The recently launched Rappelz Epic VI: Solus Aurum begs for attention from new players and veterans alike with its arsenal of new pets.  These pets pose as a great danger to players, but can be captured and turned into great allies.  We take a quick look at the three recently released pets, and show case their skills for all to see.

New Pets: Octopus, Naga, Genie

Octopus

Skills

Blood Curse: Sprays cursed blood, consuming the caster's HP to deal damage and poison the target.

Field of Corruption: Summons a field of corruption around the caster that damages all enemies within while healing all nearby allies.

Soul Impact: Vibrates mana in the air until it causes a chain reaction, exploding three times around the target and causing magical damage.

Whirlwind Kick: Kicks the target with whirling tentacles twice in quick.

Shadow Illusion: Decreases the pet's threat.

Unity: Octopus: Increases the P. Atk and MP Regen of the pet and its owner.

Creation: Octopus Potion: Creates a potion that increases P. Atk and MP Regen of the user.

Slithering across the ground, these half-snake, half-women warriors call upon the Earth to smash their enemies into the ground.  The Naga are ancient warriors that aid their allies in battle with their honed fighting skills, and powerful arcane attacks.  Any adventurer seeking a skilled companion needs to look no further.

Skills

Sonic Wave: Creates a sonic wave by vibrating its tail fiercely, dealing magic damage to target enemy.

Sonic Sight: A buff that uses sonic waves to detect hidden enemies.

Falling Stone: Summons a huge rock over the enemy's head, dealing damage and reducing the target's defense power.

Standing Stone: Petrifies the target.

Rising Stone: Forces the ground to rise up and attack all nearby enemies, dealing damage and reducing the enemies' movement speed.

Unity: Naga: Increases the M. Atk of the pet and its owner.

Creation: Naga Potion: Creates a potion that increases M. Atk of the user.

You’ve found a Genie in a bottle, and you better rub it the right way, ‘cause this Genie will either save or kill you.  The Genies were mystical spirit companions of the golden tribe, and have been lost for centuries, but with The Sanctuary opening up, adventures can find these new companions roaming the forbidden halls.  Only the toughest fighters will be able to tame these powerful spirits.

Skills

Wind Strike: Attacks the target with the power of wind. Has a small chance of implanting a Wind Seed in the target.

Wind Pummel: Pummels the target with three consecutive physical attacks.

Wind Blossom: A Wind Seed in the target blooms, shredding the target from the inside with gale force winds. Only usable on targets implanted with a Wind Seed.

Whirlwind Blast: Stuns three nearby enemies and deals enormous damage.

Gale Force: A temporary self buff that increases Max HP, P. Atk, and Atk Speed.

Unity: Genie: Increases the P. Atk and P. Def of the pet and its owner.

Creation: Genie Potion: Creates a potion that increases P. Atk and P. Def of the user.

For more information on Rappelz and the Pet System visit rappelz.gpotato.com.

Solus Aurum’s combo system grants bigger bags, and new items!

One bag here, a sewing kit there, another bag too, and BOOM you got yourself a brand new bag, or at least that’s the idea behind Rappelz’s new combination system.  The combination system that has been developed for Rappelz allows players to take the items them find in the world, and combine them into more powerful items.  The main purpose is to provide players with bigger bags, stronger potions, and powerful buffs.  Here’s a quick example provided by the Solus Aurum’s website:

Combine the reagents with potions for exciting results!

·    1 Concentrated Power + 3 Deluxe Wind, Spell, or Quick Potions = 1 Superior Wind, Spell or Quick Potion
·    1 Solid Energy + 1 Extreme Power + 1 Superior Wind, Spell, or Quick Potion = Enhanced Wind, Spell, or Quick Potion
·    1 Enhanced Vessel + 1 Extreme Power + 1 Blue or Red Potion = Enhanced Blue or Red Potion
·    1 Distilled Skill + 1 Extreme Power = 1 Random Skill Card

Moon Rabbits!

Moon rocks were all the rage back in the 70s, so what’s better than a rock?  Rabbits of course!  These cuddly creatures will hop onto any adventurers’ heart, they’ll help grab loot for you too, and they come in three different colors: White, Cookies N’ Cream, and Golden.

Blizzard has officially stepped closer to the high per user revenue models of free to play mmorpgs with the launch of the Pet Store.  I guess it was only a matter of time that they moved into a fully serviced cash shop considering their Average revenue per user is about 10% that of Perfect World International.  Why limit revenue to $14.99 per month when so many people are willing to pay to get cosmetic "Fun" items like pets and costumes right? The significance of this is fairly large and will certainly mean major increases in profit to Blizzard and could possibly even lay down the path that leads to no monthly subscription fees for blizzard, but trust me they will keep those for as long as they possibly can and will only change it if they prove it brings in more users that buy items from the cash shop.

Quote from Nethaera (Source)

Today [November 5th] we’re pleased to introduce the Pet Store for World of Warcraft, a new way for players to obtain in-game pets to join them on their adventures in Azeroth. Two brand-new companions are now available for purchase exclusively at the Pet Store in the online Blizzard Store: Lil’ K.T. and the Pandaren Monk. 

Enter the Pandaren Monk, a martial-arts expert who’s here to help celebrate the upcoming fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft. He may be cute, but he’s proof that even the softest of critters can overcome the hardest of circumstances. For every Pandaren Monk that finds its way to a player’s side between now and the end of the year (December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PDT), we’ll donate 50 percent of the $10 purchasing price to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in an effort to brew up a little hope, strength, and joy in a child’s life. 

