How to Fight in Wizard 101

Wizard101 is a massively multiplayer online game that allows players to go on magical quests, farm items and decorate homes as well as have battles.http://www.wizard101.com In this game, the combat is called dueling, and it allows a character to earn experience points that go towards leveling up. You also earn gold points that can be used to buy better outfits, magical gear, pets, castles and treasure cards. For these reasons, it helps to learn how to fight in Wizard 101 and win rather you are fighting a regular computer enemy, level boss or other online player in Player vs. Player (PvP) mode.

This tutorial requires that you know the basics of getting around in Wizard101 and questing. It is recommended that you complete Wizard101's dueling tutorial first. Their interactive how to can be reached in-game once the Headmaster Merle Ambrose character gives you the quest to speak with Diego, the Duel Master, at Unicorn way.https://www.wizard101.com/home5/w101playersguide/page_8ad6a4041b790501011bb8cce0652edf However, this article will discuss how to get started as well.

On this page, you learn the ends and outs of understanding the symbols found on the cards used to cast battle spells. Then, you see the process of setting up your card deck in a way that is flexible for various enemies and situations. Finally, you are given tips and tricks for constructing a versatile game strategy that works for solo and group fighting. As a bonus, this tutorial teaches you how to make your own treasure cards.

The premise of the game is that your character is a young wizard that is enrolled in a magical school based in Wizard City. When you begin the game, you pick one school that matches your tastes. The schools are life, death, myth, balance, fire, ice and storm. Your powers in duels are determined by the school that you choose.

Wizard101 dueling is a turn based combat system that uses spell cards that you collect from teachers, crafting, shops, bosses and other players. In the beginning of the game, you start with a novice wand that gives 6 low level damage cards from various schools. Non-life students receive a pixie health card that only heals their character.

• How to Read a Spell Card:
• To play effectively, you need to understand all the symbols on a spell card.
• Pips: This number is located in the top left corner of the card. It represents the amount of magic you need before you can cast the spell. The more powerful the spell the more magic is needed usually. Only successful spells use up pips.
• School: Located in the top right hand corner, it shows the card's magical school.
• Accuracy: On the middle left side, you see a percentage. This tells you what your chances are of successfully casting the spell. If it says 10%, you only have a 10% chance that it will hit. When a spell doesn't hit, it is called fizzling. If it happens, the word fizzle flashes on the screen.
• Card Type: This symbol is located on the middle right of the card and tells you what category that it fits in. (Types are listed below.)
• Effect: The last information on the card describes concisely what the card will do. For example, a damage card tells you the approximate range of the damage amount and what type of magical damage is caused.

• Types of Cards:
• Charms: Increases/decreases the ability of a spell. Image: four leaf clover
• Damage:Lowers the enemy's health. Image: fist
• Enchantment:Attach to another card to either give it more damage power or more accuracy. Image: star
• Global:Surrounds the whole fighting circle with a spell that effects all players. It lasts for the duration of the fight. Only one can be used in the entire battle. Image: spiral
• Healing: Gives more health points to the recipient. Image: heart
• Health Drain: Lowers the enemy's health while raising your health by half the amount of damage caused. Image: broken heart
• Manipulation: Manipulates your cards or the cards of others in various ways. Some even control the enemy player for a round. Image: open hand
• Shields: Decreases the amount of damage an enemy's spell causes. Some block overall damage while other shields block specific kinds of magic. Image: shield

• Power Pips:

Pips represent the amount of magic you have available to cast a spell in a round of fighting. Normal pips are white. Power pips are a special kind of pip that is golden in color. This pip stands for 2 points each of magic instead of the normal one each. But, there is a catch. A power pip is only special when you use a spell from your primary school. Otherwise, it acts like a normal pip. As you reach higher levels, your chances of receiving power pips increases.

For example, a life wizard wants to cast the life spell Centaur. The card indicates that it needs 6 pips of magic. He will need to wait until he stores up 6 normal pips during the match to cast this spell. However, he can cast it earlier in the fight if he saves up 3 power pips during the fight. Now, if that same life wizard wants to cast the 5 pip Skeletal Pirate death spell, it doesn't matter if he has normal or power pips stored. He has to collect 5 pips either way.

