Pets that give Energy

You know I wasn't too excited when I saw new pets were available. I have enough trouble finding time and (I hate to admit it) inclination to train what I have so I didn't look at their stats. I just wasn't interested enough.

So tonight when I logged on and found Maintenance scheduled 10 mins later, I thought I would check out the Crown Shop and look at the couple of new offerings. Dapper Corgi was the first one I looked at, and I very nearly fell off my chair!

This was something new, I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen it before.... I did some reading on some forums and that seemed to confirm my suspicions.....

This is a pet that has 8 energy at baby.... yeah baby! 8 energy!


There are a large number of new pets in the Test Realm right now and many, many wizards are training to reveal the talents for us. I noticed there are some May Cast fishing talents being revealed as well, though I am pretty sure that this is the only Energy giving pet available right now.  With energy being the elixir of gold in the Spiral for gardeners and anglers alike, I guess we can look forward to a new era of pet talents.

Exciting times ahead, I just need to find some extra motivation to do the training - I have over 200 mega snacks just sitting in my back-pack waiting to be used.

So have you bought one? What talents have you revealed?

Have fun, until next time,
Tabitha

What do you Do?

It struck me tonight while I was in a little street battle (over 3K health!) that I will always play my maximum spell. When there is not much left on my enemy, but I have enough pips or an astral enhancement.... that I will use whatever is the biggest hit. I have just finished a battle, that saw one Life School Treant with 88 health left. I had a number of pips, Vengeance was in play, and Colossal was in my deck..... along with Wraith and Vampire... and a wand wisp.

So what to do?

For me it was a no brainer.... Vengeance had 3 rounds left, I already had a blade..... time to run Colossal on Wraith and then play that card. The 88 health on the Treant had nowhere to hide! My damage attack was in excess of 2,000..... that Treant was dust! 

 Looking at my choices, each one of them are winning cards, but the "Super Torment" is the only guaranteed non-fizzle card. That is what can make the choice more difficult.... do you go for the guaranteed winning blow, or do you risk a potentially safe outcome by playing a card that has 85% chance of NOT fizzling? 

This is again where I believe that Death Wizards have the advantage. We have every reason to run the risk and play the card with a  greater chance to fizzle - after-all..... a Wraith, with +275, + my damage % of 23, with a blade and Vengeance running pretty much means one thing..... huge hit.... and huge 50% health back. And there we have the reason. If I can run out of a battle with full life then I will...... It has nothing to do with showing off, or the theatrics of a particular spell..... it is purely about getting that health back and if I don't have to spend my time running around after red wisps, then why not?

What do you do?

Have fun, until next time,

Tabitha

Testing Tabitha and so much more

Top stories this week.....

• Testing Tabitha
• Morgrim's Verdict
• 4-new dungeons go LIVE!

So my week started with a challenge. In my quest to solo my own challenges, the Jabberwock put a bit of a spanner in the works. Cue the forum on Wiz101 Central, specifically the Duelists..... and I found myself with new cards, and a strategy unlike any other I had encountered in the Spiral. Determination, a bit of luck and sticking to some pretty rigid rules saw me through - 54 moves and I had completed my solo mission. Meanwhile, Morgrim took on more bundle analysis - the new packs and bundles are certainly keeping him typing hard! And then the big news that hit towards the end of the week..... it seems that KI will be releasing the new updates in a stepped manner...... first up - Four new dungeons. I haven't had chance to look at them yet, but there are plenty that have!

Of course there are other stories around, so to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

Jabberwock in 54 Moves - Solo

Yep. 54 moves..... that's when you dig in and hope your deck will see you through! And mine very nearly didn't. Take a look - this is what I had left in my deck at the end. I played the Tower shield and then the Vampire to finish him off. I actually couldn't have asked for better cards to be left in my deck!

