Yo Ho Yo Ho Combat is what I see!

Avast me hearties!

Mr. Coleman over on Facehook.... I mean Facebook uploaded some new combat images for our enjoyment!

First let's start with a non-combat image!

*Click on image to enlarge it*

It looks like your ordinary average Pirate with a Subodai companion about to talk to Sergeant Shepherd, a Marleybonian pirate!

Quest helper is indicating they are in the Temple of Gloom! Guessing from their environment, they are in Skull Island and not Valencia.

Now let's see those combat images!

Bonnie Anne is just looking pretty at the side while Subodai and Egg Fu Chen are battling those cutthroats like nobody's business! Sadly, Subodai's attack was blocked. Well, let's see how this turns out!

Subodai strikes back with a powerful attack causing the Cutthroats health to weaken greatly! Is it just me, or does not that look like an ordinary attack. Something is special about it!

Bonnie Anne decided to stop standing there and look pretty, and to go out to fight a Cutthroat! Now if you haven't noticed already, all of the Cutthroats have their own individual names. I have a feeling all monsters in Pirate101 will as well.

Bonnie Anne shouts with a monstrous sort of storm strike from her gun doing 15 damage! Has the Cutthroat been defeated?! We don't quite know yet, since Mr. Coleman hasn't released the next images of this wondrous battle! 

Oh the Pirating vibes that go through me when I explain these epic battles in Pirate101! It just makes me even more excited for what is to come! 

Thanks for reading Pirates!

Be careful on those skyways! Pick the windlane if ya know what's best for you! :)

Let's Talk Companions! A Pirate's Best Friend!

Basic Information:
Companions are your "sidekicks". They help you with your battles. They range in appearance and they have all have different, unique fighting styles!

Each time you gain a level, you gain special training points to level your companion which will make them stronger and look even cooler!

Now for the facts:

1. Your First Companion is Unique to your Pirate's Story.

From some articles on the web about Pirate101, there have been quite a few that said when you are taking your character quiz in the beginning to determine what class you will be, it also asks you a bit about your Pirate's background!

2. Addition Companions can be earned through main AND side quests.

Now on Stormgate Pirates, there is a quiz and there is a true or false question that states:

Additional Companions can be earned only through main quests.
That is....

FALSE!

Since we know additional companions can be earned through side quests, it gives us a bigger boost to do side quests! In Wizard101, most people only do side quests for extra exp to level up.

3. You can choose your favorite or most powerful companion to be your sidekick.

4. You can order your companions to pick who is most likely to help you during a battle.

Now it seems that we will be having some sort of Companion chart in which you can move around your companions, see their stats, etc.
Maybe you can order your companions to have more than one helping you in battle!

5. Companions have special powers and abilities.

6. Companions can be trained and promoted.

To promote your companion, it says there are special Companion Promotion quests. My guess is that the more you want to promote a companion, the difficult the quest will become.

So from all of this, Companions seem to be quite interesting. They help you in a battle, they look cool, they are a Pirate's best friend!

Now, what do we already know is a companion?

First let's check out the Companion Slideshow!

First slide:

Goose... Ninja.. what....?

Maybe Captain Avery can help out!

Captain? Captain Avery?

It looks like he might be doing some laundry on the ship...

Let's check his Twitter!

Scrolling.... scrolling.... GOTCHA!

Goose Student Companion, Egg Shen!

If you go to Pirate101 Central, there is a similar name..:

Egg Fu Yen.

Oh here's another picture:

And another!

They are so... eggy! 

Next!

Now this is quite an interesting companion!

Look at him. All tough looking with his mustache.

In fact, it somewhat reminds me of a Kirin. The Unicorns with mustaches!

This companion is a part of the race: The Amber Horde

The Amber Horde are very brave fighters! You can find them in Mooshu.

One Amber Horde is named Subodai! He is exiled from the Amber Hordes but he is the strongest and mightiest companions out there! Yes, I said Companion!

There is a very high percent chance that this female Pirate's companion is the great Subodai! 

Next Companion!

Oh how perfect! A Monquistan Companion! It will be mine hopefully.

It looks like a Monquistan monk, probably from the city of Puerto Mico.

All Companions have certain attributes. Here are a list of them:

That's all for now!

The question for you Pirates is:

What Pirate Companion would you want?

Zhu Ro and the Water Moles!

Ahoy Pirates!

Recently, J. Todd Coleman is just loving to tease us with some Pirate101 pictures to get us 10 times more excited for the game than we already are.

That's fine though.

It gives us Pirate101 bloggers to post about, to help you understand these images a bit more!

*Click Image to Enlarge*

Well, what do we have here?

Engaging in a battle with a Monquistador Ship named Dona Isabella!

At the bottom left hand corner, there seems to be 5 buttons around the health bubble. One of them is a skull, which probably is for the Pirate stats? Then there is a ship button which I believe could be to customize or see the stats of  the ships.

Then there is a home button! Maybe it will take us to some Ship room!

Then there is a map.. which is a map.

