Ditto enters DragonSpyre!!
So after more than a year of adventure and epic battles, including defeating the dreaded Jade Oni, Ditto and Madame Jasmine finally reach the dark halls of DragonSpyre. What dangers and treasures await them in the lava-filled streets and toppled buildings?
No, seriously, what dangers are there? This place is really scary!!
Ditto versus…. Professor Drake?!?
So after my stunning defeat of the Jade Oni, I returned to Headmaster Ambrose to report back and hopefully get a report card or something. He sent me to see my least-favorite teacher, Professor Snape Drake, who decided that to help me face Malistaire, I would have to fight HIM! I know Malistaire is his brother and everything but I sure did not see this coming! The cool part – I had to face down a professor in a duel, and I beat him! I have a feeling he might have taken it easy on me though…
Facing the Jade Oni – Part 2
Here it is, the end of the battle against the Jade Oni! I hit him with two massive Helephants and got him down to just over two hundred health before he was taken out by Tanner Rubycatcher’s Ice Wyvern! We healed the emperor and saved Mooshu and I was granted the spiral key to get to Dragonspyre! Woohoo! so DragonSpyre here I come!
Facing the Jade Oni – part 1!
So this is the first part of my Jade Oni battle. I will say right up front that it was a tremendous fight against an impressive opponent! It was a LONG fight, too – almost twenty minutes total.
Because it was around twenty minutes and I did have a few technical glitches, I’m only going to post two clips – this clip is the first five minutes of the duel and shows my setup, as well as me deciding that the Jade Oni was way too scary to fight solo – I hired a life henchman to help out.
About mid fight – shortly after this clip ends – I’m joined by a fan who ports into the fight. Now while porting into a fight without asking is considered a breach of etiquette in Wizard 101, he did help me out and ended up getting the final blow in against Jade Oni, so it all worked out OK in the end…
My strategy for the fight was different from other boss fights for a couple reasons – first, Jade Oni fights solo, so I didn’t have to worry about a henchman, that meant Meteor Strike was a waste of pips. Second, he’s HUGE, starting with 7,500 health AND the ability to heal himself repeatedly, so I had to be able to do as much damage as I could as fast as I could – that meant extremely well buffed Helephants. My Life henchman proved to add a challenge since she did break my feint a few times, but overall it was her that kept me healed and fighting strong – I was at full health for most of the fight, I think. The fight would have been over more quickly if she hadn’t broken my first two feints with wand hits, true, but it would have been over MUCH more quickly if she hadn’t been healing me!
Again, this was an intense and awesome fight, I had a great time!
A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to Leesha Darkeart
As most people who are fans of Ravenwood Radio know, as of this weeks’ show the beloved Leesha Darkheart has stepped out from behind the microphones as co-host of the show so that she may pursue other things, though she will still be staying on in a production-type capacity and I’m sure will still be around the Wizard 101 community, keeping us all in line!
Though I never actually ‘met’ Leesha, we have gotten together a few times online and played in-game together, including our now infamous ‘A-Team’ assault on Big Ben, and she was always wonderful, funny, and of course had mad Necromancer skills that I still envy 🙂 and that’s hard for a Pyromnacer to admit, let me tell you!
Ditto and friends in Big Ben
Of all our contact, the most memorable for me was early last year, shortly after I opened my blog. I had been a fan of Ravenwood Radio for a few episodes and had even done a quick birthday shout-out for someone on the show as a favor. The chat room seemed to like it and I got some really nice feedback, and I was already a big fan of the show segments, so I sent Leesha an email to see if she would be interested in an idea I had, for an ‘old-time radio serial’ styled piece. She answered back right away and loved the idea, which meant a LOT to me!! You see, believe it or not, it’s often hard for Fabricated Americans to be taken seriously in entertainment unless they are teaching kids how to count to ten or learn the alphabet in some brightly colored playground. A Fabricated American doing a serious (ahem) radio drama was unheard of at the time, so Leesha really stepped out on a limb to give me the opportunity at Ravenwood Radio, and I’ve always deeply appreciated that!
