Purge Magic

The latest update to the Pirate101 universe, Marleybone and Aquila, brings many interesting and unique powers and abilities to a pirate’’s arsenal. We’ll soon be giving general overviews on all the heavyhitters, and maybe how we think they’’ll impact the Brawlin’ Hall.

Second on our List, Purge Magic!

What is Purge Magic?

Purge Magic removes all buffs within a determined area from all targets. Buffs include most if not all stat-enhancing powers (such as Great Juju or the Privateer Accuracy/Dodge buffs), Defensive Powers (like Valor’s Armor and Valor’s Fortress), and even specialty buffs like the Swashbucklers’ Hide in Shadows series.It is noteworthy that the caster is also purged of buffs as well.

As mentioned before, the spell is trainable by Witchdoctors, but any Pirate may have access to the power through the Sprocket Key. This item can be farmed from Bishop in his instance in Marleybone, though be wary it can be a long farm.

What does it mean for PvP?

For many players, Purge Magic is a response to pleas for help. The ability to deny Privateer Buffs, or at the very least make them wary when casting them, cannot be overestimated. Especially from a Witchdoctor willing to farm Bishop for that second Purge.

Also according to the card, the power should remove buffs in a 3×3 area around the caster. But some player tests have shown that the range has spread farther than this on more than one occassion. One-Eyed Jack had this to say in response to a poster’s question on the official boards:

“Buffs are spells that increase a player’s statistics for a limited amount of time. If you look at your power cards, buffs are most easily recognized by the green arrow icon in the bottom left hand corner of the card’s picture. An example buff would be Crow’s Song, which gives players +2 movement and bonus attacks for 10 turns. The Purge Magic power removes all these beneficial spells in a large radius around the player who cast the spell, but be wary of your positioning as it removes buffs from all units within the spell’s range, including the caster.”

That large radius could mean the 8-squares adjacent to the caster, though the answer suggests something farther reaching. In an official post dated earlier, Ratbeard responds to this question:

Additionally, is Pure Magic meant to not be a “targetable” spell? It removes buffs from allies more than anything.

“No, Purge Magic it is not targetable. It is centered on the caster and removes all the buffs on all the units in all the squares around him– including himself.”

One player test  documents all units regardless of their location to be affected by the Purge, while an earlier test followed Ratbeard’s explanation. It’s unknown if this was simply a bug or not, but our best bet for now is to follow the safest answer, which is Ratbeard’s.

Have a comment or more current information on Purge Magic? Let us know in the comments!