Avatar Hunting: Tips and Tricks of the Trade by mareng9 |  |
NEOPIA CENTRAL - So, you want to be an Avatar Hunter, huh? Or maybe you just want
one particular avatar that perfectly represents you in the chats but…you just
can't get it! Have no fear, I've got some tips and hints that may make getting
that one avatar, or possibly even a trophy, just that much easier.
What exactly are the elements most needed by a real Avatar Hunter? In my opinion,
it's a mixture of these elements: Neopoints, luck, and skill at games. Once
you get the "easy" avatars, ie, avatars that you get simply by clicking on links
to certain Neopedia articles, or look up special painted pets, there remain
random event avatars, avatars that you get either by some fixed score in a game
or getting in the top 100-300, avatars where you have to beat a Battledome opponent
or avatars that require some item that you must get and use in some way. Well
that's great, you're saying, but what are some tips?
Tip # 1: Restock
If you haven't heard this already from about a million Neopians and Neotimes
articles, go ahead and start. If you have no money at all with which to restock,
play games you are good at and use that money to start restocking. Check the
Shop Wizard to find out the items that sell for the most (and maybe buy some
cheaply priced items while you're at it!) If your computer really is too slow
to restock, you can also hunt the Shop Wizard for low priced bargains-people
often have unannounced sales, and I've purchased many an item for as much as
100% below the usual asking price! Finally, a couple of avatars require that
you restock things in the actual shop-an r80 item or above in the Uni Clothing
Shop for the "Faboo" avatar and r90 for the Chocolate avatar. Computer speed
and modem speed can have a lot to do with restocking success, so hunt out a
computer that will help you, but a lot of it is skill on your part, too.
Tip # 2: Restock… in the Igloo Garage Sale.
The Igloo Garage Sale-that's right, that building on Terror Mountain, that's
seemingly empty all the time. However, there's a pattern to the restocks. If
you watch the timing of when the other shops start or stop to restock, you can
figure out roughly when the Igloo will restock. I personally use the Food Shop,
but discover your own cue to march up there and refresh repeatedly. Why there?
Because, in addition to lots of valuable items that you can fund other avatar
hunts with, they sell, at random times: codestones for the codestone avatar,
Drackonacks for the "hungry" avatar, Evil Blue Fuzzles for the "Boo" avatar
at rock bottom prices, snorkle snouts for the snorkel avatar, and occasionally
bags of peanuts for the "Surprise" avatar.
(You get the codestone Avatar by having all 10 codestones in your user look
up at once, the draconack avatar by keeping that petpet and Cheese and Vegan
Cheese in your inventory and refreshing, play with the evil blue fuzzle many
times for that one, feed the snorkel snout to your pet, and feed the Bag of
Peanuts to your Elephante.) Once you crack the Igloo Garage Sale, while it may
take you a while to grab a great item, you can practice your restocking skills
by getting other profitable things.
Ah, so you've been restocking, and you've saved up a bit of money. "I'm rich!"
you cry, and then proceed to buy a whole bunch of avatar items at once and go
broke. This brings us to…
Tip #3: Save and Budget
The interest in the bank is there for a reason. Invest in the long term. Also,
don't be afraid to play the stock market; there's a whole message board and
several good websites devoted to helping you increase your earnings. Don't empty
your bank account: it's much easier to start saving up for a Mootix or other
item if you have some daily interest helping you. Remember, some items can be
resold, and don't buy these items immediately; the day after an avatar comes
out! Weeks or months later, the prices will have dropped significantly.
Tip #4: Visit the Avatar Board Occasionally
No, this isn't a plug for the avatar board; I've gotten several avatars that
were very easy to get and retired the next day by listening to the advice of
experienced avatar hunters. Some avatars for the special random days, for example,
the "Valentine's Day" avatar with the cute little Chia, or the Gadsgads day
avatar that simply required a visit to the Neopedia, were retired the day after.
Other Avatar Hunters had figured these out and were able to help their fellow
players to find them before they were retired. However, allow me to issue a
warning about this board and other chat boards in general: begging, posting
off topic, and chain letters simply won't do. Be courteous to your fellow players.
Also, try and find out if there's another board up already that answers your
question.
Tip #5: Play Games Like There's No Tomorrow
So, you've discovered that that avatar you MUST HAVE requires a top 100 score.
You try it, and are horrible at it. Never fear, there is a way to do it! First
of all, practice this game as often as you can. I've gotten several avatars
just by practicing the game repeatedly and achieving scores I never dreamed
possible. Ask other players, look for Neopian Times articles about this game
(or possibly write one yourself) and eventually you will succeed. If it's a
high score avatar you're after, try at the first of the month, when scores are
lowest. With enough practice, you might even get a trophy in the game itself!
Tip #6: Find Pet Pages About Avatars
If I were to simply list all of the Avatars you could get, this article would
be too long to read. There are several resources within Neopia-namely, kind,
intelligent people who compile excellent pet pages about how to get avatars-that
will help you sort out and plan for getting that special avatar. The avatar
chat boards mention these sites, or you can ask about good pet pages yourself.
However, bear in mind that sometimes these sites release rumors about how to
get avatars, and some avatars are just plain random. Take the information with
a grain of salt if it's unconfirmed before you spend some huge amount of Neopoints
on some item that no one even knows works.
Tip #7: Donate to the Money Tree
The logic behind this is simple: many avatars come from random events. Donating
increases your chance of random events. Donate cheap, easy to find items to
the money tree and perhaps Sloth's image will be gracing your posts in the chat
boards. Or, (yeah, right) Edna will give you her avatar. I'm kidding, plenty
of people have gotten that avatar, it just takes some folks a long time. You
may find a Nerkmid for the Alien Aisha avatar, where you have to put a Nerkmid
in the Vending Machine, get faerie quests to make your pet stronger for the
avatars where you have to fight battledome opponents, or even find a Mootix
for the Mootix avatar! Heck, you may even get a Rainbow Fountain quest and paint
your Buzz for the "Buzzin" avatar Note that I said "may"...donating doesn't
guarantee anything, it just makes the possibility slightly more likely.
Tip #8: How to Deal with Battledome Opponents
So, you've just gotten a rare item code and have gotten the Space Faerie as
an opponent. Yikes! She's pretty strong. Here's where the restocking, budgeting,
and avatar research skills come into play, not to mention the random events.
Training your pet is the most valuable thing you can do to increase Battledome
skill. There are dozens if not hundreds of things written about the Battledome,
so I encourage you to research training tips and weapons tips on your own. Good
luck! Remember: it's a long road, but if you really want one of these avatars,
just train and persist, and don't spend all your money at once on a Battledome
item.
Tip #9: Get a Secret Laboratory Map
Note, this is only for very serious Avatar Hunters, or those who want an avatar
that you just can't get without the lab map or a Rainbow Fountain Quest, ie,
the Coconut JubJub avatar, where you must have…you guessed it…a Coconut JubJub.
Several of the avatars require a different species of pet: Skeith, Elephante,
Jetsam, and Lupe to name some. The Lab Map, as it's called for short, changes
your pets' species often, which can really help save money as far as morphing
potions are concerned. Also, it trains your pets rapidly, which can help you
with the Battledome related avatars. Finally, don't buy one right before, during,
or after a war, as prices increase quite a bit, and remember you can find them...through
random events!
Tip # 10: It's Just a Game
Being an Avatar Hunter, like anything else, is just part of a game that should
be fun and enjoyable. Don't get upset about missing a retired avatar or discouraged
that you'll "never" have enough Neopoints for that special avatar. Relax! Now
get out there and hunt those avatars!
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