Monday, December 31, 2012

Pirate101: Gold laundering

As I have said on this blog, I'm currently working on my Witchdoctor, having already gotten my buck to lvl 50.  The WD is currently lvl 24 and I ran into a snag a few levels ago where I though I was going to have to fight ships that were significantly higher than my current ship level (my ship was 18, the ships I thought I had to fight were 23-24).  It turned out I was reading the quest wrong, but before I figured that out, I decided that I'd go back and do some sidequests that I had skipped (I have about 10 pages worth) to try and get enough gold together for the level 22 ship.

I worked on a few sidequests, got frustrated that it wasn't going faster and then logged on to my buccaneer to try and farm some gear from Friar sand (3 attempts, one witchdoctor drop.  Bummer).  On my way to the corrupted shrine, I saw some folks farming lvl 41-43 pig ships in the Subata skyway and joined in, as I was still nlvl 42 and had a nlvl 46 figurehead from the Admiral's bundle that I hadn't been able to equip yet.  I ground all the way up to nlvl 45 or so and then realized something: I'd been getting a lot of ship equipment from those ships that I couldn't use (I have the lvl 50 Royal Navy light skiff from the Admiral's bundle) . . . why don't I send them to my Witchdoctor and have her vendor them?

I went to the shared bank, dropped in somewhere between 30-35 ship items, logged onto the Witchdoctor, got the items out of the shared bank, took them to a ship parts vendor and sold them all for just over 20,000 gold.  Combine that with the 10,000 gold I had already and I was sitting pretty.

I figured I would share this tip with you folks, since there is not other good way I have found to boost an alt character.

Short version: If you have a lvl 50 character and want to fund an alt, do nautical battles to gather ship equipment and have your alt sell it to a ship vendor.  The ship parts from MooShu go for 500-900g a piece. Happy hunting!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pirate101: Guide to Epic Abilities

I received this guide from Shiningfantasia and would like to share it with you all.  We discuss it on this week's  episode of the show, but here is the full version.  Hope you find it useful!

Epics from Shiningfatasia

I made this list as time went by, for my own satisfaction and just for my own knowledge. I reset some of my companions just for that purpose.
Hope it is a little helpful. Those companions I have reset were unable to learn certain epics, I wrote that in a side note on the bottom of the Musketeer section.

Note that I don't have any knowledge of any Witchdoctor related epics other than those few I have listed.

WITCHDOCTOR

Improved Mojo: larger are of attack.
Rank 1 - Hits the target, and 4 other targets in each of the 4 'corners' of the 'square'.
Rank 2 - Hits the target, and all enemies surrounding that target. Up to 9 enemies in the 'square'.

Mojo Echo: 35% bonus attack. Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack.
Rank 2 - 3 bonus attacks.

Counterspell: Bonus attack when enemy misses.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack after up to 3 different misses in same turn.

Coward's Bane: Bonus attack when enemy disengages.
Rank 1: 1 bonus attack.
Rank 2: 1 different bonus attack on up to 3 different retreating mobs in one turn.

Witch hunter: Bonus attack when enemy uses magic.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when enemy uses up to 3 magics in one turn.

Witchdoctor's talents:

Agile: AGI stat +3, +3, +5
Rough: damage +3, +7, +15
Spooky: +5% power effects each rank
Lucky: +2, +3, +5 Resistance
Spirited: WILL stat +2, +3, +5
Dodgy: +2, +3, +5

MUSKETEER

Double Tap: Bonus attack when you defeat an enemy.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack after defeating enemy 1 time.
Rank 2 - 1 attack after defeating up to 3 different enemies in one turn.

Quick Draw: Strike before your attackers.
Rank 1 - 1 preemptive attack before a mob attacks.
Rank 2 - 1 preemptive attack before up to 3 mob attacks in one turn.

Return Fire: Bonus attack when enemy misses.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack after 1 miss.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack after up to 3 misses in one turn.

Burst Fire: Bonus attack after you hit.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack after you hit. 35% chance.
Rank 2 - Up to 3 bonus attacks after you hit. 35% chance after each hit.

Overwatch: Bonus attack when enemy approaches.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when enemy approaches.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack for up to 3 different enemies that approach in one turn.

True Grit: Bonus attack when enemy hits.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack if enemy hits.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack if enemy hits up to 3 different times in one turn.

Quick Adjust: bonus attack when you miss.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when you miss.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when you miss up to 3 different times in one turn.

Parting Shot: bonus attack when enemy disengages.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when enemy disengages.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when up to 3 different enemies disengage in one turn.

Crossfire: bonus attack when flanking (ranged).
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when flanking 1 enemy.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when flanking up to 3 different enemies in one turn.

Bonnie Anne can not learn TRUE GRIT or QUICK ADJUST. Both Bonnie Anne and Rooster Cogburn can not learn PARTING SHOT. Bonnie Anne, Rooster Cogburn, and Tricky Vinny do not learn CROSSFIRE.

