Companion Spotlight: Hoodoo Cornelius

     Hello, Pirates! Welcome to the second edition of the Companion Spotlight. In this episode,  we'll be featuring Hoodoo Cornelius: his overview as a character, playstyle, strengths, weaknesses, etc. If you missed the first Companion Spotlight about Ratbeard, please click HERE.

     Hoodoo Cornelius can be bought from the Hoodoo Bundle for Pirate101 (for 29 U.S. dollars).  This little monkey is one of the few unique melee Witchdoctors in the game. He's also one of the most offensive companions obtainable in the game, and when used correctly, can wipe out the whole battle board in a couple turns.

Strengths

Looks (he's one cute chimp)

Attack

Very useful epics

Go Bananas!

Weaknesses

Low movement

Low defenses

If not used correctly, your fights are based on luck

Powers

First promotion: Monkey Witchdoctor

Second promotion (at level 30): Monkey Houngan

Third promotion (at level 52): Monkey Bokor

-Relentless (Auto-trained) 

-Second Chance

-Repel Borders

-Witch Hunter

-Blade Storm (at Monkey Bokor only)

      The typical build on Cornelius would be relentless 2, repel borders, and second chance. There are other builds to him, but this is the most common in the game. For non-epic powers, you can follow the guide HERE.

Strategy

     To use Hoodoo Cornelius efficiently, you should have at least some sort of defensive buff in your arsenal of moves. I prefer to use Valor's Fortress (-50% damage on attacks for 5 turns), but Valor's Armor works as well.  You can easily find this item on pieces of gear throughout The Spiral (good ones, too). This buff not only works for incoming attacks from the enemies, but it also works on the percentage of health he loses from Go Bananas. Just by using Valor's Fortress once, you can multiply this move's hits by two!

     If you redeem your Hoodoo Cornelius on a Privateer, he can come in real handy. Boost his attack with your will buffs (and don't forget the defensive buff). Right before you use Go Bananas, use Battle Zeal. This should boost his accuracy by 50%, making him almost undodgeable. If you don't have a Privateer, accuracy doubloons can substitute for this buff. Position your Cornelius correctly, and BOOM! You leave your computer for some cheese and crackers and come back to defeated enemies.

As shown in this spotlight, Hoodoo Cornelius has his ups and downs, but overall, he makes a great companion. Thanks for tuning in for this post. Fair sailing, Pirates!

~Fishy Kyle

Companion Spotlight: Ratbeard

Ahoy, pirates, and welcome to Companion Spotlight. Each post in this series will take a look at a different companion. We'll break down their abilities and playstyles, so you can get the most bang for ye buck (or gold, or crowns). This Spotlight will focus on Ratbeard.

     Ratbeard... It seems most people love or hate him and his playstyle. Granted, when Ratbeard is first recruited and even after his promotion immediately after, Ratbeard seems like an average buccaneer at best. So what makes this rodent revel rouser so interesting? His last 2 promotions allow him to be used to slow or halt enemy advancement. So let's take a look at this peg legged protector's abilities and see how he can go from being a throw- away buccaneer to a one rodent defense squad.

     Powers: When Ratbeard is first recruited, his powers are rather lackluster. Here are the powers he starts with:

Title: Rat Officer
- Hold the Line (Auto-Trained)
- Epic Strike
- Talent: Pirate
- Talent: Turn The Tide (Auto-Trained)

As you can see, there is nothing special here. However he promotes at level 10, which is around the time he's recruited. This moves him up to his next set of powers.

Title: Rat Commander
- Mega Strike
- Cheap Shot
- Blade Storm
- First Strike
- Repel Boarders

As you can see, he has more of a defensive line of powers, to stop enemies and hit them first or prevent them from reaching squishier companions. At level 18 he gets only a couple more skills.

Title: Rat Captain
- Buccaneer Strike
- Super Strike

Now let's look at his last (as of writing this) promotion at level 55.

Title: Rat Admiral
 - Clear the Decks
- Triton's Song
- Buccaneer Smash

Again, nothing that seems to fit the aggressive nature of the buccaneer. What is the deal? Remember how Ratbeard was during the beginning of the game? He constantly ran away, and even was willing to give up all of Gunn's Gold is you saved his skin. His personality does not fit the charging buccaneer style. So how can Ratbeard be effective? By being a good defensive fighter.

     Playstyle:  Ratbeard is all about slowing down or stopping foes. His role in the battle should be to protect your less resilient fighters, including pirates. Foe buccaneers,  swashbucklers, and possibly privateers, this means having him hang back to cover the ranged fighters and anyone that can provide buffs or heals while you and the tougher buccaneers go in for the kills as Ratbeards hold the enemy in place. For witchdoctors, musketeers, and again privateers, this means using Ratbeard as a barrier between you and those heavy hitting melee fighters. Remember to always use Triton Song immediately so Ratbeard can soak up the extra damage. If you want to use him as protector for squishier characters, using a mix of Hold the Line, Repel Boarders, and Cheap Shot will help defeat enemies coming and going. Using Hold the Line, Repel Boarders, and First Strike allow him to possibly hit one enemy multiple times in one turn. Try out some different combinations of epics and maybe Ratbeard will surprise you.

