Hizu in the House!

Well, technically, in the Artist Showcase Shop.

It’s Tuesday! And you know what that means: an all-new limited time Artist Showcase Shop in Battleon!

This week is dedicated to Hizu, our very own volunteer animator for AQW. Hizu has a hoard of Ninja-themed items that will make you stand out of a crowd rather than blend in!

	Shinobi Senshi Armor – Rare!
	Kaze Cape of Shinobi – Rare!
	Inu-ken Battle Pet
	Shinobi Kao
	Shuang Gou of Shinobi
	Dual Doragon Katanas – Rare!
	Reversed Revenge
	Katana of Meiyo
	Gekido of Shinobi
	Shinobi Naginata
	Veil of the Shinobi
	Shinobow and Arrows

When you look THAT good, you WANT be seen. Just make sure to buff your Stealth Stats if you wish to pursue the way of the Ninja.

Hizu Who?

Ever wonder how AQW Monsters learn their attacks? Hizu teaches them! Every week when Hizu isn’t slaying pirates and robots and robo-pirates, that Ninja sneaks into Lore’s monster training camp and animates Monsters with vicious attacks. He’s been hard at work since June 2011—and now you know why those Monsters are so dang difficult! Grrrr!!

Hizu wanted to be an animator/monster attack trainer ever since he feasted his eye* on Samurai Champloo back in 2005. Hizu always wanted to create something that others could see and enjoy, and thus began his vigorous animation conditioning. Hizu’s favorite thing about Artix Entertainment is how accessible our games are for newcomers but insanely deep with thousands of years of lore to tell an endless story.

*Hizu only has one eye! Perhaps he dodged a Ninja Star a second too late?

What is the Artist Showcase Shop?

Every Tuesday**, AQWorlds releases a limited-time Featured Artist Showcase Shop loaded with items that an Artix Entertainment artist creates. Using his or her own style and flair, our wonderful artists create truly amazing Armors, Weapons, Helms, and other Items just for you! But these items are only available for 1 week, replaced the following week by another artist’s items.

**Quibble got a brand-new shipment of items last Tuesday and wanted to showcase his stuff instead! We’ve known that traveling sales Moglin for a long time, so we gave him dibs.

Get your Ninja on in Battleon’s Artist Showcase Shop!

Hunt for the Missing Socks

It's Missing Left Sock Day! Will YOU find one?

For some reason, I can NEVER find my socks! (That may be because I don't own any.) From what I hear, lots of you guys have the same problem, and you DO own socks!

Last year, to raise awareness about this missing sock epidemic, Cysero opened the Missing Left Sock Day shop and wrote a moving speech. Read about the nature of this sock-ing mystery here: Cysero's Sock Public Service Announcement.

Helping the golem put a sock in it.

Sadly, the problem still exists. For the last month, we've had players on Twitter calling our attention to the fact that they can't find their socks anywhere! Not in their drawers, not on their floors. Not under their beds, not on top of their heads. So today, May 9th, Missing Left Sock Day 2013, we want to gather everyone in AQWorlds and FIND THOSE SOCKS! 

Find the Socks, Get the Prizes!

Everyone loves socks! (Unless you've got sensitive feet...) So we've crafted some woolly gear that'll really sock it to ya!

Finding the Sock Shop will be quite a feet!

• Missing Middle Sock Dragon pet
• Chaorrupted Sock pet
• Sockarang and Dual Sockarangs
• Troll Sock Helm
• Nolly Sock Face

But Where ARE They?!

We can't just tell you! The whole point of the game is to find the socks and get the prizes! But I will give some you some hints.

The socks are:

• Not in the water.
• Not underground.
• Not in a Chaos Beast map.
• Not always in the first room of a map.
• May be draped on, over, or around NPCs.

Gather your friends and start hunting through AQWorlds! The socks are yours to find... and the gear is yours to claim! The gear will stay in-game for a week or two, then the socks will disappear. (Like they always do!)

Prepare to Cross Over

The Mirror Realm is Calling You Back. 

Many of you were not here for the 2010 AQW Birthday Event, hosted by Paul and Storm with special musical guest Jonathan Coulton (which was amazing). 

