castles to store the portals to your other houses can be a laborious task, especially deciding you want to begin a project like this. If you’re not sure what I mean by a “portal hub,” I am referring to a castle that is the central hub to teleport to your other homes. Successfully completing a project like this is a big accomplishment for any decorator, for your friends to tour your amazingly decorated houses and simply teleport to the next once they’re done.
The Math
Before we begin, there is a lot of math to be done. For this guide, I will be doing the most complex option of how we can interpret this project (and very much so the most impressive!).
Open your list of houses and count all of the houses you want included in this project. I want my Balance House, my Storm House, my Death house, and my Midday Estate included in this project, plus my dorm. My Storm House will be the Hub, and my Dorm will teleport the visitor to the hub. Once the person gets to the hub, there will be several portals they can enter. This is described in the main flow chart. The Marleybone and Darkmoor houses will not be a part of this tutorial.
This means we will need one teleporter for the Dorm, three for the hub, and three more to put in the houses. Therefore, all together, we will need seven portals. We need two for every house we have, plus one for the dorm.
The Portal Plan
Next, we need to figure out the route these portals are going to take. The flow chart to the left makes it look easier than it feels when actually doing it.
We must set up three portals to go back to the dorm, the dorm portal to go to the hub, and the three hub portals to go to the houses. Remember, when you click on a portal without the mark in the corner of its box in the decorating menu, it means you need to select the location it will teleport to first. If it does indicate a point has been selected, you may proceed to place it.
An Example
To the right is one possible combination a visitor may take. After teleporting to you in your dorm room, they go through the portal in the Storm House hub, and then the Midday Estate. When they decide to leave the Midday Estate, they will go back to the Dorm Room and begin again to see the other houses.
This visual shows where the portals are going to. The violet portal heads to the Storm House. This is color association. By using violet, it is a hint without needing to use a sign where they are about to go.
This works rarely. Most of the time, we need to put a sign nearby, or in the portal to show where people are going.
An extraordinary example of Paige Moonshade’s Portal Hub. Find her Wizard’s Watchtower on the castle tours!
It is always amazing to see houses on the tours that are connected together. Seeing portals linked together like this makes the house feels that its a part of something much larger, and is a product of greater quality. In projects like these, the more houses you have, the more work it will take to maintain it, but there’s a bigger pay off. In the image to the left, it looks amazing to see the portals of every single house in the game linked up together.
Thank you, Starlights, I wish you the best in your Portal Hub creations! Please remember to email your lovely interpretations of this guide to us at [email protected] because we would love to see them. If you have any issues following along with this guide, please get in touch with me in the comments below or on the Ravenwood Academy Discord!
I ’m sure everyone remembers struggling to figure out what to do with their first dorm room. I had no idea what to do with the original furniture. Honestly, it just wasn’t for me, but after a week or so of fishing, questing, and collecting treasure cards, I had figured out how to make the most of my dorm.
First, I started by removing all of the furniture and by selling it in order to buy some furniture I could work with for the style I had in mind. I had to think “What’s a good color scheme?” and “What items are an absolute necessity for a dorm?” and most importantly, “How could I fit everything together to work the best for my dorm?”
Well, after a few hundred trips to the Bazaar (on the fine edge of an exaggeration), I had gathered enough decor to achieve my goal. Some of the first few items I chose were the Wyrm Crowned Bed, the Long Narrow Table, and the Portrait of the Bone Dragon. After I had picked out the larger items, I started searching for others that would work well with them.
I decided on some Aero Dwarf Chairs for the center of the room; this would be the first thing your Wizard would see each and every time you entered. I wanted to make my focus simplistic and fill the outer edges with more decor.
One of the most important things to go by when decorating is to ask yourself “Does this look cluttered?” I don’t know about you, but I definitely like to keep things tidy, especially in my Wizard’s home.
One of my favorite parts of setting up my dorm was glitching. If you’ve never tried it before, it might surprise you how easy it is! This was my first time glitching while decorating and it turned out flawless, in my opinion. All you need to get started is one Maple Bookcase and a Black Checker, the best part is how they always have both of these items in the Bazaar!
To achieve the decorating glitch, first set down whatever object you want to float on the floor, then place the bookcase next to it. Then, you place the Black Checker on whichever shelf you want your item to be when it is in the air. Then, grab your Black Checker on the shelf and move it so your bookcase sinks into the floor. Once it’s there, you can move the item into the bookcase and then move the maple bookcase again, and your object is in the air! After this, to remove your bookcase, you grab the checker again and move it so your item stays in place.
