7 Tips for New Wizards

Posted on February 3, 2023February 25, 2023 by Ravynlea

Navigating the Spiral can seem overwhelming when you first enroll at Ravenwood Academy. There are so many things I wish I knew before I started playing. It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration.

Don’t struggle like me. In this article you’ll find gear, pets, gardening and more. Here are my top 7 tips for getting started in Wizard101.

If you have any more questions, there are tons of other Ravenwood Academy articles that can help you out!

1. SPEAK THE LANGUAGE

Wizards are so busy studying they have no time to type a world’s full name. That’s why you’ll find Zafaria being shortened to ‘zf’ and Krokotopia to ‘krok.’

Here’s a list of other common terms to help you navigate the Spiral.

Treasure cards or ‘tc’ – Cards that can be put in your side deck. These gold colored cards disappear after being cast one time.
Training Points – Points that can be spent to train spells from schools other than your own. This includes Astral and Shadow spells.
Critical or ‘crit’ – The chance a Wizard has of doing extra damage to opponents.
Block – The chance a Wizard has of blocking a critical attack.
Shadow pip or ‘shad’ – Refers to the pips required to cast shadow spells.
Max / max Wizard – This usually refers to a Wizard who is the maximum level at the time. Currently it’s 130.
Reagents – Ingredients used to craft certain items.
AOE Spells – An attack that damages all enemies.
Side deck – The part of your deck where treasure cards are stored.
Mega snacks – Rank 8/9 Snacks you can feed to your pet. This is how your pet gains talents that help your Wizard.

Look for more articles on terms in the near future from Ravenwood Academy.

2. Suit up for battle appropriately

A common problem for new Wizards is the overwhelming selection of gear. When questing, you’ll get a lot of drops from battles. Most of it won’t be useful for your particular Wizard’s school. Players often ask, “How often should I change my gear? What gear should I use? Does this hat bring out my eyes?”

Before level 30, I don’t worry about stats much. Questing with gear that drops as you go should be enough to get you through the storyline. Upgrade your gear when something drops that matches your School with higher stats. Avoid socketing jewels unless you are sure the piece of gear will be useful long-term.

If you’re looking to outshine your fellow Wizards, I’ve got some level 5 recommendations. These will serve you well until level 30.

Most of the drops are from Wizard City’s final boss, Lord Nightshade. If you’re not willing to spend time farming for the gear, it’s also purchasable from the Crowns Shop.

HAT

ROBE

BOOTS

Here is a more in depth guide on level 5 gear.

At level 30, Mount Olympus will be the next place to get gear. It’s the first dungeon in the side world Aquila. Zeus drops some quality items that most Wizards use until level 60. Cyrus Drake gives the first quest in the Aquila story line so make sure to pick that up! It’s called Quest for Glory.

The Sky Iron Hasta is a guaranteed drop from this dungeon. This wand gives Ten damage and a power pip, which is excellent for any school. The Zeus or Senator sets should be your goal. They give amazing stats for every school and add a little visual flair to your Wizard.

There are a few notable gear sets that you should go for at each level after this:

Level 60 – Waterworks or House of Scales Gear

Level 100 – Darkmoor Gear or alternatives (Exalted Krokopatra/Rattlebones)

3. Sometimes less is more!

A common mistake that many wizards make is stocking their deck with all their cards. You will waste rounds trying to find the card you need, giving the enemy the upper hand. As you get used to combat, you’ll realise you don’t need everything for regular questing.

The likelihood of you drawing the card you want increases when your deck has less in it.

Know you don’t have to add every card you’re given!

I like to have aoe spells, a few blades and some single hits for bosses or clean up. My side deck contains blades as well as monstrous tc.

If you have the gold, I’d recommend picking up some of these treasure cards. Your attacks will be significantly more effective. Different kinds of blades stack, and enchants like Monstrous increase the base damage of spells.

For example, this is my myth deck at level 27.

Main deck

Side deck

4. Save your training points

One of the most common mistakes new Wizards make is wasting your training points. You get one training point every 5 levels. The only other way to get them is by completing the Professor Zeke quests around the Spiral.

Training a ‘secondary school’ is ineffective in the games current state. If you face your own school in PvE, converts are there to help you.

Before level 50, there is little need to spend training points. The only spells I would go for with training points are Feint, Satyr and Tower Shield. If you’re looking to PvP you may need different spells. Research how to spend them wisely.

Once you unlock Celestia, it is a good option to spend your points on the sun and star school spells. You are able to train the enchants I mentioned before. Unfortunately you’ll have to have enough to train them all to get the highest one.

Unless you seek to collect moon school spells, they serve little purpose in the game. Wizards commonly regret spending their training points on them.

I recommend using a training point calculator to plan out how you are going to spend your points. Once you spend them, the only way you can get them back is with a hefty amount of crowns. Be careful!

5. BE HAPPY WITH YOUR IDENTITY!

When you first enroll at Ravenwood School of Magical Arts, you will choose your name and school. Be careful about this, you don’t get to change it later. To help you choose your school, here’s an outline of each

Ice – High health. This class is intended to be a tank. To balance this out, Ice does less damage than the other schools.