Fallon will be an amazing and worthy successor, I’m certain, and I can’t wait to hear more of her insights into the worlds of Wizard 101 and beyond, especially with her prowess in PvP (A segment of the game that is still a complete mystery to me), but I just want to sincerely thank Leesha for giving a monster a chance!
Thank you Leesha, for all you did for this furry orange monster, and for the Wizard 101 community as a whole! You will be missed!
PLOX!
Ditto P. Monster
It’s Ditto’s Anniversary!!
So one year ago today, a furry orange monster started playing an online game called Wizard 101, and decided it would be fun to blog about it, because he really couldn’t find any other Fabricated American bloggers out there. He started playing around with his roommates’ video camera and writing and talking about the game, and something cool happened – people started reading his blog, and watching his videos, and they liked him! That is to say they liked me, because him is me. And them is you, too, right? I think I confused myself again…
In any case, in the last year my blog has grown a lot, I have branched out from Wizard 101 – still my favorite game – to discussing a bunch of other games and topics, I’ve done interviews with people, and I’ve started writing for another site as well, MMOCrunch. It’s been an amazing year with a lot more great stuff to come, and I thank each and every person out there who reads my posts or follows me on Twitter or enjoys my videos, your feedback and support are what keep me going, that’s the part I love the most about all of this! I couldn’t do it without all of you!
What’s in a year??
-
3 MMOCrunch Articles
20 episodes of ‘The Daring Adventures of Ditto’
43 Levels for my pyromancer, Digby Hexcrafter
142 videos posted
205 Facebook friends
217 Blog posts
241 Twitter Followers
1,160 Tweets
30,000+ Unique pageviews
New friends – priceless…
Best… Day… Ever… Thank you KingsIsle and Wizard101
There are some events and some days that will live with you forever. Your first MMO character, the first time you join a huge raid and beat the final boss, your wedding day, college graduation, or the first time you run out of your usual shampoo and find this strawberry scented shampoo plus conditioner that… Never mind, you get the point.
For me, today dwarfs all of those things. Today, I, Ditto P. Monster, humble furry orange monster, have hit ‘The Big Time’….
An icon of ME and a link to my latest MMOCrunch article are featured in the Wizard 101 Launcher!!
My article is in the launcher!!!
The best part of this is that the whole point of me taking the gig at MMOCrunch (which is a wonderful publication run by kind and dedicated gamers, by the way) and writing these articles was to help people, especially younger people, stay safe online. By posting my article on the launcher like this, KingsIsle and Wizard 101 are helping to get the word out that safety is important for everyone, and I REALLY appreciate that!! THANK YOU KINGSISLE!!
And to top it all off, there is a new live episode of Ravenwood Radio on tonight at 8pm CST, 9pm EST… check it out, it will be a great show (as always!)
Beyond this door lies infamy!!
Well, OK, beyond this door lies the Jade Oni, which I’m sure is going to be an insanely tough fight. The problem is, I haven’t tried to go through the door yet. You see, this is one of those epic fights that I feel I need to capture on video and share with everyone – the roaring triumph against the monster, or else the crushing defeat at his big green hand.
The Jade Palace and the dreaded Jade Oni fight...
As they say, however, life is what happens when you’re making other plans, so I haven’t had the time to properly devote to this monumental task. Fear not, however, because I have a plan! Yes – I’m going to attempt it this Thursday, February 17th, which is my ONE YEAR Wizardversary and, interestingly enough, the one year anniversary of this blog. So hold tight, friends – it is going to be epic, as they say.
The longest fight ever….
I was fighting evil in the Village of Sorrow and was doing a pretty amazing job – I had retrieved this crazy mystical cage and forged my very own soul chain, I was a one monster army, taking no prisoners! Finally, I’m talking to the adorable little lamb ghost Ken Shui and he says ‘Ditto, you’ve done an amazing job, thank you so much. Now, please go talk to my master in the village Dojo to finish your task, as he is wise in the ways of spirits’ or something like that. OK, maybe I didn’t catch every single syllable, as I was eating crab rangoons at the time, but I got the general meaning, you know?