My favorite glitch in this dorm room is definitely my Small Fry Keeper Tank. For this glitch, I used my Maple Bookcase to glitch some Purple Dewberries into the tank. Then I used it again to set it up in the window and out of the way! By using the glitch, I saved walking space in my dorm. Plus, it looks amazing, even if I do say so myself. To finish the tank off, I placed a Blue Angel plant on top of the tank to add a splash of blue to the area.
Every Wizard needs a study area, and for this, I completed three separate glitches. I decided to put the Telescope in the window sill with the Castle Magic Help tome beside it. It only made sense to look at all those beautiful Wizard City sunsets up close from the comfort of my dorm! Looking toward the desk area, I glitched the Arcane Rebooter (from Wizard101’s 10th-year-anniversary code) onto the table because it was almost too big to fit otherwise. That glitch definitely freed up more space on the desk too! I added a few specimens in jars, a Bottle Burner, Test Tubes, and a Venus Flytrap plant to complete the look. I found the flytrap in the Bazaar, but you can also get it from Fishing Chests!
I decided to not put too much of an emphasis on the doorway and to keep it fairly simple, I added the Nimbari Sword Rack, one of my favorite decorations in the game. The Dragon Skull, the Black Rock Fragment, and a couple of Glowing Mushrooms to keep things interesting.
Last but not least, I glitched the Wyrm Crowned bed into the wall and placed more glowing mushrooms underneath it! This is a really small bed in the game, so adding the mushrooms turned it into its own focal point! Next to the bed, I have the Elegant Hat Stand, and the Special Hat stand each covered in Darkmoor Cobwebs. You can thank my pet Moose for that one.
I hope you guys enjoyed the read because I loved writing it for you! I hope you all have a blast glitching and creating your very own personalized dorm!
This article was submitted by Guest Author, Jen Skullbreaker
What a wonderful time we had looking at all of the entries! It was fun for the whole team.
Here are the winners of the Christmas Decoration contest, prizes will be sent to the email you provided:
- 1st Place - Austin Death: Aero plains Bundle
- 2nd Place - Jeffery Shade: 5,000 crowns
- 3rd Place - Laura Battleblood: Yuletide Parade Truck!
- 4th Place - Jerry Tom: 7 packs of your choice
- 5th Place - Nathan Darkblood: 4 packs!
Take a look at these other amazing screenshots
We tired to add many of your pictures as we could, sorry if we missed yours. There might be a special surprise coming from Santa for all of you who worked so hard decorating your homes for the season! Keep a close eye on your emails!!
Thanks to everyone who entered, we will be having more contests like this in the year ahead and would love to hear your feedback or suggestions. Please email us with any thoughts at [email protected] or comment on this post.
It’s Christmastime in the Spiral once again! I’m sure all of you are just about as excited as I am (as if that’s even possible!). It’s the most wonderful time of the year and you can show your Christmas cheer with an exciting and original Christmas themed dorm room!
I am completely new at glitching and Castle Magic, but I’ve picked up a bunch of fun tricks this season to share with you all! For my dorm, I didn’t want to use any of the Christmas themed trees we all love so much. Instead, I decided to make my own original Christmas tree.
For my Christmas tree, I chose to use six of the Blue Holiday Ornaments and glitched them into the air using my trusty Maple Bookcase and Black Checker. For this glitch, all you have to do is set down whatever object you want to float and then place the bookcase next to it. Then you place the Black Checker on whichever shelf that you want your item to be in the air. You grab your Black Checker on the shelf and move it so your bookcase sinks into the floor. Once it’s there, you can move the item into the bookcase and then move the maple bookcase and your object is in the air! After this, to remove your bookcase, you grab the checker again and move it so your item stays in place.
I found all of the ornaments used for this in the Bazaar (and for quite a cheap price). All around my tree I have floating presents using the aforementioned ornament glitch. I thought this would be a really magical focal point and it turned out better than I had imagined. Speaking of the actual Christmas tree, it’s the Snowy Polarian Tree shrunk down twice along with the ornaments using Castle Magic. As you’ve probably noticed by now, my not-so-Christmas tree topper isn’t actually on the top of my tree. I did this because outside of Photomancy, the tree is too tall for it to show. For this, I just grabbed a handy Star Staff and enlarged it five times with Castle Magic as well.