• School Cards:

Once you are in the game, you are introduced to the professor of the school that you chose. As the game progresses, this teacher of your primary school will call you back for training as you reach higher and higher levels. In time, you can learn from other schools and outside locations. Spells that you train for will always stay in your deck.

• Treasure Cards:

Treasure cards are useful when you need a spell that isn't trained by your school or you are fighting a very powerful opponent. These spell cards vanish from your deck after they are used in battle.

There are many different ways to obtain them. One method is to get them for free after fighting creatures in the game. However, these card item drops are rare and random. Another way is to trade other Wizard101 players for a treasure card that you want.

You can also use a process called crafting. To craft, you have to buy a recipe for the card, find and buy the ingredients in the recipe then make it. This can be an arduous, pricey procedure. As a side note, you can only craft treasure cards from your primary school.

Some treasure cards can be bought with gold from the libraries in Wizard City and Krokotopia. To find them, just open your map using the shortkey M and look for library. The new Bazaar in Olde Town also allows you to buy treasure cards that have been created by other players. This is the easiest way to collect cards but the libraries lack the most powerful cards in the game, and the Bazaar's selection is completely random from day to day.

If you are willing to use real money, you can use crowns, purchased on the Wizard101 Web site, to buy card packs like the "Eye of Bartleby" treasure cards. You are only given around 6 cards from the pack at random. To reach these card packs, click the crown icon, named Crown Shop, at the top left of your application window.

• Note: You can tell treasure cards from regular cards because they are always yellow.

The following is a list of useful treasure cards to collect:

• Weakness
• Tower shield
• Feint
• Black mantle
• Earthquake
• Reshuffle
• Wild bolt
• Stun
• Choke
• Pierce
• Steal ward
• Steal charm
• Judgement
• Multi damage spells like meteor strike or blizzard
• Elemental/spirit traps and blades
• Various shields

Your spell deck holds all your normal and treasure cards. The game gives a default deck to work with when you begin. To open it, use the shortcut P.

• Parts of the Deck:
• Left Side Of the Deck:

At the top, you see the area where you place cards. These squares represent your active deck. They are the cards that will be available for you to use during combat. If you click the the golden circle tab on the far left, this area shows the active treasure cards.

Then, you find 12 squares at the bottom that house cards given to you by your wand, clothes or equipment. For example, when you start the game, your beginner wand gives you 6 spell cards. If you take off this wand, those cards are no longer available until you equip the wand again.

• Right Side Of the Deck:

This side shows all the normal cards that you own. Use the arrows on the right page to flip through all the normal spells that you have. If you push the golden treasure card tab, you will see all the treasure cards that are available.

• Adding and Removing Cards:
• To choose a card to be active, just left click it. A copy will be placed on the top of the left page. Keep clicking to add more than one. The dots, on the side of the card, show how many you have available to add to your active deck. If you are on the treasure card page, the number of available cards is represented by a small number in the lower left corner of each card.
• To remove a card from the active deck, click its icon on the top left page. Now, it returns to the right page.
• To delete a treasure card, right click it and pick delete. (Keep in mind that you can sell unwanted cards at the Bazaar in exchange for gold.)

• Deciding What Cards to Make Active:

It isn't always easy to decide which cards to carry into battle. However, a good rule of thumb is to choose a large amount of 0 pip charm and shield cards. These cards will help you save up pips during the rounds while providing you with protection or extra damage points. You also need to include your most powerful school damage spells. Give priority to your school cards because you can use them faster if you get power pips. If you have any spells that do damage to all enemies or do damage to enemies over several rounds, make those active as well. Finally, if you are not a life student, you should carry a few health treasure cards. Lower level wizards may benefit from having higher level damage treasure cards.

• Note: The more of a card you have in your deck, the higher the chance it will appear during a battle. Therefore, if you need a particular card to show during the first round, make sure that you fill the deck with it the most.

• Upgrading Your Deck:

As you move up in level, you should get decks that hold more active cards. You can get them several ways. There are some game quests that give you decks as a reward for completion. Rarely, you can obtain them in item drops after fighting creatures. Lastly, you can buy a new deck once you reach the appropriate levels. They can be bought in any shop on the various worlds in Wizard101.

