Unlocking the Magic: Wizard101 Spells & Spell Types

After venturing into the Spiral for the first time, Wizard101 players soon learn that the game is based on different spells and spell types. The very first spell you add to your deck depends on which school you choose as your Primary School of Magic—Death, Life, Fire, Ice, Myth, Storm or Balance. You’ll earn training points that you can spend in other Primary Schools of magic, but once you reach Level 50 and visit Celestia, you’ll get the chance to exchange your training points for spells that belong to the  Astral Schools of Magic—Moon, Star and Sun. Even further into the game, you can unlock Shadow Magic in Khrysalis, but that’s a looong way down the road for brand-new Wizards.

Primary Schools
With the exception of Balance, each of the seven Primary Schools has an “opposite” (Fire and Ice, Life and Death, and Storm and Myth). When you’re attacking someone—or something!—belonging to a certain school, use spells from the opposing school to do even more damage than usual. For example, if you’re fighting a boss from the Death School, bust out your Wizard101 Life spells to make a big impact. You can also use a prism card to convert your Death spell to a Life spell as well.

Each school’s spells have different characteristics, so don’t be surprised when you see a Fire Wizard making different spellcasting choices than an Ice Wizard. Here’s the lowdown:

• Death: Wizard101 Death spells are mainly geared toward stealing health from opponents and healing the spellcaster. They also have a great arsenal of debuff and weakness spells to limit damage, charm opponents, and dampen healing.
• Life: While Death students are stealing other Wizards’ health, Life students are all about sharing the love. They can heal themselves, other individual players and even a whole group at once! They also have high spellcasting accuracy, which means they don’t experience the dreaded fizzle as often as students from most other schools.
• Fire: Fire Wizards may not seem all that powerful at first, but just wait and see what they can do! Many of the spells from this school do damage over time, lulling opponents into a false sense of security about their health points before finishing them off. Oh, and don’t forget the Smoke Screen spell, which increases the chance an opponent will fizzle.
• Ice: Ever see a Wizard with a jaw-droppingly high number of health points? He or she was probably a member of the Ice School. Ice students can take a ton of damage—but opponents’ spells have to get through their strong defenses first! The Taunt spell can also be useful, as it allows Ice Wizards to divert enemies’ attention from other, weaker members of the group.
• Myth: Why go into battle by yourself when you can summon minions to your side? One thing’s for sure: You never have to fight alone when you’re a student of the School of Myth. These Wizards are also great at vanquishing pesky defense shields that can normally neutralize even powerful spells.
• Storm: Wizard101 Storm spells can do a lot of damage, but their accuracy isn’t great and can have crazy results. Let’s put it this way: Storm students are very familiar with fizzling and spells like Insane Bolt can even backfire on you. Like Myth students, Storm Wizards can remove buffs on other players. The difference? Members of the Storm School zap away damage boosts, not defense shields.
• Balance: The Balance School has a little bit of everything, and this versatility means students can pack a punch against enemies from every school. Balance students come with no shortage of damage buffs, so Wizards from other schools love being in group battles with them!

Astral Schools

There’s a lot to love about Celestia, from its underwater areas to its fun array of sea creatures—some of which are friendlier than others. Celestia is also the place to add auras, enchantments and polymorphing spells to your deck by training in the Secondary Schools of Magic, also known as the Astral Schools.

• Moon: Ever want to play Wizard101 as a Draconian or a Gobbler? If you choose to study the Moon School, you won’t only resemble these creatures—you’ll be able to cast their spells, too!
• Star: Depending on the type of aura you cast, you can benefit from better accuracy, improved damage ability, higher resistance and more. Want to hear the best part? They can’t be dispelled! If you’re sick of enemies removing your buffs, this Secondary School could be the one for you!
• Sun: You can find enchantments in many spell decks, but Sun School enchantments are a little different. After all, regular enchantments don’t let you mutate cards into attacks from other decks!

Shadow Magic

If you’re looking to pick up Shadow Magic spells, you’ll have to wait a while longer. After you complete Celestia, Zafaria, Avalon and Azteca, head to Khrysalis and keep an eye out for Sofia DarkSide. Once you complete her “Touching Shadow” quest, you’ll be able to access the spells from this powerful yet unstable school.

What Wizard101 spells are your favorites? Which schools of magic do you like best and why?