You can read a little bit about the fun we had HERE and you will also be able to re-watch the cutscenes from the event in the new Mirror Realm event starting TOMORROW! Before you cross over to the crazy backwards town of Battleoff (where Aria is a butcher, Warlic is a dim-witted scientist and Alina is a short-tempered poison mistress... and a blonde) there are some things that you need to know. 

In this strange reflection of our own existence Drakath is gathering the Lords of Order to help him fight the powerful darkness sweeping across the land. Gravelyn The Good leads the Lightscythe army from her palace in Brightfall, while evil King Alteon the Imbalanced threatens to destroy everything with the crushing force of his undead army. 

Crossing over to the Mirror Realm (or them coming here) takes an enormous amount of power and whatever crosses has to trade places with its reflection, unless you come from OUTSIDE the Multiverse (like Paul & Storm, the interdimensional bards) or you are you.

You are very special. For an unknown reason there is no reflection of you so crossing over takes much less energy. Unfortunately this has tipped the scales of dimensional balance and as you have grown in power, the imbalance has become greater and greater. 

In such cases the multiverse can heal itself by removing the problem and erasing you from ever having existed in space-time. Your good friend, Drakath (the one from the other side) has not forgotten what you did for him and his friends on your last visit and will stop at nothing to help you find some way to balance your existence in his universe... but what could possibly balance out the vast effects that you've had in your own reality? 

Find out, tomorrow! 

Become a Kanataka Warrior

Command the Skies with a 1 Month Upgrade!

Death from above comes from YOUR hands!  Kanataka Warriors are an elite fighting force patrolling the skies over Yokai Island.  Unlock the Kanataka Warrior set with a 1 Month Membership; find it inside the payment window in-game (click the "Get Membership" or "Get ACs" button on your Dragon Menu, then look for the Specials tab) or on the Portal Site.

"Honor. Loyalty. Victory." - Kanataka Warrior Creed

Who are the Kanataka Warriors?

The sons and daughters of Yokai nobles are chosen at a young age and train for the rest of their lives to hone their battle skills.  They are prepared to slay any enemy (or sacrifice their own lives) in order to protect the lives and liberty of the people who depend on them.

What comes with the set?

Inspired by the hawks which soar over Yokai Island, Tyronius crafted a set celebrating the Yokai's most sky-worthy warriors!

• Kanataka Warrior Armor
• Taka Crest Helm
• Hikoyoku Wings
• Hariken Cape
• Inazuma Staff
• Book of Lore AND character page badges

Return To The Mirror Realm

Mirror Mirror, Part 1

When you look in a mirror, do you simply see light bouncing off a reflective surface showing you whatever images are carried to your eye from that angle by the reflected wavicles of photons...

...or do you see a doorway to another world?

There's no telling what you'll find behind the mirror!

The Mirror Realm is a backwards world where everything is flipped in SOME way but not every way. It could be a simple as someone being right handed there where they are left handed in our world, or it could be a significant as a kindly and noble king on this side being reflected as the absolute power for evil on the other side. 

Find the GroundForce set in Quibble's shop tonight!

 Mirror Drakath has been chosen as the Champion of Order and has been gathering his powerful Lords of order to help him bring order to a world torn in hand by a war between good and evil. Just like Drakath in this world, he is unimaginably powerful but even as powerful as the Drakaths are... there is one to balance the other one. 

You are unique. There is no version of you in the Mirror Realm. As your great actions in this reality have begun to change the story the multiverse has become unbalanced without an opposite power changing the world in the Mirror Realm and that is VERY dangerous. 

Mirror  Moglins want to HURT you, not HEAL you!

Like your own natural defenses attacking an invading virus causing imbalance in the body, the multiverse has begun to react to the imbalance caused by you. Mirror Drakath has begun to sense movement in the multiverse and he has come to this side to help you escape the fate of being erased from reality. 

Find the MagmaClaw set in Quibble's shop tonight!

This is Part 1 of a two part return to the Mirror Realm. For the last 2 weeks Quibble has been trying his best to use his connections to bring you gear that you'll need to prepare yourself for crossing over and he has added a few more items this week including: 

• The Blade of Meh
• The Blade of Awful
• Magma Claw Armor (reflected Ice Claw)
• Groundforce Uniform (reflected Skyguard Uniform)

Shake the GROUNDFORCE!

