Quick Update: I'm not dead yet

Hey gang, I just wanted to give a quick update. I know I have neglected this blog for awhile now and I truly apologize. I've been deployed away from home for awhile and I will be returning shortly. With that I plan to clean the cobwebs out of Myth Manor and pick up from where I left off from. I have so much to catch up on between Celestia, pet training (which I did a bit) and the upcoming holiday events.

I also want to thank Ravenwood Radio and all of the Wizard 101 bloggers, #Twizards out there. You all may not realize it but you have really helped me out with your posts and stories during these last six months and I just wanted to let you all know I really appreciate it.

Well, that's all for now. Cya soon!

Break on Through to the Other Side....

Level 35 made it into the history books for Tanner last night. Honestly at the snails pace I was gathering xp I wasn't counting on hitting it any time soon. I was farming like mad only to see the xp meter creep at a barely visible rate. I got fed up when I ran through Big Ben again with a PUG and after completing it didn't see any noticeable xp. After that I opened my quest log and started completing some half finished missions. Like a match to a gasoline factory my xp rate SOARED up and within two hours I hit 35 after finishing a quest by, funny enough, Bill Tanner (no relation).

All in all, not a terribly bad night. Big Ben gave up a few good loot items that I used to cash in and start to upgrade my gear. I see the end is nearing for Marleybone and I hope to finish up Grizzleheim as well right after before moving to Mooshu.

Other than that, not a whole lot has been going on with Tanner so far this week. Despite my vow to stop leveling my pet, I have been slowly leveling Otis up. He is about at the halfway point to Ancient. I have looked at getting the mega snack packs being offered on the Crowns shop but, to me, the packs are a bit too expensive for my tastes. I like using my Crowns for long termed items (houses, clothes, etc).

Well, until next time, have a great time in the realms!

Anyone have a flyswatter handy?

Because this bug just won't leave me alone.

Let me set the scene:


I'm in Grizzleheim up against Fleshrender and his random bear cohort. Fleshrender is a storm school bear and his buddy is life. We both set up for our big hits over the first few rounds. I set up my Myth blade and time of legend. Fleshrender sets up a mere storm blade and his buddy throws a life trap on me. The bears get the first strike with a Kraken and natures Wrath, both doing some impressive damage to me. My only spell available is my trusty Humungofrog. I chunk the hardy amphibian at them with the knowledge of at least doing some moderate damage to Fleshrender. I cast, the frog barfs and the damage pops over his head...

100 points

After Fleshrender stops hysterically laughing at me his cohort finishes me off, still stunned from the frog attack, with a Seraph spell two rounds later and I'm sent home packing. I should have won that fight, or at least gotten a lot farther along than I did. I tell ya, nothing is more of a mood killer to a solo wizard than a bug that severly degrades your damage which gets you trampled in fights.

Now this isn't the first time I've had this happened. Just before my week break I noticed it on a few battles. Spells that should have killed creatures without a second though are doing well below minimal damage. They acted almost as a 1 pip spell. I've asked out in my Twitter community and only one other Wizard has noticed similar issues. No reports of this on the Wizard101 page or other forums.

Am I going mad? Has anyone else seen or been victim to this bug? KingsIsle needs to check their damage meters, because something is not right here.

Time for a Refocus

I seem to be stuck here in the low 30's here. I've been splitting my limited time between leveling my pet(s) and solo leveling Tanner and it seems to be getting me nowhere. Tanner spent the better part of two hours last night fighting rats in Marleybone and bears in Grizzleheim only to end up with single bubble in the xp bar being filled.

Ugh. This just isn't working.

The pet games, while fun, are to me an unbearably slow xp grind. With only 2-3 hours max playtime per night it's just not proving to be of worth to me right now to spend shooting my baby Myth Sprite out of a cannon, dancing or "pac-man" mazes over and over only to go up 2-4 xp points per round. So, I made the decision to forgo pet leveling and concentrate on moving Tanner out of the quagmire known to me as level 31. I put up my Sprite and am using my adult Oni for battles for the foreseeable future. I think once I have hit the mid 40's or so and feel comfortable with the pace of my progression I will return to the Pet Pavilion.