So how did I do it? Well, I followed the advice on the Wiz101Central forums. From my previous post you can see that I had Quench in my standard deck. I also purchased more at the Bazaar to ensure I could get hold of them when I needed. My side deck had 80% Quench, a couple of healing cards and the rest were Fire Shields. The most important points I took from the advice on the forum was the following:

1. You have to start second. If you are first, Flee. 

2. You have to use Quench prior to every 3rd round, to dispel the cheat meteor

3. You need to hit on the third round, to utilise the 200% trap

If you don't know, the problem with this battle is the cheating Meteor. It occurs every third round and can hit up to around 2,600. The good news is that a 200% all school trap also goes in place at the same time, so any hit on the Jabberwock gets a nice boost. I'm not going to list everything I read on the forum here, the Duelist's did a very good job of their post and it has a tonne of information relating to different schools and how many people are in the battle. For me - it wanted to do it solo....

To make sure I kept count of the rounds, I listed them on a piece of paper and highlighted 2,5,8 etc in orange - this was my Quench marker. I marked 3,6,9 etc in yellow - these were my hit markers. 1,4,10 etc I would blade, shield or use Vengeance. Pips were my biggest problem. Not being  a Fire Wizard or having a Fire Amulet, that Quench was 2 pips. Generally it was actually 4 pips as I get good Power Pips for the main part. This is what made the battle tricky - building enough pips to cause enough damage. Once the Storm minion was out of the way, I could concentrate on hitting when the 200% trap is in play. This is what you want to see every time to hit him :)

Being a Death Wizard, the 200% trap is a real bonus as that means my self healing gets a good boost.

And that was it. I used 2-rounds to play 0-pip spells to keep my pips up, they couldn't be below 2 on the 'orange' markers or the dispel couldn't be played. It was slow, but the hits were OK.

My deck didn't let me down, and keeping my side deck almost full of Quench was an absolute necessity.

All in all, I am pleased with the result, and glad I looked up hints on the forum.

Have fun, until next time,
Tabitha

Gift Card - Bundle Analysis - The Evergreen Bundle

I don't know about you, but it feels a little like we are living in a Bundle Bonanza in the Spiral just now.  Two new Bundles and the Atlantean Bundle now available online!  You know what that means?  I don't have to think about the topic for my next post (although I have quite a few waiting in the wings), I'll just do a quick run through of the Evergreen Bundle and see what is in store for the eager buyer.

Bundles are a little different to other Gift Cards as they are quite expensive (relatively speaking) and so you really do get what you pay for.  No lucky dips on this one.  This is to be expected as they are the most expensive 'things' you can buy for Wizard101.

So, is the Evergreen Bundle worth it?

For those of you who follow our blog, you'll know I am a keen gardener, so this Bundle is one I was very interested in exploring more.  If it is worth it, I'll gladly ask one of my US mates to buy one and send it over here to sunny Australia.

So, let's have a look at the standard items in a Bundle and what the Evergreen ones are like:

The Mount - Celestial Wolf:  The mount is always going to be a bit different when it comes to a Bundle.  They are typically well themed and the Evergreen ones is definitely different.  It is called the "Celestial Wolf Mount" and has a kind of magical look to it.  It is a standard 1-person mount, but I don't personally like it.  It always has a 'drawn' feel to it, like it is super-imposed onto the game, as opposed to actually being a part of the game.  It does look interesting, but not something Morgrim would regularly ride.

The Pet - Spirit of the Forest:  This pet looks great.  It is a little guy in a robe with a wand, and is a bit like what you would think a forest Druid would look like.  In my mind, it is an ideal looking pet for this kind of Bundle.

Now, this is one helluva pet if you are Balance.  From a basic stats perspective, it has all stats over 200 and 2 of them at 240.  Very nice.

Then we get to Talents - with double Balance damage, and double Balance accuracy as 1st generation talents, it even has a Piercing talent and mc Balance Spear!  Other than these, however, there are the usual pip and health boosts.

...until you come to a spell called "Gardening Pixie".  This is a very unique spell, and the first time for it in the Spiral.  It is actually a May Cast (mc) Summon Pixie.  For lower level Gardeners, or just those without much energy to spare, I can see this being a handy addition, although for me, this would be more fun than practical.

Lastly, this little guy comes up with two interesting cards at Baby - Supernova(!) and Growzone Layer.  Now this can be very handy depending on your seed selection, as it prevents the need for Magic for 48 hours!  Great card - Moolinda would be proud.

