Pirate101 Challenge #1: No Ship Upgrades

Hey Pirates!


I'm back today to talk about the first item on my "10 Ways to Make Pirate101 More Challenging" post.

For this challenge, the goal is to make it through the entire game without upgrading your ship or ship equipment, at all.  That means you will be using your Skull Island raft (similar to my swashbuckler's to the right) for the whole game.

Are you thinking this would be impossible?  Well, just to double check, I did some experimenting in Aquila to make sure those high level ships wouldn't totally destroy your raft in one hit.  Guess what! They won't! Okay, maybe they could with two hits, but that definitely gives you time to get pulled into broadside combat.

Rules

1.  Once you receive your raft, no upgrading it with ship equipment.

2.  You must use your raft for every ship battle in the main quest line, with one exception (see below).

Tips and Tricks

1. Timing is everything, especially in the higher level worlds. Don't stop and try to fight, just steer your raft straight into the enemy ship.

2. Since you won't be spending much gold on ship stuff, use your extra money for better gear and upgrading companions.  This should help all your battles go smoother.

The Scylla Exception

The Scylla fight in Aquila is the only battle that you will not be able to complete with your raft.  You can use any ship and equipment you'd like to use for this quest.   If you would like more of a challenge, maybe try using a Mooshu ship. I'm not sure if that's even possible, but it would be a fun challenge.  I have heard that Scylla can be defeated with the Marleybone ship, so you could always try that. However, I would suggest getting an Aquila ship and equipment, if you can afford it, since who knows what the next world will bring.

Here are some tips if you do decide to use a lower level ship:

1.  If you back out of range, any head that has taken on damage will heal itself.  However, once a head has been completely defeated, you can back out to give yourself time to heal without it regenerating.

2.  Focus on killing one head at a time.

3.  Remember that if your ship is taking too much damage, your blue potions will restore all of your hit points.  Potions can be used during any ship battle.

Variations:

If the above challenge seems too hard, try these variations:

1.  Complete this same challenge, except with the second ship you receive in Skull Island.

2.  Upgrade your ship throughout the game, but always use a ship that is 2 worlds below where you're currently questing.

3.  Come up with your own rules!

Remember, the point of these challenges is to add to your experience with Pirate101, not to make it totally frustrating.  Use these challenge guides as a jumping off point and tweak them to fit your questing style.

If any one does try to do this (or any of the others challenges I post about) I would love to hear about your experiences!  Comment below or email me at secretsofthespiral@hotmail.com.  Thanks for reading and good luck! :)

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10 Ways to Make Pirate101 More Challenging

Hello everyone!

I have been thinking about making a sixth character in Pirate101 to blog about.  However, I wanted to spice the game up a little to make things even harder.  I came up with a list of ideas and thought I would share them with all of you pirates looking for a new challenge.

Below you will find an overview of each challenge but I'm going to be making this into a series.  Each post will go more in-depth into the rules and different variations for each challenge.  Be sure to visit this page in the future for links to each new post!

Ship/Nautical Challenges

1.  Don't upgrade your ship or ship equipment.  In this challenge you'll be playing the entire game with just the raft that you get at the end of the Skull Island zone.  That means that almost all ship battles after Skull Island will most likely end up being hand to hand combat.  Also remember, no upgrading or adding anything to your raft either! Use it as is, from the moment you receive it.

2.  No extra nautical leveling.  In this challenge you can't fight extra ships at all or do any side quests that either require fighting ships or reward nautical experience.  The only nautical experience you should be getting is from fighting ships for the main quests and only just enough ships to complete whichever quest you are on.  This will allow you to upgrade your ship equipment but not nearly as quickly.

Companion Challenges

3.  No leveling your companions.  That means all of your companions will stay at the level they
were when you recruited them.  You can recruit side quest companions for this challenge, so you may want to choose when you do so wisely!  Another (slightly easier) spin on this would be to level your companions, but don't do any of their promotion quests.  Or else only level them until they get to a point when they need a new epic and then don't level them any further.

4. Only use your first mate.  For this challenge all of your companions should be assigned orders or set free in your house, except your first mate.  You may switch out your first mate for different battles, but you are only allowed to have one companion join you in each battle.  You may also equip a pet if you have any.

5. Your companions stay dead.  Once they die in battle, that's it.  They need to be either assigned orders or placed in your house.  No more using that companion for the rest of the game.  If at any point all of your companions die, you may either (a) consider the challenge over, (b) choose up to 5 companions to add back to your crew, or (c) try to finish the game without companions.

Pirate Challenges

6.  No upgrading your gear and/or weapons.  For this challenge, you quest through the game without equipping gear or a weapon (one or the other).  This would mean that your companions are even more important to you, especially at higher levels.  If at any point it gets too hard, you may equip your gear/weapon but only level 5 gear.  And once that gets impossible, you can upgrade to level 10 gear, and so on.  For an extra challenge, try this with both your gear and weapon at the same time.