• Making More Than One Deck:

Some times it comes in handy to have more than one deck set up. For example, you might want to have one deck for fighting solo and another for fighting with a group. A life student might have one deck set up strictly for healing and another for fighting. You can easily make another deck by buying two of the same deck (or any deck for that matter). Then, open your deck. There are two arrows on the sides of the deck title. Click these arrows to switch between different decks and place cards.

• Basics of the Duel:

1. Once you collide with a creature, you will automatically move to the dueling circle.
2. Near your feet, you will notice a ball of light. If it is white, it is a normal pip. If it is yellow, it is a power pip. You receive a new pip each round. If you don't use a pip, it is saved and added to the next round.
3. On your screen, there are 7 cards randomly picked from your active deck. You only have 30 seconds to pick a spell. To be able to pick a card, you must have the right amount of pips for that spell. On the first round, you can play a 0 pip card or 1 pip card. If you get a power pip, you can play a 2 pip school spell. Cards that you don't have enough pips to cast are greyed out. To cast a spell on the enemy, click the spell then click on the opponent. If you want to put the spell on yourself, click yourself. To discard a card, right click it. Push the draw button to draw a new card from your treasure cards. If you need to pass, just hit the pass button. (Only pass if you have all the cards that you want in your hand but not enough pips to cast the spells. Also, you don't have any viable 0 pip cards to play at that moment.)
4. After you cast a card or pass, your turn ends and the enemy plays.
5. It continues back and forth until one side has 0 health points. (You can also click the flee button. This ends the game immediately and sends you back to your home spot. If you do this, you earn no gold, gear or experience points.)

• Health and Mana:

On the bottom left of your screen, you can see your health and mana points. Mana stands for magic and is the number in the small crystal ball. It directly relates to pips. When you cast a 6 pip spell during a battle, it uses up 6 points of your mana points. If you run out of mana during a duel, you will only be able to cast 0 pip spells. So, you have to keep an eye on both numbers. During a battle, try to make sure your health doesn't fall below the half way mark. If it does, you need to use a heal spell as soon as possible.

• School Weaknesses:

All schools have a natural resistance to their own magic. For example, death students take less damage for death spells. However, every school has a weakness to certain magic. For instance, if a fire wizard is hit with an ice attack, the attack will do more damage than usual because fire is weak to ice. This is called a boost.

• Fire and ice are weak to each others spells.
• Life and death are weak to each others spells.
• Storm and myth are weak to each others spells.
• Balance is weak to life, death and myth spells.

• Leveling and Training Points:

The only way to earn stronger school spells is to reach higher levels. Don't skip quests, and be sure to finish all the quests given by Prospector Zeke. After completing his quests, you earn extra training points. Regular training points are given automatically at intervals as you level up.

Training points are used to train spells that you get to keep permanently in your deck. You don't use training points for spells taught in your primary school. However, you need to use them to learn spells from a secondary or tertiary school. Likewise, you can use them at other learning areas around the Wizard101 worlds.

• Strategy for Fighting Creatures:

Fairly early in the game, you will have to fight at least two creatures at a time. Your strategy should be flexible and open to change when needed.

• If you are in the position to one hit destroy opponents with the same amount of health, get rid of the one with the most pips first.
• Use 0 pip wand bolts to destroy enemy shields or weakness charms.
• If you have a spell that does damage over three rounds like 'Fire Elf, place it on your enemy to take out multiple shields that match it.
• Be careful when using wand bolts that match your school. It is easy to accidentally waste your own traps and blades when using them. However, they do come in handy to get rid of enemy shields that match your school.
• If you have to fight lots of one type of creature for a quest, take note of their patterns. Do they heal themselves? Do they cast weakness a lot? Once you know their pattern, you can set up your deck to counter their routine.
• Plan out some combinations and note the average damage they create. For example, a life trap, life blade and centaur spell make 900 points of damage on average.
• If you are a storm student, make sure to have plenty of accuracy enchantment cards on hand to boost the low accuracy of storm spells.
• If you want to use a spell that does damage to you, cast a shield on yourself first to lessen the damage. An example of this kind of card is Feint. It does 30% damage to you and 70% damage to the enemy.
• During a battle, consider discarding minion cards that appear in later rounds, unneeded 0 pip cards, multi enemy attack cards when you are down to one enemy and low level spells.
• If you choose to use a minion, try to get them out early. They aren't very effective too late in the match.