The Weapon - Thornblade:  This is a great looking weapon and can be considered as a handy addition to your arsenal if you don't have a good weapon already.  I say 'handy' as it has solid stats, but they probably aren't great.  Piercing cuts in at level 50 and level 60 sees the Myth blade replaced with Earthquake.  Quite a powerful addition to your deck...if you ever cast it.

The basic bonus theme with this weapon is standard pip allocation (1 baby pip for lower levels, and PP for higher levels), followed by some levels of Armour Piercing (up to 6%) and a bit of Critical thrown in.  There is then the Myth Blade / Earthquake card and the expected Balance jabs.

Some people will buy this Bundle for the way this weapon looks, as it does look great, but looks are always a personal thing.

The Gear - Evergreen:  Continuing their approach to having a visually themed Gear set, KI have done it again with this Gear if you like Gardening or if you are a die-hard Life Wizard.

The gear doesn't really favour any particular school, but, by being general in nature, it really doesn't push the boundaries on Gear stats.  The cards are kinda useful (Weakness, Spirit Trap and Elemental Trap) and the stats are kinda useful  You can get up to 30% damage (level 100) with this gear, so it is tidy, but not great.

There is a handy +6 Energy on each item, useful for people without Energy gear (and I'll have to update my Gardening book now) but again, the +18 Energy it is less than you can get on one single item in the Wyvern's Hoard pack.  The big difference here is that you are certain to get +18 Energy, while with the Wyvern's Hoard pack, like all Hoard packs, that gear is a random drop.

I guess the other thing I should mention at this time is that you can get the "Splendid" gear in the Crowns Shop for 9995 that comes with +45 Energy.  It doesn't look nearly as good however, and the Evergreen gear can be coloured.

The House - The Botanical Garden Estate:  This is the main thing I look at when I check these new Bundles.  I do like houses, I kind of collect them :)

Of course, there is the Extra Housing Elixir so you can use your house after you buy it...and once placed, you'll be able to take advantage of some of the new and amazing artwork that Wizard101 has been focusing on.  It is beautiful.

It is also very handy for fellow Gardeners, as Seeds "Like" this house, just like the Red Barn Farm.

There is just one small thing...it is HUGE!  If people buying this Bundle think they are getting another House, it is important to understand that this is more of a Greenhouse than a House.  In fact, I'll go further, this is a forest with a Greenhouse in it.  You can easily max out the total number of items in the (almost) one-room Greenhouse and it will still look empty.  For those garden stackers out there, you'll have a lot of empty room.

In keeping with a number of Bundle houses, there is also a daily gift giver, this time in the form of a MASSIVE plant.  It looks very cool and reminds me a lot of "Little Shop of Horrors" (as the words "Feed me Seymour" are going through my head!).

Outside, however, is what this Bundle is all about.  It is a magical forest, a lake, a PvP arena and lots of secret areas.  From the outside the Greenhouse just looks incredible, and again, KI are really showing off the next level of attention to artwork that we have been seeing in the more recent worlds.

I can just imagine what it would be like riding the Vine Mount through the forest :)

Morgrim's Verdict

If you love nature or gardening, this would be worth buying, but mostly for the House.  The Mount is something some people will like, and some will not.  For me, I don't like the superimposed nature of it.  The Gear isn't a real standout, but if you like the look, it is quite unique and, unlike a lot of Crowns items, it can be recoloured. The Pet is very cool, but like I always say, you can hatch your way to any pet you want, so that wouldn't be enough for me to pay $39.  Even the weapon - again, it is nice...but.

Remember, you do get either a month's membership or 5,000 Crowns. That is a minimum of $5 value (min) straight up...so the question is, would I be happy with $34 worth of value here.

For me, the answer is probably a "No", maybe, as the house is amazing! Hmm...actually, I might change that.  I think for me...the house does make it worthwhile after all.  So for me, it is a "Yes".

That said, for one of my good Life Wizard friends, the answer would absolutely be a "Yes" because of her love for the woods and all things "Lifey".