7.  Don't train any powers or talents; from either your own class teacher or others.  This also includes the new mysterious trainers.  Try to make it through the whole game using only companions and/or weapon power.  Beware, this will also restrict the gear some pirates can use at higher levels.

8.  Don't spend any gold.  Even though it might not seem like it, this may be one of the hardest challenges on this list.  The only way you will be able to get anything new would be from quest rewards and drops.  That means no buying companion training tomes, only use the ones you are rewarded.  Also, no buying new gear, weapons or ship equipment.  You can only use what you get from drops.  The only exception to this would be purchasing ships.  However, you can only purchase one new ship for each world (except Skull Island, since you are given ships there), and the ship you purchase should be the least expensive one that world offers, so you are spending the minimal amount of gold possible.  Also, you may train up pets, but only with items and snacks you receive as drops.

Quest Challenges

9. Don't move on until you collect every badge for that world.  This quest isn't too hard, but it will slow down your questing a lot.  To successfully complete this challenge, at the end of each world you need to be sure to finish all side quests, as well as any challenge/combat quests.  This means defeating as many rats/ninja pigs/ophidians/etc or running through dungeons 25+ times.  No moving to the next world until you have every badge for the current world you are in.

10. No side quests.  Okay, some people may naturally quest like this, but to me it would be a challenge.  If you don't do any side quests, you miss out on extra NXP, companions, training points, etc.  So this challenge is NO side quests at all, not even companion promotion quests. Don't even pick them up.  Just keep questing through the main story line and see how far you can get.

Those are all the challenges I could come up with.  Some of them can be tweaked with different rules to make them either easier or harder.  Have fun with it.  I'm thinking I may try the no spending gold challenge, or maybe I will make a poll and you guys can choose for me! :D  We'll see.

Anyway, what challenges can you come up with or have you tried any of these?  Comment below and share your thoughts and experiences!  Thanks for reading and see you soon!

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10 Ways to Keep Busy in Pirate101

Hey everyone!

As many of you know, it has been awhile since Pirate101 has released a new world.  This has discouraged some people, mostly because they think there is "nothing to do in the game."  I always laugh when I notice someone has said this because there is a TON of stuff to do in game, even if you have leveled all the way through the main quests.

To help everyone out, I have made a list of 10 things you can try out if you are ever wondering what to do in Pirate101.  Many of these aren't things you would necessarily do every single day, but they will keep you busy and entertained if you get the itch to do some pirating.  Here they are in no particular order:

1.  Finish up side quests - I recently made a post talking about this one.  You can read it here.  But besides all those reasons to do side quests, it is a great way to get back in game and just have fun being a pirate!

2.  Try out PVP - This goes for either practice PVP (which has been in the game for awhile) or the
new ranked PVP (which was just added.)  I have to admit, I haven't tried out ranked PVP yet.  But even just PVPing at a house with a friend can be fun!

3.  Pet training & morphing - Kingsisle added advanced pets to Pirate101 about a year and a half ago.  This means that pets now require you to train them up to reach their full potential.  You can even create new pet hybrids by morphing with other peoples' pets.  Why not give it a try and see what you can discover?

4.  Pet PVP - Once you get your pets trained up, you can face them off against other pets in pet PVP!  This is a skill all in its own.  I haven't yet tried it, but I have watched other matches and it looks like a lot of fun!

5.  Farming - There is a lot to farm for in Pirate101: Gold, scrip, NXP, gear, ship equipment, furniture, pets.......So much!  Do a google search for an item you want and go try to get it!  Friar Sand in Mooshu is an awesome place to farm for gold.  There is also the Tower of Moo Manchu and Pirate's Regatta that are popular farming places with amazing drops. The farming possibilities are seriously seemingly endless!

6.  Dungeons & Bosses - Even if you have already completed a dungeon or defeated a boss, there is no reason why you can't go back and do it again, especially if it was a fight you particularly liked.  I do this frequently on my witchdoctor.  I go back and do the Labyrinth, Hydra and Scylla fights sometimes just because I really enjoy them.  I'm not even trying to get any particular drops. Sometimes just going back and destroying enemies is fun!

7.  Help other pirates - If you ever have the urge to just blow stuff up, log in and find people who need help.  There are always others who need a hand with their questing.  I especially find this to be true with ship fighting quests.  Hang out in the skyways, or try using "team up" on dungeons and give lower level pirates a hand!

8.  House decorating - There is always new furniture and houses being added to the game.  So if you're in need of a creative outlet, try your hand at decorating!  Thanks to a past update, you can now even decorate your ship's cabin! 

