Hi, I'm Daniel SoulWalker, a level 36 Magus Sorcerer. I am currently a Balance and Death up to Feint student and I am having trouble picking what school to use the rest of my training points on. I have read a lot of people's opinions on the internet and there are just too many paths to take that people say are the best. Some people say Ice, others say Life, another says Star, it's just too much. My favorite way of playing is to have a versatile deck - some healing, some offense, some defense, some buffs, PvP options, group play options, etc. Basically, a little bit of everything. (I bet you can guess why I choose the Balance school) So, I would prefer having schools that would further boost Balance's capabilities and give me this type of deck. Here's some of the arguments people have made on the internet on what's the best way to go:
Ice has some decent offensive spells and the magnificent Tower Shield, which would be incredibly useful in PvP against a fellow Sorcerer as Judgement hurts like nothing you've ever seen before. Plus, I don't have to train as much in the school and I could get extra spells such as Melt, Infection, etc.
Life, on the other hand, would give me some really nice healing spells (because at this level 400 hp healing is nothing), along with something to use against Death (which shows up everywhere I go), gives some incredible shields (Spirit Armor), and some decent attack spells. Plus, I could be better in a group as I could heal others and deal some nice damage via Judgement + Feint.
The Moon school of magic will give you Poly morph spells, so you can turn into a different elemental monster of which you might have battled before. Everything you get is new with a Poly morph - what you are weak to, what cards you have, your health, everything... Um... Yeah... That doesn't sound very useful to me.
When learning at the Sun school of magic, you will learn various enchantments and mutations. You will start with basic enchantments such as +10% accuracy, but over time you will learn more powerful enchantments such as +25% accuracy (that could make a Fire spell 100% accurate!) and +175 damage to your next spell. They also use mutations, which basically turn a spell that you have into a different element. For example, you're fighting a Balance wizard and all you have is Locust Swarm as an attack, so you use Mutate Swarm to turn it into an Ice spell, so the opponent can't resist your spell.
Finally, Star magic will teach you about a newer type of spells called Auras. Auras can't be stacked, broken, or dispelled, but instead, they disappear after a set number of rounds. Unlike Sun magic, these spells actually increase the powers of your wizard, not your spell. They can do pretty much anything you want them to do - increase accuracy, strength, resistance, heck, they can even turn incoming spells into pips for you.
As you can see, each one makes a compelling argument, and these are only some of the options. There's still Fire, Myth, Storm, and I could even keep on going until I have all the Death spells. So, I am having a very hard time on making a decision. Any suggestions with reasons/explanations would be appreciated from the bottom of my soul! (No pun intended) Please include exactly what you think I should do. For example, talk about your ideas, but then at the end, say what you think I should do - Star to Empowerment, then a dispel, or Sun to Unstoppable, etc.
EDIT 12/29/2011: After reading elvinlith's amazing posts, I have an idea on what a good path to take with Balance would be: Get the rest of the Death spells, all the Sun School enchantment spells (no mutates), and all of the Dispel spells. What do you guys think of this idea? If you could include your thoughts on this path, I would appreciate your post with even more gratitude!
I would highly encourage you go with none. Balance has shields for every school (balance exempt) and balance has TWO heals naturally. You should go with sun school damage enchancments, and star school empowerment, vemgeance, and the accuracy+armor peircing spell that i cant remember its name. But if you want a shield to defend from Balance, then i would do tower shield, but no satyr.
Oh yeah! I completely forgot about the Astral schools! Thanks for reminding me about them stormschool99. You do make a good point about the shields, although I've never heard of two healing spells from Balance. I thought it was just one. The Healing Hands spells are pretty effective, and they do seem to do a better job than some of the Life spells. I've always wanted to have some Astral school magic. Let me change the first post to include astral schools now. :)
Oh yeah! I completely forgot about the Astral schools! Thanks for reminding me about them stormschool99. You do make a good point about the shields, although I've never heard of two healing spells from Balance. I thought it was just one. The Healing Hands spells are pretty effective, and they do seem to do a better job than some of the Life spells. I've always wanted to have some Astral school magic. Let me change the first post to include astral schools now. :)
You have Helping Hands, and Availing Hands. (Availing being level 55) They are heal over time, so dont wait until the player is so lose to being dad before using it.
