Cookin' In the Kitchen

by mykiko (Consultant to the Share the Wealth guild)

I am about to share with you the mysteries of the universe. OK, so maybe they're not THAT profound, but you can use these tips to:

A) make yourself some good NP running a shop OR B) make your pet(s) faster, stronger, better!

Personally, I do a little of both, and I'm going to share some of what I have learned with you. I share my guild's opinion that people can create their own wealth, and that we share information on how to do it... but we don't just hand it out.

In that vein, you can use my advice as a starting point for figuring out the secret of the Maraquan kitchen!

I read an article recently in the Times about the best way to improve your pets. I'm here to tell you that, with a little luck, a little skill, and a little money, you could have your pets looking spiffy in no time!

Now, codestones are expensive. And when you start getting into advanced skills, you need two to four codestones EACH TIME!! That just blows my mind.

"But all the items you need to get in the kitchen are expensive - more expensive than buying two codestones!"

While it may be true that buying items for the kitchen's recipes in other player's shop IS expensive, there are ways around that. Start going to the kitchen for "quests" - even if you can't complete them.(Don't spend tons of NP buying in other people's shops at first!) There's no penalty for failing to complete one, so it doesn't hurt you. This way you can get a feel for what items people need to complete these quests.

Then you need to figure out what shops you need to buy these items in. That was kind of tricky and I'm not sharing that. (Yeah, I'm a little selfish, but it was hard work - but worth the effort!)

Once you've figured out the items, then you can start trying to actually complete quests. Depending on how many items you need (sometimes it's three, sometimes four) and how expensive they are, you can spend a few thousand (I'd say four at the most) NP on completing a quest.

More times than not, you are rewarded with an increase in ability!

About the issue of not getting an ability every time... it's STILL more worth it than buying codestones. If you can get the items out of the main shops at a lower cost, you're only going to spend 2-4,000 each time. Two codestones each time is say 10,000, so you're still saving.

Now here's the best part: If you're shopping for a specific item, and the shops just aren't restocking it at the moment you are looking for it, you can buy other quest-type items that are inexpensive that you can turn around and sell for great profit. This will help "feed" your habit but generating revenue to turn around and spend on the items you need for your quest!

The whole thing can be time consuming - but I consider it a challenge and one of the best things about playing NeoPets! (I'm still beefing up my little Sousee and I haven't even gotten around to playing in the Battledome with her!)

Good luck and happy cooking!