Testing Moo Manchu's Robe

Yesterday, I decided to do my 6th Nefarious Tower run. Nothing special had come up yet, but after a smooth ride with teammates Swordroll, Melody, and Kyle, we all got lucky.

Getting Moo's robe was apparently a first for all of us. To top it off, I only needed to use the loot chest twice to get the best Privateer weapon. :D

Needless to say, the end of that run was as perfect as could be.

If there was ever something that made you think "this makes me look fat", it's this robe. The stats don't seem like much at first, but the card it gives is worth being pudgy for.

What does 'Terror-Cotta Troupe' do?

Yep, it gives nine Terracotta Warriors. They all have 699 health and multiple epic talents. A normal attack does about 80 damage, but nine of them are going to account for a lot more.

They critical surprisingly often, giving Blade Storm a bit of importance. 

Most notable, though, are the other three talents. They're harder to hit at low health, with an ability to hit enemies on the run and stop advancing enemies.

As if those talents weren't enough, their first attack is always Vicious Charge. Aside from doing extra damage, it reduces the enemy's accuracy as demonstrated on the left. This poor Stymphalian Bird will have to deal with -108 accuracy for five rounds.

When does this spell come in handy?

The problem with nine of these guys is animation time. That's nine clay figures rushing out at enemies, attacking one by one. Most battles can be easily handled; there's no point using this spell all the time. Taking that out of consideration, this spell is very powerful, and in my opinion, overpowered in some cases. The low health and damage isn't exactly an issue when there are nine of them. Plus, the enemies typically struggle to get a hit off with all those Vicious Charges. 

Also, their Hold The Line 3 talent is tremendously useful if you're seeking to hold some particularly powerful enemies back. The Warriors can function as tanks here, with the added benefit of reducing their accuracy.

And they can be healed back to life (yay Privateers!)

I haven't tested it in the Tower itself, but the Terror-cotta Troupe could be very useful when coupled with Blood's Flames in holding back the Nefarious Five. The troupe would die before long, but the lasting impact from Vicious Charge cannot be understated. The Nefarious Five are hardy opponents, and making them miss on attacks takes many of their epic talents out of use. Hold The Line 3 also gives pirates time to buff or attack from long range (two ways to minimize the Privateer's love of Charming Gaze).

I did test them out on the Hydra battle. It didn't go so well...

The scene after one round :P

In summary:

 For specific battles, the Terror-cotta Troupe is a boon for pirates. Otherwise, they're just a time-consuming nuisance. 

Best of luck to ye farming the Nefarious Tower! Aye, it's a pirate's life to farm ... and sail the great seas and all that stuff.

(Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!)

Piratin' to Sixty-Five

I haven't posted about Pirate101 much. This summer, I got through the grueling world that is Cool Ranch, and since then I've quested through the more enjoyable (and recognizable) worlds of Marleybone and Mooshu. I lost the pictures I took when I got a new laptop, but I didn't plan on posting many of them anyways :P

As an update though, here's what I've been doing in P101 recently:

Many a good time was had at Autumn Walker's Nautical EXP extravaganzas. Getting all that loot even bought me an Aquilan Galleon, something that seemed so far away when I finished Marleybone at a lowly Level 40 nautical level. Sadly, Autumn left the Spiral yesterday (<-- link to post). Although I did not know Autumn very well, she was on my friend list and I was hoping to become a better acquaintance through the biweekly NXP events she held through Secrets of the Spiral. Alas, Autumn's presence will certainly be missed in the community. Thank you for your efforts!

As I approached the level cap, I took the liberty of making a second character to fill some time. Almost up to Monquista on Jacques Jackson! (Nice alliteration bit there, no?)

Arlen's questing takes precedence, however ---

That's one krazy kat o_O

Owing to his stylish hat and robe, Swing has been beaten repeatedly by overzealous pirates. His fashions are a little extravagant for my tastes.

Quite a likeness there.

Catbeard swag.

I'm finding Pirate101 to be a lot more solo-able. The Hydra battle is the only boss I've encountered that's as frustrating as a pre-nerfed Aztecan beast. Kind of needed a henchman for that...

It isn't apparent from these stoned creatures, but Medusa was a surprisingly easy nemesis.

Gotta love crossovers. Where's Malistaire to help you now?! :P

It looks like we have to find a way into Valencia again. I'm thinking that may involve visiting Monquista's second skyway. There are a lot of theories floating around until new content is finally released. I wouldn't mind dropping in on Krokotopia, for one thing.

Won my current first mate in a Twitter giveaway. Him and El Toro can really blow the field away, especially with Riposte :D (one reason I created a Swashbuckler second).