So it mainly sounds like go full Death and spend the rest getting as many Star spells as you can. It does sound pretty good - continue with a good school that supports my main school, and then get some awesome auras that can ruin an enemy's day. But, I want to make sure that that's what you guys are saying.
had this conversation several time already, but as far as I am concerned, i trained life and ice, beside my main, which is Balance, and today i use neither. Well i do have 3 towers in my PvP deck, but that's all.
We have elemental hits (hydra and blast) that take advantage of our gear boost as ice wouldn't. We have our own AoEs (richest school in that) that can't be blocked except by towers. We have two healings, the second being as good as satyr, but with half as many pips (unless you sacrifice the necklace to use a life amulet). And now we have a most powerful spirit attack (chimera), that complete our range of hits (although it's a little expensive - but well worth it).
Consider that there are treasure cards for all the spells you can learn in those school, some of which come easily from gardening: if you plan to cast once a day, maybe your skill points are better spent on something else.
As of the star schools: until lvl 59, moon school is very useful and fun to use. After that, well, your legendary gear will make those spells obsolete and disadvantageous (obsolete, because you will hit as hard, disadvantageous because when you morph you loose universal resistance). I trained all the elementals (ice, fire and storm), and although i still use them from time to time, they are more for fun than anything else.
Star school, the auras, i didn't train: honestly you can find as many treasure cards for this one, and they are stronger than the actual spell. since in a normal match you will not use more than two or three time the spell, and they are not expensive at all, I don't recommend it.
Sun school: this is a must have. We are not the strongest school around, but when you blow away your foes with a 1k sandstorm (2k with a critical), that sort of calls for respect
As myself, you may find that you got quite a few training points left after you are done with these secondary schools. I suggest training dispels, they come in terribly handy over time .. And optionally the two spells from diego if you plan to do PvP, although it is very possible to do without.
Thanks for your post elvinlith, but now I'm really confused. Let's start from the beginning of your post.
Is your first paragraph basically saying to solo Balance? If it is, I'm a bit late on that as I have already trained up to Feint in Death.
In your second paragraph, you make some good points - we do have some elemental and spirit spells, healing spells, etc., but what are AoEs? I tried to look that up on Google, but it just comes up with apes.
The third paragraph makes a good point, but I already know I could just get treasure cards. The thing with that is that then, what are we supposed to use Training Points for? We were given them, so we might as well use them.
As for the Moon School, that's exactly what I noticed when I PvP against a level 64. He would use ridiculous attacks, then morph, and then everyone could beat him.
The star school paragraph confuses me though. The spells aren't useful in battle because you can only use them a couple times, plus you can just get the treasure card star spells?
I definitely agree with you on the sun school spells. We are kinda weak compared to Fire and Myth and others, but wouldn't star spells still be more useful because you don't have to use them everytime you want to cast a spell? Then again, we do use shields and blades and stuff before a spell, but still, they just add a certain amount, and could be outclassed by a blade. They might make something like a rank 2 spell powerful, but on higher rank spells, wouldn't blades and traps be more useful because they give a percent bonus? That percent bonus might give a spell 400 extra damage points, which definitely destroys Colossal.
Your last paragraph says when you are done with the secondary schools. What do you mean by that? Learn spells from each school you said? Dispels could probably be useful, and what spells do Diego teach?
I think your ideas are great elvinlith, they're just a bit confusing. Also, I think I need to add to the first post to include exactly what you think I should do. For example, talk about your ideas, but then at the end, say what you think I should do - Star to Empowerment, then a dispel, or Sun to Unstoppable, etc.
I would highly encourage you go with none. Balance has shields for every school (balance exempt) and balance has TWO heals naturally. You should go with sun school damage enchancments, and star school empowerment, vemgeance, and the accuracy+armor peircing spell that i cant remember its name. But if you want a shield to defend from Balance, then i would do tower shield, but no satyr.
you forgot death to feint for a balance and infallible.
