The Secret Weapon - Just what is it? And will it be enough?

I am guessing, if you are a regular reader of our blog, you will know that Tabitha challenged me to a "race to Rank 20 Gardener".

Of course I accepted, but with a one Level head start, and more energy...well, it actually posed me quite a difficult decision.  There are only 78 different seeds in Wizard101, and this means, only a certain number of strategies.  There were no rules, so I decided I would play with a 'no Crowns' policy and see if simple choices would be enough to get me over the line.

If Tabitha went with the most likely option, I would need a lot more than my 145 Energy to beat her!!

So, how to get this - with no Crowns in play?

Oh...and the other challenge will be, I need to max out my house(s) and yet still be able to service them, knowing all the while that there is a 69-plot limit to a Large Area Spell.  To do this, I need those special Treasure Cards that are usually found in - Moolinda's Green Thumb Pack.

But again - no Crowns?!  Is this even possible?

Enter - the Secret Weapon!!

Now, I know that Tabitha has a lot of theories about what this could be, but I am not sure she has guessed this one.  It isn't really conventional, but with a lot of work (and a little luck), I can triple my daily Energy and really give myself a chance!

So, just what is the Secret Weapon?

Yep, believe it or not, my strategy was based on good old Grub Guardian.  You can get both Energy Elixirs and Moolinda's Green Thumb Packs from this great little game.  I have my favourite map and I can play it quickly, easily and my target is to get the exact same score every time.  Honestly, I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but it has meant at least one Elixir and one to two Green Thumb Packs per day.

Given this, I figured I had about 290 Energy per day to use, and it has actually worked out very well.

Now, Tabitha's strategy will be hers to share, but I have suspected what it might be for some time.  For me to combat that, I needed a combination of things I could control (seeds I had and seeds I could buy) and things beyond my control, where I needed luck, such as drops from fights and mid-harvest seed drops.

For Power Leveling without Crowns seeds, there are not many options.  You need something you can buy and something with quick cycle times.  The best option here, believe it or not, is the Frozen Fly Trap!  The very seed I failed on when I first started playing Wizard101 (you can read more about this in my book on gardening!).

These seeds cycle about every 216 hours, but with likes, that is more like a few days.  The first harvest is a bit more than 24 hours after the seeds are planted.  This is reading well so far.  The bad news is that they are only worth 50 xp per harvest and 500 xp at Elder.  Compare this to those seeds that require luck (or Crowns) and they are 300 xp per harvest and 3000 xp at Elder.  Hmmm...all of a sudden they do not look that good!

Assuming that Tabitha has planted out her Red Barn Farm (I know I would) with 3000 xp, fast cycle plants, I will need 6 times more seeds to be 'in the game'.  That means that, assuming the Red Barn Farm is full both inside and out, that is a maximum of 300 seeds.  I need 1800 seeds!

<phew> that is a lot of seeds.  Is that even possible?

Then there is the Energy to maintain it all.  WOW!  That is not going to be fun!

OK, now I have 30 Couch Potatoes that I have farmed over time, so that will help (30 x 3000 xp), bringing my target down by 180 seeds.  I also have 12 Evil Magma Peas, that is another 72 less.  I now need about 1550 seeds.

I have the houses, but I will need to build the gardens...that is another 5 Energy per location (3 for the Enchanted Plot and 2 for the Seed).  This is going to be tough.

I will need to call in backup.  I have a few White Tiger Lilies that I have been collecting.  That is a start, but I need more.

For that I need to farm Night Goblins in Avalon.  I won't say why, as there might be some overlap here, but let's just say, that farming has been extremely tough with very little, but not zero, payback.  I got one of what I needed, but I fear it may be too little, too late.

...but let me know if you can guess what I was after there?

If Tabitha has done what I suspect...I am in trouble.  Still, I don't give up.  We'll see what the week brings!

You know what though?  If there is anyone I am going to lose a challenge to, I don't mind it being either Alia or Tabitha...so in the end, I have learned a lot more about gardening and either I will win or one of my favourite Wizard friends will, so there is no downside :)

See you 'round the Spiral!

Morgrim