What do you think?  Does the house make it worthwhile?

See you 'round the Spiral (but don't be surprised if I have a Spirit of the Forest pet - they do look great!)

Morgrim

More Training Required.....

So everyone knows by now that I go for most, if not all, of my battles solo. I like the personal challenge, and I believe that being death makes it slightly easier as I can self heal.

Obviously, it's not always possible. I will ask for help if I need to. But if the call for help comes then I will defer my challenge and go help. It's not that I prefer solo - I just love a good challenge.

And then along comes the Jabberwock.......  First time in I was flabbergasted to see that a fire boss had 25,000 health. And then came the cheat.... you know the first couple of times I missed the cheat... I was multi-tasking and then to find I had gone from over 2,200 health to defeated.... Wow!!!! Next time I concentrated and saw that meteor for what it was. I was in trouble.

I tried a few times, it is very unlike me to give up quickly, but it was obvious that the cheats in this battle were way beyond my current capability. With my wizard list empty I decided to look up Jabberwocky on Central and see if there were hints and tips I could use.
The biggest hint was the use of Quench. This is the Fire Dispel card. I had none. Time to wander off to the Bazaar and see what I can purchase. They are not a normally stocked item.......


I was there for a while before I had chance to purchase some, so I decided to change tact and find out if it was possible to train in these dipels. I seem to remember them a while ago, and discounted them wondering why I would ever need the card..... it seems that now might be that time!

Colossus Boulevard was my destination, and I knew exactly where to find this NPC.....  Mildred Farseer. She is just like the wicked witch of the west in a certain movie (cue "Ding Dong the witch is dead"!), so she stands out from some of those I have met throughout my journey in the Spiral.

So I decided to train in both the Fire and the Myth dispels. I still have 7 training points left after this, and have not completed the Training Point quests in both Celestia and Zafaria, so I know I have at least another 2 on the way.

I have no doubt that my patience will be tested in this battle, and time will tell if I call on help from my friends at the Keep or elsewhere in the Spiral.

For now, I have teleported to the immediate location, though the battle itself will need to wait for another day. This battle has now claimed me 5 times.

Are there any hints or tips from my friends out there? Would love to hear your strategies!! I'll let you know how I get on!

You might notice that all these gear changes I have been looking into recently has seen a deviation from the usual white/gold look I have been seen in for a while. I used some smaller wizard friends to find a look to match my guitar.... what do you guys think?

Have fun, until next time.

Tabitha

A slower week in the Spiral

Top stories this week.....

• Parent concerns
• Calista causing gear changes
• Test Realm Fishing Spoiler 

Bit of a slower week this week..... which is not surprising after all the many updates that we have been seeing recently. As the Wizard101 game goes from strength to strength, KI have shared a post about online gaming safety. It is a guide for parents and well worth a read. I had a battle with Calista to deal with, which saw a much needed gear change and there are more spoilers on what you can expect the test realm to give..... this week a fishing teaser!

Of course there are other stories around, so to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

Calista - Defeating the Storm.....

Hey everyone,

Still solo'ing Avalon for the main part. Helping others, but doing my own thing on my battles.  Then along came Calista in a very purple Cave of Anguish.... and I was a little perturbed. Storm boss and Storm minion? Seriously? I went in with my normal gear, fairly standard boss deck.... and was defeated. Hmmmm.

Time to consider some way of blocking Storm critical, boosting Myth Critical Rating and rearranging my deck. As it happens I had a couple of gear items that I had kept from the Nightmare packs. I have never used them before, but they looked like they may just save the day. It took my health rather low, but left me with high Crit-Rating on Death and Myth, with OK all-round Crit Block and resistance.

Normal goal in this type of battle is to defeat the minion. Luckily this battle did not have any cheats - it was just a case of digging in. I made sure my deck was packed with Storm Shields, and used a few early on to save health while the enemy pips dwindled.

It is a problem in the battles nowadays - the bosses and minions start with so many pips!! But new gear and deck seemed to be doing the trick though.

