Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

Play Pirate101 long enough and you’ll be making a ton of friends along the way! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you’re sure to find some fun stuff in the Crown Shop that’s perfect for gifting.

January and February have been cold winter months, but the sun is always shining in Skull Island! We hope you take a moment to look back at a few sunny moments from January and read a few of our regular articles, which might just brighten your day.

In Valencia we meet a very interesting unicorn named Steed . . . Captain Steed at that! As the resistance leader against the Armada, he plays a very integral part to helping you find the Tomb of Marco Pollo. How much do we really know of Captain Steed? Read on to discover some back story you never knew existed about this interesting character.


Subject: Captain Steed
Home: Valencia
Weapon of Choice: Rapier
Occupation: Resistance Leader
Welcome to the Pirate101 Rogue’s Gallery. Subject, Captain Steed

Steed was born in what is now considered to be Valencia’s Golden Age, the time between the decline of the Aquilan Empire and the Napoleguinic Wars. Coming from a wealthy aristocratic family, Steed was groomed to be the perfect Cavalier – fiercely loyal to Family and Country. He became known as one of the greatest explorers of the age, traveling throughout The Spiral and opening new and rich markets for the merchants of Valencia. Soon he became one of the most influential members of the royal court itself.

As one of the most trusted advisors of King Normanni, Steed was instrumental in keeping Valencia steadfastly neutral in regards to the other naval powers of The Spiral. However, when Normanni passed away, his heir, Casimir was caught up in the war fever generated by the rise of Napoleguin and the prospect of power and glory won by might instead of commerce. Steed found his voice held in smaller and smaller regard until finally, a virtual outcast at court, he retired to the outskirts of the kingdom.

In the aftermath of the wars, Valencia became one of the greatest powers of the Spiral. At first few found reason to complain of the situation, but as the Armada’s grasp on trade tightened and as Kane began construction on the Great Machine discontent grew and the Resistance was born! The remnants of the Great Mercantile Houses approached Steed to lead them in the revolt against Kane. Steed resolved to do so in secret, traveling across the Spiral to enlist support. He had hoped to form a Grand Coalition to bring to bear against The Armada, but before he could do so the overzealous Resistance leaders attacked the Armada at Cadiz – only to be crushed spectacularly.

Steed gathered the few remnants of the Resistance fleet and attempted to seek safe haven in Skull Island, but his envoy, Hooktail, was refused by Captain Avery.

With no place to hide, the remains of the fleet were easily overtaken by Rooke and the Armada. His hope of restoring the Golden age now completely dashed, Steed retreated to his Villa in shame. But one day, a Pirate would come calling...

We love all the fun and insight our fans bring to the game every day . . . whether through a creative video, a funny meme, or a great comment. Thank you for all you do! Here are a few great posts we spotted last month and wanted to share.

Ever thought about taking a stab at some creative writing to come up with a funny badge name? The crew on Pirate101 Central had some fun doing just that!

Helena spotted an interesting painting found in Granchia, which spawned an interesting discussion on Pirate101 Central. Check it out.

Ditto continues his walk through of Pirate101 – this time collecting Turtle Balls.

Wyntr continues her play through of Pirate101 – this time in the ancient tunnels. (Even better, she shows off her new stardust chameleon!)

Sam Underhill on the official message boards is wondering . . . What if Lord of the Rings starred characters from P101? Let him know what you think!

Did you happen to catch this article on MMOGames regarding the educational benefits of Pirate101? It’s awesome! We also appreciated this 9/10 review of Pirate101 from MMOGames as well! Nice!

Here’s a great thread about our beloved companions . . . many who you might have underestimated their combat prowess. Which companion has surprised you lately?

Technomage (aka The Fiesty Orange) wrote a mega-guide on being a Witchdoctor in PvP.

Donkey Hotay (otherwise known as Robert Lovelett) had a neat surprise this month! Here he shows off a very early concept for Pirate101 puppet shows on his YouTube channel.

Striped Bumbaloons seem to take the award from these Pirate101 Central players – what are your thoughts on the most annoying enemies in Pirate101.

Ratbeard would never turn on you, would he?

This is a great topic for the Pirate101 message boards! What would your dream ship be like? Chime in and let your voice be heard!

January was a really great month for discovering hybrids, mostly thanks to the new Ginger Cat Cub Pet! We were glad to hear you all liked this new pet addition. It was fun to watch everyone discovering all the new Ginger Cat Cub hybrids. It looks like Petnome Pirates could use a bit of help fleshing out this pet’s petnome – let ‘em know what your first generation pet manifested! (By the way, thank you to everyone that showed up to our Ginger Cat Cub party for KI Live!)

It was also cool to see the discovery of the Dimetrosaur Phantasm hybrid! What a great month for hybrids.

Gandry, I'm not so sure the Armada's celebratin' the new year.... That last one looked a lot like cannon fire ter me
by Ian Sharp

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

Hello my Pirate friends! It is good to see you again and thank you for visiting Madame Vadima on the official message boards.

Brianna Ramsey has a question that isn’t necessarily one that needs a crystal ball to divine, so let’s start there, shall we? “Hello I was wondering what made you want to become a witchdoctor. I have one myself but my main pirate is a swashbuckler. I’m glad that you take time to talk to fellow pirates in the Spiral hope you have a nice day.”

Thank you for being such a polite Pirate, Brianna! Do you know what they say about Witchdoctors? No? You don’t choose the crystal ball, the crystal ball chooses you. When you start seeing prophecies at a young age like Madame Vadima, you can’t deny the Witchdoctor inside.

Our second question comes from Bra4dley02, who asks, “This may already have been done, but . . . Where are most pirates from? How did most of the pirates' parents die?”

You are correct, Bradley, this question was answered in the 50 Million Player Graphic, and not surprisingly, my crystal ball shows that these answers generally remain the same. However, when we look a bit closer at each individual class, Madame Vadima’s crystal ball lights up with very interesting knowledge! Behold the graph of knowledge!

We see that there are clear winners for the Pirate origin based on the player’s class. In fact, the only origin that isn’t favored by a class is Skull Island; Privateers and Buccaneers share Grizzleheim for the top spot.

For parent’s death, there’s no real significant change between classes. In order from highest to lowest, Pirates are most likely to have lost their parents to the Armada, a Mutiny, a Treasure Hunt, a Squid, or a Storm. That said, whereas the other classes actually display preferences in that order, Witchdoctors seem equally inclined to have parents lost to Mutiny, Treasure Hunt, Squid, or Storms after an Armada. I suppose when it come to divining and summoning the dead on a regular basis, it doesn’t seem to matter much how that death happens.

Thank you for your questions! Be sure to stop by the official message boards and let me know what’s vexing you!