Aquila Announced!

Before I get to the meat of this, I want to give an update.  Max Pirate and Nautical levels on my Witchdoctor, Eccentric Austin Ornsley.  Level 89 and climbing in Wizard101. Good, now that's out of the way.

DISCLAIMER: The following post contains highly controversial topics related to Wizard101 and represents my opinions on these topics.  These are my opinions alone and I am not asking you to agree with them.

The Aquila patch notes seem very exciting, with something for everyone!  In addition to being able to lock items and rename our decks, we're getting 30+, 70+, and 90+ dungeons.  There is a new fight in the DragonSpyre library that reportedly yields many of the spells from Packs/Crafting (YAY!) along with a shiny new toy for Balance.

Many people have already called the Loremaster overpowered, because she does decent damage and applies double debuffs in 4 pips.

I really wish everyone would stop trying to argue that spells NEED to be tailored specifically to PvP.  Learn some new strategies, try a new deck composition. Balance is currently under fire for having the likes of Mana Burn and Supernova when other schools [cough, Ice] are getting immunity to certain schools, insane health, and still aren't sacrificing damage or accuracy to get these stats. Myth has Shatter and Earthquake, Storm has had Leviathan for a while now along with Enfeeble.  Life's got a Guardian Spirit on their side.  Everyone but Balance has a DoT now to deal with stacked shields, and while there isn't a Balance shield, dealing with towers without a DoT for the school with the fewest buffs is an incredibly tedious task.

Everyone needs to cool off and stop crying that Balance controls everyone's resources for now and wait to see how Loremaster impacts the LIVE game.  The Test Realm cannot provide solid feedback on balance due to the isolated sample it provides.

Continuing on the new updates, each class will receive a new minion that cannot be used in PvP. Personally, I'm super stoked for these, even though they require completion of part of Wintetusk as a prerequisite.

Everything's not perfectly peachy in update land, though.  Not by a longshot. Those nifty new dungeons I mentioned?  They reportedly cost almost 4000 Crowns a piece. That's a price befitting an entirely new world with 10+ zones (looking at Azteca and Avalon for comparison), not 3 measley dungeons. Really?  It makes me wonder if KingsIsle is attempting to make this content only worthwhile for members, leaving Crown players out in the cold and being expected to pay increasingly high prices to continue with optional content.

In addition to the above, the Lore of the Spiral is being torn to shreds.  There is a Lava Giant spell (recolored Frost Giant with Smokescreen instead of Stun). If I'm remembering correctly, the Frost Giants, Fire Dragons, and Tritons didn't get along...at all.  I'm 100% OK with the mutations on most of the spells, but these "big three" that are responsible for the Spiral being scattered, disconnected hunks of floating land really shouldn't be turned around like they are currently.

So, that's the updates in a nutshell. Have a good one.

Testing the Teleporters

Hey everyone!  John here with some AMAZING discoveries. News broke over Twitter earlier that there was a new crafted item from Gearwise in Celestia. That item is a Teleporter. Yes, it actually works!  This No Trade, No Auction beauty is a miracle in science, straight out of a sci-fi novel. I'll cover some basics of how it all works, and then I'll go into specific ideas that I've had already.

To craft the Teleporter, you need the following things:

Once you have gathered all of the required ingredients, take them to your HOUSING crafting station. Click the Create button and BOOM you've got a shiny new blue portal. Let's see what they can do, shall we?

Once you've got it. Place it in the location you want the portal to direct to. If you want a way to teleport directly to your crafting room, for instance, drop it in there. Then select the item again. You'll see this:

Just click the green triangle button labeled "Set Destination Location" and then pick up your portal.  Now go outside to your Spiral Gate, place the portal, and close the housing interface. Then run into the portal! BOOM. You'll teleport back into the location you "set as destination".

I thought maybe it only worked on the same level of the house that you bound, and was curious about up and down levels. Because I was in my Royal Estate, I plopped the teleporter upstairs, set the location ("anchor" from here on out) and then moved the portal back downstairs. When I stepped in I teleported up. From outside to inside works, too, and vice versa. The real kicker is teleportation between houses! Yes, you can set up two portals to teleport between houses. If you maintain gardens in two, you don't need to wait on the timer countdown anymore!!!

MFP End of the Teleporters

Royal Estate End

Many players thought it could take two teleporters to make a set that functions, which is untrue. To make a two-way system, two are required, yes. To make a single-directional teleport, though, only one teleporter is needed. Now how can we possibly use these...hmm...

The amazing Cass Dragonheart helped me to make my set of two that I played with by providing Orthrus cards necessary for their construction. Thank you to Cass! She also had a BRILLIANT idea with these new beauties. Managing multiple PvP parties between houses owned by one wizard is now easier than ever. If you have a Massive Fantasy Palace and a Sultan's Palace (or a Celestial Observatory) you can rig teleporters between them to double your fun! Full credit to Cass for that marvelous idea.

