Lighting the Fifth Candle

Drum Roll!!! We are nearly there... the fifth candle has now been lit!!!

And the prize being revealed today is a Major Fishing Elixir. For a whole hour you get 50% more chance of getting those fish you are after! Which is a great gift as we all received an Aquarium as part of this give-away and, of course, there is that Birthday Fish waiting to be found if you haven't secured yours yet! Time is running out as the end of September is drawing close now!

The other Birthday news is that a new set of items in the Crown Shop are now half price:

• Regular Keeper Aquariums Set
• Evil Magma Peas
• Mega Snack Pack
• Gold-Wrought Eagle
• Fennec Fox
• Red Barn Farm

Now I know a few of you will rejoice because the Mega Snack Packs are half price, but I would say "Don't go rushing in to buy these packs!". The reason is one a few will probably know well if you keep up to date on our Blog.... the Evil Magma Pea. Now these great little plants are a steal when they are half price. 

They reward you in different ways, but always with a Mega Snack Pack at elder. They are easy to look after and their life-cycle is pretty short if you have all their likes in place (one of which is the Red Farm Barn, which is also half price at the moment!). During that short life-cycle, you will get a host of Pet Snacks, Treasure Cards and Reagents. These are all good too - things like Aether and Sunstone. 

For me the TCs are great because I get my supply of Feint and Poison cards. Although I have these in my deck too, the TCs are just a little better and you can never have too many Feint cards imo!

Then at Elder you get a Mega Pet Snack. 

So you can buy 2 EMPs for the same price as the Mega Pet Snack is at the moment. That means that every few days you will get 2 Mega Snacks (in addition to some seriously good reagents!). And these are the gift that keeps giving. You get a seed back every harvest so you can continue to reap the rewards forever. If you want more information on gardening, see Morgrim's 1st Gardening Book which covers everything you need to start this worthwhile activity (top left on the blog).

Would love to hear what you decide to buy, and I hope the Gift today helps you to snare that Birthday Fish!

Have fun, until next time,

Tabitha.

Looking Back and All New x 2

Hey everyone!

• Professor Greyrose...  - a retrospective on 5 years as a Wizard
• Morgrim's Page -  It's all about the Packs!
• KI Live! - First ever live-stream event!

The birthday celebrations continue, and the awesome people that help keep the Spiral alive are continuing to share their personal recollections on the last 5 or 6 years. This week Professor Greyrose shares some of her insights. Here at The Keep we decided that Morgrim's Pack posts deserved their own space so you can find them straight away. He will continue to update and provide some great analysis work so we can be sure to buy the right pack! And a BIG first this week was the KI Live Streaming. The feedback on Twitter was that it was awesome and Wizards everywhere can't wait for the next one. Great work KI!

As always, 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

Lighting the Fourth Candle.....

As you can see the fourth candle has now been lit and the gift is the gift of building! So for all you Wizards that have yet to try one of the new pastimes in the Spiral, here is your chance!

KI are celebrating their birthday with great give-a-ways, and the latest awesome freebie is the "Build a Castle Medieval Set"!

And if you are unsure of what that actually means then don't forget to check out Morgrim's page as he has started analysing the packs, so you can check out what random items you can expect.






Don't forget you can still pick up your other gifts while the Birthday Bonanza is still on (during September). The links are here:
Free Pet Snack
Free Gazebo
Free Gold

Have fun building.... until next time,
Tabitha

Mirror Lake Buddies

Hey Everyone!

As I mentioned in my last battle post, I am left with battles that need friends. The final one for Zafaria, means that Mirror Lake is one is want to finish so I can move on. Although I have really liked this world, and it has come to an end rather too quickly for my liking.

Back to Mirror Lake. I need friends, and probably four of us should do it.... hmmm who to ask?  Not that I had to think too hard about it.... I called on the help of my fellow blogging wizards, Morgrim, Alia and Blaze. It is a LONG time since we were all in a battle together so it made a nice change!

Actually, to be honest, being in a battle with 3 friends was a challenge... I had not been in a battle with 2 let alone 3 for ages. I kept putting my Death Blades on Morgrim. Completely useless to our resident Fire Wizard! 

Morgrim asked if I wanted to hit fast and hard, or take it a bit slower. I was happy to just blast through this time.... I know it will not be the last time I take this dungeon on. 

Morgrim, Blaze and Alia have set way of approaching battles.... Blaze provides the Blades, Alia keeps everyone's energy up, and Morgrim makes the damage hit. Choosing to go fast meant that I was a little redundant in this setup, but Curses, Feints and Dragon Blades were still of use.

