Forum discussions are now taking place on Discord. For all account questions and concerns, please continue to contact Customer Support directly.

Keep updated on Pirate101 on Twitter @Pirate101, Facebook, Discord, and @KI_Alerts!

 Search  Updated Topics  Hottest Topics  Rules

We Need Help Picking Our Schools

AuthorMessage
Ensign
Apr 26, 2011
14
We need help picking what school we should be in. On Wizard101 we were a Life and Ice character, we have no idea if we should be a Privateer since they heal, but don't Swashbucklers heal too? We picked Swashbuckler, but we have no idea if we should instead be a different school. Help! We leveled our Swashbucklers to level 17 so far, they're cool, but any ideas?

(?) Buccaneer We think a Buccaneer is strong like Fire in wizard101, and Storm, maybe? We don't know much about Buccaneers, so we don't know if we should pick that school. Like we said, we need help! All we know about a Buccaneer is that they are the strongest in Pirate101, we believe. Just like Fire and Storm, in Wizard101. Do Buccaneers heal? If they do please tell us.

(?) Swashbuckler Swashbucklers are pretty strong, and we think they're cool, but that's just us, because we haven't tried out any of the other schools. Um, Swashbucklers can do a lot of damage on enemies and we don't know if they give a lot of health but lets just say they do. ( Help us with that too.) Swashbucklers have good companions but they die a lot.

(?) Musketeer We honestly do not know ANYTHING about Musketeers except they are good with guns. Also, we heard they can hit multiple enemies at a time. But we need help with knowing what Musketeers do.

(?) Privateer So, we think they're like Life and Ice. My sister states,"They heal a lot, Um, they are- they're like Life and Ice and----Um as you level up you start to get really good healing spells- and---....Yeah. Privateers are healers- They get a lot of health, they're the most- They're the character who get the most companions...- I think.."

(?) Witchdoctor Um, Witchdoctors we're guessing can speak to spirits and cast cool magic spells. Like the Musketeers, we know about ABSOLUTELY nothing about Witchdoctors. Help us!

So, my sister and I are wondering if you can help us choose our schools! Everyone's post counts! Thank you again, and have a great day/night.

Sincerely,
Abigail
And
Ariel
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
sarahbrown05 on Jan 2, 2016 wrote:
We need help picking what school we should be in. On Wizard101 we were a Life and Ice character, we have no idea if we should be a Privateer since they heal, but don't Swashbucklers heal too? We picked Swashbuckler, but we have no idea if we should instead be a different school. Help! We leveled our Swashbucklers to level 17 so far, they're cool, but any ideas?

(?) Buccaneer We think a Buccaneer is strong like Fire in wizard101, and Storm, maybe? We don't know much about Buccaneers, so we don't know if we should pick that school. Like we said, we need help! All we know about a Buccaneer is that they are the strongest in Pirate101, we believe. Just like Fire and Storm, in Wizard101. Do Buccaneers heal? If they do please tell us.

(?) Swashbuckler Swashbucklers are pretty strong, and we think they're cool, but that's just us, because we haven't tried out any of the other schools. Um, Swashbucklers can do a lot of damage on enemies and we don't know if they give a lot of health but lets just say they do. ( Help us with that too.) Swashbucklers have good companions but they die a lot.

(?) Musketeer We honestly do not know ANYTHING about Musketeers except they are good with guns. Also, we heard they can hit multiple enemies at a time. But we need help with knowing what Musketeers do.

(?) Privateer So, we think they're like Life and Ice. My sister states,"They heal a lot, Um, they are- they're like Life and Ice and----Um as you level up you start to get really good healing spells- and---....Yeah. Privateers are healers- They get a lot of health, they're the most- They're the character who get the most companions...- I think.."

(?) Witchdoctor Um, Witchdoctors we're guessing can speak to spirits and cast cool magic spells. Like the Musketeers, we know about ABSOLUTELY nothing about Witchdoctors. Help us!

So, my sister and I are wondering if you can help us choose our schools! Everyone's post counts! Thank you again, and have a great day/night.