• Strategy for Fighting Level Bosses:

The strategy for bosses is much the same as above. Most bosses will have one or two minions fighting with them. The most important thing to remember is that you should take out the minion first unless you have a spell that can destroy the boss in one hit.

If you take on a boss alone, consider using your minion card to assist you during the battle. You can even buy a henchmen from the Crown Shop to help you if needed.

• Group Play:

When fighting with a group of players, make sure that you are thinking of what is best for the whole team not just yourself. If your health is fine, but your partner is dying, go ahead and use your heal card to heal him if you have it. If a group member does die during the battle, he can still benefit from the win as long as he doesn't flee.

• Healer Note:'

It is usually best for life wizards to take the position of focusing on support during group duels of three or more. The life student can set up blades, shields and traps on the group members as needed. They can also do the group healing so the other players can focus on damaging the enemy.

• Note: You can see what spell your team member is casting by looking at the card icon next to their name at the bottom of the screen.

• Player vs Player:

PvP duels are held in the Battle Arena in Unicorn Way. To find it, look for the name Diego on the map at Unicorn Way. Once you get there, talk to the guard on the left to enter a ranked duel or the one on the right to practice.

Keep in mind you can never guarantee what treasure cards someone may have or what secondary or possibly tertiary training they possess. Always be prepared for the unexpected in the Battle Arena. However, you can use the strategies already discussed plus the tips below to form a foundation for your personal battle plans.

• Life Opponents: They have high health, weaker spells and the natural ability to heal. You should hit them hard and fast so that they don't have time to heal themselves. The life Absorb spell doesn't work against health drain spells like Vampire.

• Death Opponents: These wizards have powerful spells and can heal themselves while dealing damage. Look out for the Feint and Beguile spells. If they cast Beguile on you, the damage spell you cast will be turned around on you. Feint puts a 70% damage trap on you.

• Myth Opponents: Myth wizard spells aren't that powerful. However, they have an astounding array of manipulation, charm and enchantment cards. They also have several minion spells. Be careful of the following spells: Stun, Blinding Light, Pierce and Earthquake. Stun prevents the opponent from casting for one round. Blinding Light stops a whole team from casting for a round. Pierce removes a shield from the target. Earthquake takes aways all charms and shields while dealing 335 points of damage to all enemies.

• Balance Opponents: The damage created by these wizards is relatively moderate except for one card. The Judgement spell can do massive damage if the wizard saves up a great amount of power pips. It deals 100 points of damage per pip point. Also, their is no shield that stops just balance magic. You can only use a tower shield to block 50% of it. They also have a spell called Black Mantle that takes your accuracy down by 60%. Destroy them before they have time to stack up too many pips and use Judgement.

• Fire Opponents: It's easy to underestimate the effectiveness of fire spells. However, their many spells that take 3 rounds to cause total damage can quickly eat away your health points when stacked. Look out for the spells Scald, Choke and Steal Charm. Choke stuns the enemy for one round. Steal Charm steals one charm from the opponent. When fighting one, use multiple fire shields.

• Ice Opponents: Ice wizards have the highest health but weak spells. They can stun their opponents with Freeze and steal one of their shields with Steal Ward. Beyond that, they have several native shields. Be prepared to use wand bolts to tear down their shields then hit hard with large damage spells.

• Storm Opponents: They have low accuracy, low health and the strongest spells. One of their most deadly spells is Wild Bolt. This spell deals 1000 points of damage and only takes 2 pips which means it only needs 1 power pip to be used by a storm wizard. Make sure that you load up on storm shields and use their low health to your advantage.

• Note: Have a general idea of the biggest damage a wizard from your opponents school can make. Then,make sure your life never gets below that number.

• Minions:

When you play a minion spell, it makes a computer controlled creature appear that fights on your team. You can't control what cards it plays, and it generally has low health points. During battles with creatures, often the enemy leaves the minion alone. However, there are occasions where they are destroyed. In PvP, the opponent usually one hit kills the minion. Keep this in mind when deciding if and when to use one.