To the left of my tree, I made a cozy sitting space featuring one of the goodest of boys. Right next to him, I glitched a Regular Keeper Tank with a Red Cap Carpe (the perfect Santa fish!) into the floor using a rug and the Maple Bookcase. For this glitch, you start by placing your tank in your dorm and then set out your Maple Bookcase with the Black Checker on the lowest shelf. Once that is done, you grab the checker and move the opposite end on the bookcase into the tank. Grab the Maple Bookcase and set it down so that your tank is up in the air. After this you grab the checker once more and move it so that the bookcase is no longer touching the tank, which is now floating. Then you pick up your bookcase and then place it once more. This time you will put your checker on the second shelf and place a medium rug (either the Medium Magenta or Medium Purple). You then move the checker so your bookcase sinks once more and place the opposite end on the long side of your rug. Next, you move the bookcase and make sure that the rug is placed evenly inside of the tank. As you’ll see now, the rug fits perfectly where the wooden bottom stops and the blue base starts. Once this is done, remove the bookcase by grabbing the checker and place it somewhere else in the room. Pick up the bookcase. Grab the rug and move it anywhere in your room where you want your tank and you’ll see that the tank is sunk into the floor without the bottom wooden piece showing!
Inside the tank, I have a shrunk down Snowman and a Snow Pile. Remember that when glitching items inside of the tank, you need to place them where the tank will be first, which can get tricky if you need to float each item. That’s why sinking the tank is a perfect option if you want some extra flair! For the Snowman and Snow Pile, I shrunk them both using Castle Magic Reflectors and Start Detectors with the shrink cards in place (this is all trial and error, depending on how small you want an item. Using a Magic Reflector, you can use castle magic on up to eight items and you can shrink or grow a single item at least eight times!). On top of the tank, we have another Snow Pile shrunk down. I also included some Yuletide Candy Canes and peppermints for all of the guests to enjoy.
One of my favorite glitches of all time would have to be putting the Silver Chest over the plain wooden one for your bank. It was revolutionary for me when I first tried it and it worked so well! I simply used two medium rugs and the chest. All you must do is place one rug on top of the other at different angles and rotate the first one until it is under the wooden chest. Once that’s done, you set down your Silver Chest (which is the one found under the furniture tab in the Bazaar) directly on top of your wooden bank chest. You’ll never have a plain chest for your bank again!
Next to the chest, we have a matching table with the Cookies and Milk glitched on top using the Maple Bookcase once again since they wouldn’t fit normally, you always have to give a little something back to Santa! (even if he is trapped in your fish tank at the moment).
Next to my glitched chest, I used up my spare Blue Holiday Ornaments and glitched them into the air and placed the Azteca Basket underneath. For that, I used the Maple Bookcase and Black Checker glitch with the bottom shelf, one with the second shelf from the bottom. All ornaments were shrunk two sizes down and I enlarged the basket by a size. All the String Lights were enlarged twice with Castle Magic as well. Last but not least, in the window, I placed the Gingerbread House to finish off my dorm.
I hope you all enjoyed my article on How to Make the Most of your Dorm: Christmas Edition! Decorate those dorms and have a very magical Merry Christmas!
This article is by Community Contributor, Jen Skullbreaker
I have no doubt you’ve been to homes with phenomenal mazes that extend to places in the sky you didn’t think they could reach, or beautiful portal displays of every house in the game. Each portal with an angel plant at elder, dancing elegantly nearby, or player-made homes of building blocks that are realistic in exterior and interior design. They all grab something within us. A kind of magic different than anything else in the game. When we enter those phenomenal homes, we are pulled into their absolute splendor.
Whether it’s to find a housing gauntlet or be inspired by other decorators, we’ve all entered another player’s in-game castle and felt a sense of awe in its aesthetic. As an avid housing decorator, I have won contests and have earned positions on the Top Rated houses leader board. Today, we will delve into the elements of decorating and see how you can apply these skills of craftsmanship to your own interior and exterior decor.
The Elements
Scale
Evaluate the overall size of your decoration in comparison to your character as well as your screen. From creating three-story high towers that can’t fit in your screen, to the smallest flower pot, the element of scale is probably one of the most important considerations.
Depth
Similar to “Space,” we need to think about angles and balance between the items. We cannot be decorating too flat, but we also need to decide what should get the most attention with depth. Debatably, this element can also be considered the most important.
Space
Next, we must determine how much space there should be between your items. Where can people walk through? Where should people walk through? At times, I find the best use of space in my home is when I block off areas I simply don’t want to decorate in order to focus on the bigger picture.
Realism
The truthfulness and believability that your decoration style can be accepted as possible in the game. For example, this does not mean you cannot have floating candles, because that can be explained with magic. Therefore, that would be truthful and believable. What this rule suggests, is to justify your room or exterior, and try to think of it from a new perspective. We must justify how believable the design is by looking at it with our visitor’s eyes in mind.
