To say the least, Tornado Ring is an odd weapon. At a glance, this weapon looks like an old junk item, (Think Blizzard Ring) but upon taking a closer look, Tornado Ring is by no means junk. Tornado Ring is an ancient and retired Hidden Tower item, its present day rarity and unique effect allow it to command a sky-high price.

Tornado Ring has four components. Two of these components are rather lackluster, one of these components is uncommon but useful, and the final component is unique and useful more in theory than in practicality.

First, let's examine the two lackluster components. Tornado Ring will inflict 2 Air icons and 0.2 to 2 Physical icons for a small total of 2.2 to 4 icons. This attack is nothing special, in fact it is incredibly weak, but this component is not the selling point of Tornado Ring. The second mediocre component is the 4HP multi-heal. Tornado Ring does not take up the healer slot, which is good news. This 4HP multi-heal is unlikely to help most battlers; only a small pet could make use of this multi-heal. Even a League 4 pet would find little use for a 4HP heal. The multi-heal is best thought of as a bonus. Although a weak multi-healer, Tornado Ring is a multi-healer nonetheless, meaning that it is often banned in user-ran 2-Player events on this technicality.

The full Air defense is where Tornado Ring begins to get interesting. Now that Shield of Faerieland exists, Air defense is considered to be less of a luxury, defeating some of the purpose of Tornado Ring. Tornado Ring is better then some of the bland shields like Ring of Weightlessness and Shield of Soaring, but it is less practical than Jhudoras Wand, which boasts a stronger attack. It is worth noting that all three of the mentioned weapons along with Tornado Ring are only getting rarer with time; none of these items would really be considered bargains in this day and age. As for Air reflection, Triple Turbo Dryer is the supreme option, and considering the relative weakness of full Air-blockers, it is a pretty rock solid option.

Now here's the option that makes Tornado Ring a 10/10. None of the other effects really matter, they are just icing on the cake. Tornado Ring is the only weapon available to players that multi-steals. In the old Battledome, stealing was not random, and 1-Player challengers had an order to their items just like the players. Without Tornado Ring, we would not have been able to discover the stealing order of the challengers. Tornado Ring has allowed players to pioneer otherwise unexplored territory, and it can provide tons of fun to the user in the 1-Player arena. As a side note, I hope stealing becomes ordered once more; anyone who has read enough of my reviews will know that I don't enjoy randomness when it comes to stealing, freezing, etc.

Tornado Ring offers an alternative method to victory: set destruction. If a player can rob the opposition of all their weapons, then the opposition stands little to no chance of victory. Of course, Tornado Ring will only steal roughly one in twenty-five attempts, so don't expect to witness a 2-Player battle like this scenario. As for 1-Player, if the player can stay alive long enough to steal all the oppositions weapons, then the player could have won that battle a long time ago. Furthermore, stealing is often a banned mechanic, both in Neopets site events and in user-ran 2-Player tournaments. These bans further limit to potential use of Tornado Ring.

Tornado Ring is not particularly practical in anyway. But by definition of my 10/10 rating, a weapon that is best-in-class earns a 10/10 rating. Tornado Ring wins this competition by no contest. Where Tornado Ring truly shines is in the world of theoretical battling, which is sadly not real. :P

In closing, picture this scenario:

Two pets have infinitely-high HP. Both pets have Sword of Lameness, Illusens Staff, and/or Wand of the Dark Faerie, meaning that both pets can continue to heal forever. How can either pet win the battle? There are only two options - multi-freeze or multi-steal. Either option involves taking away the opponent's ability to heal. Tornado Ring is one of the few weapons to pull off said task.

Rated on August 22, 2013

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Rating History ▲