You will also be able to unlock a merge shop at the end of this week's quests that will allow you to farm for a full set based on Solrac's original Omega Death Dealer called the Life Taker. We will be adding more Mirror Realm Theme items to this merge shop next week. 

What Else Is Going On?

A lot, we've had a release every day this week. 

"Honor. Loyalty. Victory." - Kanataka Warrior Creed

• The Kanataka Warrior set is now an available membership bonus 
• The Sock Hunt will continue through the weekend. Find a sock in the game and click on it to open up a special shop. 
• MOTHER'S DAY is Sunday and we will be adding the seasonal Mother's Day Shop to the Dragon Menu. Remember to tell your Mom how much you appreciate all that she does for you! 

Helping the golem put a sock in it.

Have a great weekend!

OR ELSE!

J6 Saga Study Guide

A Simple Guide to a Complex Saga

Embark on the exciting conclusion of the J6 Saga this Friday evening!

Here’s a helpful spoiler-free guide to aid you on your J6 adventures from beginning to end. Give a great big THANK YOU to Sora To Hoshi for helping with this guide and providing screenshots =D

Pencil Puddle

J6 goes out for a picnic and forgets to draw his zone. But not all is what it seems! Fight the Sketchy Dragon for a clue to find the elusive Bounty Hunter J6.

Begin your J6 adventures by typing /join J6 in the chat field in-game!

The Rusty Spittoon Saloon

Grab some Moglinberry juice and help the local patrons with their quests. Discover valuable information about the mysterious J6 and test your knowledge against the Bounty Hunter himself.

Answer all of J6’s questions correctly and he’ll award you with coordinates to his Hyperium Spaceship!

Hyperium  

Watch out for those darn Turrets! You and your friendsmust work together as a team to get past the Turrets. Don’t give up—it WILL take some time! Crack into the Bounty Hunter armory by clicking on the gauges in the correct order, meet H.A.L. the computer, and find the hidden VR Room Access Card.

Continue on your quest with J6 and pay special attention to his clues!

Zephyrus

Once you’ve found the VR Room Access card, you can embark on Virtual Reality missions! Explore the Zephyrus train, talk to the passengers, and make sure none of them are hiding anything.

Retrieve the Crystallized Dragons Breath, spin open a chamber, and run across the Zephyrus roof until you reach the Hyperium once more!

Planet Westion

Finding the Chapter 5 Datadisk allows you to find out more about J6! Travel through the Moonyard playing AS J6 but make sure to hold your nose… because this is one Virtual Reality simulation that really STINKS!

Kick some Robo-butt in the Moonyard and return to the Hyperium when finished.

Banzai Planet

After helping H.A.L. with some missions, find the location of Datadisk 4 and journey to Banzai! Nullify all life on this planet by winning multiple mini games and defeating the L.O.S.E.R.S.

After disarming the bomb, make your way back to the Hyperium floating through space and complete your mission.

Evil Medieval

Help H.A.L. and get a clue to the location of Datadisk 3. Watch the content of this Chapter 3 Datadisk in the VR Room once you found it.

Afterwards, speak with J6 and help him with his last minute quests before taking flight into hyperspace!

Take H.A.L. Offline

Now that you are in hyperspace, go to the VR Room and await instructions from the Baron.

You need to find a way to turn H.A.L. off—so you must challenge your Memory against his!

Defeat H.A.L. at his game and discover the secret to powering down this super computer.

Last Week’s Cliffhanger

Once the Baron breaks onto the Hyperium, it is up to YOU to decide weather or not to Shoot J6 or Spare J6’s Life.

And this Friday, YOU are the sole decider of J6's fate! Will you be the Bounty Hunter's friend or foe? Will you help him with his mission… or put a permanent end to J6?

Log in tomorrow night for the highly anticipated J6 Saga Finale! 

Your Treasure Chest Overflows

New Gear in Twilly's Treasure Chest!

Talk to Twilly to get your NEW Treasure Chest items! Take the Treasure Chests that drop from monsters as you battle and buy Treasure Chest Keys from Twilly to unlock them (or use the TWO FREE Keys you get from Twilly each month you're a member)! 