Well, I walk into the dojo and see the spooky ghostly master, but as I go talk to him he disappears and is replaced by this huge fire boss named Usunoki, and a massive fight begins! At this point I QUICKLY realize that my deck is stacked for taking on wandering street mobs from Death and Myth school, NOT fire bosses, and I run away and hide.
I returned shorty afterward, however, with my deck stacked for Fire Boss, and the battle began! This turned into one of the longest and most epic battles of my life, since Usunoki keeps tossing up ice shields before I got my fire prisms up. It was such a hard fight, and there was more than one time I thought I wasn’t going to win, believe me! I was, however, victorious! I’ve got the video here, but it’s the longest I’ve ever posted – I think it’s almost as long as a standard season of Dr. Who on the BBC… It’s a good battle though!
In the future, against a fire boss I’m going to switch to my ice staff – that would have let me break his ice shields easily without using up my precious prisms. Still would have popped the feint spells, but that’s not as bad as burning my whole stack of fire buffs only to be blocked by -80% ice damage sheild.
Dinner and a movie with Haru
After my initial defeat at the hands of Haru and his storm minion, Sparky McSharks-a-lot, I go back to his dojo and try to convince him to give me the key thingy I needed. Unfortunately he just wasn’t interested in chatting and had his minion toss yet another Storm Shark at me, so we had to once again battle. This time I was successful and bested Haru, the key falling from his hand as he fell before me.
How not to defeat Haru…
Questing through Mooshu, hot on the path of the Death Oni, I have to defeat a Myth boss named Haru and his annoying little storm minion. The fight was especially annoying in that it seems like they cast about a dozen storm sharks at me, and those really really hurt. I’m just glad they don’t have laser beams on their heads. That would truly be epic.
Gardening Part 3 – The Fruits of my Loom…
I think that’s actually supposed to be ‘fruits of my labors’ but whatever… So I’ve been gardening for a few days now and it’s OK – not as fun as huge Oni fights and Helephants, but it’s a cute diversion, and I DO find myself checking on my little plants a few times a day just to make sure they’re happy..
A Boom Shroom, Despairagus, and Dandilion
So I’ve got my first little garden, my Boom Shroom, Despairagus, and Dandilion, and I planted a second patch of three Pink Dandilions the next day, they’re still coming to maturity, I can’t wait to see what they grow! I’ve had a few harvests, reagents and a little gold, but it’s nice to see the plants grow up, it’s so cute to see their little animations. The Boom Shroom is adorable the way it ‘pops’ every few minutes, the top blowing up like an old Loony Tunes cartoon.
My Pink Dandilion Patch
Growing them has been really easy, because it’s very clear what they need – water, pollination, pest control, etc… It makes it very casual and even kind of relaxing when there’s no need to stress over what’s wrong with your plants or how to fix it, but the need for things like watering and music help invest me in the plants and the growing process, almost like a pet that can’t really do any tricks…
I’ll probably do a bit more gardening – it was fun to try but I don’t think I’m going to be shooting for master gardener any time soon – not when The Spiral is still in peril!!
PLOX!!
Gardening Part 2 – My first garden!
So I was in Golem Court talking to that cute little mole person Farley. I learned all about the different stages of a plant’s life, saw wilted and dead plants, learned about harvesting, and I tried to sing. I shouldn’t really try to sing…
Finally I plant my very first garden – well, if you consider three plants a garden anyway! I was able to plant a despairagus, a dandilion, and a boom shroom! Let’s see if I can get them to grow! After all, my green thumb is actually orange…
It’s funny how things sneak up on you…
I’ve been playing a bunch of Wizard 101 lately, more than usual, as I’ve REALLY been enjoying Mooshu and we’ve been buried under a ton of snow. I’ve been enjoying my adventures and general questing so much that little details like XP and leveling haven’t been on my radar much. I know the last time I checked my level I was level 39 – I remember because I was all excited to be nearly level 40 and was planning on sending out a message to Twitter when I finally hit the big 4-0…
Digby looking cool in Mooshu
Imagine my surprise then while playing in the burial grounds tonight, I leveled fighting that awesome flame boss Ember Everburn and get a note from Professor Falmea saying she has a new spell for me. A new spell wasn’t a surprise, as level 40 sounds like a good place to get a new spell, but when I go to train I see Helephant. But, Helephant is level 42? What’s up with that? Sure enough, somehow I had made it all the way to level 42 without realizing it, and was able to train up with both Helephant and Wraith – now I am armed to the teeth!!
