Unintended Consequences of Helping!

As those of you who follow our blog would know, I enjoy helping other Wizards.  In fact, Alia and I have been helping people since we were less than level 10.

Sometimes though, there can be some unintended consequences of helping!

The other day, I was at the Bazaar and I got a call for help from a friend in Khrysalis.  Only being level 88, I hadn't been there yet, but I figured, why not?  So, I tried to port and (of course) the dreaded "that area is not ready yet" message popped up.  It loaded as quickly as it could, but that still took time and I feared for Anna's safety!

Finally - I could get there.

I ported in and was a little surprised.  The bad guys looked a lot like Storm Elementals.  In fact, they only had a little over 3,000 health?  It was kind of disappointing.

So, a pumped up Meteor from me and a Dragon from Anna and we were done.

She had a few more to get, so off we went again.  I had just fired up a big Dragon and then - power failure irl!  Bugger - I was gone from the fight.  I never found out if that Dragon got away or not, but it was some time before I could get back on.

So, getting back onto Wizard, I was completely unprepared for the fact that I was dropped, on half health, solo, into a Storm street fight in Khrysalis!  It isn't the first time I have dropped straight into a fight - it really is one of the unintended consequence of helping!

Fortunately, I drew a Colossal, Dragon, Fireblade and Furnace straight into my hand :)  Two rounds later a critical, pumped up Dragon smashed into my opponents and took them both out.

I liked that.

Seeing as I hadn't been here before, I thought I would take a bit of a look around.  It is (currently) the newest area of Wizard101 and I was keen to see whether they had kept up their amazing art and music.  It has always been a standout for me, and you have seen Tabitha's post on her impressions of Zafaria.

Well, it didn't take long before it was clear that they hadn't let us down.  It was simply spectacular.

This is an old world. A world that, if I can believe what I felt in the music, might have a bit of a sad story.  Something terrible seems to have happened here and I am looking forward to finding out just what that is.

Anyway, before leaving, I took a few pics to share, because, as usual, the team at KI have turned on a real show for us!

If you have completed Khrysalis, let me know if the music was telling the truth?  Is it sad?  Surely it cannot be as sad as Dragonspyre?

See you 'round the Spiral!

Morgrim

Feb was Fantastic!

You know, it seems like only yesterday when we were welcoming in 2014, now, we are well into it with March kicking off and the year is simply flying past.

Here at the Keep, it has been a big month.  The opening of February was the announcement of our secret project that we had been running for more than 6 months - the Manual of Mastery.  HERE and HERE).  With a few people now owning their own version of the software, it is starting to get people excited at that it can really do!
With that first post, followed by a little more of an explanation of how it worked, we ended up with the most comments we have had on any post!

It was a month when Pack-a-Palooza was back, we started our series on Grub Guardian, and Tabitha's Bazaar stalking started becoming a little bit creepy!   (only kidding of course Tab, we all do it!)

I had a rant at one stage about the joys(!) of being a Fire wizard. and even KingsIsle had some challenges on their hands with pets not casting Fairy!

Absolutely everyone (at high levels) has been waiting patiently - or not so patiently - on the Test Realm being opened again to see more of Khrysalis Part 2, and when it finally arrived, no update was forthcoming, although the updates with the Test Realm were very, very handy!  :)

During February, Tabitha got her first Mega Pet, Valentines Day came and went with some great, although sometimes a little confusing, specials in the Crowns shop and Tabitha also showed a hint of her competitive side, challenging Galen to a 'Buy Off' in the Bazaar on her quest for more Jade Chairs.

The Lost Pages event was back in the Spiral, and there was a little post in there to help people know what to do if their backpacks started filling up with gear they couldn't Sell.  I even ventured back into Wizard City to see if I could inspire some of the young magicians to taking their Wizards on, in the same way I was inspired all that time ago...

Interestingly, and what was very important for us, was the renewed focus in the Wizard101 Weekly.  This newsletter (free!) goes out each week chock full of useful Wizard101 facts etc.

The last big item of note is the introduction of a new Keep member this month. I am looking forward to his contribution and I hope it continues to be worthwhile for you, the reader.

So, that's it for February.  It was a big month!

As ever, feel free to leave some feedback on the kinds of things you would like to know more about, and we'll look to getting some Blogs up for you.

I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to March.  It should be a great month!

See you 'round the Spiral!

Morgrim

Khyrsalis Part 2 - getting close now!

I imagine there is much excitement out there in the Spiral right now... the news we've all been waiting for is here:

The following little snippet from KI promises much:

Khrysalis part 2 is shaping up to be a fitting culmination to Morganthe's chapter in the story of the Spiral, and watch for news on this upcoming world expansion.

If you head on over to the Wizard101 News page, there are details of other bug fixes and specifics that KI would like the community to test. I hope they have fixed the stitching bug, as I have been very frustrated with that one! Also the rules for the Test Realm are there.

