Hello spring! Wizard101's newest update is now available to test on the Test Realm. Although it doesn't contain the much anticipated continuation of Empyrea, it does introduce various "quality of life" features that players have been asking for.
A Hatch Made in Heaven
Introducing the Hatchmaking Kiosk - a pet tool that I believe will change the hatching scene forever. Prior to this update, players would usually need to find a pet that they were looking for outside of the game. After all, begging for hatches in the Pet Pavilion or Hatchery wouldn't yield good results, if any at all. Instead, pet enthusiasts looked to social media sites, Wizard101 Central, the official message boards, and other resources for help. While I still expect some people will continue to use these outside sources, the new Hatchmaking Kiosk will certainly make things a lot easier.
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When you enter the Hatchmaking Kiosk, you'll see three options: Browse Pets, Offer Pets, and Manage Pets. If you're looking to hatch with a pet, you can select "Browse Pets" and view the available pets by school. Under each pet, the game will tell you whether you already have that pet in your tome, if it's a hybrid, and if it's a crown pet. Once you find one you like, you can click on the pet and sort through the offered pets of that type. Find one you'd like to hatch with, press the button, and presto! You've hatched an egg with a player you don't even know. No communication or meet-ups necessary!
The idea is so convenient and helpful that I'm actually surprised it's taken this long to get. That said, there are a few things to know about this new system.
- You can only offer 5 pets at a time.
- Offered pets will be removed from the system after one week.
- Successfully hatching a pet from the kiosk will reward you with a new reagent called the "Hatch Pepper."
- Once per week, there will be a "Hatchmaking Day" which allows you to hatch with a featured pet.
- Most crown pets are currently ineligible to offer and hatch with at the kiosk.
Collector's Paradise
Wizard101 players collected pets long before they had anything to show for it, but now they can make things official. KingsIsle has introduced a Pet Tome which keeps track of the pets you do and don't have. Each time you get your hands on a new pet, it will be added to your Pet Tome. Your Pet Tome is sorted by school and lists what type of snack a particular pet likes, if it's a hybrid, and if it's a crown pet. The Pet Tome also gives you the total amount of pets available to collect so you'll always be able to view your progress. Just remember to open up your attic, bank, shared bank, and visit all your houses to "register" all your existing pets into the tome.
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Oh, and there's also a ton of new badges that go along with the new Hatchmaking Kiosk and Pet Tome. Gotta collect them all?
Keys, Keys, Keys
I never really noticed, but prior to this update, the game apparently didn't explain how skeleton keys work. Consider that fixed. Once players reach level 5, Diego the Duelmaster will send wizards on an introductory skeleton key quest. The adventure is contained to the free-to-play areas of Wizard City and sees you going up against Diego's nemesis, Roberto. (Remember him from the Dueling Diego minigame?)
If a challenge is more your style, a new golden skeleton key boss lies in the Zanadu sewers. Corporal Tenni’syn is his name and school design gear is his game. That's right; KingsIsle finally added some school design gear that had been missing for awhile.
Out with the Old, in with the New
After (nearly) 10 years, KingsIsle decided to retire the classic fire/ice wizard loading screen. Instead, each world now has a unique loading screen showcasing prominent characters from that specific location. Although pretty minor, I think it spices up the game and makes visiting each world just a little bit cooler.
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Remember Renee Wooften? That mysterious new NPC that popped up in Wizard City not too long ago? Turns out she's working on a Wizard City revamp. Unfortunately, her work isn't quite done yet, but The Commons does have a new dock. Hopefully we'll be able to see the complete graphical update soon.
Along with these major changes, KingsIsle also tweaked/fixed a few other things. Perhaps the biggest change is the Medulla fight nerf. You can see the full list of updates here. Be sure to let me know what you think of Wizard101's spring 2018 update in the comments below.