After defeating Tse-Tse for the final time, we chat to Morganthe. In this dungeon Morganthe tries to tempt you over to the dark side. When you say no, she takes none too kindly to it, is full of threats as usual, then summons the Spectral Spirits in her usual show of power.

There is also a cheat in play using a 90% Tower Shield. Alia informed me that the Elephant Spirit will continue to place this annoying Shield while the other Spirits are alive. An all out assault was needed.

But there was another cheat in play too. After round 3 someone gets  marked with a STUN shield. You need a charm in place on the next round or it's time to suffer the consequences. My team were all over this cheat, so I didn't get to find out exactly what those consequences were - I'm quite happy with that outcome to be honest!

Morgrim got ready, had a stack full of Blades and played his hand - consistent hits except for Fire due to the Tower Shield. It took a second spell to defeat him, and thanks to Alia the spell was a stunner. That Elephant could not withstand the power of the enormous Gnome lol!!

Thanks to some bizarre words by Morganthe - "Ah'nahl Nathtak", "Uth Vas Bethad", "Do-Hiel Dienveh", a Tower has appeared and we are instructed to follow Morganthe.... back to the bottom of the Lake.

Next up are 4 Goliath Bruisers. They are all Ice I notice with some dismay. That was short lived though - Morgrim was here so Ice would not stand a chance! No cheats in this fight. We applied the same strategy, build up the Blades, Feints etc and let Morgrim take them out.

This battle leads to the Spiders. Two exchanges took place as we entered this area and saw our foe:
Tabitha - Yuck, Storm!
Alia - Yuck, Spiders!
They had an obscene amount of power pips at the start of the battle. This is more of a problem as I wonder through the Spiral, although I guess there is more gear for Power Pips out there.

These guys are Rank 11 bosses and have 6,470 Health each. Adopting the same strategy we settled in to give Morgrim the power behind his hit. Not getting them all in his hit, once again Alia comes to the rescue, with Morgrim providing the narrative!

I managed to catch a stunning shot of Alia as she cast the final spell in our dungeon. And what better way to finish? I love this spell, I think I have probably mentioned that before in an earlier post.

The dungeon didn't take long at all. I wonder how many of you have solo'ed it? I popped in there before asking my fellow bloggers just to see what the deal was. I had often seen Wizard's locations marked as Mirror Lake, and I know that it is one of the farming dungeons. I got as far as the 4 ice minions and pretty much quit at that point. I still have trepidation when faced with 4 ice enemies!!

Of course, Morganthe is not happy with the outcome of this dungeon. Risking 7 years bad luck she breaks Mirror Lake and it's all over.

We didn't get to battle her in this fight, though I am sure that day draws ever nearer. I know this is my final dungeon in this world. I am not sure if it is my favourite as I really liked Grizzleheim, although not the Ice parts so much (that blue hurt my eyes!).

The completion of Zafaria is a task I will take on myself, and then I will take the High Road to Avalon. I have 2 tapestries for Avalon, so have been over there a few times. Not sure how I will find questing there... but there is a spell I want badly over there!

Have fun, until next time!
Tabitha

Pack Analysis: The "Raven's Hoard" Pack

Pack Name:                    Raven's Hoards

Pack Type:                     Gear

Number of Cards:           7

Total Number of Items:  166

Cost:                              399 Crowns, on special from time to time and up to 50% off
Availability:                    Currently in Crowns Shop

Description

Ahh, the Raven't Hoard pack.  Often thought of as an Ice themed pack.  As a low level Wizard this was undoubtedly my favourite pack. Interestingly, it was also the pack that set up my 'look'.  It was the one bit of gear that had exactly the right look for me, once I saw the Armor of Many Winters...at level 91, I'm still stitching that one!

It was also the first time the previously rare bow wand was available and I carted it everywhere. After a while, it became more common and became a wall feature for me.

BTW - many of the items from this pack can be obtained as drops in Winterbane Hall. (the biggest issue here for me is more people running around with my armour on!! lol)

Pets - 12
Out of the pets on offer, I guess the Dark Crow is the pick if you are Death, or perhaps the Icebat if you are Ice.  If you are Storm, then Storm Bird would be drop for you.

Probably nothing really special here.

Mounts - 2 x Permanent, 0 x Temporary
The Raven mount is a great looking mount. Blaze got one with his first ever pack! Me? I have never gotten one :)  The only challenge with it (and all flying mounts) is that your view is a little obstructed.  It is a one person mount.

The Blood Raven looks amazing.  It is a 2-person mount and the tinge of red really does look great.