 This will be most useful when the test realm takes the updates live. Being able to keep gear sets together - I can't wait for that! So my second attempt of this battle actually went really well.

My health dipped to about 700 at one stage, but Patch looked after me in addition to my self-healing abilities. Before I knew it the battle was done......

I must make a note of what I gear I was equipped with so I can put it to one side for my "Storm Gear". And definitely happy with the outcome..... although some stiching is clearly in order!

What about you guys? Have you already got some equipment sets in mind?

Have fun, until next time,

Tabitha.

Just how much can change in a week?

Top stories this week.....

• Evergreen Bundle - first glimpse
• Well Hello Test Realm! 
• Awesome KI - busy 24hrs! 

So if last week got you excited, then this week is the bomb! Thanks to Swordroll we get a real glimpse at the Evergreen bundle. What do you think? But the real news is the opening of the Test Realm. As we reported last week.... rumours were rife around the web that the Test Realm would open soon, but who knew that is would be less than a week away! And what an update this one is. It's HUGE!!! It is also a week to say well done to those KI gamers who gave 24 hours of their time to play in the Spiral and raise over $9,000 for Children's extra Life - you guys all rock!

Of course there are other stories around, so to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

Test Realm and Updates Galore!

So the rumours were true and the Test realm is once again open for Business!

Dungeons

The first big reveal are the 4 new dungeons. A good friend to the blog - Scarlet FrogSlinger - has hinted that Myth may well be a good school for certain cards in some of these dungeons! Usual rules apply for these in the test realm, if you are a member you automatically gain access, but if you are a crowns player you can rent for 6hrs at 495 crowns each, or buy each, noted below:

Level 25+ head to the Oasis in Krokotopia  (1,245 crowns)
Level 40+ head to Regeants Square in Marleybone  (1,745 crowns)
Level 60+ head to the Krokosphinx in Krokotopia (2,495 crowns)
Level 100+ head to my little mate Dworgyn in Nightside (3,495 crowns)

You know, I think there would be plenty of Wizards that would be happy with this as the update. But there is so much more. In fact, this update is pretty huge by all accounts!

New Shadow-Enhanced Spells

All level 100+  Wizards will get the opportunity to train in a new spell for their School, and these will cost 5 pips + 1 shadow pip to cast.

Storm School: Glowbug Squallattacks all targets for 1220 Storm Damage and removes all positive Charms.

Myth School: Mystic Colossus removes all Shields and attacks for 880 Myth Damage to all targets.

Balance School: Gaze of Fate attacks for 550 Balance Damage and 550 Random School Damage.

Death School: Call of Khrulhu attacks all targets for 1100 Health Drain.

Life School: Hungry Caterpillar attacks for 950-1150 Life Damage and applies 800 Damage Absorb to the caster.

Ice School: Abominable Weaver attacks for 950-1150 Ice Damage and applies a -75% Damage Shield to the caster.

Fire School: Fire From Above attacks for 1100-1300 Fire Damage and applies 3 +25% Damage Traps to the target.

Equipment Sets

Now this is extremely useful. You know the hassle when you get to a battle, check out the enemy and know that you need to do a full gear change before you can begin? All that clicking and the time it wastes? Well no more! You can create up to 9 Equipment Sets consisting of: Hat, Robe, Boots, Wand, Amulet, Ring, Deck and Pet. (Not mounts)

Changing your gear has never been so easy!

Hoarding or Friends Galore?

Get fed up of being told that your back-pack is full, or finding that you are losing valuable treasures because you just don't have the space? Got too many friends and want to add more? Worry no more - if you are a member that is :) This update brings with it member benefits - 150 items in your backpack, 150 friends and new exclusive emotes. And as if that wasn't enough, there is promise of limited time surprises too!

Silver Chests

Now I like the old Shock-a-Lock game, but wouldn't it be awesome to have something else to play every now and then? Well you can count that wish granted too - with this update those Silver Chests will either have Shock-a-Lock or Catch-a-Key. This is a brand new mini-game!

Plenty of chance to practice in the Test Realm as all Silver Chests that you encounter will have the Catch-a-Key game.