Pirates.... UNITE!
Bloody Wesley Xavier

Housing Showcase: Rake's Lagoon

     Hello, Pirates! I finally got enough motivation to finish decorating my Rake's Lagoon on my Swashbuckler. With this finished, I now have one decorated house on every character (would my Witchdoctor's maze be considered 'decorated'?). Anyways, I have decorated it to be themed as a hotel and water resort. Without further ado, here's the Rake's Lagoon!

The Resort

The Wave Pool (view one)

The Wave Pool (view two)

Water cannons to shoot at people in the pool

A simple, but sweet dining area

A little walk for those who want
to take a break from the water

The changing room

The standard changing area

The gift shop (view one)

The gift shop (view two)

The Hotel

The lobby (with Sarah Steele as the receptionist)

The hotel is pet friendly, in fact,
there's a room just for them!

The Golden Chicken Breakfast Bar
(Named after the chicken in the doorway)

The standard bedroom in the hotel

     That's the overview of the new Swashbuckler Hotel and Resort! If you have any comments, please post them below! If you want your house featured on our site, please email PiratesUniteBlog@Gmail.com with pictures and captions and we'll be glad to do so!

     I'm going to check into the hotel for the night. Fair sailing, in dreams and the spiral, pirates!

~Fishy Kyle

Top 8 Reasons why do we love Companions

Ahoy tharr pirates! Was quite a while since my last post, Time for some views from Morgan Lafitte and Vadima about Companions! Why us the pirates do love companions? Find out why in the next Top 10 Reasons:



1- Critical Hits
Well who doesn't love these amazing animations of every companion and dem' critical hits? Every companion has his/her very own unique animation and better than the other!

2- A Pirate's Life for me

We can also make our firstmate pirate follow us everywhere and Whenever we are in The Great Spiral, Of course their Idle moves are a bit funny and some of them a bit laughin' and silly, But we do appreciate seeing them walking with us!

3- Relaxing at Home

Isn't it amazing after a long fight to relax with some of yer companions in your house, Bunkhouse or even in your Ship Cabin? Yes it is! If you haven't tried the new edit to the housing system you should give it a try and add some of yer companions to yer home! Watch them having fun and relaxing at your very own Bunkhouse, House or even your Ship Cabin! 

4- Companions saying? No Limits in combat!

A LOT of companions are good as healers and we do know them, Such as Commander Emmett, Bison Shaman, Bonnie Anne and.... Oh wait, There is a lot, Should i keep counting? Never mind that, We will let you discover through yer travels!

5- Dem Sense of Humor captain my captain

I guess all of us agreed at this point, They got the great sense of humor that makes us laugh like Dead Mike's 2nd promotion

''We have to talk captain, No, Not the rats, I've dealt with them, Lets meet in a tavern.''

This made me laugh a lot when i heard it! Make sure that yer crew got that sense of humor, Or yer crew is dead from insde like Old Scratch.. 

6- Buffing in Combat

They're EXCELLENT Units for buffing you and the rest of yer crew and the team, Such as Agility Buffs, Will Buffs and Strength buffs.

7- Orders Hype!

Sending our companions out on order is the wonderful part! You can no longer worry about your low NXP Level, You can just send one of yer crew for NXP Order and he'll we do the rest! Need gold for some trade? Crew can get ye some gold! Are you a Pet Master? He will grab ye some well done snacks from around The Spiral! And more orders you have to explore! 

8- Because Why Not?

We do think every part from our crew is very important, Even those companions we don't use, This should make ye very proud that you're building a great crew for yer mission saving The Spiral from The Armada and getting the Rest of El Dorado map pieces.

That's all what we love about Our Companions here on Pirates Unite! But.... We're wondering, What are your reasons why you love your companions? Leave us a comment down there with What do you love about yer Companions!

Thank you all for reading and stay safe in The Spiral and enjoy sailing through the Skyways!

- Logan

Checkin' In!

  Hello, mateys!

  I haven't been active whatsoever on Pirate101 at all; hence, no posts. I've been busy with doing things that are totally irrelevant to importance in my life, and not studying or doing anything school related (world's best student!).

  But I have been wanting to get on Pirate101 more and more recently: to quest. So I should be more active, but don't quote me on that ;).

  I will be doing some questing on my Swashbuckler. I would make a post about that, but headaches are evil. 

  She's questing in Marleybone and is fairly close to being done with it. 

  Before I end it I want you to know that I am terribly sorry for rotting your brains with this short, choppy, redundant, and grammar lacking post.

  Farewell, mateys, and I'll see you all later! :)

~Eri Innsbrook

Missing Pirate Report: Cunning Kyle

Hey. So..... a lesson in advance. DO NOT go towards the light. I'm lost. sos. SOS.



     So I haven't been on Pirate101 for a while, so I decided to go on and I found this new (for me) house in the crowns shop called "Smuggler's Cove." I decided, "Hey! Let me check this out!" Bad idea.