Snacks - 27
Some nice Level 8 snacks in this pack, 8 different types as well as a range of Level 7 and below. These are always handy, but I still prefer to farm for my snacks - more certainty that way.

Treasure Cards - 24
The original Treasure Cards have been beefed up with the Woolly Mammoth, but for me, I have always loved the Thunderbird, and being Fire, I will make this spell - love the look of it.  Other than that, most can be obtained in the Bazaar.

Seeds - 6
Ah, one of my favourite seeds is available in this pack.  The WTL or White Tiger Lily.  While it doesn't replenish itself, it is the seed with the greatest chance of dropping Amber.  There is also the beautiful Moon Flower seed, which I have a few on Second Spring.

Other than that, most of the seeds are pretty stock standard.

Reagents - 3
For the junior wizard, Diamonds can be handy, but you don't buy this pack for the reagents :)

Clothing - 9
When reviewing these packs, especially the older ones, the stats are kind of scattered in a different way to the newer gear.  This is where (for me) the Manual of Mastery is very handy as I can see how these combinations might come together with other gear (like crafted stuff).

There are basically 3 different 'sets', but not really in the way we think of sets nowadays.  The names are different, but you can see the intent of what they are trying to achieve, mostly by the complimentary design.

The first two sets are a little unclear, although one tends to lean towards attack, and the other leans towards defense.  The third one, however, is very interesting.  Where else can you get 50% Stun Block in gear at Level 70?  A combo of the Ravenking's Battle Story Armor, the Thought and Memory Helm and the Boots of Whispered Flight will give you exactly that.

For me, despite the unusual stats, the real thing for this Gear is the look - this pack is worth it for that reason alone!

Wands - 9
The wands range mostly carry Critical and Block, with a 65/65 and a 50/95 being the pick of the bunch.

Again, the look here is pretty impressive.
Housing Items - 74
Lots of housing.  Some of it is OK, but for me, I tend to 'select' the housing items that I want. There is a lot of it in this pack and it can be a fun lucky dip. You can expect to get a few of these with every purchase.

Morgrim's Verdict
This pack is a tricky one.  I really like the look of the gear, and if you are into Stun Block, it is quite an interesting option.

The mounts are good, and both are permanent.

The wands aren't bad and there is always the White Tiger Lily.  

The trouble is the fact it is fairly heavy weighting towards the Housing Items.

It is still a BUY recommendation from me.  It is still a great generic pack to purchase with a good chance of getting something worth your while.

Low Level Wizards
When I first got my Armor of Many Winters at Level 15, that Kraken card just swept away most of the bad guys.  The variety of the lucky dip was also useful when you are just starting out and you don't know a lot of about what is available and where from.

I would still say BUY for a Low Level Wizard.

High Level Wizard
My personal belief is that, unless there is something specific you are looking for, either in how the Gear looks or stats, then perhaps other packs are a better way to spend your hard earned Crowns.

Let me know if you agree with my Verdict!

See you 'round the Spiral.

Morgrim

The attack on Cronus

With Blaze's last post " The Secret Bosses of Aquila" in mind Morgrim decided to try to get the 'Blade of the Felled Titan' or the 'Exalted Amulets' from Cronus.  At 30 000 health we decided that Morgrim would hit, Blaze would boost and I would look after our health.

It was fun watching all the blades and traps go on, and with a total of 13 boosts Morgrim attacked with Sun Serpent.  

The result, as you would expect, was complete overkill and I think surprised us all with how big it ended up being.

Unfortunately, no good drops for anyone, so we will be back to try our luck again.

Alia :)

Blaze is Back!

Hey everyone!

• Secret Dungeons...  Blaze is back!!
• KI Ice Bucket Challenge -  Check out their You-Tube video!
• Hoard & Lore Pack - Check out some of Morgrim's analysis to find the perfect one!

Birthday celebrations are still going strong. The Birthday present for the week was a Birthday Snack with a chance at the Birthday Snack Pack - so it was great to win the pack! How did you go? Wonder what the next gift will be?

It was nice to have Blaze back writing again, and he introduces some secret dungeons. The Ice-Bucket challenge is still going strong, and it was a good week to re-visit one of Morgrim's posts about Pack-a-Palooza as the Hoard and Lore packs are all 199 Crowns!

As always, 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

The Secret Bosses of Aquila

You may or may not be aware of the secret bosses in the 3 dungeons of Aquila, Gladiator Dimachaerus, the Sand Squid, and Cronus.

The first of the 3 secret bosses is the mighty Gladiator Dimachaerus. This mighty gladiator, is located in a seemingly closed gate which leads into the place that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades trapped him...
The Pit of the Noxii.