That’s what I LOVE about this game and it’s something I’ve tried to impart on others in the past – it’s NOT about leveling or reaching some end goal, that should have very little to do with the overall experience. In Mooshu it’s especially appropriate, as the great Moodha would probably say the same thing – the destination is just one more step on the path of a thousand steps, each one just as important and enjoyable as the last.
Feeling all philosophical now… but Helephant is AWESOME!!
Ditto learns about gardening!
So during my amazing adventures in beautiful Mooshu I found lots of seeds, but I had no idea what to do with them! Well thankfully my old friend Moolinda Wu, the life professor at Ravenwood, helped me to learn all about gardening! This is part 1 of my gardening adventures, where I meet a funny little mole man named Farley who teaches me all about growing magical plants.
Din Ho really likes flowers
Well after I assembled all the pieces of the fabled Jade Scepter I figured I’d have another big fight on my hands, but
instead Din Ho sends me to pick flowers. Flowers are nice – better than a big fight, anyway 🙂
Ditto versus Kanaga – Take 2…
After my initial defeat at the hands of Kanaga, I regrouped
and tried again – and thankfully came out victorious! It was still
an intense fight, Kanaga is a formidable opponent – I might fight
him again just for practice!
More Jade Scepter fun – Enter Kanaga!
With all but the final piece of the Jade Scepter acquired, Din Ho sends me to face Kanaga, the toughest minion of the Palgue Oni… The fight is long and, ultimately, unsuccessful – Kanaga is serious business, and I definitely made a few poor choices during the duel. It was a great fight, though!
The Quest for the Jade Scepter – A Pagoda of Significance…
Still on the path of the fabled Jade Scepter, I am guided to a Pagoda that holds special significance to the Plague Oni. Turns out it is of significance to him because some of his thugs hang out there and sharpen their knives and chat about battle tactics, apparently, so once again I got jumped. This is becoming a habit for me on this quest!
Sadly, I was not quite so successful this time, but it was a daring and exciting battle. I successfully defeated him on the second try, but my camera battery had died, sadly, so I was unable to capture my impressive victory. Trust me when I say it was amazing…
Happy Friday – More quest for the Jade Scepter
So as I adventure through Mooshu, questing for pieces of the mythical Jade Scepter, I am asked to search for a piece of the scepter in various houses and huts in the area, as it may be hidden there…
Now, being an experienced adventurer, I was pretty sure all I would find in these quaint little Mooshu huts was danger, disappointment, and bad guys. Sometimes I just hate being right… Each hut was, of course, an ambush, and I was jumped buy fiendish minions of the Plague Oni, villains who would stop at nothing to keep me from completing my quest…
So I blew them all up. What can I say – I’m a Pyromancer! Go Fire!!
A surprise milestone!!
I was doing a little questing in Mooshu, mostly for XP (I want to be level 40 before I take on Plague Oni, I’m pretty close now) and I got the message ‘your backpack is full, your stuff was put in your bank’ yadda yadda… So I shoot over to Wizard City and start selling stuff at the bazaar. Then I head back home and pull stuff out of my bank – wow, backpack is full again, that’s a lot of stuff in my bank. Head back to the bazaar, sell more stuff… After three such trips, I got a pretty major shock…
My gold balance is over 100K now! That means I have enough for the Fire School house!!
So now I have to make lots of plans for buying my fire school house, getting the decorating started, and throwing a huge party! and of course I’ll have to make some videos for all of this, too… I’m so excited!!!