Talents for Musketeers:

Accurate: +2, +3, +5 accuracy
Tough: +10, +100, +200 health
Rough: +3, +7, +15 damage
Lucky: +3, +3, +5 resistance
Agile: +3, +3, +5 AGI
Spirited: +3, +3, +5 WILL

While average Musketeer learns 12 talents, ROOSTER COGBURN only learns 9.

Epics PRIVATEER, SWASHBUCKLER, and BUCCANEER.

Relentless: bonus attack when you hit.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when you hit. 35% chance.
Rank 2 - Up to 3 bonus attacks when you hit. 35% chance after each hit in one turn.

Vengeance Strike: bonus attack when hit.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when hit.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when hit up to 3 different times in one turn.

Riposte: bonus attack when enemy misses.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when enemy misses.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when enemy misses up to 3 different times.

Second Chance: 1 bonus attack if you miss.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack if you miss.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack if you miss up to 3 different times in one turn.

Flanking: bonus attack when flanking.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when flanking.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when flanking up to 3 different mobs in one turn.

Repel Boarders: 1 bonus attack for approaching enemies.
Rank 1 - 50% chance for 1 bonus attack on 1 approaching enemy.
Rank 2 - 70% chance for 1 bonus attack on up to 3 approaching enemies in one turn.

Cheap Shot: bonus attack on retreating enemy.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack on retreating enemy.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack on up to 3 different retreating enemies.

Bladestorm: bonus attack when defeating an enemy.
Rank 1 - 1 bonus attack when defeating 1 enemy.
Rank 2 - 1 bonus attack when defeating up to 3 enemies in one turn.

Hold the Line (Buccaneer only, I believe): immobilizes approaching enemy for 1 turn. Enemy can still attack.
Rank 1 - Immobilizes 1 approaching enemy for 1 turn.
Rank 2 - Immobilizes up to 3 different enemies for 1 turn in one turn.

All preemptive strikes are half damage. That includes First Strike, Quick Draw, Repel Boarders, Overwatch, Flanking, Crossfire. All the enemy retreat epics I believe are only half damage. Tested Cheap Shot with Milo but it was inconclusive. That includes Cheap Shot, Parting Shot, and Coward's Bane.

Talents for SWASHBUCKLER:

Accurate: +2, +3, +5 Accuracy
Agile: +3, +3, +5 AGI
Armored: +2, +3, +5 Armor
Rough: +3, +7, +15 damage
Dodgy: +2, +3, +5 Dodge
Strong: +3, +3, +5 STR

Swashbucklers can learn everything except Tough and Spirited. Buccaneers can learn everything, except Spirited. Privateers can learn everything except accuracy and dodge, but can learn Spirited. Of course those 3 melee units won't learn talents such as Spooky.

***Note that the only talent that can hit more than once in a row is Relentless. Any epic that lists # of hits is based on the number of enemy ACTIONS (or positions/scenarios) per turn.*** (Just in case anyone wonders about this.)

Relentless is triggered by anything and any other epic. Only exception seems to be Burst Fire. No matter how many times Bonnie Anne uses Blast shot, it will never trigger her Burst Fire. That is why I generally never use that ability of hers. I thought I saw Old Scratch's Jobu's Breath trigger Mojo Echo, but not 100% sure.

Everything here is stipulated. Different units may learn different talents, epics, and can come with different abilities, outside the usual set up. For example, the crown companions Gerard and Caracticus come with Berserk. (+25% damage when health below 50%.)

Talkin' the Plank Episode 10 goes live!

Episode 10 of Talkin' the Plank is up!  Brandon and I discuss talents and epics, promotion quests, an open letter from the game's producer and announce the latest contest with our biggest prize to date!  You can listen here!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Pirate101: Witchdoctor Breaks Lvl 20

My Witchdoctor hit level 20 last night . . . and then quickly got to 21.  This was after a lot of hemming and hawing at my part trying to get through the last chunk of lvl 19.  Every enemy I faced was killing me.  I haven't been doing a lot of sidequests since this is my 2nd time through most of this content, so I'm going through it fairly quickly.  That finally caught up to me, I guess.  I started looking through the 11 pages of quests in my quest log (I still pick them up, I just don't do them), and found out that I was two boxes away from getting enough xp to reach level 20.  I went out, got them, leveled up my crew (I bought some training tomes) and had no problem with the rest of the content.

So far, I have enjoyed the witchdoctor, though there are an awful lot of abilities to wade through.  It seems like every round of combat, my biggest choice revolves around which of the abilities that may come in handy I need to get rid of so that I can get to the ones I very much need immediately.  Not the most fun way to add strategy to the game.  This is in stark contrast to my Buccaneer, who barely had enough special moves to fill the action bar.  It has been an adjustment, but I think my strategy is improving as I move through the game.

I will keep leveling Witchdoctor up to 50 (I have shelved my Buccaneer for now, as I want to try out all the classes in turn) and have set up my lvl 10 Swashbuckler to be my next alt, meaning whenever I don't have time to do whatever's next for my WD, I'll play a bit of Swash.  I would imagine that, in this fashion, my Swash will be around level 20 by the time my WD hits 50.

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Pirate101: Should Stormzilla be Removed?