For those of you who are working on leveling your pets, there is the Petnome Project run by fellow wizards to catalog the stats and abilities of the advanced pets as they go from baby to epic age. Make sure to load in your discoveries with your pets and help the Realms as a whole!

"Minions? We don't need no stinkin' Minions"

Actually, fellow Myth mates, you do.

There has been some debate to the usefulness and worth of Myth minions. Some see them as interfering with there set ups, some don't think it's worth the pip cost(s) of using them in battles because Myth wizards usually have longer set up times for doing large damage strikes. We don't have the resists like Ice wizards, the healing of Life school or the damage dealing like the others.

Instead we have Minions.

There are 4 basic types of Minions for Myth students:


Each of these Minions have their own power and abilities that can prove very useful in combat. Plus, some of the Minions abilities can be increased by spending additional pips to bring them out. For the Troll and the Cyclops, the more pips you spend, the stronger the spells they will use.
What kinds of spells you ask? As noted on the Wizard101 Central Minion Guide, along with their 'Natural Attack', Minions have been seen casting at least the following spells:

Firecat, Bloodbat, Ghoul, Myth Blade/Trap, Sprite, FireElf, Troll, Cyclops, Storm Shark, Fairy, Snow Serpent, Sunbird, Donate Power, Tower Shield, Taunt, Elemental Armor, Spirit Armor and Thunder Snake.

The added bonus to all of these spells is they not only cast those shields, blades, traps, heals and pip donations on you and themselves, but to other members of your party! I can speak from recent experience that nothing surprises or motivates a small party more than to see a Cyclops Minion cast a healing spell on a incapacitated player, bringing them back into a Boss fight.

Now I know what you are going to say:

"But Tanner, that all may be well and good, but Minions are just one hit wonders. As soon as a NPC hits them with a 3 or 4 pip spell they are out of the picture and I have to rebuild my pips to possibly bring them out again."

Well then, instead of letting them get killed, what if i told you there was a way to buff, protect and use them in emergencies to benefit you?

If you haven't rushed through the lower areas of the game and explore a bit, you will find a friendly Mander by the name of Tish'Mah in Krokotopia. You will find this crazy Mander sitting above the secret shop where you can buy your krok pet and other items. When you exit the shop and before you portal back down to the main area, look to the left. You will see the some stairs going to roof. Tish'mah is sitting up there with a treasure trove of cards for your Myth Minions.

"But Tanner, what cards are they and how can they help my Minion and more importantly...me?"

Glad you asked:


Each card is 1 training point. They are not required but, like I said before, they are a good way to use your Minion more effectively.

So, the next time you are reorganizing your deck and see those sad, dust covered Minions sitting in the bottom of your pile, dust one or two off and give them a whirl. They might just surprise you.

Welcome to Myth Manor!

Hello and welcome to Myth Manor, a blog about one Myth school students journey and adventures through through the world of Wizard 101. I have been playing this game off and on for almost a year with my family. During the last few months I have dropped almost every other game I was playing and dedicated my time to my wizard, Tanner Willowcaller. Tanner was my first wizard in the realm. He is still low level (31) at the moment but since I have turned my full attention to this game I'm sure....well, I hope that is...to level him up a bit faster. Although I say faster, for me it not about the level, its about the journey to get there. Power leveling is right out. I will get there when I get there.

And before anyone asks, yes Myth was my school of choice. I always thought it was intriguing and so far it hasn't proven me wrong. Minions, Minotaurs and mayhem make up the play style of a Myth student. It can be a tough school to work with but once you get its intricacies down, its a lot of fun..and, in my opinion, very powerful. My secondary is Balance and I think it works rather well in combination with Myth, but I will dive into that in a later post.

As this blog grows and matures, I hope to be passing along advice, tips, ideas, great stories and adventures mixed with a gripe here and there (there will always be some in any game). Blogging is a rather new realm for me and I'm sure there will be some bumps along the way but I think this will be fun for all of us.

With that I welcome you to Myth Manor, make yourself at home and when you feel ready, join me in game!