Then finally, there is a blue potion. 4 of them. Well, there is definitely no mana in this game, so I wonder what the blue potion does? Well I know, but I won't say anything :)

Now, at the bottom right hand corner, we can see how the ship is doing. Still confused on some of those, but Swordroll has an amazing idea on what it can be!

The quest helper is pointing to find Zhu Ru's Teahouse in Hamimitsu Garden. Well that definitely looks like it's' in Mooshu! Below is your and the Ship's experience bar. 

When a ship engages into battle with another ship, there seems to be a PvP Icon to indicate who you are in battle with!

There are some green squares on the ship.... wonder what they are...

Next on our list, we have some concept art!

Wow. Those are some big Water Moles.

The designs of these Water Moles are amazing. Maybe their stripes indicate what Water Mole Clan they are in (Nui or Waponi).

That is all for now Pirates!

Happy Sailing whether it's in a Skyway or Windlane! 

Let's Learn Combat and our Contest Winners!

Today, I want to talk about Pirate101 Combat!

In the beginning, it will most likely be very difficult to master, but you'll get used to it in time!

This is how a basic Pirate101 Battle Board looks like:

Battles begin with a planning phase! You have to select "squares" on the board to move or attack your enemy.

Enemies have a red background.
Your character and companion are fully under your control.
Inanimate objects have a brown background.
Other player's companions and characters will have a background unique to them.

In the picture above, it seems to be a Witchdoctor fighting against 2 Troggy Warriors. One of them seems to be named, "Roop".

At the top left hand corner, it is shows "Defeat All Enemies". This is what you must do to win this battle!

There are many other types of Victory Conditions such as:

Victory Conditions should always be appearing at the top left hand corner of the Combat Board.

If you win a battle, your enemies may drop treasure chests! If you see one, grab the loot within it! For more treasure, try teaming up with other players. 

You can use powers in combat!

Powers and Skills will probably appear on the lower part of the screen.

To use a power, click on the icon and select the enemy you would like to use the power against.

What happens if you are defeated? 

When you go into a zone, you are bound to something called a "Life Fountain" that is located in that current area. If you are defeated, you will appear back near the fountain to regenerate health.

I hope this lesson made it easier for you to understand Pirate101 Combat!

---

In further news, congratulations to:

Jacob Legendheart

and

CountryGamer

for winning 2,500 crowns from my raffle!

Your codes will be sent via email.

New Pirate101 Pictures!

Ahoy Pirates~
New Pirate101 Pictures have been released!

I am so glad they have released so many pictures in one day!

There are 4 pictures that were posted by One-Eyed Jack on Pirate101 Central!
You can view them here:
http://pirate101.centralforums.com/forums/showthread.php?2262-Cool-Look-at-the-game!-PICTURE!/page2&p=30442#post30442

The next picture is from Mr. Coleman:

This is part of the Pirate101 Character Making progress, picking your gender. This is a picture of Boochbeard asking "Hard to say. You, there! You're standing on my blind side. Are ye a boy, or a girl?"

Well. It certainly is better than Merle's way of putting it!

From her clothes, I believe she is a swashbuckler or a buccaneer.

Now to talk about the pictures on Pirate101 Central~

The first picture is of a ship sailing through the skyway. It seems to be this pirate's first time flying!
Like Wizard101, there is the quest helper, but I wonder if "Skull" and "Island" should be spaced out... well this is in alpha after all so I am pretty sure it will be different in beta!

The second picture is with a Pirate standing in Captain Avery's office! You can actually see some items from the Emperor's Attic Pack!

The third picture shows a drop down of the Pirate's stats and information such as it's backpack, powers, companions and more! Oh, did I mention that he seems to have a Goat Monk companion?

The fourth picture is in Monquista. How do I know this? I just know. It is showing a level 35 musketeer's stats, and the quest helper is pointing to talk to Skinny Pete. The clothing this musketeer is wearing definitely looks like it's coming from Mooshu. Oh... and he has 999,999 crowns!

Lucky.....

Alright, that seems to be it! I can just feel beta is nearing, I say it will hopefully be coming sometime in Mid-August, but I might be wrong!

My Trip to San Diego and a Contest!

I went to San Diego to play Pirate101 Alpha and hopefully get a code to get into Closed Beta.

How did my trip go?

First I went into Belo, the club in which Pirate101 Alpha was located. There was one person instead of me who was playing, and I became friends with her. 

We met Fred Howard and Ben Conrad from Kingsisle! Ben was the one that we talked to the most, he always seemed to start the conversations though :)

He asked us for feedback about our Pirate101 gameplay. I said it was awesome and that it was way better than I expected it to be (and I expected it to be really good!).

Ben also gave us 2 Wizard101 mini-cards for 2,500 crowns which is valid for both Wizard and Pirate101 which I shall be using for a contest (keep reading!).

The combat in Pirate101 Alpha is a bit difficult at first, but you get used to it. The skyways were magnificent, especially in Valencia!

