Free to playPirate101 Captain a crew across the skyways
Recruit companions, chain tactical combos in turn-based battles and upgrade your ship on a colorful hunt for El Dorado.
Is Pirate101 worth it?
Pirate101 is worth it if…
- you like turn-based tactics with a friendly, colorful coat of paint
- you grew up on it and want that feeling back
- you want an MMO to play through with a friend
- you enjoy a story full of puns and fully voice-acted characters
- you like building a crew as much as winning the fight
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Build a crew, pick a piratin' style
You start by choosing one of five classes: Musketeer, Swashbuckler, Buccaneer, Privateer or Witchdoctor. Each plays differently and comes with strengths and weaknesses to learn. From there you recruit hundreds of companions on your journey, and the battles are built around them: use their skills in the right order to trigger crushing combos in turn-based tactics combat on a grid. It is a little simple compared to heavier strategy games, but planning who strikes when, and watching a combo land, is the part people keep coming back to.
Ships, skyways and a hunt for El Dorado
The story gives you a clear job: the Armada, an army of clockwork soldiers, has plans for the Spiral, and you need to find the pieces of the legendary map to El Dorado before they do. Between battles you customize and upgrade your ship, sail the dangerous skyways, unleash ship abilities and board nearby enemies up close. The hunt takes you through a wild west, haunted caverns and clockwork hideouts, with mysteries to solve and hundreds of fully voice-acted characters to meet. The writing leans on puns, and the story mixes history with fantasy in a way that works.
Pirates play better together
This is an MMORPG built for company. You can team up with fellow pirates to take down tough bosses that would chew through a solo crew, then trade tips and stories with the community afterwards. On the competitive side, PvP lets you test your strategy against real opponents and climb the ranks as you refine it. And when the questing is done for the day, there are quieter ways to share the game: venture to Bestia to morph and train a pet, or deck out your bunkhouse so it is uniquely yours before friends drop by.
What should you know before setting sail?
Do you need to have played Wizard101 first?
No. Pirate101 is set in the same universe and shares some characters, but it tells its own story with its own combat and its own crew and ship systems. Knowing Wizard101 adds a few nods, nothing more. If anything, some who played both as kids say this one's gameplay holds up better.
How does the combat actually work?
The tactical layer is ordering your crew's skills so their abilities chain into combos against enemies. It is approachable rather than punishing, which makes it easy to play with others, though veterans looking for deep strategy may find it on the light side.
