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Battleground Boons


by vancouverite2010

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The Obelisk Battleground is a new permanent site feature that followed the Tyrannia: Obelisk war which ran from February 11, 2013 to March 17, 2013. There were hints on the Neopets Official fan page on Facebook and hidden links in the Editorial and... um... not so subtle hints in a few News updates that got us to believe we would be utilizing the new Battledome to do some fighting.

We were reintroduced to Kanrik, who is most notably known from the Hannah and the Ice Caves plot, the leader of the Thieves Guild who became the first faction. We were then introduced to an image of an unknown Skeith who we later found out to be Commander Flint of the Brute Squad. A teaser hidden in the News update showed us an anonymous Bori with a Crokabek on their shoulder which we would find out later is how agents of the Sway faction sent messages to other members. A few days later after a subtle hint to train our pets, we were given yet another teaser but this time of an Ixi curiously studying books. This was to be another faction, Seekers of knowledge.

A new day had begun on Monday February 11th which greeted many users with a shocking Something Has Happened event very similar to the earthquake random event many people love (because... you know, it "shook" your screen). It appeared out of nowhere. Nobody was expecting it. Expecting what you may ask? The Harlem Shake, of course. A mysterious site appeared in the outskirts of Tyrannia where players could dig up Neopoint items, and in a separate area, those who enjoy Neocash can also use Scanoscopes to scan for wearables. How fun it was to dig up NP items! First we dig then stand there for 15 minutes (we can sing while we dig but the Helpful Zafara only likes dubstep) and then dig again and repeat. Once all that dirt was dug up, we have unearthed what appears to be some kind of obelisk.

Upon hearing that the Tyrannians uncovered something unusual, Kanrik wanted his Guild of Thieves to get to the outskirts of Tyrannia first to... steal the obelisk for him and his band of thieves believing it to be worth a lot. Disappointed that the Duchess of the Sway faction wasn't the first to hear about the Obelisk, she was determined they would be the first to claim it for them. The third faction we were introduced to was the Order of the Red Erisim with a leader, who seems familiar, known as Rasala the Bright. She believed nobody else had the power to control the obelisk and convinced the others in her faction to do things her way. Commander Flint believed brute strength would allow him and his faction of the strongest in all of Neopia would get them to the Obelisk first. Anyone foolish enough to stand against them would fall! The fifth faction was the Seekers, an elite group of scholars eager to get their hands (and paws) on the obelisk to keep it from harm from the other factions and to study it. With all the factions heading toward the... wait a minute. Even all the factions put together, none made a better entrance than the Awakened, a faction of the undead. With creepy identical twins leaders, Lanie and Lanie, the zombies, mummy and ghost Neopets believe the Obelisk was filled with none other than... cake!

Everyone was able to choose one faction to join and fight their way to the Obelisk, each with different reasons for getting there first to claim whatever powers it held. Wave after wave, Battledomers fought their enemies of the other factions while their leaders stood back and... sang off in an Idol competition? Each round had slightly more difficult opponents until the fifth wave where the leaders' themselves entered the fray. After the leaders were piled up in front of you at your feet, you thought all was done and it was the end of the war. But SURPRISE! An entity that changed forms depending on the weakness of each faction was the big boss each faction community as a whole had to bring down. On St. Patrick's Day (or Illusens Day in Neopia), all the bosses were defeated after a month long event. The war was over so then we had to await our rewards for valiantly fighting and being loyal to our faction. They would come SOON. Be patient and we would get our due diligence they said. The prize shop would open soon they said.

After a period of waiting longer than the fight itself, we could finally spend our plot points in the prize shop. The winners of the war, the Sway faction, were awarded a special avatar called Battlegrounds: The Sway, a site theme sharing the same name as the avatar and 1 choice out of 5 boons with Premium users getting another 1 choice of 2 of Premium-only boons.

The Boons:

All Users -

Bank Bribery

You feel uplifted and your presence puts the bank manager in a delightfully good mood.

This boon will increase your daily bank interest by another 3% from whatever the normal % your bank account pays. So, if you have Millionaire Mega-Platinum bank account which gives 11.5% interest, you will get 14.5% interest for the remainder of the week.

Black Market Goods

Shopkeepers don't offer their finest goods to just anyone, but there's something about you...

This boon will highlight r85+ items when they restock with a yellow flame-like border.

Cheaper By the Dozen

By some force that defies explanation, the rules of the Stock Market bend to your will.

This boon will allow you to buy stocks priced as low as 10 NP each stock, instead of the usual minimum of 15 NP in the stock market.

Refreshed Quest Request

The faeries sense something within you and offer a second chance.

