Waves of War

Once again war looms dangerously close overhead and we sail into unfriendly seas. Some of you are veterans of many a battle. Some may have never even seen a weapon in your life. But all of you will need to listen because it will be worth your time.

War has come upon us and we ARE soldiers. Some of you will join the pirates in the quest for luscious loot. Some of you wish to defend Maraqua and raise the city from the ruins. Some of you are still undecided. All of you look around. Even though tomorrow we may stare at each other on opposite sides we are still brothers and sisters! Wars come and go but friendships are forever. Do you hear me my fellow Neopians!

The first thing you must know is that the diplomatic situation is dicey at best. Currently the Maraquans don’t want our help. In fact it is actually forbidden that those of the land and those of the sea shall ever meet. Frankly in their position I wouldn’t want the help of every armed and ready hero in existence show up on my doorstep out of the ocean blue either. Furthermore the Pirates are under new management and are raising havoc. So don’t expect to be welcomed let alone wanted around.

Your job, if you choose to sign up, is to join either the Maraquans or the pirates. The Maraquans mission is to rebuild their shattered city. The pirates job is simply to loot, plunder and pillage to their hearts content. One thing that needs to be said is that there is no need to get painted to fight or to survive. Those who are already painted pirate don’t have to join the pirates. A few pirates have already defected so you are free to join both sides. If you can’t swim don’t worry. There is always work to be done behind the scenes. Heal the wounded. Prepare supplies for fighting troops and be prepared to pour over any clue both sides will bring back. There are going to be enough puzzles to work on.

Defenders of Maraqua you will eventually report to King Kelpbeard in New Maraqua I suppose. For reference he is the hero who has consolidated the survivors of the whirlpool incident into a new kingdom under the sea. Either we follow his orders or we listen to Isca’s prophetic dreams and act accordingly.

Privateers… Mr. Skull and his submersible are gone. Mr. Scarblade and his crew have taken over and are in charge. Please remember to report to your new captain or you will walk the plank for sure. You’ll probably want to start off in either Krawk island or scurvy island pirate HQ. Report to your appropriate ships and prepare to plunder.

In case you need a synopsis, here is a quick rundown on who’s who and what they represent.

King Kelpbeard: A hero who saved many of his people when Maraqua was destroyed.

Isca: A prophetic seer who personally has the ear of the king and possibly has a crush on Garin.

Caylis: Depressed, exiled little Aisha who predicts disaster. Give her a hug.

Scarblade: Really nasty character. A pirate who brooks no competition.

Garin: Another pirate who is supposed to be on the side of good.

Now before you head out and fight let us run over the prebattle checklist. First of all ensure that all eight of your equipment slots are filled up with weapons, armor and items. An empty space is a wasted space. Try to have at least one good reusable weapon and several one shot heavy damage weapons to fill your empty spaces. Defensive item and healing items are totally dependent on your enemies and pets respectfully. Some of you have trouble defending against even newly born Neopets and some of you outgrew healing potions a long, long time ago. And some of you, like me, go out berserk with two weapons just because you can.

Will the resident Battledomers please raise your… your... you know what? Just make yourself obvious. Talk to them. They’ll generally be up to date on the newest weapon updates and can make recommendations on your best options. I personally won’t recommend my favorite beginners weapon because war inflation shoots weapons costs through the roof. In the worst case scenario I recommend getting a few snowballs and start chucking. It isn’t pretty but war isn’t pretty and it will just have to do.

If you’ve been steadily rescuing faeries from the clutches of prisons of glass and wood stoppers it is time to differentiate. Keep in mind which abilities belong for everyday use and which are best for combat. When you are in the middle of a battle it does you no good to know that you can just spontaneously provide a great feast with a side order of berries. Do you really need the power of flight and ascension when everything is going to be underwater? If they aren’t useful or provide any battle benefits… TURN THEM OFF!

Ideally you would have the best healing abilities, every defensive tactic memorized and can turn your foes to ice cubes with your freezing abilities. In reality just try your best to aim for these faerie abilities.

Boil and Water Breathing both block water damage. However, I think water breathing is going to be more useful since we all are probably going to be fighting in the water real soon.

Burrow and Sink are just plain overall defense. They block a lot of damage but if you don’t want to walk the plank try not to burrow through the ship. Not everyone can breathe water and quite a few don’t even know how to swim.

Quench is flames damage only. Not quite as useful as water breathing but if you are a water creature you might see a batch of fire coming your way. Useful to meta against some typecasting opponents.

Diamond Dust and Fiery Gaze both give a chance of freezing against anybody and anything. Although most people usually get the gaze first as its requirements are way lower.

Ideally you should be shooting for Healing Vapour, Regeneration and Restore for all of your healing needs. Drain life is totally dependent on your opponents HP. The more HP the better drain life looks. Not only does it heal it actually hurts your enemy so you can use it offensively. At lower hit point levels you just might be better off quaffing a healing potion or actually using the heal ability.

Speaking of healing if you hadn’t done so, get on friendly terms with the healing fairy. Chances are you’ll get hurt sooner or later. Might as well know who the healers are ahead of time. Be sure to be courteous and for goodness sakes… Try not to get mad if she doesn’t fully heal you. Everybody else needs her help and if she leaves in a huff over your rude manners... There are going to be a lot of injured Neopians wanting to hurt you very much. At the very least they’ll probably keelhaul you.

Outside of a battle consider whether you’ve brought enough to eat. Lets face it, the food situation isn’t good on both sides. So your best bet is to make sure you have something to eat that will keep and is healthy for you. Remember you can’t fight if you are starving.

The Maraquans are slowly recovering and food supplies are tight. There are going to be no food stores down there for a while. The nearest restaurant to stop by for a bite is, lets face it, the Golden Doubloon with a maximum seating capacity of 100 people. Considering the latest polls indicate a whole lot more than that amount… Yeah. You’ll be in line for a while. Not to mention they only accept doubloons. Doubloons! At least one for EACH course. That will put a hurt in your wallet and cut deep into your training.

One recent development is the ritzy Kelp restaurant. In some ways it is actually WORSE than the Golden Doubloon. For one thing they hate pirates with a vengeance. Something to do with the fact that the last time they were around they really wrecked the place. Other than that you can at least be happy knowing they accept Neopoints. At least until you realize just how much you are gouged per item. For the price of a single meal you can outfit a starting warrior with a decent set of arms and armor. Definitely a losing deal when there is a war coming on.

As for the pirates out there, don’t laugh. You are in the same boat. Or to be more precise, you’ll be stuck in the same boat for a while. You are going to get sick of hardtack and grog real quick. What are those staples you ask? Hard tack is, as it sounds, hard. It’s tougher than your standard battle muffin and twice as deadly. Grog, unfortunately, is generally one half sea water and the other half some kind of drinkable substance that has been sitting in the same keg for weeks. Yummy.

Training. Now I suspect quite a number of you are tossing that dreaded word around. Let me sum up the situation. If you’ve been slacking up till now you are in trouble. Not only are you potentially underpowered but now prices are just plain over inflated. Good news though. We just got word that the war format has changed. Which means our local heroes needn’t run away with the show. You can work behind the scenes to further the war effort. Now… Get out there and fight wisely and well!