The environment actually has a lot of items from Wizard101! I saw many items from the Emperor's Attic Pack :)

The character selection looks really cool, and the quiz in which you take in the beginning to figure out what class you will be is hilarious! 

We got to put our emails in for a 10 closed beta code raffles! Since there were only 10 people who wrote down their emails... we all get closed beta codes which will be emailed to use when closed beta is announced and has started.

Here is a picture of a Madame Vadima at Comic-Con that I took myself:

It was very enjoyable to play Pirate101. I can't wait for beta :)

Since I am extra happy, I will be giving away 2,500 crowns to 2 winners! All you have to do is enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Concept Art & Pirate101 Alpha in San Diego!

Today Mr. Coleman released a new concept art of a Valencian Duelist:

What do we know about Valencians? Well they are from the world of Valencia, they are unicorns and most of them are scholars. Valencia is a center of arts and learning, but it seems to be "guarded" by the Armada.

Above it shows Valencian duelists. Awesome hats, really cool armor (liking the rose on the shoulder), and they have not one, but TWO swords. I would be a bit scared to go against these unicorns..


In other news, I am going to San Diego on Friday (tomorrow) to see and play Pirate101 in alpha!! I am very excited, it's going to be a 1 hour and a half drive for me, but I'll withstand it to see this awesome game. Plus, I might be a lucky winner of a beta code! They are giving out ten of them, and if they start having Pirate101 trivia for it... well let's just say I'm going to be a bit competitive. Of course they could always come with the raffle approach.

If I can take pictures and video (which I doubt) I will post them on my blog for you all to see! If I can't, I will explain the game in very... very great detail.

Interview with Cody Ghostcatcher from Stormgate Pirates

Cody Ghostcatcher (a.k.a Red Beard a.k.a Legends) has recently become an official Pirate101 fansite owner. I know  Cody Ghostcatcher quite well, in fact one could even say I work with him... 

I got the chance to interview with him! Look:

Me: What was your reaction when you found out your site was becoming official?

Cody Ghostcatcher : I was pretty excited, I went through it before when LOTS become official for Wizard101, but I was super excited to be able to branch out to Pirate101 as well.


Me: What Pirate101 class are you aiming to be?

Cody Ghostcatcher :  I am planning on starting out with the Witchdoctor class. Having played as a Death wizard in W101 I think that it will be a good fit for me, but I plan to test the other classes out as well.

Me: What are you going to do differently in Pirate101 that you did or didn't do in Wizard101?

Cody Ghostcatcher: I think many people answer this question the same way, I am going to take it slow and really try to enjoy the story line. With W101 I would take any and every quest I came across and work them in parallel, which levels you up quicker, but you sacrifice the story line when trying to follow too many at once. I will definitely try to immerse myself in the Pirate101 universe and savor every second of gameplay.

Me: What are you most excited about Pirate101?

Cody Ghostcatcher:  Oh, goodness, there is no way I could limit it to just one thing. I am super excited about the new combat system. I love strategy and from what I have seen about the combat systems Pirate101 will have multiple levels of strategy that can be employed during battles. I also love the idea of the Pirate Ships. Growing up, everything I played on turned into a pirate ship, so its going to be awesome to see that come alive in a computer game

Me: Ok, I really hope you felt this question coming. 

Are.

You.

Obsessed.

With.

Monquistans? 

In anyway?

Cody Ghostcatcher: Of course, who doesn't love a good Monquistan hunt every now and then. Those little critters will make great target practice. But really, I would rather kick back on Skull Island with a nice tall glass of Root Beer.

H-h-h-h-hunting M-m-m-m-monquistans?

No.

Well that ends my interview with Red Beard! 

You can check out Stormgate Pirates at:

http://www.stormgatepirates.com

Water Mole Pirates

Now we should all know the Water Moles from Celestia in the Floating Land. Well, they're in Pirate101 to!

The Water Moles consist of two tribes

The water moles of the Nui tribe are peaceful and are great traders..

The water moles of the Waponi are rude, worship a fire god, have silver hair, and hate the Nui Tribe. 

.....typical water moles.
It somewhat reminds me of Monquistans

Except Monquistans are so much better. :)

I can't wait to see how they are going to turn out!

They might even be companions for us! If so, I'd definitely want one from the Nui tribe...

Pirate101 Character Profiles: Boochbeard

Name: Boochbeard

Class: Musketeer?

Companion: Mr. Gandry

Rank in Pirate World: "A Pirate Legend"

Above you can see Boochbeard, long white beard that goes down to his chest, green eye, wavy looking mustache, seems to be a musketeer at glance.

Apparently he's a very clumsy pirate, always around important events, but very popular!

His expoits are legend in every corner of the Spiral. He has been said to be the luckiest and unluckiest pirate alive!

Pirates of Mooshu call him a Flying Sloth...

Huh.....

The children of Santo Pollo in Cool Ranch (I think) sing songs for him called the "El Boocho".

I have a feeling that without Mr. Gandry by Boochbeard's side... Boochbeard would be a failure.

"Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of Yum"! -Boochbeard's Pirate Crew