Then on to my ideas. If you've ever had that super pesky kid at a party that you didn't want to boot because you'd feel bad, but you needed a way to add a "time out" option? Anchor a teleporter (inside the house or away from the party if you wish), add a jail cell over it, and then place the teleporter out of the way of the party, but within easy view. Upon having someone make trouble, ask them to please enter the teleporter (them having no idea what is on the other side) and then they're whisked away to "time out" for a little while.

Other options involve the examples above. Gardening from multiple houses, setting your crafting tables within easy access, and easier party management. Some players could create a maze using them. Can you imaging a maze spanning three complete houses?!

My personal favorite idea for them, though, is this. Empty out your dorm room. Then, craft multiple teleporters (number up to you/how many houses you have or use/how much you're willing to craft). Anchor a teleporter at the Spiral gate of each house or a particular drawing point of the house. Then put all of the teleporters in the dorm room. Find a way to denote which portal is which (memorize, or use a small object from the theme world. Whatever works for you). Then unequip all housing. Now when you teleport home, you have immediate access to whichever house you need! (Crafting, pet storage, PvP arena, Gardening). You also have the option to make it a two-way network! Doesn't that sound like fun? (And work. Noah wanted me to inform you all that he thinks I'm completely insane for even considering it.).

That's about it! If you've got a cool idea for how to play with there, drop me a line! I'd love to see what you all come up with.

Your Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

SOE is DOWN

Just a quick little note to anyone involved with Sony.  While I myself am not impacted directly with the current events, the gravity of the situation is impacting a LOT of people.  Play Station Network (PSN) went down last week due to an 'outside intruder' and now Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is down, too.  SOE encompasses Free Realms (FR) and DC Universe Online (DCUO).  It is unknown when these systems will be restored to full functionality.

Because many Wizard101 fans play/ed FR, I thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know what was going on.  Because FR is down and Wizard101 Test Servers are still active, I am predicting (though take this with a grain of salt as I'm FAR from a professional, this is just a stab in the dark, really) that there will be an influx of some degree (not very precise I know) to the Test Realm and possibly the Live game, too.  I wish everyone the best of luck, and remember to keep your report fingers ready in case of emergency.

This news update has been brought to you courtesy of the Lifeglen News Reporting Network (who am I kidding, this will probably never happen again...).

Your Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

Former PvP Commander Say Wha?

Test realm is going live tonight!  Woot!  Time to buy me some Baconator and a new sword for PvP.  Wait, what?  PvP?  John Lifeglen doesn't PvP.  Um...

Yeah, I was a PvP Commander FOREVER ago.  I got hit with an unlucky streak of sniper bolters before the arena was "fixed" and then my sub ran out...so I never got it back up.  I had subbed for a couple of months in order to get a rank other than Private, and I'm happy to be sitting at Knight right now.  However, the PvP bug has bitten again and this time I'm teaming up with my friend Maria Moonblossom from Wizard101 Central and my friend Matthew Deathcaster.  We thought that having a team uniform that was SUPER DUPER close and yet unique to each of us was something we wanted, so we came up with the idea of wearing school symbol robes of all the same style and then having a common color theme that worked for all of us. 

GREAT idea in theory...in practice it was a bit tougher.  Life, Death, and Balance don't seem to have ANY robes in common between them all...except for ONE that all seven schools actually have (though finding the Death one was SUPER tricky, a big thanks to Kestrel's brother Alex for that one!).  Lacking so many robes and pieces of clothing is a bit annoying.  I would love it if somehow (be it dropped, crafted, or...dare I say it...crown items...) KI introduced the missing pieces of symbol gear to us.  But, since we did finally find something that works it's ours.  I'm doing it.  Calling Dibs.  Right here and now.  DIBS DIBS DIBS. Yeah, it's a bit immature...but necessary.  Dibs on our team uniform styles! 

Best of luck coordinating your own uniforms should you choose to use them (not that I can really do a single thing about it if you should choose to use our exact uniforms, other than be slightly irritated.).  So, the uniform that I would appreciate you all not using is as follows: Hat in the style of the "pie hat" as Heather Emeraldflame would have called it (also known as a Cardinal's Cap to those who reference Eloise); Robe in the style of Regal Outfit; and Boots in the style of Mage's Boots.  Our color scheme is Dark Blue with White Trim.  Also know that I reserve the right to use this same combination for any other school that tickles my fancy!  Here's a picture of me in the balance version of the uniform.

Let me know what you guys think!

Your [Super Excited To Try PvP Again] Friend Always,

John Lifeglen

It's Been A While

Wow, I've been out of the Spiral and out of the blogosphere for quite some time!  Things have been hectic here, and I don't expect them to slow down any more for quite some time.  Let's dive in to the feature for today.