Lil’ K.T. is a miniature lich who bears a striking resemblance to the legendary lord of Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad. But don’t let his diminutive stature fool you: Lil’ K.T. has a diabolical laugh and wields true power at his bony fingertips, randomly wreaking icy havoc on critters who dare to cross his path. You can now buy this new pet for $10 on the Blizzard Store. (http://us.blizzard.com/store/ )

 In order to receive a purchased pet, you’ll need to merge your World of Warcraft account with a Battle.net account. For more information on Battle.net, please visit the FAQ. ( https://us.battle.net/faq/index.html ) For more information on the new Pet Store, visit the Pet Store FAQ. ( http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=29845 )”

Pet Store FAQ

Official Information Blizzard (Source)

Why are you introducing this service?
The Pet Store provides a new way for players to obtain unique companion pets outside of the game, which is something that has been requested by many players who enjoy World of Warcraft's non-combat companions.

Will more companions be available for purchase in the future?
We plan to add more pets to the Pet Store in the near future. Keep an eye on the official World of Warcraft website and the online Blizzard Store for details.

Where can I go to purchase these pets?
You can purchase these in-game companions by visiting this link or heading to the online Blizzard Store, where you'll find the Pet Store pets under the Collectibles tab.

Will I be able to acquire these Pet Store pets by questing, through holidays, on in-game vendors, or by any other in-game methods?
No. Pets purchasable through the Pet Store will not be obtainable through quests or other in-game means -- they're only available through the online Blizzard Store.

How do I redeem a Pet Store pet once it's been purchased from the Blizzard Store?
After you purchase the pet, you'll receive a code that can then be redeemed on any World of Warcraft account via Battle.net Account Management. You don't need to redeem the code on the same Battle.net account that made the initial purchase – feel free to send the code to a friend as a gift.

Will these pets count toward pet-related achievements?
These Pet Store pets will count toward the total number of pets a character has for achievements like Plethora of Pets or Lil' Game Hunter.

Will these pets help me in combat?
No, these pets are strictly cosmetic. They have some fun animations and sound effects, but they will not help you in PvP or PvE.

What characters will receive the Pet Store pet that I purchase?
Once you redeem your code on an individual World of Warcraft account, every character on the account will receive the pet in their in-game mailbox (including any characters you create in the future). If you wish to purchase the pet for multiple different World of Warcraft accounts merged with the same Battle.net account, you will need to buy a separate pet for each World of Warcraft account individually.

**Please Note** If a character transfers off of the account where the pet is bound the pet will be lost.**

How long will these Pet Store pets be available?
We do not currently have any plans to remove these pets from the Pet Store. The Blizzard Store purchasing page will provide information on any changes to availability.

In what regions are these pets available?
The Pet Store pets are available only to players on realms located in North America, Europe, and Korea. A Battle.net account is required in order to redeem the pet.

Charity Pet

What charity will I be supporting when I purchase the Pandaren Monk pet?
Donations from every sale of the Pandaren Monk pet through December 31, 2009, will be given to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To find out more about this charity, please visit www.wish.org.

How much of every Pandaren Monk pet sale will go to charity?
For each Pandaren Monk sale, we'll donate 50% of the $10 purchase price to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

How long will you be making this donation?
We will continue to make a donation for each Pandaren Monk pet purchased until December 31, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Will the pet still be available for purchase after the donation period is over?
Yes, you will still be able to purchase the pet after December 31, and we do not currently have any plans to remove this pet from the Pet Store. The Blizzard Store purchasing page will provide information on any changes to availability.

Does this mean you'll be introducing more services like this in the future? Will you be introducing the ability to buy epic weapons/etc. in the future, for example?

As with the pets, mounts, and other items players can obtain through Loot cards from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, Pet Store pets are purely cosmetic and just for fun. Like other paid services we offer, such as Paid Name Changes, Race Changes, and Character Re-Customizations, the Pet Store service is entirely optional and intended to provide players another means to enjoy World of Warcraft in a way that isn't detrimental to the game and that doesn't detract from the gameplay experience for players who choose not to use the service.

Rappelz: Solus Aurum – The Sanctuary & Flea Market

Solus Aurum provides a Sanctuary for players and a new Flea Market

The community of Rappelz has a bit more to celebrate with the release of its recent expansion: Rappelz Epic VI: Solus Aurum.  This new release has a ton of new features for players to enjoy, and also revolutionizes the economy of Rappelz.  We sat down with the new features and started digging through their content to share with the world.

New Dungeons: The Sanctuary

We entered The Sanctuary and found it to be massive in size, and beautiful in design.  The golden tribe represents itself well, because the city is covered in golden arches, masks, floors, bridges, and columns.  Even some of the beasts we encountered are made of pure gold.  The golden tribe also worshiped the sun, and even though the city lies underground, statues lifting bright glowing orbs light the way for anyone to venture around the halls with ease.

Aurumis is the guardian of the city, and has become the golden tribe’s historian and mentor, overtime.  Located at the center of The Sanctuary, Aurumis poses an exceptional threat to any explorer.  The creature is level 145, and uses powerful magic to quickly decimate those that are unprepared.

The Flea Market

Buy, sell, and be marry!

This is only the beginning!  Rappelz Epic IV: Solus Aurum has many more features: new pets, combinations, and new items.  MMOFury will be talking about more of the new features of Rappelz later in the week, so be sure to check back in soon!

You can check out the official site at http://www.rappelz.gpotato.com.