And as if this wasn't enough there are also a heap of Quest updates and Spell improvements.

Housing

Of course no update would be complete without new Housing being available, and we are not let down on this score either. New wallpapers and floors patterns have been added to vendors around the Spiral. Personally I love it when these two items get additions, as they are the two fundamental items that can completely change the look and feel of your houses and castles. Looking forward to finding out what they are and more importantly, what the look like!

There are many other housing improvements - way too many to list here!

And now onto Crafting.

So if you thought that more Tapestries need to be available to craft then get ready to jump for joy!! Both Eudora and Padraig have new recipes for all the crafters out there and there is even a new recipe vendor in Wysteria!

Got too many fish and don't know what to do with them all? How about using them to craft some Mega-Snacks. This is a great addition for all the non-Gardening Wizards out there!

And talking of fishing there a few small updates that might please the anglers out there. This is still a fairly new past-time so don't get too excited with this one....

Gardening

There are also some gardening improvements. KI have introduced the traffic light effect for the Gardening so you can quickly tell the difference between Happy, Needy or Dying plants.

There are some other improvements, like the ability to lock seeds so you don't accidentally trash them!

Then there are a whole array of Miscellaneous improvements, again far too many to list here. The full update of the Test realm and what the new update gives you in full can here found here.

The bottom of that page also note when the test realm is open or closed.

Hope you have fun with this one. I will be waiting for it to go Live to check it out.

Until next time,

Tabitha

Mass Prisms

You know there are spells that I hear other Wizards speak of and because they are not ones that I have I kinda forget about them. The "Mass" spells are such spells. I recently gained the "Mass Infection" spell, but had completely forgotten there was another.

And today I found it! Thanks to Cassie the Ponycorn vendor over in Avalon. She was one of those vendors that don't show you what's on offer. Always check out the vendors that you see, particularly the ones that have no identifying words or pictures!!! These might just be one of the secret vendors.....

Obviously it is a no brainer that I will go for the Mass Death Prism, as this will be so handy in a fully death battle. I'm actually quite excited about this spell, much more so than Mass Infection!

As you can see I have 10 training points still. The spell I am waiting patiently for is Colossal.....  But having trained in Myth and also having the Myth Mastery Amulet, I had a think about whether training in the Mass Myth Prism too.
It actually wasn't too difficult a choice, as the only Prisms I have for Myth are treasure cards, so this would actually be extremely useful too.

So when you are over in Avalon, don't forget to check out Cassie. She's in the Wild, amongst the toadstools before you get to the village.

Have fun, until next time,
Tabitha

Update......

I thought I would check what part of Avalon I would find the sun school trainer on Wiz101 Central. To my horror, I found out that I could train in the spell at level 64 and the trainer is in Zafaria. Unbelievable! I would have passed by that Trainer several times, I have no doubt!

So there is an update here:

If you miss it like I did, then head over to Zafaria, go to Stone Town, Waterfront and the Drum Jungle. These are all accessed by boat. When you get to Drum Jungle the trainer is right in front of you. Happy to have my spell, but can't believe I missed it for so long!!

As Halloween Departs the Spiral, will the Test Realm open soon?

Top stories this week.....

• Evergreen Bundle 
• Rumours are Rife 
• Farewell Halloween 

It is fair to say that the folks over at KI work really hard to keep us Wizards entertained and excited to keep playing in the Spiral. Every week seems to bring with it something new , and this week is no exception, with the release of two new bundles. Not only that though, the rumour machine is up and running and there is plenty of chatter about a Spiral wide update and the Test Realm is expected to go live again in the not too distant future. Hints are everywhere and it is interesting to see what some of our fellow bloggers are predicting!

This is also the final day of Halloween, I hope you made use of your crowns and got some of those Halloween packs. You won't see them again until next year!

Of course there are other stories around, so to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

Pack Analysis: The Nightmare Pack

Pack Name:                      Nightmare Pack
Pack Type:                       Gear
Number of Cards:             7
Total Number of Items:     215
Cost:                                299 Crowns
Availability:                      Currently in Crowns Shop during Halloween

Description

Make no mistake, this is a big pack!  There is a huge variety of items available from this pack and some of the most diverse gear out of all the packs.  It is a heavily themed pack and the gear is designed to change the look of your character dramatically.