Thanks for your post elvinlith, but now I'm really confused. Let's start from the beginning of your post.
ok. Let's go basic.
Is your first paragraph basically saying to solo Balance? If it is, I'm a bit late on that as I have already trained up to Feint in Death.
I don't mean "never train another school" :P I mean that you don't have to. Feint will be of some use, just remember that almost always, a HEX card will also do the job. So you have trained it, use it, but you will soon find out that it's just a commodity, not a need. What i mean is that we are a self-sufficient school on boosts, hits, defense and heal. Only exception being when we get hit by another balance, but since most of our gear can give us high specific resistance, even the tower shields are just useful.
In your second paragraph, you make some good points - we do have some elemental and spirit spells, healing spells, etc., but what are AoEs? I tried to look that up on Google, but it just comes up with apes.
AoE: Attack all ('ol' ) Enemies. It's a common acronym for spells like sandstorm, power nova, RA and so on.
The third paragraph makes a good point, but I already know I could just get treasure cards. The thing with that is that then, what are we supposed to use Training Points for? We were given them, so we might as well use them.
Training points can be used to improve your gaming experience. Instead of taking a spell that will be useless (like life secondary school was to me), you can spend those points in alternative spells: basicly there are secret shops all over the spiral where you can acquire dispels, minion-related spells, shields.. and many other things, according to your style of play. These are, in my opinion, items that make your deck richer, and allow to study finer strategies other than 'boost the storm and let life heal' one. Also you don'thave to spend all your points: the game is expanding continuosly, and maybe, in one year time, you will find that dozen of points just enough to train the brand new school spells that will come out then (i said: "maybe").
As for the Moon School, that's exactly what I noticed when I PvP against a level 64. He would use ridiculous attacks, then morph, and then everyone could beat him.
You got my point. It's fun to play with morphs, but definitely not in high level pvp. I still do, though, when i do long boring dungeons, just so that it breaks the monotony. Maybe when we will be allowed to set up rules for PVP matches (like, polymorph only") then it will become much funnier to play them. I said: Maybe.
The star school paragraph confuses me though. The spells aren't useful in battle because you can only use them a couple times, plus you can just get the treasure card star spells?
No i mean: during a battle, you don't need 6 copies of that spell. It last 4 rounds, and generally you cast it, hit, heal or shield or whatever, and hit back, and the game is over. Except in some very rare PvP occasions, a match doesn't last 50 rounds or more. So if you have two or three treasure cards of the spell you want to cast, that will be plenty. Just remember to refill the treasures deck if you use one.
About the treasure cards: they usually have stronger power than the normal spells. So, for example, vengeance is +20% as a normal card, but + 25% as a treasure card. Same goes for amplify, + 15% normal, +20% treasure. And so on.
Also, a normal deck can host up to 60 cards: imagine if you have 2 copies of the one you want in it: 1 chance out of 30 to get it when you need it.
But if you put it in the treasure deck, and add little to no other cards in that section, you can just take it when you want and be sure it will be there when you need it.
I definitely agree with you on the sun school spells. We are kinda weak compared to Fire and Myth and others, but wouldn't star spells still be more useful because you don't have to use them everytime you want to cast a spell? Then again, we do use shields and blades and stuff before a spell, but still, they just add a certain amount, and could be outclassed by a blade. They might make something like a rank 2 spell powerful, but on higher rank spells, wouldn't blades and traps be more useful because they give a percent bonus? That percent bonus might give a spell 400 extra damage points, which definitely destroys Colossal.
You didn't get it: you need to use sun school AND blades together.
let's make an example.
Take a cockroach.. euh, a sand beetle. let's say it does 100 damage. Add a balance blade: 125 damage. Add a blade storm: 150 damage add a dragonblade: 195 damage add a treasure balance blade: 253 damage.
Now add to the beginning of this calculation, let's say strong: +100 base damage is 200. Add a balance blade: 250 damage Add a blade storm: 300 damage. Add a dragon blade: 390 damage add a treasure balance blade: 507 damage. We are talking about a lvl 1 spell, here. Make the same excercise with Colossal instead of strong, and RA instead of beetle. Then multiply by 2 if you get a critical.
