Wizard101 Year In Review

2014 wasn't the most eventful year in my gaming career. But it was all worthy enough for a blog post, especially since I'm still catching up. :P

Note: Dates come from the day I took the screenshots, not when I actually included them in certain blog posts.

January 1st, 2014: Ghost Dog goes down to ring in the new year. A brief wait for Khrysalis pt. 2 begins.

February 14th: On Valentine's Day, the Sirens were serenading Warehouse baddies. Many levels later, I effectively earned my revenge against a 2010 archenemy.

February 24th: The Sirens got even more action when Mycin and Sophia began Azteca. It's been fun, dinos.

April 25th: A day after Khrysalis pt. 2 opens, Arlen crossed the sea on a giant bug.

Annoyed by the lack of trees on the other side, Arlen then turns his farm into a strange forest of everything from pines to palms.

April 30th: Five days and many boss battles later, Arlen hits the level cap!

May 3rd: Morganthe goes down! And Old Cob does something weird. Nevertheless, only joy is felt when the Spider Queen plummets into space.

July 11th: Mycin and Sophia wrap up Azteca with their new level 88 spells! It's the end of the world, but they're feeling fine.

July 22nd: Chase impersonates another Ravenwood student and almost gets away with it (if it weren't for those meddling noobs...)

August 7th: A month after wizards started casting their reels, Tarlac finally finds that last pesky Silver Streak for his collection.

October 3rd: The BOXES make a sudden appearance around the Spiral, and Arlen gets to save Halston from a life in Newgate -- over stolen jewelry (surprise surprise).

October 26th: Dugan blazes through Wintertusk and sends honorable bear warriors to... somewhere over the rainbow, presumably.

November 24th: Mycin and Sophia begin Khrysalis with a surprising amount of allies -- namely, Mary and Morgrim Dreamshade and Dyvim doppelgangers.

December 26th: In the House of Scales, being turned down results in an afterlife of misery, but that doesn't stop Arlen and Mary from going all "turn down for what" to the new member emotes.

December 31st: More dancing highlights the New Years Eve festivities as the Commons celebrates the coming of 2015!

Here's hoping there's a lot more to dance for in 2015.

Happy Resolution-breaking!

Sharrrks In Arrrgust

Thanks to the Discovery Channel and the weird tradition they started, Wizard101 and Pirate101 celebrated Shark Week in their own way. On the Pirate side, shark-related items were put on sale... including the Cutthroat Bundle.

So, with last week's deal going on, I went ahead and purchased my first Pirate101 bundle. That meant looking through the Cutthroat's Cove house for the first time. I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to these things..

It's certainly spacious, but I feel like Pirate101 doesn't have enough furniture to work with right now. That, and I'd like to make the house a mix of Robinson Crusoe and Jurassic Park, but I've never seen the movie :P

Meanwhile, the PvP area is pleasantly useful for open-air dueling. Me and Ma1kavian may need some practice for the upcoming P101 Central Tournament.

CHOMP! Now onto the Wizard101 side of Shark Week, where the Warhammerhead Shark made its introduction.

The 64th fish -- and first seasonal one -- is swimming around most of Grizzleheim for another week. They're actually easy to catch for Epic fish; I've caught 50 (across four characters) so far. In pursuing the unusual Warhammerhead Shark, here are a few things to remember:

Although classified as an Epic fish, Warhammerheads behave more like Rare fish. They reside in four areas: Vigrid Roughland, Northguard, Helgrind Warren, and Triton Avenue. Being the only Storm species in Grizzleheim, it isn't difficult to locate one.

Warhammerhead Sharks also fetch a high price at fishing vendors. They're always worth upwards of 2,000 gold.

Don't forget to catch one before they're gone! I'm still trying to catch a Whopper for my little Aquarium Project, personally. I've crafted homes for 20/64 species, and have a loose goal to catch a Whopper or Small Fry of every fish.

Getting there, one Dekoi at a time.

Happy Fishing!

63 Fish In The Tome

... 63 species of fish. 

Take one out, put it in the Tome,
62 species of fish to go.

If you couldn't tell, this number denotes the number of fish species available to catch so far. Naturally, I've been on a mission to catch every one, and it was heating up as I got closer to the ultimate goal. As Arlen had a garden to tend, I relegated the task to Tarlac, my level 80 Life wizard. He would see a lot of action in the next couple weeks.

The fish had a propensity for blinking took when I took their picture. Hmm...

This was probably my favorite punny fish. The description doesn't lie.

For awhile, I focused on the three Grizzleheim epic fish. In rarity, the Polar Bearracuda was probably the easiest to get, although it is pretty difficult to find one ice fish right beside a waterfall.

Are you hibernating now, or..?

It's hard to get a Rune Fish to show up, but pretty easy to clear the Mirkholm Keep pond and come back. As usual, the little guy decided to fall asleep in my screenshot.