When I say "dive" I mean CELESTIA.  And while CL (I told ya so...NOT CS) isn't actually on the Test Realm (again, I told ya so...you know who you are) some, or possibly all of the prequest chain to get to the magical underwater world is ready and waiting!  These quests take you all over the spiral and eventually lead you to the "new Briskbreeze" as some people are putting it.  The Warehouse is the newest addition to Marleybone, and it is located in Regent's Square!  It certainly is no walk in the park, and could very well be harder than Briskbreeze unless...Let's just say some very good friends of mine and I completed this terrible tower of doom without too many problems.  All it takes is some strategy and some brain power, along with some keen observations!  I wish you all luck with that in the future.

Along with this update we get a new set of quests with Snorri Oysterbloom from Grizzleheim.  His quests all take place in the Savarstaad Pass area, and for those of you not familiar with GH, that is the area that players first enter.  WOOHOO for more XP for new players!!!

Crafting has also come to GH, and with it comes a couple of awesome new houses.  Never fear, Master Artisans, for the crafting is simply extra furniture (mainly of the kitchen persuasion *MUST. GET. IT. ALL.*) and an awesome Watchtower Hall castle.  Yep, you heard me right.  A house that you must CRAFT.  And the recipe is no walk in the park either.  This baby forces you to craft the reagents yourselves.  And I don't mean Transmute Bloodmoss people.  You have to craft furniture to use as reagents.  Here's the recipe for those of you daring enough to undertake this colossal achievement.

For those of you who are frightened by crafting of this high level, but still want a GH house, do not fret.  A new GH house, the Dragon's Fjord, has come to the crown shop!  It has the same storage capabilities as the school housing at a whopping 250 items both inside and out!  And for storage to match a school house, a price as well.  This baby will cost you 10,000 Crowns or 100,000 Gold.  It's up to you. 

When buying housing, please remember this: There is a cap on housing, each wizard is only allowed to own 3 castles + their original dorm room.  Also, you can no longer sell houses with items inside, you must clean them out before you sell. 

Also on the Test Realm this go around, Croaky in Air Dales has a new friend!  This friend sells PETS :D  Yes good people you heard me, PETS.  2 of the pets from my confirmed but unlocatable list have been removed, and a 3rd, very unexpected pet has come with them.  The Brass Golem, Wood Golem, and Cat Thug.  Brass Golem looks like Clockwork Golem pet, but looks slightly shinier and more sinister I think.  Wood Golem looks exactly like the first floor of Golem Tower.  Cat Thug looks just like the Blue Cat Thug pet from Grubb, only it does not have a card with it.

My next video installment will probably be coming soon, and it will be my pet sanctuary.  I will be uploading it next (though not intended to be next initially) because I plan to relocate the sanctuary to Watchtower Hall as soon as I manage it...so wish me luck!

Your Friend Always,

John Lifeglen

PS. Check out my farming list for some new additions!

PSS. Don't forget about the party tomorrow,  /\LOOK UP/\

Pets Pets Pets!

Since the release of the advanced pet system, everyone has been gripped with farming fever!  I'm sure most of you knew this already, and for those of you who didn't, which rock have you been calling home recently? 

My Pet List to Farm is really a help for me to keep track of what's what and who drops whom.  It has been a blessing, and a tool for many people to use.  Many users of this page will likely notice the removal of the Myth Treat, War Helephant, and Death Minotaur.  The reason behind this is simple, they have not been verified in the game since test went live.  If anyone has information pertaining to these pets as drops please let us know!  I'm only using information from Central to keep my list and so far those have been removed and marked as HYRBID ONLY more or less.

In other news, my farming has been slowing down and I'm taking time to train pets.  Health Gift is an amazing talent that I hope some of your pets manifest!  My Talented Piggle is giving me +1 health for ever 2-3 minigames I play, so lets hope this is the same for everyone :D

Last but not least, I am adding another poll to my blog.  Do you think the Fizzle rates have seemed to skyrocket since the APS (Advanced Pet System) went live?  Let me know what you think!  Oh, and coming soon will be a joint presentation of some thoughts for noobs (sorry, it's really a term of endearment-let's go with that-) and how KI can deal with the plague of noobs swarming our farming grounds in the Plaze of Conquests and beyond.  The other member of this feature presentation will be announced soon :D 

Have fun in the spiral guys, and check back often.  Don't forget to vote in the poll located that way -->

Your Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

Are Advanced Pets Coming?

This just in from Wizard101 Login screen:

Wizard101 Extended Maintenance

Wizard101 the game will be offline tonight

from 1:00am to 7:00am Central US Time

to prepare the Live game for the Advanced Pets feature.

During this time, players will be unable to log in to the game, and active players will be prompted to log out.

This downtime may be extended without notice.

Could this possibly be the release we have all been anticipating?  Or is this simply preparation for the big day?  It does say TO PREPARE but what does this really mean for us?  Bloggers be ready!

Your [EXCITED] Friend Always,

John Lifeglen