Storm – Has the highest base damage of all the schools. However, they have the least health and less accuracy.

Fire – High damage, can use damage-over-time-spells which are extremely effective in PvP as well as questing. They are powerful but have more health than storm.

Death – Considered by many to be one of the best schools for questing. They have good health and damage. Many Death spells damage the enemy while healing the Death Wizard.

Myth – Can summon lots of minions to help them in battle. Good health, damage and their spells have a lot of utility.

Life – Heals others! If you’re a support player, this is for you. You can build life to be a tank and to protect your teammates. The downfall is that they do less damage, like Ice.

Balance – An amazing utility school. Has various buffs that can be applied to others. However, they don’t have very many themselves. If you’re not intending to solo quest, I’d consider balance.

6. BE HEALTHY FOR BATTLE!

If you walk into a battle with 300 health, chances are you’re going to end up with your head spinning. You may think it’s unavoidable in dungeons where health whisps are absent. Yet, your wizard training has prepared you for this situation. You’ve got potions that will restore your health and mana.

What happens when I use them all?

You can refill your potions two different ways. The first is to play mini-games at the Fairground in Wizard City. If you don’t have time for that, you can refill them with gold from Hilda Brewer outside the Fairground.

7. You’ll need your crowns later

Crowns are valuable, you don’t want to spend them all in the first 50 levels.

I suggest investing in a mount you like since running everywhere slows down the game. If you’re struggling with questing, consider the level 5 gear above. However, all of that gear is also droppable by relatively easy bosses.

Stitching is an inefficient use of crowns at a lower level because you change your gear so frequently. Sitching and unstitching costs 100 crowns each.

This applies to pack gear as well, it gets better every 10 levels.

You’ll need crowns for chest rerolls, energy, pet training and much more! Spend them wisely

I hope these tips give you a better idea of how to play Wizard101! You can find more tips on Ravenwood Academy and at the Wizard101 Official Forums. The Official Forums are a great way to make friends and Interact with the community too. Take a look at these other great articles for new Wizards on Ravenwood Academy.

Good luck with your adventures!

Spring Update Highlights

Posted on June 1, 2021August 7, 2021 by Morgan_Shade

Greetings, Wizards of the Spiral. As we prepare for the Summer here at Ravenwood Academy, we’d like to highlight some of our favorite changes from the Spring 2021 Test Realm. Without further delay, let’s begin!

New Skeleton Key Bosses

Two new Skeleton key bosses have arrived in Grizzleheim and Karamelle. The first boss, King Borr, resides in Savarstaad Pass. Meanwhile, the Stay-Puffed Marshfellow dwells in the Nibbleheim Mines.

The Stay-Puffed Marshfellow requires a Gold Skeleton key. At the same time, King Borr has variants for all three keys. The Nibbleheim Key Boss drops new unique Marshmallow Wands. Meanwhile, King Borr drops Spellements for the Grizzleheim Lore Spells. Life Wizards rejoice as there’s now another method to get Ratatoskr’s Spin!

New Social Feature

Recently added in the Spring Update was the new Social feature. Clicking the icon beneath your Friend’s List will bring up a list of all nearby Wizards. This list will show you all the Wizards currently in your same zone and their current quest.

Friendly Wizards are okay with other people joining them in combat. You can also chat and teleport to any nearby Wizard who has marked themselves as Friendly.

Finding a questing buddy is now easier than ever! Even better, we no longer must sacrifice those on our Friends List to make room. Finally, we can see if a player is fine with another person joining their PVE duel. No more awkward conversations when you enter a fight that was almost over.

Team up VolUnteering

The Join a Team Kiosk has received an update in the form of Volunteering! Volunteering allows you to help other players without having to stay put. You can select the world and types of instances you want to volunteer for at the Kiosk outside the Bazaar. Here you can choose from any world you’ve unlocked to volunteer. From there, you can choose to volunteer to assist with farming or longer dungeons.

The teams who’ve been waiting the longest time for help will receive volunteers first. After you’ve helped your team complete the instance, your Health and Mana are replenished. From there, you’ll return to your previous location. This system allows players to help other players without selecting a new team to help each time. Excellent for any Wizard seeking to get the illustrious Team Champion Badge.

New Spell Animations

Many AOE animations were updated to hit all enemies, making them faster. Below is the list of AOE’s whose animations were updated. You can also check out the video below to see the changes made to them.

Fire: Meteor Strike, Fire Dragon, Rain of Fire

Ice: Blizzard, Frost Giant

Storm: Tempest, Storm Lord, Sirens

Myth: Humungofrog, Orthrus, Mystic Colossus

Life: Forest Lord, Rebirth

Death: Deer Knight, Scarecrow

Balance: Sandstorm, Ra

New Spells

It’s time to visit your professors because sixteen new spells have arrived in the game! There are two new spells for every school. But Life and Death received an extra, each in the form of damage boosting Globals. All these spells are available from the respective trainers in Ravenwood. You must be level forty-two to learn these spells. You’ll also need the prerequisites in your Spellbook.