Sincerely,
Abigail
And
Ariel
Dear Abigail and Ariel,
Welcome to the message boards! I will try to help you, but you must understand that P101 is very different from W101. Using comparisons may not be of much help, but I'll try. Only Privateers get healing powers; all others must use training points or gain gear with a heal card.
Buccaneers have the best health and armor in the game. If you want a health bonus for a buccaneer, make sure that you choose Grizzleheim as your pirate's origin. Or for a damage bonus, choose MooShu.
Swashbucklers are fast and agile, they do short bursts of high damage, but have very little health. They don't get healing spells but must train for them with "training points" . See the Commodore ( privateer trainer ) to get those heals or you can get them from gear drops. A good Origin for a swashbuckler is Scrimshaw, this gives a bonus to your dodge stat.
Musketeers specialize in guns, bombs and traps - their job is to weaken or destroy the enemy before they get to them. A good origin for a musketeer is Marleybone for a bonus to your accuracy stat.
Privateers are like a combo of Balance & Life, they do heal but they have buffs that can enhance damage or shield. I recommend Krokotopia, this will give you "spooky" and a bonus to those powers dependent on will.
Witchdoctors are not like wizards. They can do damage from a distance or close up. They summon undead minions and use curses. I recommend Krokotopia as the origin for witchdoctors.
I hope this helps you and I suggest that you keep the tutorial turned on, ( it's very helpful ) until you have mastered the basics ( it won't take long ).
Good Luck and enjoy being a pirate!
Ensign
Dec 18, 2010
14
Hello, to answer your question:

Buccaneers are really good for tanking damage and dishing it back out, due to the gained abilities, like Vengence Strike, and Turn the Tide. In Pirate101, the amount healed is based off of your spooky stat which isn't the best when talking about a buccaneer.

Swashbucklers are the glass cannons of the game, so as you said they do a lot of damage but are low in defenses. A swashbuckler's health is pretty average when compared to other classes. To get around their weak defense, focus on the dodge stat allowing them to avoid most basic attacks. They also get access to abilities, such as Ripost, which rebounds the dodged attack upping the damage output.

Musketeers, have very good range(dependent on what gun you're using and level) and can do standard attacks from afar. Musketeers also, have access to a range of AoE attacks, also called "Trick Shots" That can hit multiple targets in a cone area, 'X' formation and a 'T' formation. They also get access to different traps damaging enemies who walk over them. With abilities like Overwatch you can do an attack once an enemy walks into your range of fire.

Privateers, are the best at healing due to their relatively high spooky stat and their easy access to heals. They are good at buffing your companions and other players on your team. With the Repel Boarders ability you can make an attack once an enemy walks next to you. They also have access to bombs that can hit in a 3x3 area anywhere.

Witchdoctors, while having very low physical defense has high spooky and will stats. This allows them to make full use of all their spells. They can can summon a lot of minions, have access to draining health spells and useful single target spells that can be cast from anywhere if the target is within sight. Witchdoctors also make use of AoE attacks in some of their spells generally in a 3x3 area.

These are just the basics though so of course make your character function how you want.
Ensign
Sep 28, 2010
2
Buccaneers have the most health and are good at survival, but they can still get some pretty good damage. They receive epic skills such as vengeance strike, which allows them to hit an enemy after the enemy has hit them. In Wizard101 terms, they are ice wizards.

Swashbucklers have the lowest health, but they also have very high dodge and damage. They get stealth skills that allow them to multiply their damage, making them capable of especially large hits. Swashbucklers also get a potentially useful skill, gallant defense, that allows them to attract all attacks that would normally hit nearby teammates. If a swashbuckler's dodge is high enough to dodge almost every attack, this can be very useful to keep companions alive. Swashbuckler companions typically have the highest base damage.

Musketeers are good at manipulating a fight and taking control over it. They can summon traps that do large amounts of damage when enemies step on them, and they can also summon barriers to block enemies off or force them to walk on traps. Musketeers can shoot multiple enemies from a distance and have a relatively high dodge.

Privateers are best at enhancing their companions and healing them. They receive many skills that strengthen their teams for a specific number of turns, and they can also receive skills that allow them to protect their companions from damage. They also get the gunnery skill, which allows them to drop a square of bombs on enemies in a 3x3 grid. In Wizard101 terms, I would say privateers are similar to balance and life wizards.

Witchdoctors receive many undead or animal (non-humanoid) companions, are mostly focused around using skills, and have attacks that hit multiple enemies at once. They receive a variety of skill types, including a skill that damages the enemy and heals the player, similar to death wizards in Wizard101.

Note that, while privateers are mostly based around healing, any pirate can heal if they spend their practice points on privateer skills.
Admiral
Jul 27, 2012
1196
Greetings, Abigail and Ariel; it is a pleasure meeting you both. One lovely thing about Pirate101 is that all of the class options for your character are a lot of fun and each is somewhat different from the other, giving your characters all a slightly different story. Each class will have some adventures the others do not.

In Pirate you have the close combat classes (Swashbuckler & Buccaneer), distance combat (Musketeer & Witchdoctor), and supporting combat (Privateer). Yes, you have the right idea when you say Swashbuckler can be compared to Storm in Wizard 101 and Buccaneer compared to Fire.

