Advanced "Floating": Introduction

Before we start getting our hands dirty in rug maze making and landscape sculpting we need to cover the basics of "Floating". Basically, we need to answer the following questions: 

• What is 'Floating'?
• How does it work?
• What are the common tools for floating?
• What can you do with Floating? (Examples)

What is 'Floating'?

'Floating' is a glitch in the game that allows you to move and place objects in places that they aren't normally allowed to be in. Some players have taken this to another level by making rug-bridges and pathways going beyond the limits of the house. 'Floating' is key in making your house unique and adds flavor to the average room. 'Floating' is a tool that housing fanatics should learn as it opens up many, many, MANY doors on decorating.


How does it work?
To "float" you must have basic understanding of the mechanics in your house. Some areas in your house you cannot cross or enter even if you float, making it a waste of your time. Basic floating is taking a large or long platform or rug and attaching it to a shorter/smaller rug and moving the small one so that the larger one is moving with it. This is better explained by Kevin Battleblood. Also, if you have something floating up above, and you place an object directly below it, and move the lower object the thing above will most likely move with it.


What are the common tools for 'Floating'?
There are several housing items that I like to call my "tools" for successfully floating an object without any major problems. I'll just list these tools because anything more will be too complicated:

The Crate: I think this is the second best tool for floating upwards. I like to use crates as measurements of height in Wizard101 in the houses. I'd always say "this thing is 3 crates tall" or something like that so I know how many crates I need to reach the top of it. You can use crates to stack on rugs and create an "elevator" to reach to the top of a waterfall or scale a mountain side. Make sure that you do NOT get a "Reinforced Crate" as this will not stack and go together like the others. Always get something that says Crate of _____, except for the Crate of Chickens of course. A little tip for trying to climb upwards is that the climbing limit is 3 crates high. What I mean by this is that if you create a tower of crates with rugs sticking out so you can climb it there can be a maximum of 3 crates in between the rugs, if not then you will not climb up onto the next rug. A picture is worth a thousand words:

The Platforms and Flowers: I like to use these guys for decorating purposes. Who wouldn't want a floating flower trail or a floor completely covered in flowers? I also have grown (see what I did there? :P) to love the Flat Wooden Platform. Sure, it's a glorified watchtower rug, but I like it! It's the biggest float-able item that you can put other items on (at least in my book). To say that these are helpful is an understatement. They are accessible from almost anywhere, they don't cost that much, and they look pretty awesome! You can use wooden platforms for almost every housing job/design you can think of! They are there to help us and just to make it look pretty ;). I have seen some people use these items to build giant fortresses and buildings from scratch, and I think that's pretty amazing.

The Rugs: Now comes the most important tool of them all. RUGS. They are just awesome. They're the very foundation of floating. You must be able to attach the rug onto something and move the smaller rug. You can do almost ANYTHING with rugs, it's mind blowing. There's not much to say or I would be repeating myself over and over. Also, check out Kevin Battleblood's blog for more info on "shadowing" and how to retrieve stray rugs.

What can you do with 'Floating'?

Here are some examples:

Please comment if you have any questions, or concerns on how to build/float something and I'll try to answer you as fast as possible!

My Spiral Mission: Protector of the Lore [Chapter 8]

Where am I?

“What? Are you crazy?” I whispered to Matt.  I shrugged off his hand and glared up at him. Why did he need me to get out of there?

                
“Look, it’s not safe here. It’s dangerous.”  He answered. I looked around the commons and nothing seemed dangerous, everything looked normal. I looked back at Matt to his sea-foam green eyes and they were locked onto my eyes. His face looked irritated and annoyed. I directed my gaze in another direction and sighed.

“Look. I don’t know what’s gotten into you but I’m going to enjoy the festival.” I declared and turned around as I took a step forward back to my table Matt grabbed my shoulder and whispered in a low voice “I’m sorry, Jeremy. This is for your own safety.” Afterwards, a chill went through my body and couldn’t finish my step almost like I was paralyzed. Matt stepped in front of me and I tried to growl something out but there was nothing. Not even a grunt. Gah, what’s going on! Then, I heard an explosion on some sorts and screaming. I saw black smoke and flames at the corner of my eyes. I heard Matt mumble something under his breath and then put his hand on my forehead. Suddenly there was a white flash and my vision became fuzzy, and as if someone gave my some fun house mirrors for glasses. Then everything went dark.