Pets - 20

Out of these 20 pets, there are at least 7 that are worth getting, and 3 that are worthy of special mention.  Of the 7, I'll run through the things that I like about them:

1. Nightmare:  This little horse with the fiery mane has a great attribute that is often sought after by Wizards that like to hunt as a pack.  At teen, this 1st Generation Pet will always get May Cast Unicorn.  A very good bonus for people starting on the Pet journey.

2. Death Treant:  This big guy has some really good stats (240, 215, 225, 240, 200) at 1st Generation. With good talents available and a handy card for a Life Wiz, this is a nice starter pet.

3. Gob-O-Lantern:  Wow, this is one strange looking pet.  No wonder it is in the Nightmare pack, this Pet is a thing you would see in your Nightmares.  Looking like a pumpkin with arms and legs, this greedy little sucker is constantly focused on keeping himself looking round!

4. Ianthine Spectre: Great stats for a 1st Generation Pet starting with (190, 250, 200, 240, 250).  This pet also looks great, although apparently it is quite hard to receive as a drop.

5. Ghost Dragon:  This is not to be confused with the Penumbra Drake, although they do look very similar to each other.  This little guy has awesome 1st Generation stats of (250, 225, 250, 240, 250). He is very handy drop for anyone trying to breed up the stats of their preferred Pet.

6. Red Ghost:  This is a really special drop if you are a Death Wiz.  With the Death bubble, Doom-and-Gloom being a great asset, if Death want to have that extra attack boost, it simply doesn't exist - unless you have the Red Ghost.  With the Red Ghost, you get a Red Ghost card to play.  When you play it, it will raise a bubble (that has no name - at least, not that I am aware of).  The bubble looks like Doom-and-Gloom, but actually it adds 25% to Death damage.  Very nice.

7. Penumbra Drake:  This is another great pet for death...if not the best pet for death. It starts with the same stats as the Ghost Dragon, and it keeps getting better.  It starts with Death Trap at Baby, then a special Death Scarab, when used, leaves behind a different type of Death Trap, and finally, at Epic, the Red Ghost.  Casting the Red Ghost, the Scarab and then the Trap gives some impressive boost to your next Death spell!  And yes, Miss Callie is a Penumbra Drake.

Other than these guys, the other pets are pretty typical, and as I always say, you can hatch to get a pet, do you need to buy a Pack?

Mounts - 9 Permanent, 5 Temporary

Of the Permanent mounts, my personal favourites are the "Bat Wings" and the "Shadowsteed". These mounts are consistent with Morgrim and I do enjoy floating around the Spiral on my Bat Wings. Many of the others are either broomsticks or flying horses that don't really appeal to me.

I don't have the Shadowsteed yet, and will be buying a few more packs this Halloween in order to try to get one!!

The Temporary mounts are mostly broomsticks with the Bat Wings and Black Stallion thrown into the mix, just to mix it up a bit.

Snacks - 37

There are a lot of snacks in this pack, and as you would expect, most are pretty low level.  Nonetheless, there are 8 decent snacks with 3 rank 7 and 5 rank 8 snacks.  These are a nice little pickup if you are not an avid gardener...

Treasure Cards - 46

Yep, there are 46 TCs in this pack.  You'd find almost all of these in the Bazaar.  Lord Nightshade rates a special mention though, as he exists as both an attack spell and a minion, depending on which TC you happen to draw.

Seeds - 4

There are only 4 seeds in this pack, and it includes that nightmare of a seed, the Deadly Ninja Fig.  It might have a chance of dropping Amber at Elder, but it takes so long and the % of drops seems so low, I would never plant it.  As for the other 3, the pick of the pack would have to be the DHE or Deadly Helephant Ears, as it will drop a mega-snack at it final Elder harvest.  The other two though are not great, with Dead Beets and the Deadly Fly Trap rounding out the 4 seeds included.