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to whichever update comes first. Wizard's won't come out for at least another month, it seems. Morganthe continues to get a reprieve.

Until next time,

Happy Questing!

P101: Cruising Round Cool Ranch

 Off and on, Two-faced Arlen has been grinding away in Cool Ranch, home of the brave, Bandits, and Buffaloons. It's an amusing configuration after the brief glimpses of Monquista and Valencia, to say the least. But five extra skyways? Dang.

Boot Hill was pretty congested..

I found the El Toro saga to be interesting, albeit long.

Multiple times I found myself doing favors to help out an NPC so as to get to another NPC, do some more favors for him so as to get to yet another NPC, then find out something redemptive in my quest for the Marco Pollo map piece. And then the cycle repeats. With that pace, I was relieved to make a brief stop in my quests at Port Regal.

Indeed, wars have been started in all sorts of peculiar ways.

For instance, a wrong turn effectively started World War I. On June 28th, 1914, a car carrying Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand took a wrong turn, providing an assassin the opportunity to lean in the car and shoot the Archduke. This event triggered a mass of confusing alliances and treaties to go into effect, sparking the greatest war in history up to that point. 

In America's own Revolutionary War, hired hands played a part for the opposition - German soldiers, known as Hessians, were loaned to the British Army for King George's use against the colonies.

Brief history lecture aside, Catbeard would make a terribly cute lap cat.

Ft. Elena is chock full of Armada troops obstructing every path. Otherwise, Port Regal is like Marleybone in daytime, something I can't complain about.

Can't beat hoodwinking an old dog, either :P

Buck Bronco's Cave was the only place I really had trouble soloing - particularly the ugly spiders. 1v3 with enemies that are about my health, yeesh.

Ghosts?! I didn't sign up for this O_o

Last but most, the Haunted Skyway.

Pretty much everything I expected.

Okay, not sure if I suspected that..

Going through the Haunted Skyway - which Jim Masterson calls home - got me to thinking about the mysterious world of Darkmoor. It sounds like a great place for Morganthe to roost, bringing me to think that it could be the next Wizard101 world. It's never been mentioned in the game yet, but the last three main worlds (ZF, AV, AZ) weren't either. Monster movie references, anyone?

El Toro is right - one should blow up rocks in style.

Getting there!

Lastly, I joined the first P101 Petnome farming event - against Tyson for his array of Cool Ranch pets. Unlike my various failed attempts at the W101 farming event for the Hollow Knight pet..

 .. I got the Armadillo. Love the 2 epic abilities :D

I realize that simply posting a variety of screenshots and my personal commentary can get pretty dull. I've got some more original content prepared for later posts, some of it already partially written. With a very busy year up ahead, I don't think I can write many new posts, so I'll have to spread them out a bit.

Next up, I've got a post I mainly worked on in July. It's still good though :P

I've also got a small planned giveaway coming up - a small prize at the end of each new post, maybe, I haven't decided on details. I've got plenty of crowns to spare on my main account, so why not? 

Until then,

Happy Questing!

Two-faced Devereaux

Recently, I bought a combo W101+P101 membership, and Pirate101 has honestly proven to be harder to multi-task with. In other words, I've been too engrossed with Cutthroats and Monquistans to post, but I probably should by this point.

So, after taking the school test..

Yeah, I'm that Marleybone-based dude with the eye patch. Cool with that.

From first impressions, it feels very similar to Myth in the sense that I'm supporting henchmen a lot, but on the other hand, I'm getting some decent healing spells. I must say I love Witchdoctor attacks as a secondary; Ghostwail does a lot of damage and Jobu's Breath is obviously based off Death school's drain spells, but relative to what level you are. I'm still developing understanding for the battle system (I just figured out what my +50% Will spell does), but I can grasp most other aspects of the game by now.

My beautiful new appearance for Monquistan royalty

This ledge reminded me of a similar spot in Vigrid Roughland in Grizzleheim. A few turns up a hill and I ended up with this nice view of a bunch of beehives.

This quest from the same spot reminds me of this side quest in Mooshu, minus the fact that it was a poisonous frog this time. Ah, ignorant sheep and monkeys.

Old Scratch's Pirate saves the day :D

I liked the purple clouds and Celestian music in these cross-world skyways - nice touch.

I ended up letting the ship sail itself a few times...

Bananas :D

Really?

To Cool Ranch!

It looks very pretty, almost like I'm navigating around the Grand Canyon in the Skyways. The Buffaloons are pretty weird though. Plus, with 5 skyways, I think I'm going to be here for a while.

I'll probably post again sooner than later, and until then,

Happy Adventuring/Questing! (or what have you)