Originality
Does that stunning, beautiful, masterful home you just decorated feel like it’s yours? Of course, incorporating other’s ideas doesn’t hurt, but what does taking that idea add? How do you develop upon the different styles and themes within your castle? Remember, context screams louder than the idea itself.
Texture
Make sure nothing feels too repetitive in your decor. Try to find items that break up your texture and gather attention, or create textures that repeat well together. With repetition, the simpler an idea is, the better. With complexity, it is better for it to stand-alone.
Color
Color is quite powerful. I suggest knowing or learning some color theory. Learn about the emotional impact of colors, what colors represent, what different colored roses represent, which are the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors- the list goes on. Think about how different colors make you feel.
Palette
A palette is a collection of colors that are consistent throughout your design. As this is a video game where we cannot always pick specific colors, we should be lenient with where our shades and tones happen to fall within the overall color family.
Example: Garden of The Albion Enchantress
Here is one of the dorm rooms I’ve decorated, entered in Paige Moonshade’s Ninth annual best little Wizard City dorm contest. Let’s go through each of the various elements to see how we employ them in this example.
The scale might be one of the first things you notice. Several well-placed items make the room feel more grandiose because of their stature. The objects barely fit into the frame. Next, let’s see the depth. We create depth through the garden between the archways. Very diorama-like, it sits with us having to peer in, with each one of us taking a different perspective. This technique is used in Mooshu, with there being a fence next to the sidewalk and bamboo plants spread out between the wall of bamboo.
By examining this space, we see it is very tight, crammed, and in-your-face, especially when viewing it from an in-game perspective. Standing there, You are filled with a view 360 degrees around you of items. You can barely find your way out, and it’s not the door you think it may be. It is overgrown and wild, the feeling, like an enchanted garden that belongs to an evil queen.
We may find ourselves questioning the truthfulness of this design. Would an overgrown, enchanted garden of a witch looks like this? I believe it would be. It was very W.I.T.C.H. inspired, after I had binge-watched the short running television series for the second time, and I wanted to incorporate its dark and contrasting magical vibe into my own decor (notice how that also covered the color section too? These elements can correlate to each other in intriguing ways!).
Some of the ways I break up the texture of items in my design is by using wall lamps to pretend to hang them on pillars and wall-like items. In a similar fashion, the bright mushroom breaks apart the dark violet texture, while still being within the color scheme established. In our palette, we see bright greens, dark violets, vibrant and dark reds, and light blues. These are consistent and rarely fall out of line.
As decorators, we strive to create new worlds within our own homes or give homage to the ones we have quested in, and bring it to life. Each Wizard is given one dorm in Ravenwood and I hope this helps you make the best of it and the other castles that you own. Thank you, Starlights
The Grand Tourney Arena is a housing dungeon that comes with the Grand Tourney Bundle. The dungeon can be accessed through castle tours using a glitch. The drops mentioned in this guide will be for the highest tier.
There are 12 pieces of gear (3 sets; each with a hat, robe, boots, and wand) from the Hoard of the Hydra card pack that drop from this housing dungeon. There is an Energy Set, a Healing Set, and a (terrible) Offensive/Utility Set.
Offensive/Utility Set (World's Fool Set)
As I stated before, this set doesn’t really have much to offer. Aside from the wand (that will be mentioned later), each of the 3 pieces provide a decent amount of health and power pips, as well as universal accuracy, damage, and resist. They also each give a nice utility item card: Cooldown (1 Pip), Enfeeble (2 Pips), and Mana Burn (target loses 4 pips).
Regardless of what school you are or what role you play, I can only see this combination of stats being useful for a spammer or support at best.
Energy Set (Pixie's Encanta Set)
The level 100+ version of the Energy Set gives a total of +59 energy. (Hat, Robe, and Boots give 18/23/18. The wand in this set doesn’t actually give any energy bonus.)
Healing Set (Faerie Court Set)
The level 100+ Healing Set a great option if you don’t want to spend crowns to get healing gear from packs, especially for non-life wizards. The 4 pieces give a total of 56 incoming and 60 outgoing healing bonuses! With a decent ring and athame, that could easily total to 100/100 or more. In addition, it provides item card versions of Rebirth, Healing Current (2 pips), and two Guardian Spirits (Restores 20% hp).
*Note: Although the Mandolin of Evermore visually looks like it matches with the energy set, I listed it with the healing set because it has the best healing stats of all 3 wands.
The Wands from the other sets also give decent healing boosts, with similar critical block ratings and a different item card.
This dungeon also drops many snacks (including mega snacks) at a high rate. Here are some of the good snacks:
Rank 7
Rank 8 (Mega Snacks)
The gear’s drop rates are decent, and the dungeon is very easy with a full team. Good luck!