Like Storm Wizards, Swashbucklers "can dish it out but can't take it"; deadly, but rather fragile. Swashbucklers are flashy, dramatic, dashing, and incredibly fun. (There is a certain part of me that always wanted to be a girl D'Artagnan!) Buccaneers are sturdy "tanks": they can dish out a lot of damage and absorb it as well (you will want to wear armor in this class). However, they get to have dramatic combat too (my favorite is the rather insane 'reckless frenzy' your buccaneer gets when she is high level)

For Swashbucklers and Buccaneers, you will usually want to lead from the front (the 'into the breach, dear friends' sort of leader). For everyone else, you will need to be a little less impetuous.

Musketeers act best from a distance. You have a variety of traps, group targeting 'spells' for your weapon, as well as weapons that increasingly can target a villain across a battlefield. Once you are nose to nose with your enemy, however, you are very vulnerable. Try to surround your leader with husky buccaneer types, especially those with 'Hold the Line'.

This is pretty much true also for Witchdoctors, though their spells need to target enemies directly. Witchdoctors also can do summonings (rather like Myth wizards). At lower levels, my witchdoctor won 'pirate most likely to survive a fight' out of all my girls; she never lost a fight until level 22. (more later, out of room)
Captain
Feb 11, 2010
644
Privateer is what I recommend. They get stronger as they level up and get the coolest companions.

I don't recommend Witch Doctors because I don't have much experience with them, plus they're weak. No offense, other witches.
Petty Officer
Sep 19, 2013
69
have extremely high defense, and have good damage against single foes. Buccaneers are good at soloing.
have high dodge, but lower health and armor. They have hide powers, which allow them to become invisible for a certain number of rounds, and do the highest single target damage. Swashbucklers are also good at soloing.
have good defense and health, but low damage output. They focus primarily on supporting and healing teammates. Privateers are much better in a group.
have high accuracy and mediocre defense, and specialize in setting traps. They primarily do damage to multiple enemies. Musketeers are decent at both soloing and group play.
are different from the other classes. We use Spell Power to fuel our attacks; and our damage almost solely comes from Powers which never miss, so accuracy and weapon power can be all but ignored in favor of range on wands. Witchdoctors are really, really good at AoE damage. Mojo Storm packs a mighty punch, especially when boosted by one of Old Scratch's powers. We also get drain spells which take health from enemies and heal us. Witchdoctors are probably better in groups, but work solo as well.
Commodore
May 31, 2009
894
sarahbrown05 on Jan 2, 2016 wrote:
We need help picking what school we should be in. On Wizard101 we were a Life and Ice character, we have no idea if we should be a Privateer since they heal, but don't Swashbucklers heal too? We picked Swashbuckler, but we have no idea if we should instead be a different school. Help! We leveled our Swashbucklers to level 17 so far, they're cool, but any ideas?

(?) Buccaneer We think a Buccaneer is strong like Fire in wizard101, and Storm, maybe? We don't know much about Buccaneers, so we don't know if we should pick that school. Like we said, we need help! All we know about a Buccaneer is that they are the strongest in Pirate101, we believe. Just like Fire and Storm, in Wizard101. Do Buccaneers heal? If they do please tell us.

(?) Swashbuckler Swashbucklers are pretty strong, and we think they're cool, but that's just us, because we haven't tried out any of the other schools. Um, Swashbucklers can do a lot of damage on enemies and we don't know if they give a lot of health but lets just say they do. ( Help us with that too.) Swashbucklers have good companions but they die a lot.

(?) Musketeer We honestly do not know ANYTHING about Musketeers except they are good with guns. Also, we heard they can hit multiple enemies at a time. But we need help with knowing what Musketeers do.

(?) Privateer So, we think they're like Life and Ice. My sister states,"They heal a lot, Um, they are- they're like Life and Ice and----Um as you level up you start to get really good healing spells- and---....Yeah. Privateers are healers- They get a lot of health, they're the most- They're the character who get the most companions...- I think.."

(?) Witchdoctor Um, Witchdoctors we're guessing can speak to spirits and cast cool magic spells. Like the Musketeers, we know about ABSOLUTELY nothing about Witchdoctors. Help us!

So, my sister and I are wondering if you can help us choose our schools! Everyone's post counts! Thank you again, and have a great day/night.

Sincerely,
Abigail
And
Ariel
Welcome to the forums! I've stuck a reply on the other thread, but I may as well add on to this one too.