                This bed feels so warm.  I brought the blanket up towards my face and kept my head on its side. This felt like Heaven.  I heard some faint rustling and pried my eyes up a little to see what it was. When I opened my eyes just enough to see where the sound was coming from I saw the face of a woman staring down at me and brushing my dark brown hair off my face. This woman had almost the same color hair as me only it was lighter, almost blonde. She has emerald eyes and she was wearing some sort of outfit with wings that matches her eyes. “Hey Matt, he’s awake,” she’s said while grabbing a book and walking to the side.

                “Heya, Jeremy!,” I heard Matt say but I couldn’t see and I really didn’t want to get out bed. I shifted a little closed my eyes again to try and go back to sleep. “I thought you said he was awake, Kath?” I heard him say.  I heard a giggle in the background and soft footsteps.

                “Maybe he doesn’t want to get up?” Kath said almost in a whisper but I could still hear her. Then I heard a ‘Hmm’ that sounded like it came from Matt and then there was silence. Maybe they left I thought as I was ready to drift back into dreamland. I felt a small breeze and shivered a bit, nothing serious. Then a larger gust afterwards like I was in Antarctica I yelled and jumped off the bed and my back hit floor. “I’m up! I’m up!” I yelled while Kath and Matt both laughed. I gave them a scowl while getting up brushing myself off.

                “It’s good to see you again, Jeremy.” We all turned around at the voice that was standing in the doorway.

                “Hey, gramps, didn’t expect you to get here so soon,” Matt gaped.

“Angel!” I yelled while both Matt and I were pulled into a bear hug. Angel had on a white robe with a light blue trim that glowed slightly. His hair was as white as fresh fallen snow and sea-foam green eyes just like Matt. However, had not aged since the last time I saw him. Angel looked like he was in his 20s or 30s, but I guess that’s the effect of Morganthe’s Immortality spell. I pulled my self away and for the first time I looked around at the room I was in. The walls were made of some sort of material that glowed somewhat and it was a cream-reddish color. The walls went up and formed a sort of dome and it was almost space-like. “Where the heck am I,” I asked “and what happened at the festival?” They all looked at me. I looked at all three of them switching my glance to each person.

                “Um, Katherine, can you call Chico and Piggly,” Angel finally ordered “Oh, and tell the others that Jeremy is awake.”

“Ok, Angel. I’ll be back.” She waved at us before leaving the room. The footsteps faded a short time afterwards. I eyed Angel as he sat down on the chair beside a wardrobe. 

Matt cleared his throat before explaining, “Well, I had to get you out of their before they took you. Since you didn’t want to go willingly, I had to use the freeze spell on you, and then cast the sleep incantation.” Matt took a deep breath before he continued, “Sorry, I had no idea you were so sensitive to those type of spells,” He chuckled and smirked. I grunted and glared at Matt.

                “Ok, that explains how I got here, but where exactly is here?” I asked. Angel let out a sigh and got up off the chair and walked to the door and waved his hand signaling me to follow.  I walked towards him and he opened the door to what I thought would be a hallway. I gaped at where we were. 


“How the heck are we in space,” I shouted “this is not even possible!” I looked out to see a bridge going down to what appeared to be a large city square while large structures that looked like buildings surrounding it. In the middle of the city square was a sort of arena that was in the middle of a training session by the looks of it. To the left of us was a bridge leading to a platform that had a spiral door. The largest building was to our right it was HUGE.  I noticed small pieces or rubble and building floating around us. Am I going insane? I thought to myself.

                “Welcome to the Twi-star Observatory” Angel finally spoke as I was still at awe over my current location.

                
“Wait, The who-What?”