The Gladiator has a whopping 30 000 Health! Making him a very tough opponent even for the toughest of wizards (although, me and a 2 other level 30's got him down to less then half health).

The Gladiator is most well known for his incredible ring, the 'Alpha and Omega Ring' as well as his exalted amulet drops.




The next hidden boss is known only as the Sand Squid, the most painful boss of the 3. This massive squid has captured a crew of 2 Marleybone civilians and it is your job to rescue them.

Located in the ruins of a wrecked ship in the depths of Atlantea, the Sand Squid's Tentacle has a massive 28 000 health!

The Sand Squid is most well known for his exalted amulet drops but I do not recommend farming him for them as he is quite the tough boss fight.

The last of the 3 secret Aquila bosses, is Cronus. Father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, in Tartarus's Cave of Nyx. Being the father of 3 devastatingly powerful sons, you would expect Cronus to be powerful. He doesn't disappoint!

With an incredible 30 000 health and cheats to top it all off, Cronus is a true challenge for even the toughest wizards.

Cronus is mostly known for dropping the amazingly powerful athame, the 'Blade of the Felled Titan' and the 'Exalted Amulets'. If you're looking for the athame then definitely put a target on Cronus, however, if you are looking solely for the exalted amulets, then perhaps the Gladiator may be a better choice.

Hopefully you've enjoyed my first post in a long time, and hopefully I will definitely be putting a lot more up for you to learn about and enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

Blaze

My Last Solo Dungeon for a While......

Hey Everyone,

Managed to get back in the Spiral today, and it's been battle after battle in Zafaria. Finally a dungeon  came my way - Tomb Sweet Tomb. I always like a dungeon that has some quests to complete that are not all battles.

For this one I had to Drum the Drums in a set sequence, (and fast enough!) to light them all in green. I took a snap as it was quite a sight to see when I completed it.

Then there were a few small battles, of course small in Zafaria means 3,000 health and 4 or 5 power pips at the start! They were all enemies I had fought before, and even in my gardening clothes they didn't cause much drama.
Completing the battles gave me items for the Queen, which then had to be placed on the 4 pedestals - bracelet, robe, ring and horn. The last thing to place was the horn..... this causes a ramble and lo and behold - the door opens....

 My goal is to free Prince Tiziri Silvertusk, but wait.... who's this that has made an appearance. Oh no! It's Morganthe...... I quickly set my deck choc full of converts and steady myself for a large battle. But, to my surprise, neither Morganthe or Tsi-Tsi appear in the battle. 
No it's those Shadow Web-Haunts. My goal is to defeat 2 of them, but there are four in front of me, and yes - I have to defeat them all.

So 1-Death Wizard against 4-Death Enemies. They all have almost 3,000 health and far too many power-pips for my liking. At this stage I was glad that I had (1) changed out of my gardening gear and (2) packed those converts. 

My strategy was to defeat them one by one. The biggest problem with Death is getting life back. I would have to hit each one hard and defeat them each with one hit. So I'm glad I had plenty of Feints packed too!

My strategy worked, but boy was I close to being defeated a number of times! At one stage I had 74 health left, but the very next round saw 3,662 replenished and all was good again. I was expecting a boss fight, but it never came. I saved the Prince and my quest here was done.

The post-card is complete, so I am guessing that my time in Zafaria will be drawing to a close soon. My next quest is Mirror Lake - and I will need help with that one. Have any of you solo'ed it at my level I wonder?

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Have fun, until next time!

Tabitha

Reflections on Love and Time

Hey everyone!

• More Celebrations!-  More gifts and a new Piggle!
• Spiral Love? -  Morgrim ponders the Spiral friendships
• Dworgyn's Reflections - 6 years in the Spiral

Birthday celebrations are one week in and gifts continue. This week there was free gold and new items in the Crown Shop. Of course, the birthday fish is still out there to find too - along with those gift boxes.... I've only seen one in  MB.... what about you guys? It was week where Morgrim broached the subject of Love in the Spiral..... but above all showing respect in the Spiral. And of course birthday celebrations bring memories and how it all began..... Dworgyn reflects on the last 6 years.

As always, to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

And there you have it - another week when fishing gets a mention, it is now officially the most frequently mentioned Spiral past-time!! Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha

Love in the Spiral?

Just what is it?

Well, I gotta tell you, I don't really know.  I just know that it seems to filter throughout the game, and sometimes with unusual or alarming consequences!

Only today, I was in the Commons and the language started.  One guy was getting cranky with another for 'staring at his girl'.  After some verbal jousting, the physical threats started.

