Becoming a Neopets Battledomer 101

Yes, we've all dreamed of our Neopets dressed in shining armor, brandishing a golden blade and slicing through legion after legion of virtual baddies, but the plain fact is that it's just too expensive for a lot of Neopians. So, unless you have scores of hidden Neopoints to splurge on weapons and armor, I suggest reading on.

Part One

First off, you need to find the weapon hotspots: the shops that tend to have great weapons. Now, let's take a step away from the basic Neopia Central shops and look at more exotic shops.

Neopets Battle Shop #1: Haunted Weaponry- This is great to try to snag a decent item. Located in the Deserted Fairgrounds outside of the Haunted Woods, the weapons tend to be a little... creepy. From the Rotten Jack-O-Lantern Bomb to the Staff of Impenetrable Gloom, these items can be a bit pricey. However, with around ten-thousand Neopoints, you can purchase a good item dealing a fair amount of damage. Plus, if you equip a haunted weapon to your Neopet, you'll also receive an avatar!

Neopets Battle Shop #2: Magic Marvels- The Altadorian shop, Magic Marvels, is perfect if you want a little light damage (read part three), drop by here to pick up a wide variety of scrolls and magic staffs. Again, these are a little expensive, but all good things in life cost something!

Neopian Battle Shop #3: Maractite Marvels- Located deep under the sea, this Maraquan shop sells items made from 100% Maractite. These items are great for variety, and they deal a good amount of damage. Definitely worth dropping by!

Part Two

All successful Battledomers also need a few Faerie abilities! These are special powers obtained by using a bottled Faerie on your Neopet. These Faeries can be bought on the Shop Wizard, or won on Tombola. There are five different bottled Faeries, each with there own abilities. See the list of Faerie abilities (here) for a complete list of all the abilities.

Abilities can do a wide range of things, including dealing extra damage, or healing your pet. Some of the lower level abilities don't do anything, so you'll have to add more to have an effect.

Part Three

Once in the Battledome, there are a few things to keep in mind. To challenge a virtual opponent, go to the Battledome home page, and then look for the button that says '1 player'. This will take you to the Challenge Opponents page, where you can select the pet you want to battle with, and an opponent. Each opponent has a difficulty level, which corresponds more or less to its total health. The higher the difficulty, the higher the power and defense.

Once in a battle, you can click on up to two of your items. Then, you select an attack style (i.e. Fierce Attack), or an ability to use. This will determine how much damage you do, versus how much damage you will block. After this, a page will load telling you the outcomes. By adding more and more turns will make the battle more interesting.

Eventually, one of you will lose all of your health points and you will either win, or lose. If you win, you regain all of your lost health. But if you lose, you remain at 0 health until you heal yourself.

Overall, battling is a fun way to strengthen the bond between you and your pets, and it can also hold some benefits. If you're involved in plots, battling is a good way to increase your overall score. You can also battle to win trophies at the Defenders of Neopia.

So, if you keep experimenting with weapons and abilities, you may just be an exceptionally good Battledomer.