Legion Nightmares will stalk Lore... tonight!

Not Sure What the Treasure Chests Are?

These chests have a less than 1% chance of dropping from ANY monster in the entire game. Each one contains one of over 20 (and the number will keep growing) Epic Items that you can't get anywhere else!

NightCaller Scythe

All of the items are 0 AC so you can store them for free, all of the items are non-member so you can use them forever!There's just one problem. You can't open the Treasure Chests without a Magic Key. The good news is that Twilly (the little red Moglin in Battleon) has a few extras and will happily sell you one for 200 ACs and open your chest for you.

Coffinbreaker Blade and Claymore of Light

If you don't have a lot of spare ACs, you can always do some AEXtras to get some quick AdventureCoins, and if you don't feel like doing that, just sell the Treasure Chest! Each one is worth 500 GOLD!

BattlePoint Scythe

MEMBER PERK: Once again, AQW membership gives you even more of the best of AQW. Every month you're a Member, you get two FREE Treasure Chest keys!

Deepspace Engineer Suit!

Astral Guardian and Wanderer

Astral Guardian Double Set Package!

Soar through the stars and defend entire dimensions with the Astral Guardian and Astral Wanderer sets!

The Limited Time Astral Guardian Shop will be available until sometime in May and includes 11 AC items OR...

• Get all 11 PLUS 2 Member-only exclusive items for free when you buy a 3 Month Membership package! 
• Get all 11 items for free if you buy a 5,000 Adventure Coin package!

Astral Guardian Set

The shop will include:

• Astral Guardian Armor
• Astral Wanderer Armor
• Shadowed Runic Seal
• Wanderer's Runic Seal
• Astral Guardian Wings
• Astral Shadow Wings
• Runic Universal Shield
• Color-custom Shield Wings
• Runic Universal Wings
• Astral Guardian Hood
• Astral Wanderer Hood

Astral Wanderer Set

Member-package exclusive items are:

• Color-custom Astral Wings 
• Ringed Wanderer Hood 
  

Astral Shop Available in Battleon Tonight!

The following items will be sold in the Astral Guardian Battleon shop for a limited time:

• Astral Guardian Armor
• Astral Wanderer Armor
• Shadowed Runic Seal
• Wanderer's Runic Seal
• Astral Guardian Wings
• Astral Shadow Wings
• Runic Universal Shield
• Color-custom Shield Wings
• Runic Universal Wings
• Astral Guardian Hood
• Astral Wanderer Hood

J6 Saga Finale

Discover J6's TRUE Secret!

Log in now to battle across the galaxy with J6 the Bounty Hunter! Tonight, YOU are the sole decider of J6's fate! Will you be the Bounty Hunter's friend or foe? Will you help him with his mission… or put a permanent end to J6? Log in now for the highly-anticipated J6 Saga Finale! 

Complete the entire J6 Saga to unlock the Member-only Hyperium house! And find all the new 0 AC, Member-only rewards in the Bounty Hunter shop update!

J6 Saga Check List

1. /join j6 to begin your J6 Saga adventures
2. Complete quests in J6 map and defeat the Sketchy Dragon until you find J6’s Secret Hideout Map and equip it
3. Find the Dwakel Decoder
4. Use J6’s Secret Hideout Map to find the Rusty Spittoon Saloon
5. Help the Saloon patrons with their quests and learn about J6
6. Find J6, snag the Crystalized Dragons Breath, get a perfect score on J6’s Quiz, and receive coordinates to the Hyperium Starship
7. Bring 2 friends to the Hyperium to get past the Turrets
8. Access the Bounty Hunter Shop by clicking the gauges in the right order
9. Embark on H.A.L.’s Missions in the 3rd floor using the Elevator
   
   
10. Find where J6 keeps his VR Room Access Ticket
11. Go to the VR Room on the 2nd floor using the Elevator
12. Complete missions in the VR Room and H.A.L.
13. Find missing Datadisks hidden all over Lore
14. Return to the VR Room after finding Datadisks
15. Join Hyperium and begin Part 1 of the finale.
16. Complete the hyperspace map's missions.
17. Join Hyperium and get to work!

