12 Things You Need to Know About the Battledome

by ChromeFox

12. DO NOT base your entire battle strategy on one item. What if your opponent uses a sticky hand, and by chance grabs your special item, what now? Or suppose it breaks? Develop a complex strategy. It takes time.

11. SPEED, as of yet, is worthless (but will probably be useful not too far in the future). It should be your last stat priority. Level and Defense are two other misunderstood stats. Level is what lets you gain abilities from faeries and individual pet skills. Defense only blocks attacks if you use a defensive item, like a shield, or a skill like Defend or Improved Defend.

10. WATCH what your opponent does. Note the items they use, and if you like what they do, check them out in the Battlepedia or Shop Wizard later. This will help you find a good strategy.

9. WORK towards getting the following abilities above all others: Fiery Gaze (fire), Heal (water), Diamond Dust (air), Sink (darkness), Burrow (earth), and Restore (light). Aim for Water first; you can get it at any level by giving your pet a Water Faerie. Then, go for Fiery Gaze. Next, Burrow. Restore, and then Sink and Diamond Dust. MAKE SURE YOU ARE AT THE RIGHT LEVEL. Check the Abilities page to see what level your pet needs to be to get them. For Sink and Diamond Dust, ask the people in the NeoChats.

8. MOST people are not willing to fight a pet that is ridiculously stronger than their own. However, most people do challenge pets that are weaker than theirs. Expand your options. Do not challenge only pets weaker than yours. Challenging pets a little stronger will increase the chance that they'll agree to fight, and it probably won't harm the results of the battle. Also, it's all right to accept a challenge from a pet that is a little stronger than yours. A little can mean different things to different strengths, so I'd recommend accepting if the difference between your HP and your opponent's HP is about 25% of your HP. For strength, I'd accept if the difference is 10% of your strength number. The other stats shouldn't really matter.

7. TEMPORARY (1-time-use) battle items are only worth the result of the battle. I've had opponents toss three exploding snowballs at me, and they STILL lost. That money went down the drain. Keep this in mind when you buy snowballs, battlecards, bottles, and elixirs.

6. BE COURTEOUS to your opponent. Talk to them if you want; this will make the battle more interesting. Say "good fight" afterwards, no matter if you won or lost. Some winners are so courteous that they send their opponent a healing potion after the battle. I've fought some of these kinds of people, and they definitely are great to know. You don't have to do this, however, especially if you don't have enough money to heal your own pets.

5. FREEZING is not against the rules, but it is proper and preferred that you do not freeze your opponent more than one time per battle, unless they do. However, if you're fighting one-player, you can freeze your opponent as many times as you want. If you do freeze, hit them with your best shot. They can't block, so you will deal maximum damage.

4. THE STRONGER your pets are, the harder it is to find an opponent. I've challenged pets who were stronger than mine, and they still refuse 80% of the time. Level 1 pets with bad stats have a much bigger selection of opponents than, say, Level 25 pets with great stats. Think of this as an advantage to being weak.

3. IF your opponent imposes certain rules for battle(I.E., no freezing, no snowballs, no battlecards, etc.), you are expected to follow them if you agree to fight. I do not recommend imposing these types of rules against any of your opponents, because, in my opinion, it is a sign that you're too cowardly to take being frozen and a few harsh hits. I think it's good to participate in these types of battles now and then, because it's a way of proving that you aren't winning battles by cheap shots.

2. LOSING isn't as bad as you think it is. Lost a fight? Join the other 50% of Neopians in two-player fights. Losing doesn't take battle points from your score. So if NeoPets makes scores worth something, none of your losses will matter. In fact, losing can be beneficial because having a lot of losses will make potential challengers think you're weaker than maybe you really are. So more people, and often weaker people, will challenge you.

1. NEVER give up. I cannot recall how many times I've seen players give up on the Battledome just because they lost a few battles. I lost 8 times in a row in my first Battledome days. Now I win almost every battle. Nearly everyone loses before they get the chance to find out how they can win. Focus on getting better at battles, not winning battles.