Buccaneer is most akin to a mixture of Fire and Ice, in my opinion. They have a blend of good offense and defense, so they're a great tank class depending on how you build their gear. Mine takes more of an offensive stance, with a mid level build of armor/resist, a decent health, and emphasis on damage. I definitely wouldn't call them a healing class; that's more of a privateer thing.

Swashbucklers are comparable to Storm wizards: low health and high damage. Their accuracy is not negatively impacted, however. With low armor and health, their dodge is boosted to compensate. They also have the unique power to hide themselves, and their units at higher levels. My main pirate is a swash, and I love the class and its versatility. They also aren't healers, but it's always a wise idea to keep a couple of heals in your power deck in case of emergencies.

Musketeers are the prime ranged class, able to hit multiple targets and set traps. Their health is somewhere in the middle of the road, but they have good accuracy. I'm also not too familiar with 'em; I find the play style boring and monotonous because there are only a couple of good strategies up until you get bomb cards. I'm not sure which Wiz school to stack them against.

You are solid on your comparison of Privateer: tanks, healers, buffers, total support class with tons of tush-kicking companions. High health/armor/resist, low damage. They mostly focus on buffing others. I haven't quested mine far, but they're pretty powerful.

I am most unfamiliar with witchdoctor simply because I'm not a fan of ranged classes. Another mid health class with decent accuracy. Their powers are mostly centered around guaranteed hits, and their companions do most of the work after you buff them up. They can be very powerful if played correctly.

Seems I'm out of space. Good luck on finding a class that fits you!
Ensign
Sep 08, 2015
29
Okay, first, calm down. All players and class pros had to start somewhere. And i think i know a bit about all classes (except the witches. i know the most about them). So here :

Witchdoctors can do A LOT of damage when the boosts, that they get along the way, are used correctly. They can drain health (So death)and also boost (so balance). And they have some DOTS, so fire. And they can summon skeletons, so myth.
Buccaneers, yes, are the damage dealers here. They're ice, a lot of health, and storm, a lot of damage.
Swashies are the quick damage dealers. I don't know much, but they don't get healing spells, that's for sure. I don't know to wich school they can be compared to, but they can do some decent damage and they're really good dodgers and they can go very far in the board.
Musketeers are the ranged, yes. They're experts of guns and traps. Maybe they have a bit of balance. They can raise barikades (shields) and set down traps (so traps).
Privateers. I don't know if they get the most companions, but they're the healers and shielders. So they're mostly Life.

Annoying Amber 43 7 5 1

Hope this helped!
Captain
Mar 24, 2013
732
Welcome aboard to the sky way frist of all.

Choosing a class is a difficult choice to make, at least in my experience as a player. Each have it's advantage and drawbacks. Here some description of each class and some notes to help enlighten your pirate 101 experience.

= This class is a heavy offense class, as well as defense. In addition to high armor and attack, high health also play a role for this class.However this class lack speed, as a result.This class is great in my opinon as your initial character.

= Opposite of the Buccaneer class, this class is all about magic. The advantage of this class is it has life "restoring" abilities, with healing talent it can prolong it's duration in battle.This class could not take much physical hit.In my opinon this class, this very hard to work with.Unless you want a real challenge, I would save this class for a 4th character.

= A highly versatile ( a class with many skills ) class, this class is a support type.This is recommended for group battle.The downside is in my opinon,this class take a long time to train.Hard to solo with this class,in my opinon. Not to mention this class have high armor,both physical and magic, that's the advantage of this class.

= A long ranged,trap specialist.This class have a variety of multi damaging abilities,great for targets in large groups close together.However, this class have low armor and in close combat this class is at a disadvantage, due to low defense and health points.I may recommend, training this class with light armor in case of an intense battle.

= A ninja like class with all sorts of great powers.Speedy,high damage and great for sweeping multi targets. Unless given the Grizzelhim trait,it got low health.This is a powerful class,with healing ability it can fight a long battle.

Try the other 4 class see witch works best.Until then have fun.
Ensign
Apr 26, 2011
14
Thank you all for supporting my sister and I. You all have been so nice, and I read every single one of them. I decided I am going to be Swashbuckler!!! I am also using my training points on Privateer! My sister is gonna be Privateer and use her points on Buccaneer! Thank you all for your opinions and have a great day/night.

Abigail and Ariel
Petty Officer
Sep 19, 2013
69
sarahbrown05 on Jan 4, 2016 wrote:
Thank you all for supporting my sister and I. You all have been so nice, and I read every single one of them. I decided I am going to be Swashbuckler!!! I am also using my training points on Privateer! My sister is gonna be Privateer and use her points on Buccaneer! Thank you all for your opinions and have a great day/night.