     At first sight, I thought, "This is neat! I'm going to explore!" Bad idea for a second time. The light from the skull was my ending.

     After exploring for a few minutes, I said "Maybe I should backtrack... just so I can find my way to the beginning and know the house better." HA. It only made me more lost. I came upon a house and I wanted to ask for help. It seems all of these houses were abandoned a long time ago...

     I kept walking, happiness drained from my face, until I saw a light! Hope! This was my chance to get off this island! I made my way up the hill to find a lighthouse! I WAS FREE!

.....No one was there.

     It was useless. I would never get off this heap of dirt. I kept searching for life. I looked around in the caves until something peculiar caught my eye. Heh. It was nothing. Just one of the former inhabitants of this island. My chances of getting off this island were close to none.

Here I am. Still stranded here. With my dead body I named Dave. Please get me out of here and save me. Please.

~Fishy Kyle

PvP Companion Guide

Hello, Pirates! Let's talk about some PvP. 

The most important companion school in PvP? Musketeer. Why?

1. They can attack units from distances.
2. They can avoid fire, bombs, traps, etc. and still hit.
3. They have high accuracy. 
4. If your opponent has a melee companion, it can't use riposte.

A good PvP team consists of either 2 ranged companions and 1 melee companion, or 3 ranged companions.* In my case, I use Nausica, Bonnie Anne, and Zeena. (Pictures shown below).

*2 ranged and 1 melee companion is recommended, but 3 ranged companions works too.

Nausica

In PvP, Nausica is the ultimate musketeer companion killing machine. With her combined true grit and burst fire, she can easily take one down in a couple of turns. There's a couple of tactics to counter Nausica:

1. Use a melee companion with high damage, but high enough health and resistance to withstand hits. Goronado and Peter Quint are good examples.

2. Have a leviathan's call handy, use it, then go in and kill Nausica yourself. Be careful, though, as this is the least effective counter.

3. Have your own Nausica, put a Valor's Armor or Valor's Fortress on it, and have the Nausica kill the other.

 Bonnie Anne

Bonnie is a favorite for PvP and PvE. She comes in handy very often. Some useful items on her are:

1. Second Wind - A heal that has infinite range and can heal up to 25% of a player's health.

2. Scatterblast - This can come in handy when your opponents use dodge buffs and you can hardly hit them.

3. Stock Assault - This move is like exactly like riposte. This ability is unique to Bonnie, as she's the only ranged companion that can return hits to melee attacks that miss.
4. Range - Bonnie has a range of 5 at her final stage - Fox Highlander. This can prove to be extremely useful in reaching your enemies.

Zeena

Zeena comes in handy with her abilities that she comes with. Her "Rain of Fire" ability can be used as traps in both PvE and PvP

Bombs are best used to prevent people from coming in your direction, or to trap them in a certain place so you can shoot at them with your musketeer companions.

Zeena's "Rain of Fire" is best to use during the early-mid stages of the match to damage your opponent by just having them walk towards you or to keep them away from you.

                                                         

                                

   Goronado and Peter Quint

      Goronado and Peter Quint (if you're a buccaneer) can be the difference between whether you win or lose. Goronado can be obtained by completing Gortez's dungeon 25 times. 

     These two companions are huge tankers, but also a huge hitters. Their charges, resistance, and turn the tide abilities are their best assets.

      These companions are also great to take down Nausica, which is common in PvP today. They can charge her to make her lose accuracy and she also can't use true grit on them which makes them much more likely to survive.

Other Possible Companions

Other possible companions for PvP include Louis Le Bisque/Pepe DeTorteau, Chantal Livingstone, El Toro*, Fan Flanders*, Kobe Yojimbo*, or Kan Po*. Of course, there are other possibilities for PvP that I cannot think of right now.

     Louis Le Bisque has bombs and a trap plus plenty of talents that are neat for PvP such as double tap and overwatch.

     Chantal Livingstone has 2 sniper shots which can hit a target at any distance. This makes her a great asset to any musketeer's PvP team. She also has a range of 5 which is just as good as Bonnie Anne!

     El Toro, Fan Flanders, and Kobe Yojimbo all have high damage and (de)buffs, but their downfall is their health and defenses.

     Kan Po has walk in shadows which is great with the update where damage doesn't remove the hidden effect, but once again, that is one effect, and with his defenses and health, he isn't much of a help after that.

     

*These companions would be last resorts. Don't use them unless you don't have the others.

Traits

The typical companion would have their traits maxed in this order:

1. Accuracy.
2. Dodge.
3. Strength/Agility/Will - whichever one boosts that companion.
4. Spooky (Only if it's a witchdoctor and/or has a heal.)
5. Damage.
6. Health.
7. Resist/armor (which you'll hardly ever get to).

Witchdoctors and Musketeers tend to be hit even with dodgy talents, so you would skip over that for them.

That is most of what you need to know about companions! If you have any comments or suggestions of what to input into the guide, please comment below!

Fair sailing, Pirates!

~Fishy Kyle