This boon allows you to refresh once at the faerie quest page for a different faerie quest when you have an active faerie quest. If you get multiple faerie quests, you can refresh each one of them once for a better quest.

That Millionaire Feeling

And what a feeling it is. You are mysteriously compelled to use this gift at the Trading Post.

This boon allows you to offer up to 1 million NP on a trade instead of the usual 800k max.

Premium Users Only -

Full Pockets

The scratch card hums in your hands and you feel luckier. This is not the Space Faerie's doing....

This boon will increase the amount of NP awarded from your Space Faerie Scratch cards. If you win an item from your scratch card instead, you will also be awarded an additional prize of 1,000 NP. If you have more than one unscratched card, it will apply to all of them.

Premium Dreamium

You feel drawn to the Games Room, determined to leave richer than you arrived.

With this boon you will be able to send one extra game score in the Premium Featured Game. So instead of being able to send 3 scores you will be able to send 4. During Games Galore, you will also get one extra score (for a total of 6 scores).

These are the only two boons for Premium members and it's the same for all winning factions. You have to choose 1 regular and 1 Premium boon before you can reap your rewards.

After their week was up, the Oracle (who was locked up in that Obelisk for a thousand years) selected 3 random factions to battle for her rewards. In order, the following winners were...

The Thieves Guild (Battleground: Thieves Guild avatar and site theme)

Cheaper By the Dozen

Doppelgänger

Used up? Not today. Today, the laws of physics take a little nap in the Battledome, just for you.

This boon will allow you to use one-use battledome items (snowballs, muffins, potions) more than once in battle before they disappear. Some one-use items will still disappear after one use, but often, you'll find that you get to re-use them. This does not apply to once per battle items.

Five-Finger Discount

The shopkeepers just like you better than everyone else. It must be your sparkling wit.

This boon will provide a 10% discount when haggling at Neopian shops. The discount only applies during haggling, so any shops that do not require haggling (like the Hidden Tower) will not be discounted.

LOL AVIES

You suddenly feel the need to admire others' avatars... closely. Is that glitter?

This boon allows you to "steal" someone else's avatar for the duration of the boon. Instead of appearing as a normal avatar, however, it will show that you have "pilfered" the avatar from someone else. If you get bored of your new pilfered avatar, you can just steal someone else's avatar to switch. These stolen avatars do not count toward your secret avatar count.

Scratch Master

You feel like hanging around scratch card kiosks. Who knows? Maybe it's your lucky day.

This boon will allow you to purchase two scratch cards at any of the scratch card kiosks instead of just one. Normally, you are required to wait 2 hours before purchasing another.

The Order of the Red Erisim (Battleground: The Order avatar and site theme)

Cartogriphication

The faeries may have powerful spells of misdirection, but they fall like cobwebs before you in the caves.

This boon will automatically direct you to the treasure in the Faerie Caverns. To find the treasure follow the voice in your pet's head as indicated in the hints on the pages.

Doctor who?

Sometimes, everyone gets to be healthy.

This boon will cure your Neopet at the Healing Springs if it is sick.

Doppelgänger

Double Bubble

There seems to be a little essence of Everlasting Apple in some of your potions. Tasty.

When a pet drinks any healing potion, there's a chance it will refill so you can use it a second time.

Refreshed Quest Request

The Brute Squad (Battleground: Brute Squad avatar and site theme)

Doppelgänger

Equip ALL THE THINGS

Why choose when you can carry even more implements of chaos? It's like you have another hand.

You are allowed to have 9 Battledome weapons equipped instead of 8.

GRRRAAAAHHHHHH!

You're feeling a bit stronger lately. Now might be a good time to stomp around at the Battledome.

This boon will provide a 10% damage increase in the battledome.

Right Round Round Round

You feel strangely drawn to large wheels. Perhaps your luck is turning around.

You are allowed to spin each Neopian wheel two times (Excitement, Extravagance, Knowledge, Mediocrity, Misfortune and Monotony) before having to wait the usual time to spin again.

Scratch Master

The Awakened (Battleground: Awakened avatar and site theme)

Book Smarts

You feel as though every word you read somehow means more than it usually does. Is your mind expanding?

This increases how many Intelligence points your pet receives when it reads a book.

Doppelgänger

Five-Finger Discount

Refreshed Quest Request

Right Round Round Round

Seekers (Battleground: Seekers avatar and site theme)

Bank Bribery

Book Smarts

Doctor Who?

Right Round Round Round

Strength of Mind

Let others grunt and shove each other about. You feel smart enough to find another path to victory.

Gain the "Mind Blast" ability in the Battledome. It changes the strength boost with intelligence.

The Pros and cons of each boon:

Bank Bribery

Pro: If you have millions of NP stored in your bank then your interest can be quite a lot more.