Reagents 13

Ok, yes, there are 13 reagents in this pack, but they are certainly not that rare.  If that is what you are going for, I guess it might be a fun lucky-dip, but I like to spend my Crowns in other places.  For me, this is not a driver in any way.

Clothing

The gear is this pack is split into two types, the Darkwraith clothing and the Dragon clothing.  There are 4 different Darkwraith sets, and 3 different Dragon sets.

The Darkwraith sets match the Wands of the same set name: Atonement, Compelling, Penance and Umbral.

The Compelling and Penance gear are both very similar from a stats perspective, and both very balanced in terms of attack and defense, with attack slightly higher.  The best combination for attack would be the Compelling Hat and Boots with the Penance Robes.

Between the Umbral and the Atonement gear, again, it is quite similar with the additional critical coming with the Atonement Robe.

The Darkwraith gear is solid gear to get.  It does give some well rounded stats, and while I wouldn't wear all of the items, it can be worthwhile to mix it in with some of your regular gear.

The Hats also have a great spooky look, and I know a number of Wizards who have come to adopt that look as their regular look all year around.

Then there is the Dragon gear.  This is very different!  In these sets, there is the Dragon's Eye, Dragontooth and Dragonbone gear.

Dragon's Eye: The Hat come with big Critical for Life and a solid Life Spell, while the Plate does the same for Myth.  Finally, the Boots follow up with Death Critical and card.

Dragonbone: Here, the Hat has a universal Critical and nice pierce, the Robes have a moderate Critical and a nice Damage bonus, and the Boots Critical Block is OK, also supported by a pierce.

DragonTooth:  This is the Elemental set, with the Hat coming with a solid Fire Critical, the Robes with a nice Storm Critical and OK universal Resist, with the Boots carrying an Ice Critical.

Again, as with the Darkwraith gear, depending on your current setup, these items are probably best used to integrate with, not replace, your existing gear.

Wands - 4

There are 4 different wands you get can with this pack and each are just subtly different.  They are all Scythes, so the look between the weapons is really just a factor of colour.

In a similar way to the armour, The Scythe of Penance and the Compelling Scythe are both pretty balanced with similar levels of Critical and Critical Block.

The Umbral Scythe is more a defensive weapon with a significant emphasis on Critical Block and just a token Critical, while the Atonement Scythe has forgotten all about Blocking and just gone in hard on the Critical and thrown in Piercing.  That said, the Critical on this weapon is much less than a lot of Critical Wands around in the game today.

Housing Items - 48

There are quite a number of Housing Items available in this pack.  Most of them you can get in the Bazaar, but definitely not all.  In fact, if you know anything about Gardening, the Bubbling Cauldron can make this drop worthwhile.  There are a couple of other fun items, like the Pilloried Skeleton and the different Doodle Stands if you are into that kind of thing.

All in all, the Housing Items are fun, but after you have purchased a few packs, they can get a little repetitive.

Specials - 8

In this pack, there is something a little different.  Themed Gear with zero stats, able to be worn by anyone.  There is 1 Robe, 1 Hat, 2 Masks (that count as Hats), 1 set of Boots, 2 Wands and 1 Mount.

This is the fun of the pack, and I do like the Robe, quite a lot.  These items just get your character in the Halloween mood.  The looks is quite good and I am guessing a real driver for some people to purchase this Pack.

Morgrim's Verdict

So, where did we end up with this one?  It is hard to say I guess.  There isn't really a compelling reason to buy this pack, but...this one is a lot of fun, and although it is aging a little, I am guessing it would be a pretty good seller for Wizards of all ranks and ages, just to get into the Halloween spirit.

Low Level Wizards

There is some nice gear in here for low level Wizards and some of the Snacks and Housing items are worthwhile as a new Wizard will not have seen too much of this kind of thing.  I'd say, get one or two and see how you go.

High Level Wizard

This is a much harder call.  I think you need to review the specific thing that you are looking for.  If there is something specific (for me, it is the Shadowsteed mount), then buy until you get that item, otherwise, probably give this one a miss.

Let me know if you agree with my Verdict!

See you 'round the Spiral.

Morgrim