I've recently completed the Gardening 101 quest in Free Realms, located in Shrouded Glade, and it took me a bit of time to work out a reliable strategy for the Garden Defense game - it can be easy for it all to go wrong after the first few waves. So here's my guide on how to succeed in Garden Defense: Gardening 101 - I hope it's helpful!

1. Build a water gun and two dwarf towers near the first sharp bend of the track. The combination of the slowing effect of the water gun and the damage to multiple enemies caused by dwarf towers is very effective and will form the basis for most of our clusters of towers. This first location has the obvious advantage that is any do manage to get past the first time then there's still a second chance to get them before they reach the barn - this is about the only place this is possible because of the very limited range that dwarf towers start off with.

2. As soon as you have enough money add in two garden towers, one on the inside of each curve. Keeping these within the range of the water gun ensures that their damage is maximised as enemies are slowed down.

3. The next phase is to begin upgrading all of your existing towers to the next level, increasing their range and effectiveness. Once this is complete you can start work on a new cluster of towers on the next sharp turn.

4. Complete the next cluster of a water gun and two dwarf towers and then level them all up to the next level as well.

6. Finally build yet another cluster on the right of the area, and upgrade the towers. You can then use any extra money to start upgrading some of your towers to the third level.

And there you go - Garden Defense: Gardening 101 is complete. This way you should complete the level easily and only need to use any of the attacking power ups on the last few waves. The money boost power up can be very useful in getting things built more quickly, so if you get any try and time them right so that as many enemies as possible are killed while the power up is active. Using some of the attacking power ups at the same time as the money boost can be a good way to achieve this.

The only thing this method doesn't do is complete the bonus goal of upgrading 3 cow towers. If you want to try and get this as well I'd recommend waiting until towards the end when your existing towers will already take care of most enemies fairly easily, then add in the cow towers and upgrade them.

I've been spending a bit of time just running around and exploring the different land in Free Realms, and have found myself hooked on trying to complete collections. My biggest incentive to visit every land was just to try and complete the Major Warpstones collection (which is now done by the way!)

As far as I can see most collection items appear at random location within certain areas, such as mushroom rings or sparkling water, while others appear within battles and some are linked to specific locations. Expect updates coming along to let you know where particular collections can be found, and any tips on how to get them all.

In the mean time it's amazing how much fun just running around Free Realms can be - or is that just me? From the sandy beaches of Seaside to Snowhill to dark, dank Blackspore Swamp there are many happy hours to be spent just seeking out hidden nooks and crannies and trying to complete your collections.

Expect more collection-related posts soon when I've had more chance to go seeking!

Hi, and welcome to Robgoblin Glade, the new blog chronicling my adventures in Free Realms. Expect tips, guides and news on what's going on in the game as well as following my own experiences in the game.

For anyone who's just stumbled on this page and isn't sure what I'm talking about, Free Realms is a new free to play MMORPG from Sony Online Entertainment which launcehs directly from your browser and places you in a colourful fantasy world with the freedom to explore as much as you want. There game features a whole range of jobs, from chef to ninja and postman to wizard - you can choose to focus on one, or give them all a try.

The world is packed with quests, mini games and items to collect - so jump in and give it a try. Check oput the trailer below for an idea of how the game looks and fells. And once you're hooked don't forget to check back here regularly for tips, advice and let everyone know how you're getting on!