Now, this might be a surprise (lol!), but I am not one of those wizards that stands by to listen to that rubbish.  I asked them both to calm down and...fortunately, both eventually did with only a little persuasion.  But this kind of scene happens all too often, and I am a little bemused as to why!

In fact, let me tell you another story...one day, a young wizard caught me in the Shopping District.  She was a new friend from earlier in the week.  She insisted that I tell her that I love her(!)  I explained I didn't even know her...but she then went from bad to worse, even threatening to kill herself if I didn't!

What can you do?

Well, without saying anything to inflame the situation, I sought to calm it down and then left as quickly as I could.

Was she just a crazy random?  Maybe a desperate person irl?  Perhaps someone just playing with me?  Who would know?  From where I sit, the only thing I know is that I'll never know the real answer...just like this random comment in the Commons one day...

I hear about weddings in the Spiral, I hear about people's bf or gf, I hear about husband and wife.  I laugh when my irl wife gets approached by a random to be their gf...

But...seriously?

And I know, for some, this is deadly serious stuff.

As a result, I will never trivialise this as I know there are many people in the world that are going through different challenges, both personal and emotional,.  Sometimes it is in the wonderful, magical place that we call the Spiral that the shackles of real life can be shaken free.  I also know that people invest of themselves in their character and that investment means that the lines for some can become blurred.

I also know that some irl friendships have begun in the Spiral.

I think it is at those times that we need to remember that, just like irl, everyone has a story, a past, a perspective and we have little to no way of knowing what that is.  I think that the same rules apply, whether in the Spiral or not, respect is always the key.

Treat other wizards with respect.  Consider that no two situations are the same.  Consider that different Wizards play for different reasons...and, as ever, everyone is unique, and that is a very good thing.

Enjoy your time in the Spiral, and try to help others do the same.

See you 'round the Spiral!

Morgrim

Grandpa Piggle and the 2nd Lit Candle

Hey everyone,

The second candle has been lit and the gift this time is 6,000 Gold!

To celebrate Wizard101 birthday, all wizards are being rewarded 6,000 Gold for 6 years of fun! Redeem this gold today to get cool items for your Wizard.

And that's not all.... there is a new pet and snacks, just 5,000 crowns in the Crown Shop -  Grandpa Piggle Pet & Updated Birthday Snack Pack!

 If you want the stats on the old guy here they are:

The snack pack gives you 7-snacks from the following:

Birthday Cake
Dastardly Radish
Golden Pizza
Jar of Jelly Beans
Killer Tomato
Medium Pretzel
Shanta Pudding

Check them out in the Wizard101 Crown Shop!

Thanks again to KI and Wizard101 - loving your birthday celebrations!

Have fun,

Tabitha

P.S. The party gift boxes are back too. Have you found any yet?

Birthday Awesomeness!

Hey everyone!

I just had to pop on and say a big thanks to KingsIsle and Wizard101Central for their awesome Birthday gift!!

I know they appreciate their Wizards, but really - we hang around and enjoy the games because we love it!! And what's not to love about Wizard101 Central too? All that information and helpfulness :) 

So these acts of kindness to reward us for our loyalty and just plain nice!

Of course I had to login and find out just what style of Aquarium and stash of crowns I had waiting for me. As I have said many time before, free is free, and a bonus - and appreciated :) 

As you can see, the Aquarium was a regular whopper - and this is actually my first Aquarium!

And I now have 800 more crowns than when I got up this morning! 

Thanks KI and Wizard101Central - for the gifts and for continuing to keep the game awesome and interesting and fun! Happy Birthday guys :)

What about the rest of you Wizards out there? What did you score?

Have fun, until next time!

Tabitha

Mad September - celebrate in the Spiral!

Hey everyone!

• Happy Birthday Wizard101-  6 years and getting better all the time!
• Second Spring -  Morgrim shows off some of his gardening triumphs
• Poll Time- Head over to Duelist to take part in their poll

Had another slow week here at the Keep. So glad Spring is now here and those Winter bugs can start to disappear again. I joined the ranks of the ALS Ice Bucket challenge earlier today, though IRL, and boy that water was so cold! Back to the Spiral, Morgrim has obviously had Spring on his mind, as he shows us the creative way he has used Second Spring. Of course the really big news is that Wizard101 are celebrating their 6th Birthday! Freebies, Gift Boxes back in the Spiral and a new Birthday fish to name but a few of the celebrations. Enjoy all September!!!

As always, to catch up on all the other stories shared by Wizards around the globe, click on the paper.

And there you have it - another week when I failed to NOT mention Fishing.......!! Maybe next week, eh?Hope you enjoy and we'll be back with another copy next week.

Until Next Time,
Tabitha