9.  Have an in game event/party - One of the biggest advantages of playing an MMO is all the other people that also play!  So why not get a bunch of them together and have a party!  There are many different themes for in game parties, such as farming (NXP/Scrip, pets, gold, etc), PVP, or just hanging out and chatting.  Regardless, having and attending these events is always a great time!

10.  Do it all again! - Last but not least (and my favorite option), create a new pirate!  The game allows you to have up to 6 different pirates per account, so why not try out a different class?  I love the feeling of starting the game all over again from the beginning, feeling like everything is new.  You can also start a new pirate with a friend and do all your questing together.  I have done this in both Pirate101 and Wizard101 and it is so much fun to quest with someone!

So there you go! Plenty of ways to keep yourself busy until the next update happens.  Do you have a favorite way to stay busy in game? Comment below and tell me!  And as always, thanks for reading and see you in the skyways!

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10 Reasons To Do Pirate101 Side Quests

Ahoy Pirating Friends!

I have been working on clearing up some side quests on a couple of my pirates lately and it gave me the idea for this post.  I know many people don't bother with side quests, preferring to just concentrate on the main story.  Here are the reasons (in no particular order) why I think this is a mistake.

1. Experience, experience, experience!  This is one of the biggest reasons.  I know many of the side quests, especially in the beginning worlds, don't seem like they offer much in the way of experience.  However, every little bit helps push that experience bar to the next level.  Being a higher level will allow you to learn new talents and powers, get better gear, train up companions to a higher level and get a better ship!  As you progress through the game, especially once you get to Mooshu and higher worlds, you will be glad for all of these improvements to your stats, trust me!



2. Nautical Experience - While a new ship is always awesome, outfitting it with higher level gear will make you almost unstoppable!  Ships may have a level requirement, but all the ship equipment requires you to be at a specific nautical level to use it.  And other than fighting ships, doing all those side quests is a great way to gain nautical experience.

3. Show me the money! Or.....Erm......Show your pirate the money!  So many (maybe all) side quests give you gold.  And pirates need A LOT of gold!  From gear and ships to training up companions and pets, this game has so many features that require in game currency.  Not only will you get gold as a reward for side quests, but you also get gold for defeating the enemies. Double bonus!

4. Companion Training Points - Training up companions to their max level can take a lot of time and gold.  So why not speed the process up by getting more training points from side quests?  I am actually doing this now with my privateer.....Doing quests to get tomes so I can max out companions and set them to getting me even more tomes to max out even more companions. See how that works? :D

5.  Expand your crew - And I don't mean just companions, although you can earn many companions from side quests.  You can earn pets, as drops and as quest rewards, as well as unlocking companions in the crowns shop.  You can even unlock the Pegasus mount by completing certain quests in Aquila!

6.  Practice Points - This is mainly for the Prospector Zeke quests.  By doing these quests (one for each world) you can earn practice points, which you can then trade in for new powers and talents. Powers and talents, might I add, that you wouldn't normally be able to train on your pirate.  These are especially helpful for the new Mysterious Trainers that were just added in game.

7. Badges - Some people *cough* me *cough* like to collect the badges in game.  If you're one of them, doing the side quests is a must.  You can earn sooooo many badges for defeating bosses, completing quests, visiting certain areas, etc.  You can even earn badges for completing every side quest in each book!

8.  Farming - By doing side quests, you can open up new areas of the game that wouldn't be accessible otherwise.  Actually, a few popular farming areas are available only as side quests (Moo Manchu and Pirate's Regatta anyone)?  Who knows what you will be missing if you skip out on these.  So many awesome drops!!!!

9.  The stories - In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons to do the side quests.  The game's writers have really put a lot of thought and time into the whole game, including the side stories.  Some of my favorites are in Marleybone.  There are pop culture references galore in many of the quests. Why would you want to miss out on that?

Some of you may argue with a few of my points, saying that companion tasks allow you to gain NXP, gold, and training tomes. I will agree!  That is a great way to get those things and I use them as well.  However, doing side quests speeds things along.  And it brings me to my last, and MOST important item on this list:

10. You get to play more Pirate101! And who wouldn't want to do that?  I often hear people say that there is "nothing to do" in game.  Well, it makes me wonder......have they all finished every single side quest in the game?  I know some have, but I doubt everyone has.  If you want to play Pirate101, log on and tackle some side quests.  More swashing and voodooing and blowing stuff up!  How could you not want to do that?  And if you have done all of them, you can always grab a friend or three and do some farming!

Anyway, that's my list.  As you can tell, I am a big fan of side quests. They really do add a lot to the game and I think everyone should take advantage of their many rewards.  Good luck and thanks for reading! :)

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