Abigail and Ariel
Before you start spending TP all willy nilly, let me give you a few tips:
Not everything is worth training. There aren't any good Bucc powers to train, and you shouldn't bother training talents beyond Smashy Weapons 2 to get Relentless.
Privateer is pretty good. I would learn Elusive 2 and try to get a pet that will grant you a third rank on your Swashbuckler. I would also learn Smashy Weapons 2 and Relentless.
Train Musketeer up to Shooty 2 if you want to learn Burst Fire. With a combo weapon, an item that grants you more Burst Fire, and a pet that grants you more Relentless, you can be a damage machine. Don't bother training any Musk powers on your Swash, and train only up to Raise Barricade on the Privateer if you intend to go into PvP.
For Witchdoctor, I'd train up to at least Spooky 1 on the Swashbuckler and Spooky 2 on your Privateer.
Also, your starting talents, if you have yet to create your characters:
Privateer should go with Naturally Spooky (Krokotopia origin)
I'd recommend Born Sneak for Swashbuckler (Skull Island), but if you want more accuracy Keen Eyes (Marleybone origin) could work for you. Dodge is probably better because that's your main defense and you learn Riposte at higher levels.
Avoid Naturally Tough and especially Born Warrior like the plague. Naturally Tough gives you enough health to survive half a hit more, and Born Warrior gives you 5 more weapon power, which will sound like a lot in the early game, but you will regret it in the late game when that mere 5 weapon power is added to your 300.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Robobot1747 on Jan 5, 2016 wrote:
Before you start spending TP all willy nilly, let me give you a few tips:
Not everything is worth training. There aren't any good Bucc powers to train, and you shouldn't bother training talents beyond Smashy Weapons 2 to get Relentless.
Privateer is pretty good. I would learn Elusive 2 and try to get a pet that will grant you a third rank on your Swashbuckler. I would also learn Smashy Weapons 2 and Relentless.
Train Musketeer up to Shooty 2 if you want to learn Burst Fire. With a combo weapon, an item that grants you more Burst Fire, and a pet that grants you more Relentless, you can be a damage machine. Don't bother training any Musk powers on your Swash, and train only up to Raise Barricade on the Privateer if you intend to go into PvP.
For Witchdoctor, I'd train up to at least Spooky 1 on the Swashbuckler and Spooky 2 on your Privateer.
Also, your starting talents, if you have yet to create your characters:
Privateer should go with Naturally Spooky (Krokotopia origin)
I'd recommend Born Sneak for Swashbuckler (Skull Island), but if you want more accuracy Keen Eyes (Marleybone origin) could work for you. Dodge is probably better because that's your main defense and you learn Riposte at higher levels.
Avoid Naturally Tough and especially Born Warrior like the plague. Naturally Tough gives you enough health to survive half a hit more, and Born Warrior gives you 5 more weapon power, which will sound like a lot in the early game, but you will regret it in the late game when that mere 5 weapon power is added to your 300.
Not so fast, Robobot1747! As a swashbuckler with MooShu origin, I must say that a 5% damage may sound small but when you consider that attacking from a hide add x2 to weapon power then that 5% becomes much more powerful.
I also have a SB with musketeer training, with a combo shooty/slashy and points in burst fire & relentless, she is a killing machine ( just need to get her a pet with bladestorm, then watch out! )
Petty Officer
Sep 19, 2013
69
anecorbie on Jan 5, 2016 wrote:
Not so fast, Robobot1747! As a swashbuckler with MooShu origin, I must say that a 5% damage may sound small but when you consider that attacking from a hide add x2 to weapon power then that 5% becomes much more powerful.
I also have a SB with musketeer training, with a combo shooty/slashy and points in burst fire & relentless, she is a killing machine ( just need to get her a pet with bladestorm, then watch out! )
It's not +5%, it's a flat +5. So you've got... 10 more damage.
Best of luck getting a bladestorm pet, I actually have one if you'd like to morph. PM me on Central, my username is the same.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Robobot1747 on Jan 5, 2016 wrote:
It's not +5%, it's a flat +5. So you've got... 10 more damage.
Best of luck getting a bladestorm pet, I actually have one if you'd like to morph. PM me on Central, my username is the same.
heh, I'll take all the damage I can get, 10 more or less could mean the difference of a win or defeat. I also have a bladestorm pet on another pirate, thanks for the offer, but I'll just keep trying with the one I have ( there's a few other grants I want. )
Ensign
Jul 07, 2012
8
Yes Abigail that sounds great to be doing another post with each other. But what about talk to you on pirate sis!
love, Trustworthy Ariel Maxwell <3