 The Boss Hog ended up being the toughest, by far. It takes a few minutes just to clear the pond after using 'Reveal Fish'. This is where I learned a useful tip: once a fish has noticed your lure, click on the 'Fishing' tab on the right side of the screen. Instead of waiting for the fish to miss, then, you can just reel your lure back in without using energy. It was a time-saver, but it would be awhile before I found that bossy fish :P

Catching at least one of the two Krokotopia epic fish was easy enough.

Jellyfish are the cutest little things.

My last real focus was on Mooshu, which has the most epic fish (four), and all of them ended up being pretty stingy aside from the Bubba Fish.

Probably my proudest catch, considering I ran through Crimson Fields 3-4 times (and did a lot of waiting) just to reach the pond. Surprisingly though, Mr. Musushi here only took second place in time spent trying to catch a fish.

I forgot to fish for the Goldfin-ger for awhile, but it didn't take too long to catch. Like many of the Water Dojo fish, the Goldfin-ger is a fire species, but it's hard to miss as this guy really motors through the water quickly.

That marked 62 out of 63 fish. The Boss Hog and the Musushi put up a real challenge, but which one was my greatest undoing?

I ran through Emperor's Retreat a few dozen times before the Silver Streak showed up -- and that's a conservative estimate. It's a cool dungeon, but I am definitely sick of it by now :P

A couple days ago, Wizard101 made the 'Summon Fish' spell available for Level 6+ fishers. Despite the 10 energy cost, it was very helpful, as I could just re-stock the Emperor's Retreat pond with fish without waiting a good 15 minutes or so.

Last night, after re-stocking the pond with fish once again, I finally saw the little loading spiral for the Silver Streak. I was a bundle of nerves, to say the least. Looking in the biggest Emperor's Retreat pond where they're usually found, I didn't see any fish moving with significant speed. Sure enough, I caught two Garrrfish. Had I scared the Silver Streak away?! Where was it?

In the front pond? That didn't seem right. But there was a fish moving crazy fast through those waters. Following it, I attempted to cast a lure but was met with the "Insufficient Energy" message. Drat. Waiting around had prepared me for this moment, but I wasn't just going to wait another 15 minutes. There was one more Energy Elixir in my gift list (thanks, Grub Guardian), and I used it.

Voila. On the night of August 7th, over three weeks after Fishing was launched, I was done catching all the new fish. In fact, the publishing of this post solely depended on when I caught the Silver Streak.

Finally, Tarlac Lifegiver can take a well-deserved break from fishing. That is, until I start crafting Aquariums for every fish I have. That's a lot of Lifecudas. So, take your time, Celestia and Zafaria.

Happy Angling!

..And A Happy 2014

As 2013 comes to an end, I realized that I never posted my romp through the Floating Lands on Christmas Day. I should probably include something else as well, since I just took pictures of Tarlac killing bad guys ...

That was fun. I did most of it while watching Hawaii Five-O, too. Extra Tropical Christmas points!

On a more productive note, to finish 2013, I completed a long sought-after resolution.

3 awesome talents, on the same pet.

I would like to thank my new Yuletide Spirit for the Unicorn gene, to my Couch Potato/EMP garden for excess pet snacks, and to the Cannon Game for easy training.

Here's for 4-5 awesome talents on a pet during 2014! I'd make more resolutions, but meh. Who remembers those?

Happy New Year!

Celestial Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas, everyone! Even if you don't celebrate, it's a nice break from work/school, after all. I'm out of town but still have internet accessibility, which is great. Maybe I can finally finish Khrysalis Part 1 while I have time! Well, that might be a stretch. 

I've spent the early days of my vacation decorating and watching old Christmas movies. But today, it's all about my life wizard.

Three years ago, then-Grandmaster Tarlac visited the Floating Lands as part of his quests. 

Two years ago today, he happened to finish Zafaria.

Where is he now?

Ehh. Not that impressive, considering he was at Lake Nimue a year and a half ago. I'm just waiting for Alura to quest with him through Azteca (she and my Storm character Mycin have been lingering at the entrance of Ghost Avalon for months).

Since I don't feel like doing Ghost Avalon now, why not take a blast to the past? TO CELESTIA!

First star I see tonight, indeed. Time for the Stellarium!

Pshaw, your Orthrus don't hurt none.

My friend Mary Dreamshade (of lost Pie Loving Necromancer fame) joined the action with her Frankensteins.

Then, the easy rematch against Selwyn:

FEEL THE LOVE, ALIEN!

Like you were impeding me in the first place..

Trying to celebrate with "swag", which Wizard101 cleverly doesn't allow as a word.

Tomorrow - romping through the Floating Lands (because why not?)

Merry Christmas! Enjoy your yule tidings, everyone!