Complete the entire J6 Saga to unlock Steampunk J6!

The entire J6 Saga is complex, taking luck AND teamwork to complete. One of the hardest storylines in game, team-up to discover his secret! Good luck, intrepid Bounty Hunters!

Lucky 13 Contest Results

We are LUCKY to have you!

From March 13, 2013, until April 13, 2013, we ran the Lucky 13 Contest where we tried to get 1.3 Million New Players to join the ongoing adventures of AQWorlds.

If successful, every hero would receive a flurry of Lucky 13 rewards, including a complete Lucky 13 Armor Set, a Lucky 13 Achievement Badge, 13% higher monster drop rates, and a 13% boost in AdventureCoins when upgrading.

The Contest Results are in!

WOW! Over 1,000,000 new AQWorlds accounts were created… but not enough to meet the 1.3 Million goal.

HOWEVER! Combining all new Artix Entertainment game accounts together DID exceed the 1.3 Million goal! Now that’s what Team Work is all about!

And here at Artix Entertainment, we praise and value Team Work. Because each and every one of you worked together SO HARD, we still want to award you and your friends with Lucky 13 Contest items!

Sometime later this week, a special shop will open in Battleon that will award:

• Diamond Dueler Armor
• Staff of Spades
• Cape of Clover
• Helm of the Heart
• Member-Only Lucky Suit Bank Pet

All for FREE--and all 0 ACs so that you can keep them forever =D

Anyone with an active AQWorlds account can receive these items! And anyone who creates an AQW account within 2 weeks of the Lucky 13 shop opening can also obtain these items.

Stay tuned throughout the week for Lucky 13 Contest updates on the Design Notes!

What About the Other Rewards?

Since we did not reach the Lucky 13 Contest goal, we will not release the Lucky 13 Achievement Badge, the 13% higher monster drop rates, nor the 13% bonusAdventureCoins. But because you tried SO HARD and we were SO CLOSE at achieving our goals, we still want to award you with some free spiffy items =D

Now that’s LUCKY!

Thank you for trying your absolute best! We could NOT have gotten this far without your help! You are truly a hero =D

Looking for another contest challenge?

AdventureQuest Worlds’ 1 Million Facebook Likes contest is underway!

If you and all your friends can help AQWorlds reach 1,000,000 Likes on Facebook, then you and everyone else who helps out will receive a free brand-new Class in AdventureQuest Worlds!

Sweet, right? RIGHT!

Gather everyone you know—friends, family, & followers—and tell them to like the AdventureQuest Worlds Facebook page to help us reach 1 Million Likes by July 7, 2013!

Like the AdventureQuest Worlds Facebook page now!

We can do it! Woohoo!

Rhubarb's Little Helper

Thanks For All Of Your Help

This weekend AQW encountered a very large problem. We started getting lots of reports of people being unable to start brand new accounts. As you might know, AQW needs players to keep it going and the more we have the better we do so when there's a bug that stops being from being able to create free accounts, we take it VERY seriously. 

Being the generally awesome group of people that you are, you jumped up and began volunteering useful information, a few of you even taking movies of the account creation not working which was great but we were still unable to narrow down the cause of the problem. 

One player who was having the issue struck me as both a native English speaker and very mature and well spoken (all traits that we need when testing for bugs). I asked if he was willing to hop on to AQW and help Captain Rhubarb track down the issue and he did. 

While many of you volunteered the same information as this guy, he sat in a room with Cap and I for many hours, testing link after link, opening up his browser's networking panel and reading us the output as Cap tried to figure out what the source of this bug was. 

This player asked for no kind of reward and expected nothing in return for sitting in a private room and being our test subject for hours after numb-numbing hour. He has a live. He could have gotten bored or tired and we would have understood but he was a trooper and kept working with us deep into the night until his services were no longer required and Cap and put a temporary fix in until he could patch the issue. 

He was such a great sport that I offered to do something for him to thank him for his hard work. He is already a Member with plenty of ACs and several thousand Artix points just waiting to be spent so I asked if there was a rare that I could give him as a thank you. 

He asked if Dark Caster was too much. I told him that I was sorry but it was. It would be unfair to everyone who entered the SUATMR contest to just magic one into existence for him when we were scavenging used ones from our own accounts for the winners. It couldn't come from that list. 

