To Zap or Not to Zap? That is the Question by DragonDoodies

New players always seem to have one of two ambitions- the first, to get that elusive paintbrush, the one they keep on saving and saving for, but still dont have enough money. The other ambition is to get the entire lab map together, and gain access to the Secret Laboratory. Both of these options have good and bad points to them. If this is a question youve been yourself debating, then read on, dear friend.

The most common paintbrush new players seem to crave is the Baby Paintbrush. I have no idea why they want it so bad. I dont want one. But Ill tell you this- it costs about 600,000 NP. So you scrimp, and save, and play games for days, and weeks, and months until youve earned 600,000 NP. You proudly go to the Trading Post, and see someone selling that Paint Brush youve always wanted. You offer 600,000 NP, and a few hours later, the guy logs on, accepts your offer, and you have it! You rush to the rainbow pool, and paint your pet. Voila! Your pet looks different! Well. That was fun. But eventually you get bored of how your pet looks again. If only you hadnt blown all your money, because now you dont have enough to paint him again. Shucks.

The player who wanted that map started out the same way. Saving, and scrimping, and saving, and playing games, and finally, they have the 500,000 NP or so they need to buy all 9 of the pieces. They rush to the Treasure Maps area, and put together all 9 scraps of map into one giant map, unlocking the Secret Laboratory. They zap their beloved pet, and crazy things happen! He loses levels or strength, or gains hit points or even changes gender! But once in awhile, the pet will change into something marvelous, a new colour, or even a new species. Eventually it turns into something beautiful, and you keep it that way for awhile. Then you get bored of how it looks, so you keep zapping it, or you get a new pet, and begin zapping that one instead. And hey, for only an extra 10,000 NP you buy all the pieces of the petpet laboratory map, and begin experimenting on a petpet as well, creating all sorts of amazing color and species combinations.

Whichever route you choose, whichever one you believe is best for you, I have some simple advice:

If youre going after that paint brush, just remember, once its done, its done. Theres no turning back, and whether or not you like the results, all that money is gone. Youd better be sure you want it as badly as you think you do.

If youre getting a lab map together, make sure if youre buying the pieces as you have money for them that you store them in your Safety Deposit Box. You dont want to lose something worth a fortune. When buying the pieces, dont use the trading post. The prices are inflated. Use the shop wizard, and remember, there are 9 pieces, some more rare than others. The shop wizard randomly chooses one of the nine pieces to search for at a time, so this is why you will see such variance in the prices. At the time this article was written, you should be able to acquire the entire map for under 550,000 NP. Dont zap a pet if youve worked especially hard to train it. The lab decreases level far more often than it increases it. By using the lab, youll most likely wind up with a pet that looks cool, but is Level 2, with 200 strength, 3 defense, 4 movement, and 400 Hit Points. You wont get a balanced pet. I use two pets- one to zap, one for balanced training.

When using the petpet laboratory, dont zap a pet you paid a lot of money for. Although a changed petpet can be restored back to its original form simply by removing it from your pet, sometimes the ray can actually kill petpets- and you lose whatever money you spent on it. Any petpet can turn into any other petpet using the ray, so theres no use starting with an expensive one.

Ive tried to give you a balanced look at both routes, especially for the newer players where the money is really an issue. Personally, I love the ray. You might not specifically get what you want, but youll get lots of incredibly cool things trying. – DragonDoodies