Player vs. Player (PvP) Basics - Section 1

Player vs. Player Basics

Introduction:

PvP in Wizard101; we start off in the Arena. The Arena is a place that has been downgraded to a place where rude, selfish, and foul mannered people reside. However, there is the occasional player who has good sportsmanship and accepts his defeat. Accepting defeat in a fair match is key to becoming a good duelist. Once you accept your defeat you can become stronger, make new strategies, switch cards from your deck, change some gear. The Arena is always changing, you can only change and adapt or you will get left behind with all these updates that KI is throwing in our faces. Not that it's bad, but to some players it's over whelming. Once you step into the Arena, it is like a whole new world. Think of it like a boss match or a group boss match, depending if you're going into 1v1 or group play. However, once you get to higher ranks (Knight and above), your spells need to be essential to your survival. Your strategies need to be effective in all aspects of game play in the duel. You'll need to gain a skill of anticipation, trying to guess your opponents movements. The Arena tests players patience, intelligence, and instinct.

Section one: Essentials of PvP

In the vast world of Wizard101, KI has given us spell cards that are perfect for a good duelist. In this section I will try to cover all Spell cards that are almost mandatory. I will say that some players have gotten to commander without some of these cards. These cards work only to make dueling much more smoother and easier to pull through to Commander rank.

Tower Shield

The first one on my list is Tower Shield. Arguably the best shield in the game. You can learn this spell from Lydia Greyrose, the Ice professor. This spell takes what ever damage spell your opponent casts at you and cuts the damage taken in half. This spell is your only defense against those pesky Balance spells other than weakness. If you peek inside any high ranking duelist's Deck or side deck you will almost always see this puppy there. The reason why almost every duelist has this card? Literally, PvP is mostly about how much defense and combos you have. So for 0 pips and 50% resist technically this is a good deal to just shell out a few training points for this card. While shelling those training points out you also get Volcanic shield, which defends against the two strongest schools in the game(base damage).

Infection

Second on my list, Infection. This is a definitely must have spell! This spell cuts all healing spells in half, which is a pretty good pip saver and a game changer in most PvP duels. I usually use this spell after a big attack or I anticipate that my opponent is going to heal. When do you know they are going to heal? Easily, If they are down by less than half and have four pips, guess what they are thinking of doing? Satyr. You can learn Infection from Mortis the Death tree in Nightside. Always carry 3-5 infections. If you can heal and your opponent can't then you are already winning. Always anticipate that your opponent will put an infection on you to stop you from getting back your health from his attacks. For me, I carry sprites in my side deck, sometimes I don't need them because my pet has spritely and Piggly usually takes them off for me, but when he's lazy I'll take it off my self with Cleanse or Sprite.

Reshuffle

Ah, reshuffle. One of the most saved cards in your hand. You can learn reshuffle from Mildred Farseer(correct me if I'm wrong). This card is like the Holy Grail, at least to me it is. As an Ice wizard I am used to long battles, where I sometimes run out of cards. Reshuffle does what its name implies. It reshuffles all the cards that you have used or discarded, even treasure cards! Don't be afraid to get this card, it's pip cost is worth every penny. You can also buy this card from the Library, but it costs 1,100g each. I always use this card when I know I ran out of a specific card that I need. I always count how many cards I have used or discarded. It is very important to know how much of one card you have because if your opponent is storm and you are down to your last storm shield then you're in trouble. I also use this card when I'm between to range of 17-29 cards left, no more no less. You never want to use this card when you have no other card left. That makes you an easy target for your opponent since you have no defense or offense to change his/her combo or movement. Never discard your Reshuffle!

Conviction

One of the most recent cards added to the game, Conviction. You can learn this spell Diego the Duel Master if you have a training point and at least a rank of Sergeant. This by far is the most complicated spell I've seen and the most troublesome. This spell by far is the best defense against Criticals and Stuns. This spell is also a must have for the modern duelist. At anytime your opponent could either stun you or cast a spell that might go critical. The best time to use this spell is after the 2nd round. Why? Well, after the second round that is when most of the attacks and stuns happen. This is a game changer! The only problem I see with this spell is that if a player has 140+ crit rate and he puts a Vengeance up(+20%-+25% crit rate) Then Conviction is almost useless. I think that KI should make it so it's +50% block, +90 is just about 18% block. Add that to your gear block and it's 21% block. While players with high crit rate and vengeance run around with 50% crit rate.

Optional Spells that you can train

Note: These spells can make the trip to Commander/Warlord easier but are not necessary.

Life Dispel

Sprite

Satyr

Cloak

Gargantuan

Vengeance

Fortify

Storm dispel
Stun block