• Henchmen:

These characters are similar to minions but have bigger spells and more health. However, you must buy them with real money from the Crown Shop. You have to start a battle before you are allowed to make a purchase of one. It only lasts for the duration of that duel if it isn't taken out by the enemy first. They can't be used in PvP combat. You must be level 20 or above to buy a henchmen.

• Wands:

As soon as your level is high enough, purchase a new wand that has wand bolts. The 0 pip spells that come with the higher wands make small amounts of damage on the enemy when used. You should use them to get rid of enemy shields without wasting a good damage spell. It can also be used against a Weakness spell that has been cast on you. There will be times that you knock an opponent's health down to an extremely low number. In that situation, you can use the wand bolt to finish them off quickly.

• Prisms:

The use of a prism spell can greatly benefit you when fighting someone from the same school. When you use a prism, it converts a specific type of magic to its opposite. For instance, a life prism converts life damage into death damage. This is useful because a life wizard or life creature would be resistant to damage from a life spell. The bonus is that the life wizard receives extra damage from a death spell.

Another way to use the prism is to bypass a matching shield. For example, a life wizard could place a life prism on a storm enemy that has a life shield up. Once the life wizard hits him with a life spell, the prism turns the damage into death damage and bypasses the shield. Notice that if the life wizard had done this technique with a death wizard, it would have backfired because the death student has resistance to death spells.

For a shield to protect someone from a prism, the matching shield must be played before the prism. If that life prism is played, a death shield must be played before the life prism to protect the target.

• Traps, Shields and Blades:

It's a good idea to have a wide variety of traps, shields and blades. These 0 pip spells not only help you build up pips to use with damage spells later, but they are useful as well. As you advance in your dueling, you should try to make high damage combinations as much as possible. For example, cast a death blade on yourself, a death trap on and high level damage spell on the enemy. This will hit the opponent for major damage. It can be the difference between a quick kill and fighting numerous rounds.

Shields are equally important to your battle plan. If a storm wizard hits you with a Wild Bolt spell, you lose 1000 points of health in one hit, and that's without any help from traps or blades. Yet, if you cast a storm shield on yourself, the damage is reduced to 200 points.

You can create your own treasure cards by using an enchantment card with a non-treasure damage card. This comes in handy to make powerful cards that you can trade with others, sell to make gold or use yourself in battle. For example, storm wizard's spells fizzle a great deal because of the low accuracy of storm spells. So, they can make treasure cards from their school spell cards and an enchantment card like Keen Eyes. This enchantment card will add an extra 10% of accuracy and lessens the chance the damage spell will fizzle.

There are several different enchantment cards that you can buy or collect. Keen Eyes (+10%), Sharp (+15%), Precision (+20%) and Sniper (+20%) alter the accuracy of a damage card. Tough (+75), Strong (+100), Giant (+125) and Monstrous (+175) increase the damage strength of a card as long as it isn't a health drain spell such as Ghoul or Vampire. Keen Eyes and Tough can be bought at the libraries.

• Directions:

1. Go to an easy battle realm such as Firecat Alley or Unicorn Way. To find Unicorn Way, look for its name on the Wizard City map. If you want to find Firecat Alley, you must first go through the Shopping District in Wizard City. Then, look for Olde Town" on the Shopping District map. Once in Olde Town, search for "Firecat Alley or either of the other two battle realms on that map. It's recommended that you use Unicorn Way because the creatures there are the easiest to defeat.
2. Equip a higher level wand that has wand bolt cards.
3. Load your spell deck with the damage cards that you want to turn into a treasure card. Don't include any other spells.
4. Place the enchantment cards that you want to use in your treasure sideboard. Don't include other treasure cards.
5. Run up to a creature and begin combat.
6. Since your damage cards are the only ones in the deck, they should come up first when you start the battle. If not, discard any unnecessary cards. (Leave at least one wand bolt.)
7. Draw a treasure card. You need to discard at least one card to use the draw button.
8. Click the enchantment card first then click the damage card. This will create a new treasure card. Be careful not to use this new card on the creature.
9. Destroy the creature with the wand bolt or a regular damage card.
10. Once the fight is over, look in your deck, and you will see the new treasure card.

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