Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

Can you believe it’s June? When you’re not out enjoying the sun, it’s going to be a great time to escape the heat with a few of your pirate’y pals in Pirate101! May was a great month that was full of holidays and celebrations, but the big news was that our Spring 2014 Update left the Test Realm docks and arrived safely in the Live Game! Advanced Pets, Advanced Companions, the Skull Island expansion, and much much more just took our game to a whole new level of fun.

While we’re working on all kinds of new stuff here at KingsIsle (And especially a little something in Mooshu for the higher level players), let’s take a look back at May and delve into some fun Pirate101 information. Thanks for reading true fans of Pirate101!

You know him well from your adventures in Skull Island and beyond—here’s a closer look at the infamous . . . Gortez!

Welcome to the Pirate101 Rogue’s Gallery. Subject, Gortez

Born in a poor, backward corner of Monquista, Gortez was born to commoners, the son of a stonemason. Gortez ran away from home at an early age, drawn by the call of adventure and destiny. Extraordinarily cunning and strong (even for a Gorilla), Gortez won his first fame as a mercenary. Over several years, his merit earned him a place among the nobility as a Monquistador, a hero about whom songs were sung all over Monquista.

Gortez’s humble beginnings left him with little patience for the pleasantries and intrigues of Monquistan society: chafing under the immense weight of expectation and etiquette, Gortez spent most of his time in the field, conquering new lands for the glory of Monquista.

In recent months, Gortez turned his sights on the darkest corner of Skull Island; the Isle of Doom. The gorilla marches into the deepest jungle at the head of his elite, hand-picked legion of Monquistadors. He has yet to return...

These pirates and more await you when you play for free at Pirate101.com.”

Way back at the beginning of May when the current updates were still on the Test Server, we held a really fun party to test out the limits of Pet Sparring. We made our announcements and the players came in numbers! If you attended, you were rewarded with a free Metal Eye patch from redeeming a code and several lucky few even won a Hoodoo Bundle - it was great seeing everyone there and we really appreciated the feedback. Best of all was this fun Vine video we captured of pirates having a blast.

We just wanted to say thank you to the sites that covered our Spring 2014 Update!

News Sites:
• MMORPG
• Massively
• MMO Play

Fan Sites:
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Pirate101 Central
• Mercenaries for Hire
• Pirate101 Message Boards
• Around the Spiral
• Skull Island TV
• Adventures of the Spiral
• A Pirate's Portal
• Pirate101 Skyways

“Um. I know Yum can heal most anything, but I think your buddy there is beyond help. “

- By Fair Christina Nightingale

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

Every May 5th our Pirates get a special Cool Ranch surprise with a Pirates De Mayo celebration. Several companions were marked on sale in the Crown Shop (most notably Goronado) and we featured our new “Patcho de Mayo.” If you entered a code, you even got a free Sombrero to celebrate the fun.

A couple of our fans even sent in pictures of themselves proudly displaying their Pirates De Mayo pride. Thanks, Pirates!

Have a great shot of your pirate in a festive eyepatch as well? Don’t forget you can submit your screenshots to us on our Game Fan Photos page.

Shhh, Pirates, do you like hidden treasures? Valencia is rich in them, and I, Librarian Aldelmo, love tales involving hidden treasure of all types. Although this month’s book isn’t directly about “pirates,” it does have a tale of a secret treasure map!

The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon, by S. S. Taylor, is a tale of Kit, Zander, and M. K., who are left a secret treasure map by their famous explorer father. When the authorities (who say their father was a traitor) try to take the map away, the kids decide to follow the map themselves (with their talking parrot).

Hmmm, maybe they’re called Expeditioners instead of Pirates, but M.K., Kit, and Zander sound like Pirates to me!

With so much going on in May, our fan sites were hopping with information! Let’s take a look at some of the highlights:

• Players on Pirate101 Central were very excited over the “Nefarious” tower in Mooshu.
• Ditto Monster held a fun contest and his winners came up with some amazing new “Witchdoctor-themed” pets like a FearRat Ferret.
• Wondering what the side effect of our recent update was on PvP? Duelist takes a closer look and makes some predictions.
• @KelseyFireheart shared some interesting “Ship related” information over Twitter with us: “@Pirate101 You might find this interesting. Christopher Columbus' lost ship may be found!
• Pirates of the Spiral captured some great video in a spotlight on the new Skull Island Quests.
• Petnome has a lot of work ahead, but it looks like they’re already underway transitioning old Pirate101 pets to new Advanced pets.
• Swordroll began a putting together a nice guide to Doubloons that you’re sure to find handy.
• In case you didn’t read the update notes or hear the news, housing furniture is now dropping from your favorite targets in Aquila! This was a great thread on the recent discoveries.
• Pirate101 Skyways was extremely busy with Pet Hatching this month!
• We really appreciated the nice words for our Sound Team’s contributions to the highly publicized “ART AND SOUND POLISH!”
• Duelist101’s guide to Pet Morphing is outstanding! Nice work.
• A Pirate’s Portal reminded us of the history behind Memorial Day.

I’ve seen a few messages from players who are frustrated about how companions are wounded and “unusable” for several hours (if you’re higher level). Just to be sure you know, these companions definitely still have a use!

Let’s break down your options when a companion goes into Bed Rest:

1- You may choose to wait for the Bed Rest timer to expire. (This is not really putting your companions to good use other than bringing them faster healing, which may or may not be the best option.)

2- You may choose to make a visit to Miracle Mitch in Avery’s Court. Miracle Mitch is a new NPC who occupies a brand new building beside the Swashbuckler Trainer’s house. Miracle Mitch can remove your Companion's wounds, but his cures require expensive ingredients - Mitch passes the cost on to you, demanding gold in exchange for his services. If you really need a miracle, Miracle Mitch is there for you!

3- You may choose to wake your Companions from Bed Rest early by cancelling their Bed Rest orders, but they will suffer penalties in combat. (The more times they've been wounded without recovering, the worse the penalties become, but a Companion can only ever have three wounds.)

4 (and perhaps the most interesting to me)- You may alternatively choose to wake your wounded companion from Bed Rest, send your wounded companion on a job to collect experience while they heal, and delve a bit deeper into your pool of companions to find another companion for your fighting crew! That’s right - companions can have a wound timer expiring while completing a job order! Advanced companions have really changed some basic strategy concepts in Pirate101 and it’s important to not overlook all you can do with them. If a companion is wounded, it might just be an opportunity for them to grow stronger!

There's an informative thread about wounding on the message boards that you might like to participate in.