The most complained about quest, based on most of the social media I've seen about Pirate101, is the Stupendor-X/Stormzilla quest.  During the quest, your Pirate pilots Stupendor-X, a battle mech, against Stormzilla, a large lizard monster.  You are given battle mech specific abilities and are tasked with defeating Stormzilla.  This quest is part of the main storyline and, as such, cannot be skipped.

The problem that people seem to have is that you can't engage in direct melee combat with Stormzilla, due to it's epic abilities that will give her (she did lay eggs, seemingly) 2 or 3 hits to your 1.  You have to destroy her eggs, so that they don't hatch into little stormzillas and hassle you, and then drag her through the fires you lay down via kiting.  It's not tough, but it takes some getting used to.

A lot of the complaints suggest that this quest be removed altogether.  I couldn't disagree more.  One of the things that keeps an MMO fresh is quest variety, which admittedly is a bit lacking in Pirate101.  The Stupendor-X quest is one of the few where you are tasked with doing something out of the norm.  As the expansions are released, I'd like to see more of this: more variety, more risks taken, more ideas that we haven't seen in the game before . .  . just anything to break up what can become monotony.

I think that the Stupendor-X questline is a good one, I don't think it's impossible, and I'd like to see KI come up with even more varied ideas on different types of quests.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Pirate101: Level 50 . . . now what should I do?

I finished the main story line the other day on my lvl 50 Buccaneer and have been since trying to figure out exactly where to focus my efforts.  As there is no guild-type system or real end game to speak of, once you have finished all of the quests the game has to offer, it's not up to you to make your own fun.  For some, this might be endlessly farming bosses for gold, items and pets.  For others this would start their PvP career.  While I may farm a bit for some gear and housing items, and I'm sure I'll get into PvP as soon as there are rewards for it, I've remembered what I like the most about MMO's: playing with a group and leveling alts.  The playing with a group part is tough, given the hours I play (they are wee hours) and no group organization other than a friends list so it's off to level some alts!

I have decided that I'll start with my Witchdoctor (currently lvl 15) then Swashbuckler (10), Muskateer (10) and finally Privateer (10).  Once the Witchdoctor hits level 20, I'll pass off all the gear she isn't using to my Swashbuckler and alternate between the two with my main focus being the WD.  Once the WD is 50, I'll do the same with Swash and Musk.  This should keep me busy and allow me to experience the game through all 5 classes so that I can better report on all the issues that arise for each class in turn.

As to what I though of the main storyline, having now completed it:  it was good!  It ended a bit abruptly, but it wasn't a true ending and wasn't meant to be.  At this point, we can only complete the first part of the story. I don't know when the next expansion will happen, but I look forward to it!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Talkin' the Plank Episode 9 is Live!

The latest episode of Talkin' the Plank is live!  Check it out here.  Brandon and I discuss the end of the game, some new tips and tricks and announce the twitter contest winners.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Pirate101: Rats of Nim Bait & Switch?

I just did this quest on my Witchdoctor last night (I think she was level 14) and I saw that the goal was to defeat Nim, the rat.  I sent my two companions (Battacuda and Ratbeard) on a direct assault and got him down a round after they had both died from the other enemies attacking them.  Bummer, but at least I finished it, right?  Nope.  The battle continued and I saw that the victory condition was now "Defeat All Enemies".  Uh-oh.  There were 3 left against only my Witchdoctor!  Time for some hail-mary strategy.

I was able to knock out one of them with an ability, but the other two got some hits in.  At that point, I used hide in the shadows (have that card on my hat).  The remaining enemies, one at half health, the other at full health, ran for the south of the battle board.  I ran for the north and healed myself, which brought me out of stealth.  Then, I cast slow on the full health mob and tried to burn down the half-health mob before he reached me.  I knocked him out, but not before he got a few hits in.  Now, the full health enemy starts making her way up the battle board and I'm at half health with no abilities left.  I start hitting her with my wand and she's at half health when she reaches me.  She gets a critical.  I get a regular attack.  She gets a regular attack.  Now I'm at 2 health and she's at 120ish.  I get a regular attack.  She misses.  I get a regular attack, she moves and doesn't attack.  I get a regular attack and she's knocked out.

I got incredibly luck on those last two hits (or the game had mercy on me) but I wonder if it was a glitch that the battle conditions changed the way they did.  Obviously, I didn't remember this particular battle from my first runthrough, but I do make sure to read the conditions carefully, just in case.  In this case, that backfired.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Pirate101: Last day for the Twitter contest!

Today is the last day for our contest on twitter for a free Crocogator mount.  To enter, just follow out twitter account (@talkintheplank) and send us a tweet with a topic you'd like discussed on the show.  We're recording this afternoon, so get those submissions in!  The top three will be read on the air and will receive their mount codes after Ep9 goes live on Thursday.

Pirate101: 12 Days of the Spiral Training Point

Don't forget to enter your code for the free training point that comes to us via the 12 Days of the Spiral promotion.  There's only one day left.  I wonder what they have in store for the last day?  Holiday House?!?!  Here's hoping!