Best Battleboard Builder & Raffle Contest Winners

In celebration of my fifth Blogoversary, I am hosting three contests for prizes - the first two ended June 15, and the results are in - here are your winners!

The competition was fierce, with 10k crowns, 5k crowns, and a Grand Tourney Gauntlet Bundle up for grabs. Both Wizards and Pirates could participate, and within the Rafflecopter, which offered two prizes, players were asked which prize they preferred so as to ensure that no one ends up with a prize they don't want or need.

Battleboard Builder Contest Winners

There were a lot of great boards submitted, and after this contest, I'm hoping to use it again in the future just because there were such creative ideas out there. Not only does this show the creativity and brainpower behind the community, but it also shows the potential for the Pirate101 battle system.

There were no rules constraining what you could or could not do with your board except that it must be made 100% with the Battleboard Builder. Any additional instructions, cheats, or mechanics were allowed but not required. What's particularly interesting about all of the boards submitted is that I think they're all within Pirate101's means to create if they so desired, without having to add in a bunch of additional mechanics.

Winner (10,000 crowns): Sneaky Kevin Newell

Kevin fully utilized nearly all the components of the Battleboard Builder, including spaces that are not part of the board (the corners in this case). He takes labyrinth literally in this maze of statues through which the player must navigate. This isn't any ordinary battle, though. There are some special rules.

• Two companions join in fixed positions, and enemies and statues spawn in exactly these places each time the battle begins.
• The statues cannot be destroyed and the Minotaur (the boss which must be defeated according to the second battle objective) is immune to companion attacks.
• Players must navigate the maze through their choice of paths using their companions to assist in smashing enemies along the way.

Besides having a great concept, particularly for the location, this battle has a lot of interesting mechanics. Players have to make a number of choices - Which path do I take? Do I kill things from afar or move in and risk injury? Do I kill the snakes at the end, or let them attack me while I attack the Minotaur? What do I and don't I have time for in ten rounds?

What does it for me is that even if you strip away all of the rules and regulations and special mechanics - this is still a really cool battle.

Honorable Mention: William Hawkins

I have always envisioned a battle like William's... especially as a Musketeer. This Airedale Pier showdown is all about beating the boss without letting the captain die. That means you have to ask yourself - Is it worth leaving safety with your most valuable piece to try and do extra damage? 

The foxes in the center area are all ranged units if I recall correctly, which means few places are safe from a barrage of sparks. One of my big questions on this board is how the battle could actually play out. Unlike in some of my imagined scenarios, this isn't just a simple line of spaces you can't move across, it's multiple sets. That means that none of the ranged units can reach the boss. 

One possible solution is jumping or flying units like El Toro, which would be an interesting new mechanic to consider, but severely limit companion options. It's a great idea, though.

Honorable Mention: Noble Phillip Hawkins

Phillip uses another mechanic that I've always been interested in - single space connections. While this technically allows a user to move into it and then has three possibilities, standing a unit in the space would block passage from enemies. 

There are multiple sections of statues to break through here, and more enemies than is reasonable to deal with. Fortunately, all you have to do is break through. When you get to the Minotaur, you have to potentially break multiple statues if you don't want to be hitting with only one unit. Phillip notes that the statues have about 1700 health.

Honorable Mention: Clever Gabriel Oswald

Gabriel's Battleboard is perfect for anyone who's a fan of destruction. There are a lot of obstacles and a lot to do in the five rounds you have to complete this battle. What's particularly cool about this battle is that if you would try to defeat the enemies, you'd probably be unsuccessful. There are plenty of battles where you don't have to defeat anything but it's sometimes easier to actually beat the enemies, then take care of your interactions. Not the case here.

AoE powers are perfect here, and while ranged units would have an advantage in that sense, they are much less able to deal with all of the melee units heading up the enemy party, so it'd be unique for everyone. The only variable I'd like to see defined here is just how much health each of the obstacles has.

Rafflecopter Winners

For players less interested in creating a Battleboard, there was an option to participate in a raffle for a chance to win a Grand Tourney Gauntlet or 5,000 crowns. This is the contest where I made sure each participant specified which prize they preferred, so that no one who had a bundle would get a duplicate. The raffle has ended and the winners have been drawn.

Winner of the Grand Tourney Gauntlet: Hunter S.
Winner of 5,000 crowns: Brenna B

All prizes for both contests have been sent via email. Stay tuned for the final contest on June 20, which will offer various smaller prizes leading up to a Witch Hunter's Bundle. There will be some gifting and pack prizes, so players from both games are welcome to participate even if they do not wish to win the bundle. I recommend it, in fact, because the work and the talent that has gone into this second part of the Quest Contest is pretty epic. You do not need to have completed Part 1 to participate in this contest.

Congratulations to all winners and thanks to the countless participants in both contests. Thanks for reading and see you in the Spiral!