Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

Arrrgust is here!

It’s Arrrgust, Pirates! That means this month will have a few fun surprises ahead for you. We’re kicking it all off with a free random eyepatch giveaway during this first week of Arrrgust. Make sure you redeem the code “lostmeeye” for your shot at a free eye patch (or maybe even sunglasses if you’re lucky).

Read on for our regular articles about Pirate101 and a look back at the month of July.

Rogue's Gallery: Contessa Argento

Now that you’ve finished the first Story Arc of Pirate101, it’s time to look deeper into the lore of a few notable characters you run into in Florenza and the Calabria Skyway. Among these notable characters is a particular member of the resistance who joins your crew as a new companion. Let’s take a closer look at what makes Contessa Argento so special.

“Subject: Contessa Argento
Home: Valencia
Weapon of Choice: Foil
Occupation: Aristocrat Intriguer

Luisa Sophia Maddalena di Argento was born into one of the most prestigious noble families in Valencia. Indeed, her great uncle was once reckoned to be thirty-seventh or thirty-eighth in line for the throne (the precise number is the source of much dispute). The youngest of seven siblings, Luisa learned very early that all that was expected of her and her three sisters was that they marry well to boost the family's prestige. Luisa smiled, nodded, and resolved to do as she pleased.

By the time she was ten she was a master of courtesy and etiquette, but she was also an excellent fencer. Her eccentric uncle Fabrizzio Argento noticed her fiery spirit and love of adventure and arranged to have her trained by a master. In secret, of course. When Luisa reached marrying age she took great delight in tormenting and ridiculing her suitors, whom she was invariably cleverer than. Her parents gave up on the idea of marrying her, and Luisa was ordained as Contessa, and left to live a life of gossip and intrigue in the royal court . . . where she absolutely flourished.

Like the rest of the Valencian nobility, the young Contessa was only dimly aware of the Napoleguinic Wars and the rise of the Armada. Clockworks were strange and wondrous things, great fun at parties, but otherwise not worth noticing. But as time went on the young Contessa was shaken from her indifference all too soon.

Never one to do what was expected of her, Luisa fell in love with a dashing young ship captain, a spice merchant who grew rich from trade with MooShu. She was stunned when her true love lost his livelihood to the Armada's monopoly on trade, and didn't know what to think when he sailed off with the Resistance to fight. When he never returned, Luisa discovered that she did indeed know what to think.

Contessa Argento has worked to topple the Armada ever since. It took her years to make contact with the crippled Resistance, and she has spent all her time since helping the opposition organize for the day when the final battle with Kane would begin. And when she met a young pirate from Skull Island, she knew the day had finally come..."

News from the Fans!

July was a flurry of fan site activity and there was a ton of fun to be had just by participating on the forums, message boards, and everywhere else our fans like to gather. Here are just a few of the quality posts and videos that were shared last month about Pirate101:

Who’s your favorite Crown Shop Companion? Join in the discussion on Central!

Kelsey Fireheart wrote a couple of great articles for MMORPG.com. Here’s one announcing the Astral Unicorn mount and another on Pirate101 being not just a kid’s game.

Looking for some fun here in August? Secrets of the Spiral is teaming up again with Edward LifeGem to host another NXP party scheduled on August 5th.

Blaze LifeHammer and Zenmaster Blue take on the Armada on the Dreadnaught Regal as they continue their walkthrough on Pirate101.

It was great to see you enjoyed Christmas in July!

Speaking of Christmas in July, thank you for helping us advertise this event:

If you’re a little confused on what the power Gallant Defense does, this thread may help clear up a few questions for you.

Do you give your companions theme songs? Share what song they’re singing here.

It’s time to show off your Pirate flag on Pirate101 Central!

FrostCaller gives hints on how to solo Kane in Pirate101.

Swordroll proposes eight things all pirates can do after they finish Valencia 2.

There’s morphing, and then there’s morphing with style. Here are some great tips for being a great morphing partner.

Riddle me this, Boochbeard! Players are having a lot of fun coming up with Pirate101 riddles. Who’s your favorite boss in Pirate101?

It’s always great to see another friendly face in Pirate101! Morgrim started a Pirate101 Play through. Best of luck in your play through!

Pirate101 hit a landmark of 10k followers last month on Twitter! Thank you for all the support!

Congrats to Blaze LifeHammer for completing the Bane of Kane Badge and winning Kane’s mask.

It’s time to play . . . How long have you been playing Pirate101?

Duelist101 gives a great strategy guide for playing Witchdoctor in PvP.

Looking to help get the word out about Pirate101? There are a few great suggestions on The Untold Spiral Blog last month.

We love seeing all the creativity that happens in our community, and FrostCaller is just one of those people who happens to have great talent! We were really happy to see his new Privateer wallpaper listed among his other wallpapers. Great job!

Puppet Pirates

Mr. Gandry: “CAPTAIN, We seem to be experiencing some major tentacle difficulties!”
by Strong Jack

Who will caption the next Puppet Pirates? Stay tuned to our Facebook page to enter your caption on the next Puppet Pirates.

Hybrid Hunting

During July, we had a lot of players trying to get a few new hybrid hints out of Decius Duelmaster. Eventually Decius relented on KI Live and gave a riddle for players to solve. FrostCaller was one to join the fray and published a post about the hint on his blog.

"One is old, one is new. One is orange and one is blue."
There was quite a bit of struggle from this hint until Decius gave one more essential piece of information, “Both can be acquired with a little coin.”

Shortly after that it was a waterfall of new hybrids being discovered. Our Hybrid hunter Valkoor even morphed up a new separate Yeti hybrid!

Congrats on all the successful morphing, Pirates!

Vadima's Visions: PvP Participation

Hello Pirates, it is good to see you are having fun in this Summer Season. Speaking of Summer Seasons, have you had a chance to participate in Ranked PvP as of late? I understand these items will eventually be shelved in favor of the Fall Season items, so get them while you can!

Speaking of PvP, I had an interesting question from RyanBold2 on the Official Pirate101 Message Boards. He asks, “I think I might have a good one, but not sure. What classes are most successful in PVP? It's often debated which class is best, but which one has numbers to back them up?”

Hmm, this is a difficult question for Madame Vadima and her crystal ball as viewing wins and losses isn’t as easy as it sounds . . . but let us at least try to get *some* kind of information for you, yes!? Something is better than nothing! Let us peer deep into the crystal ball.

I see the sign of double crossed daggers . . . and a fancy hat! It is very sure that Swashbucklers have been a strong and preferred class in Pirate101. There are generally more Swashbucklers in Pirate101 and thereby they are also generally the most played class in PvP!

Aha! What is this? A symbol of a sword and a shield edging closer and closer to the daggers . . . this must mean something. Yes, I see that since the time the Calabria skyway was opened, Privateers are becoming much more popular than they once were.

Interesting, I also see the sign of the Two-handed Axe and the glow of combat around it steadily pulsing in the background. I see! This means that if you are a Buccaneer, you are the most likely of all classes to also engage in PvP, even more so than Swashbucklers. While Buccaneers may not be as popular and prominent as Swashbucklers, the Buccaneer is a very proud fighter.

And finally, a staff and a sparkshooter appear. Hmmm. They are steadily floating between the crossed daggers and the sword and shield. They are neither preferred nor discarded. They are neither the worst nor the best when it comes to participation, but they are steady!

The visions fade, thank you for your questions! Don’t forget to ask them to Vadima on the official Message Boards.