Tips and strategies for each school

Hey there all of you who just started playing Wizard101! Welcome to the game! If you're interested, here is a quick little guide on some things you should know about your school. I know, I know, it looks long. But all you need to do if you want some quick tips is scroll down to find your school. If you want my take on all of the schools (if you're considering a secondary school), then take your time! Read all of them! Keep going! JUST START!!!

ICE: Ice wizards are referred to as Thaumaturges. Their spells focus more on blocking and sustaining health than actually attacking. This school has been said to be the most difficult one to start out with as a new wizard, but once you level up some more, you'll find that you survive much more easily in a battle than, say, a powerful Diviner. My motto for the ice school is this: slow and steady wins the race. Just don't rush when you're in battle. Take time to pump up your spells with traps and stuff, and you'll do fine. If you're having a hard time deciding which secondary school to use (the one where you have to spend your training points), I would consider storm or fire. These hard-hitting spells can make up for your lower-damage ones, although they are not as reliable.

STORM: A storm wizard is called a Diviner, as mentioned before. Storm spells are far more powerful than any of the other schools (although fire comes pretty close sometimes), but Diviners normally have less hitpoints. Their spells are also less accurate than others, so be prepared to fizzle. A LOT. My motto for the storm school: kill 'em quick and USE THOSE POTIONS! If you're a Diviner, you have tons of power in your pocket--don't let it go to waste. Use it ASAP when you're in a fight. Now, some of you who have just started do not have potions yet. But they're very helpful. Fill them up often, and use them after any fight where you have lost more than half your health. Don't pretend you don't need them! :P Okay, a good secondary school for a Diviner is life of course, but death is also an option. Anything to keep that HP up!

FIRE: A fire wizard is called a Pyromancer. Fire is a good school for a new wizard. Its spells are nicely balanced between power and accuracy, and it has some helpful "damage over time" spells, too. Your first damage over time spell is 'Fire Elf', and there will be many more to come. A few really nice things about these types of spells are: 1) if your opponent has a lot of fire wards and you want to use a higher-powered attack, the continuous hits from each turn will eliminate the shields, giving you an opening for your big hit. 2) When you pump up your damage over time spell with positives (the little blades) and then, "Oh no!", your opponent has put up a shield right on the turn you were about to cast it--freak not, my friends! Because this is the purpose of the first, smaller hit that your spell does. It gets rid of the shield, and you still get the added damage of your positives! Hooray! My motto for the fire school: keep a balance going between attacking and blocking and adding traps or positives. Keep in mind that fire is powerful, but offers slightly less hitpoints to its users. A Pyromancer would also be great with any secondary school!

BALANCE: A wizard of the balance school is a Sorcerer. Balance, like the school of death, is a slightly harder technique to learn. You can only learn the first few spells in Ravenwood--after that, you must travel to a different location (I'm not telling!) to learn your new spells. Because balance is often referred to as the 'seventh school', it is sort of an oddball. I don't have anything against it. But balance spells do not have a certain opposite. Some spells that you learn in the balance school, including Spectral Blast and Hydra, hit with ice, fire, and storm; the three 'original' schools. So don't worry, you'll still have a chance to work those advantages! My motto for balance: because you are not at a real advantage or disadvantage in a fight against a non-balance elemental, pull out all the stops and use as many positives, wards, and traps as you can. This way you can have a self-made advantage, and if you have friends with you, their spells will be powered up by your all-around buffing-up. Keep in mind that your secondary school will influence your battles greatly, so go for your favorite one and pack your deck!

MYTH: Myth wizards are called Conjurers, so named because they can 'conjure up' mythological beasts. I really love this school (I'm into Greek mythology), but I don't know many Conjurers who are well-versed in its mysteries. This is an exciting, interesting school with an irritable teacher and fun spells (ninja pig is my personal fav, although I think you can only get it in treasure card form). With an accuracy of around 85% and a bit more power than ice or balance, myth specializes in these cool double-hits. Take my buddy the minotaur, for example: he swings his axe one way and hits a low-damage strike, taking away wards. Then he delivers the second blow, which is about ten times more powerful than the first! My motto for the myth school: you are ready to take on those powerful bosses--don't doubt yourself! First of all, you'll get plenty of help in battle with all those minions you earn. They are very helpful, so keep your favorites well-stocked. Also, myth spells have an advantage against storm, and you know how tough those storm bosses can be. A good secondary school for myth is death, because that way you can keep your health at just a high enough level with draining, unlike life spells, which are great but require a turn just to heal. With myth, just keep doing damage.

DEATH: A death wizard is called a Necromancer. I'm sure you've all heard bad things about Necromancers, but they are really quite awesome. For one thing, their spells pack quite a punch. They can be pumped up to a maximum level as well with spells like Feint and others you earn along the way. And the more you pump them up, the more you get to keep for yourself! Yep, I'm talking about draining. Whenever you hit with a spell such as Ghoul or Vampire, you deal the full damage, and you take half of it back as health! My motto for the death school: make sure you maximize the power of your drainage spells! The more you give, the more you get! Put plenty of draining spells, positives, and traps in your deck. A good secondary school for death is balance or ice, so you can keep attacking with reliable spells between draining.

LIFE: Last but CERTAINLY not least, life wizards: Theurgists. Life wizards are very popular. You're always wanted on a team so you can keep up your buddies' life, and not only that, but you also have some heavy-hitting spells up your sleeves! I'm talking about Leprechaun, Seraph, the infamous Centaur, and a couple more that I'm forgetting but I'm sure are there. Leprechaun is a fabulous low-level spell, that's all there is to it. Seraph is great in a pinch, and Centaur is...well, it's Centaur. Plus, if you hadn't noticed, almost all of these spells are 90% accurate, which is awesome!!! All of this great stuff makes up for the sad fact that you can't hit all of your enemies with one spell, such as Blizzard or Meteor Strike. Oh well! My motto for the life school: be a good friend and help out those in need (or in a hard boss fight). You are desperately needed in these situations, and you'll also earn extra loot. But don't forget to focus on healing yourself, too. Altogether, life is quite a well-balanced school. A good secondary school for it would be myth or fire, because of their more powerful all-enemy hits.

Thanks for reading, and I hope it helps! Let me know if you've got any questions.