Pirate101 Test Realm Pros and Cons

Hello, fellow Pirates! Today I'm going to be talking about the positives and the negatives of the current Pirate101 Test Realm.

Pros

 First up, we have pros. The upside of stuff, the positives, and the good.

     1. Advanced pets -  Advanced pets are the main feature in the current Test Realm. Instead of just sitting there, hardly being a help, your pets can now get new talents and cards to help add to your current arsenal of tricks and powers! Also, your pets maintain their level once you transfer them to another character, so, for example, if you had a level 65 pet on one character, you can transfer it to a lower leveled character and it'll happily defeat all of your enemies easily!

 





      2. New class companions - Pirate101 is introducing new class companions. Once your character reaches level 4, you can talk to them in your character's class to recruit them. You can check the new companions out by clicking HERE. These companions promote twice: once for 1,700 gold and once for 6,400 gold. Each of them come with some amazing abilities. They'd help very much when trying to level your character!

      3. Improved Skyway Chat - With the new and improved skyway chat, your pirate can shout for help from all the way across the skyway! You can see it demonstrated in the picture below.

Special thanks to Dead-Eye Colin for help with the picture.

     4. Doubloons - Doubloons are just like Treasure Cards, but for Pirate101. You have to open group plunder chests with your friends to access them. Hopefully these should help you during your adventures!
     5. Housing Previews - You can now view houses before you buy them. This should give you a more informed decision before you buy your own getaway!
     6. New spell animations - Kingsisle has updated all of the class's casting animations! Go check them out in the Test Realm or when they come to live!
     7. Mark and Recall - Finally! Marking spots has come to Pirate101. You can get to places without having to use the transportalor or sailing all the way back to your destination. This should make transportation a lot easier.

     8. Bug Fixes - This new update comes with tons of bug fixes! A few examples are:
                              1. Mojo Rising now correctly works for Witchdoctors! You can finally have that epic                                       working!
                              2. Port Regal Skyway no longer has the name "Stormgate to Skull Island."
                              3. Hamamitsu Skyway no longer has the name "Stormgate to Mooshu."
                              4. Ghost Samoorais will now appear blue instead of pink.

Neutral

Next up, neutrals. Both pros and cons, or neither. The middle.
 
     1. New Free To Play areas - The new free to play areas include Xol Akmul, Devilfish Hallow, the Underwater Grotto, Fireship Dock, and the Meeting Cave. It's your choice if this is a pro or a con. It can either add some pizzazz to your early adventures, or it can just be another obstacle at the start of the journey. (I personally think that the game starts to get good around Cool Ranch, but I haven't tested out the new Skull Island expansion.)
     2. Advanced companions - In the advanced companion system, you always get your first three companions while your other companions are busy doing orders such as collecting nautical experience or wrangling pets. However, there is also a downside to this. With the new companion system, it doesn't give you as much randomization as the old one. With the old system, it taught you how to compromise with what you had. It allowed your mind to expand and taught you to go with the flow. With the new system, there's just no space to fit that in.

Credit for the picture goes to Kingsisle.

Cons

Finally, the cons. The downside of stuff, the negatives, and the bad.

 
     1. Buffs - With the new update, buffs are changed. The first buff that you get, the 50% one that originally lasted 5 rounds, now lasts 10 rounds. The second buff that you got, the 50% one that lasted 10 rounds, is now 75% for 5 rounds. The last buff that you trained, the 100% buff that lasted 10 rounds, now only lasts 3 rounds. You'll have to change your strategy and buff accordingly to the new times. This could take some getting used to.

     2. Pet limits - If you feed your pet too much, your pet can get stuffed. This means that you can't feed it anymore snacks. If your pet is stuffed, it may slow down the process of pet training by a whole lot.

Credit for the picture goes to @Jcentral1.

Thanks for reading! Fair sailing, pirates!

~Fishy Kyle