Finally, he asked if I might be able to give him the Oblivion Blade of Nulgath pet, which I was happy to do. 

It's not the first time that a Dev has awarded a player for helping us in some respect and it won't be the last (not that we give a gift to EVERY person who helps us, either.), but there seem to be lots and lots of people on the forums and on Twitter who either think that this player did not deserve an award or that they ALSO deserved an award. To those people I offer this:

• To those who think he did not deserve a this treatment... I'm not sure what you think that but you really don't have any idea what he did to earn it our how much he helped us out. Whomever we ask to help us and what we offer them, if anything, to thank them is our call.
  
• To all those who think they should also get something... part of the reason that I was willing to offer him a thank you was that he never asked for anything in return and nor indicated in any way that he expected something. He was willing to help just to help fix the game, and we are very grateful for that kind of selfless appreciation of AQW. Again, I want to thank everyone who tried to provide us info about the bug but he ended up being immeasurably helpful in testing this thing.

We move at a very rapid pace at AE. One of the prices that we pay for releasing new playable content just about every week of the year is that we don't get to test as much as we'd like and we end up with quite a large bugs list. We are grateful for every single bug report that we get and we consider you all testers to some degree but please don't be a hater when it comes to someone who was in the right place at the right time with the tools and the talent to help us out. 

Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop

The start of something epic every week!

Question

Wouldn’t it be AWESOME to see an entire AQWorlds Item Set made by one of the Artix Entertainment artists every single week? In some sort of limited-time Artist Showcase Shop? Right in the Game Menu?

Answer

YES YES YES!

The Showcase Scoop

Starting today, Tuesday, April 16, and every Tuesday that follows*, AQWorlds will release a special “Limited Time Featured Artist Showcase Shop” loaded with items that an Artix Entertainment artist creates using their own style and flair.

The Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop will feature a complete Item Set made by an Artix Entertainment artist, created in any manner they so choose. This shop encourages our wonderful artists to unleash their creativity and make some truly epic Armors, Weapons, Helms, and other Items for AQWorlds.

And because it’s called the Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop, the artist’s items will run for 1 week (Tuesday until Tuesday) with a new artist’s Showcased Items replacing the previous set.

At least one RARE item will be included in each artist’s showcased shop. All other items in the shop may or may not return at a later date—that’s all up to the artist! TheRare Item will always sell for AdventureCoins (free storage woohoo!) and will ONLY be available during that week.  

*We say every Tuesday… and we mean it! We’re ganna keep on releasing new Artist Showcase Shops every Tuesday until we run out of artists… or run out of coffee. 

The First Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop

Vokun is the first to be featured in the Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop!

Vokun’s person stash of undead pirate items is guaranteed to shiver the timbers of friends and foes throughout your swashbuckling travels. 

• Void Blade of Vokun – RARE!
• Pirate of Vokun Armor
• Vokun’s Pirate Hat
• Vokun’s Pirate Hat Hair
• Plume of the Pirate Wings

The Void Blade of Vokun will be going forever RARE on next Tuesday, April 23^, 2013. The Void Blade is selling for 200 AdventureCoins—so get more ACs now if you wanna score this awesome Rare blade!  

Who is Vokun?

Legend foretells that Vokun was a Lord of the Forgotten Tombs, guarding its fabled treasures and dark magic. When the Forgotten Tombs collapsed during an earthquake, Vokun locked himself up for a millennium. Now that Vokun has resurfaced, he has harnessed the Tombs’ dark magic, creating a new breed of dark army followers.

In the real world, Vokun is an AQWorlds volunteer artist hailing from the Netherlands. Inspired by the artists of Artix Entertainment, Vokun began his own artistic adventures with Flash less than a year ago. Vokun receives lots of help and positive energy from the Artix gaming community and continues to master his art and style.

Want to thank Vokun for his hard work? Give him a shout out on the Forums!

Now that you know everything about Vokun and the first Limited Time Artist Showcase Shop, get your gear on in the Battleon Game Menu!

PS: Soon you'll see Vokun's NPC in-game permanently! He'll be moving to a room in the Underworld. Look for him (and the shop he'll have there) in the near future.