Just so that you get a better idea, when i cast RA+ colossal with my legendary gear in waterworks (only 3 blades max) and get a critical, I inflict between 6k and 7k damages. Without colossal, it would be between 4k and 5k at best.
Remember that colossal add to the base damage: the gear, traps and blades boost will apply to its value as well as to the base card value
Your last paragraph says when you are done with the secondary schools. What do you mean by that? Learn spells from each school you said? Dispels could probably be useful, and what spells do Diego teach?
Read: once you have trained all the things that you may want to train, based on what we said... As of Diego, go talk to him when he calls you!
I think your ideas are great elvinlith, they're just a bit confusing. Also, I think I need to add to the first post to include exactly what you think I should do. For example, talk about your ideas, but then at the end, say what you think I should do - Star to Empowerment, then a dispel, or Sun to Unstoppable, etc.
I'm always confusing. That's the price to pay when writing in a foreign language
This is what i think you should do:
Have fun.
It's a game, you want to play it the way you find is the most appealing to you. Don't listen to people that tell you "do this, do that", it's your character, your game, your style. If you like to use feint, do it! If you want to become a healer, don't hesitate either! If you like to blast everything on your passage, go ahead as well! The most important thing is that, at the end of the day, you will be satisfied with your gaming experience. I gave you my own experience, about efficiency, but you may find out that all in all, you prefer to make funny pig polymorphs and try stuff, than killing foe after foe with the same chain of 3-4 spells over and over again.
You are amazing elvinlith! I've been asking everyone what they think I should do except for the most vital person to ask - myself! Thank you so much for explaining your post. I'm still kinda learning the whole "chose what strategy you think will work" kinda thing, (same in Pokemon as well as in Wizard 101 ) so it really helps a lot to know what an experienced person does. (I'd ask my brother, but he never helps me with anything) So, know that I know a bit more on how to do this, I'll reread your first post.
*Reads other post*
OK, with both of your posts in mind, my Death to Feint choice seems well spent, but to further enhance it, I could train in the Sun school, because a whole lot of blades, traps, and Sun enhancements can make my spells ridiculously overpowered . Then, get some Dispels, and possibly some Diego spells. Should I get more Death spells though? Since I know how many training points we can get by level 70, let's see what my cost is to determine if I should get more. 31 - 7 (Death spells already bought) = 24. As of now, I can gain 24 training points. There are 8 main Sun spells, so 24 - 8 = 16. Mutates I really don't care about, so skip those and have Extraordinary, Colossal, and maybe Cloak, which makes 16 - 3 = 13. That gives me all the Sun enchantment spells, so now let's see how many Dispels I can get. I already have the Balance Dispel, so add the others and that's 6 more spells. 13 - 6 = 7. I could definitely get the other 2 spells from Death, and still have 5 Training Points!
Still, I would like to know if this sounds like a good idea. I would like to make a versatile deck - PvP, group play, healing, draining, defense, offensive, etc. I like doing things that give me a little of each part. How's this sound for a deck like that:
All Sun School Enchantment Spells All Dispels The rest of the Death Spells
What do you guys think? And thank you again elvinlith.
Balance, you want to go with: Ice, up to Tower Shield (get the tower shield spell!). Death, up to Feint. Choose a secondary school like Life or Storm and max out on them. Also, for astral, try to get 'strong enchancer' spells. These make up for the sometimes small amount of damage balance does.
Death, you want to go with: Ice, up to tower shield, again. Life, up to Satyr *?*. Then a secondary. To be honest with you, I don't really know how to play death, because it's the only school I don't play as.
That's not what I meant, poseygirlolive. I meant what's the best secondary school for a Balance student who already has Death up to Feint. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that. Although did you read my post at all? No offense, but you probably would have figured out what I meant if you read my post. :?
) 
You are amazing elvinlith! I've been asking everyone what they think I should do except for the most vital person to ask - myself! Thank you 
) so it really helps a lot to know what an experienced person does. (I'd ask my brother, but he never helps me with anything) So, know that I know a bit more on how to do this, I'll reread your first post. 