PLOX!!
On the path of the Jade Scepter – Koto at the Dojo….
On my epic path to locate the Jade Scepter and defeat the Plague Oni, I find myself in the Dojo of a villain known only as ‘Koto’ – villains with only one name are always more frightening, like ‘Voldemort’ or ‘Madonna’…
This fight was EPIC, and for all the wrong reasons. My carefully laid plans and strategies, honed to a razor fine point in 39 levels of play (plus listening to the Pyromancer study hall episode of Ravenwood Radio about fifty times), all fell apart in a smoking mess as a variety of fizzles, ill-times shields, and other misfortunes had the fight dragging on for over ten minutes! It was like the terror of the Ice Spiders all over again – gah!! Finally, in the end, I was victorious and won the shaft of the fabled Jade Scepter.
This fight does outline something that I think is important, especially as my wizard gets into the higher levels of the game, and that is the ability to adapt your strategy on the fly as things don’t go your way. There were a couple times in this duel where, had I tried to just stick with my tried and true strategy (blow stuff up, ala-meteor strike), I’m sure I would have failed, but I rolled with the punches, as it were, and made it through to victory!!
Now I need a nap…
Ditto begins his search for the Jade Scepter
When I get to a point in the game that looks like it will be good for video, I usually stop playing until I can get my camera set up and film it for the blog (which is a little bit involved, as I’m sure you can imagine). Sometimes this means I will wait a few days, even a week, between play sessions, and being a furry orange monster I can forget what I was doing…
So today I jumped in game, had my camera all set up, and realized that even though I knew I had to fight Ronin Mutineers and get the handle to something called a Jade Scepter (thanks to my handy-dandy quest tracker), I literally had no idea why…
So I fought, and I won, and I leveled up (yay!!) and I headed over to see Din Ho and got the skinny on what was really going on. Turns out this was just the beginning of an amazing quest that should lead up to the dreaded Plague Oni! So here we go, the first step on the path to find the Jade Scepter and defeat the Plague Oni!!
Adventures in Mooshu, and I guess I need to garden…
So I have been having a GREAT time in Mooshu (Though I still have a craving for fried rice and eggrolls) – I’m actually finding I like the story better than Marleybone, it’s more interesting and I feel more drawn into it. In Marleybone I was basically cleaning up street crime and uncovering a huge criminal conspiracy, which was cool, but in Mooshu it’s like I’m helping them reclaim their emperor, helping them to fight off a demon invasion and purify their lands – it jut seems cooler and more noble. Besides, those lamb guys and their big brown eyes are impossible to resist!! So cute!!
Ditto posing on his Koi in Mooshu
One hint I can give is something I started doing in Marleybone, and it’s REALLY helpful here in Mooshu – in each new area you unlock that has teleporters, do a quick run around the area and unlock all the teleporters first thing. This makes travel a lot quicker and in some places a lot safer, since there seems to be a lot more ‘choke points’ in Mooshu, areas where you can get pulled into a duel more easily.
And as far as gardening – well I guess I do have to try it since I keep getting seeds as drops, including crowns seeds like pink dandilions. I’ll try it this week, might even record it and see what happens. Looks cute, in any case – not as cute as the big-eyed lamb people but still cute!
For equipment I’ve done pretty well recently – all in the bazaar, though – nothing of note in drops. Even the ‘big’ boss fights I’ve been in haven’t dropped anything decent, but the bazaar has been fantastic! My best find was Fushiko’s Shroud, giving 3% fire accuracy and 5% fire damage, plus extra health and defense. I have the Wrap of the Leaping Flame, giving another 3% accuracy and 6% damage, and then the War Oni’s footwraps giving 2% accuracy and 4% damage boost. And then my favorite new item – Jade Oni’s amulet of Duplicity, which gives a Hydra card – THAT is a fun spell! My total accuracy boost is 8% and damage is 17%, which is certainly not bad. Maybe not the best, but still not bad.
Ditto Monster's Bloggy Thingy 