Con: If you're dirt poor then this isn't the best option.

Black Market Goods

Pro: If you're a restocker then this can highlight some of those nice profit items.

Con: If you are slow when haggling then this might not be the best since there can be competition for that one item you see highlighted.

Cheaper By the Dozen

Pro: Lower buying point means more NP profit by up to 5k!

Con: None really. The Stock Market takes time to get much profit and fluctuates so it isn't the best for impatient people like me.

Refreshed Quest Request

Pro: If you have the Faerie Quest Fortune Cookie from the NC Mall (125 NC, seldom restocks
randomly) then you get one guaranteed quest and more chances to get the better Faerie quests whether you're going for the Fountain Faerie or if you don't like Delina (NC Faerie), Air or Earth faeries.

Con: Against buying NC? You don't get many random Faerie Quests? Try your luck with a different boon.

That Millionaire Feeling

Pro: None really unless you think offering another 200k in the Trading Post is significant. You're best to use the Auction House.

Con: It's by far the worst boon. EVER!

Doppelgänger

Pro: You have a slight chance to reuse that one-time use weapons if you're into Battledoming.

Con: If you don't use many one-time use weapons or not into Battledoming then this isn't for you.

Five-Finger Discount

Pro: If you're a restocker, it means your profits can increase by a lot!

Con: If you're not a restocker, slow at haggling, mishaggle a lot then this isn't the best boon for you.

LOL AVIES

Pro: You can't get the avatar even if your life depended on it? Steal it temporarily to say that you have it... for a while.

Con: You can't really steal avatars and keep them in your collection to count toward your avatar count.

Scratch Master

Pro: If you like buying scratch cards from the 3 different kiosks and are feeling lucky, you can get one of the rare ones and resell or scratch it yourself to win the jackpot!

Con: If you're pretty unlucky then this is a waste.

Cartogriphication

Pro: Guaranteed to win the treasure which can be 400 NP or more so you get your entrance fee back. There is also profit to be made from the few items you can win.

Con: None.

Doctor who?

Pro: If your pet is sick with something that the cure costs a lot and the Healing Springs takes forever then this boon will allow the Springs to cure on the first try and restore your pet's Health points.

Con: If your pets aren't sick then this is a waste.

Double Bubble

Pro: Like to battle and use healing potions a lot to heal? There is a chance to reuse it once more.

Con: You use alternative healing methods? Not into Battledoming? This isn't for you, choose something else.

Equip ALL THE THINGS

Pro: Want to use just ONE more weapon but not enough room? This is for you!

Con: If you're not into Battledoming or don't have 9 good weapons to use then this is pointless.

GRRRAAAAHHHHHH!

Pro: Like to inflict 10% more damage? Pick this.

Con: Not into Battledoming? This would be the wrong choice of boon.

Right Round Round Round

Pro: Trying for those wheel avatars? More chances to get them now.

Con: Don't like the wheels? You're unlucky? Maybe try a different boon.

Book Smarts

Pro: Into Battledoming and need a certain intelligence for that weapon? This helps by increasing the point value.

Con: Don't care for Intel? Pick something else.

Strength of Mind

Pro: Pet's strength boost is low but intelligence is high? This switches them around temporarily.

Con: Already have a high strength boost? Not into Battledoming? Use that brain, your eyes and clicking skills to choose more wisely.

Morris' best boon to choose from within each faction's choices:

Awakened - Refresh or Right Round

Brutes - Right Round or Scratch Master

Order - Cartographication or Refresh

Seekers - Right Round or Bank Bribery

Sway - Refresh or Cheaper

Thieves - Cheaper or LOL AVIES just for the lulz

The schedule for this site event is always the same, it lasts for 2 weeks then it starts over again with 3 different factions. One Monday, 3 random factions are chosen to battle each other, you have nothing to do but decide which faction to fight for but you have 72 hours (until the end of Wednesday) to make a choice. On Thursday, you go to the Battledome, click Battle! pick which pet to battle with, click Continue, leave it on Challenger, Continue and either click on Tyrannia's image (looks like Stonehenge) and the last 10 challengers are who you can fight or on the main list of all the challengers, it's still the last 10 opponents that you have to defeat for getting the avatar, site theme and choice of boons. You have 72 hours (until the end of Sunday) then the winners enjoy one week of the temporary boon(s) while the avatar and site theme are in your permanent collections. Lather, rinse, repeat.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this quick overview of the War for the Obelisk and the boons, what they do and their pros and cons. Here's to looking forward to the next plot.

Written by the knowledgeable Morris (vancouverite2010) with some info taken from Jellyneo and Sunnyneo. References made to the Tyrannian Plot parody found on //www.neopets.com/~Raztil

 
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