Was chatting to Morgrim about the test realm yesterday, and he told me some people train their pets over in the test realm so they can preview talents without using 'Live Snacks'. As I am training at the moment, I like the idea of this. Last night I trained Lexi, one of my Ianthine Hounds up to Epic, and the talent reveal was Pip o' Plenty of 4%. Not what I wanted. My other hound, Winston requires training so maybe I'll head over and do that in preview mode....


So are you planning to go over to the Test Realm, or do you prefer to wait for everything to be Live?

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

New Year at the Keep

Hi all,

This has been a very interesting year in the Spiral and it has been a lot of fun sharing it with you all.  Some of the more notable things that have happened include:

• The emergence of Our Wizard's Keep online, which has been a lot of fun to share our experiences and learnings with other Wizards
• Tabitha has joined us in the Spiral, giving us another new friend reminding us of all the fun that we had as we first found our way around the Wizard101 world
• Blaze hit level 90 just so he could get some of the Aquila gear he has been so keen on :)

It was a year where rumours ran rife about the future of Wizard101 as Pirate101 takes off and we saw the demise of a number of major Disney titles.  Well, Kings Isle put pay to those rumours in the best possible way...and haven't let us down either with:

• Aquila coming online, with its great new gear, secret bosses and level specific dungeons
• Halloween has seen Dworgn open the secret gate in the back of Triton Avenue, revealing the Nosferabbit and the great Gardening Spell drops from the battles there
• Khrysalis Part 1 and the emergence of Shadow Magic have changed the game at many different levels, both questing and, more importantly, in the PvP Arena
• The new gear and items in the Yuletide pack have also introduced the adorable Rescue Rover, the big loveable dog that lopes along beside you 
• The promise of Kyrysalis Part 2 early in 2014 just to tempt us all with where this game is going to take us next!

With this level of ongoing expansion and investment, there is plenty of life in this game yet - much to the excitement of all of us fans :)

• Here at the Keep we also embarked on a couple of things we never thought we would, including:
• Writing an eBook on Gardening (with all sorts of hints, tips and little known facts), that actually turned into 2 eBooks!!  Where else can you find:
• How many plots for a Small plot, Medium plot and Large plot garden?
• How many plots can a Large Area spell service?
• What is all of the Energy gear in the Spiral and where can you get it?
• How to make your Energy stretch to go further?
• and much, much more...all in one place?
• (see the links on the right to get your own copy of these free eBooks)
• We tested out our terrible vocal chords and created a video for the 12 Days of Christmas Wizard101 Style :)
• And a very special, highly secret project that hopefully will provide assistance to all Wizards of the Spiral from the day your new Wizard begins their Wizarding journey all the way through to the highest and most experienced Wizards - but more about this in the first week of the New Year :)

2014 in the world of Wizard101 will be bigger and better than 2013. We hope you choose to join us as we keep sharing what we do and learn.  And if there is anything you want to know more about, just drop us a line and we'll do our best to help you out.

From all of us here at Our Wizard's Keep, have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve and a fantastic 2014.

...and remember to have FUN!

Morgrim, Alia, Tabitha, Blaze and the rest of the family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Khyrsalis Is Live!

Khyrsalis Part 1 is now open to the Live Realm!

A message from KingsIsle (taken from Wizard101.com)...

'You will be called upon to travel to a small Spiral island, a fragment of a broken world lost to time. From the edge of this island, one can see the dark swirl of Khrysalis. You will explore Morganthe's world, searching for ways to disrupt her power, help those pinned down under the weight of her tyranny, and learn the secrets of her magic in order to have a chance of restoring the Spiral.

1. Your Wizard must be a minimum of level 90
2. You must have completed the Azteca quest "Speaker for the Dead"
3. Speak to Merle Ambrose and he will send you to summon members of the council of light with the quest "Letters of Light"

Khrysalis Part 1 contains three Access Passes for our Crowns players, that are priced at 1995 each. Khrysalis is the culmination of Morganthe's story, and is so epic we had to split it into two separate parts. This is only the first half of the story, and the second half of Khrysalis will be available early 2014.'

  

As well as the new level cap of 95 Wizards level 91+ can have a max of 375 000 gold now, 25 000 more then level 80 - 90. Shadow Magic has been released for Prometheans and is completely usable in PvP rendering the average resistance useless. 50% Pierce from Shadow Shrike, 30% From level 90 Storm Hades gear and 20% from a tc Infallible = 100% Pierce!

The difference between PvPing a lvl 90 and a level 91+ with Shadow Magic is HUGE! If you're anywhere in the level 80 - 90 range Pray that you're not playing against someone with Shadow Magic. PvP is basically see who can Crit the other player first! Jade gear is rendered useless so the only real chance you have is going offensive too! Also one of my least favourite things about this update...Avalon and Azteca creatures/bosses are now easier???

I am SOLOING Azteca with NO PROBLEMS!!    It DOESN'T NEED TO BE EASIER!!!

Ok that's enough ranting, enjoy the update!

Until Next Time!
Blaze