Many of these spells were once popular treasure cards used in PVP. Their popularity has brought them to be permanent additions to our Professors’ curriculum. Don’t worry non PVP players; the Developers kept PVE in mind too for these spells. You might find them helpful outside the arena.

New Quest

“Old is New Again” is a new quest available in the Arcanum for Wizards who have completed “Everything and Nothing.” For those who don’t want any spoilers look away now. For those who don’t mind spoilers, the video below covers the entire quest.

Spoilers Ahead!

To summarize the quest. We receive a message from the Old One, who is seeking to recover a memory of a world called Lemuria. Scholar Zander helps us discover Lemuria is little more than a fairytale.
The Old One insists the world exists, and so we venture to Mirage to find proof. After some snakey-shenanigans, we realize we are the only ones who can see the Old One. From there, we recover a piece of a mosaic depicting the Lemurians kneeling beneath him.

The Old One reveals himself as an aspect of the Nothing. Exhausted, the he tells us we must find Lemuria before vanishing. Finally, we return to Bartleby for more information. The Grandfather Tree gazes back through history only to inform us that Lemuria disappeared centuries ago.

We’re too late.

Food for Thought

The quest takes us to Mirage, which houses the Sands of Time. According to Librarian Fitzhume on the Message Boards, we know time within the Spiral is governed by the flow of magic. Meaning time within the Spiral is flexible and subject to manipulation. We’ve seen it in Dragonspyre, the Five BOXES event, and Mirage. Does our return to Mirage hint at us going back in time to stop Lemuria’s disappearance?

We also know worlds can become disconnected from the Spiral and reconnected to it. We’re told about this in the level twenty quest “Grizzleheim.” Merle Ambrose tells us, “The Grizzleheim world-tree was once linked to the rest of the Spiral, but the contact was lost…. we thought it was destroyed. Bartelby now informs me that the portal to Grizzlehiem is now active, and travel there is possible.” This begs the question of how does a world lose its connection to the Spiral? How does it regain contact? Going a step further, how many worlds are floating undiscovered within the Void?

Regarding the Void

Which brings us to another question what exactly is the Void? In the Storytime posts from 2013 and 2014, King Artorius spoke about the “Outer Void.” The most we can glean from his responses is that the Outer Void fills the space between the Spiral’s worlds. It’s a dangerous, inhospitable place, and little is known about it. In Pirate101, when we sail from one world to another, one could claim we are traversing the Void, albeit not as empty as the name implies. Artorius does use the words “Outer Void” when he mentions it; this means, to me at least, that the Void has depth.

Could it be what we see in Pirate101 and the Arcanum is partly a product of being so close to the Spiral? Are other fragments of the First World being pulled closer to the Spiral by the same magic used to create it? Who is to say the Void doesn’t grow darker and quieter the farther out you go? But to our knowledge, no one has ever traveled so far and returned to talk about it.

Previous slide

Next slide

Again, according to Librarian Fitzhume in the 2016 Storytime on the Wizard101 Message Boards, it doesn’t appear that the Void is the end. According to Fitzhume’s responses, there is still something beyond the Spiral. Whatever it might be is beyond our understanding. It is worth noting there is no mention of the Outer Void here.

Meaning the theoretical ‘something’ excludes the Void. Based upon this information, I’d like to think of the Void as a kind of padding. It surrounds and guards the Spiral, somehow part of the Spiral, and apart from it, like armor or a shell. It is keeping things that don’t belong in it out while also containing everything within. A fascinating subject, to be sure. I am interested in seeing how it develops going forward.

Thanks for Reading!

With that, I will draw this to a close. Thank you all so much for reading this article; I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to browse the other guides and pieces here. Leave a comment below on what you think will happen as the Fourth Arc continues.

If you want to stay up to date on our most recent releases, you can follow us on social media. Ravenwood Academy has started creating YouTube videos for the Community. Check it out!

Until we meet again, I hope to see you in the Spiral!

-Morgan Shade

Critical Changes Explained

Posted on December 15, 2020December 25, 2020 by Morgan_Shade

The New Critcal System Explained

Hello Wizards, Nathan Shadowbringer, and Scot Moonshade here! We’re going to explain the recent changes to Critical and Block. Today’s article will revisit the previous age’s Critical and delve into the new system. We will examine the formulas to calculate your Critical Chance and damage multiplier. Critical has undergone a lot of change in recent years, and this update brings a new era of Critical! Critical and Block were once a percentage-point based system. Now it’s changed to a dynamic framework involving both Critical and Block.

Disclaimer!

Before we begin, we need to make a quick disclaimer. According to Ratbeard’s Karamelle PvP Update #2, Critical in PvP is not calculated the same as in PvE. The formulas we used do not work for calculating Critical or Block in PVP. All the information below applies to PVE only. With that said, let’s get started!

Old Versus New

Before the 2020 Fall Update, Critical was well… more critical. There was a chance to critical and a chance to block—the Critical stat based itself on how high your rating was in the respective category. Landing a Critical would ensure that your attack would do twice the damage (or 1.33 times damage in PvP). The problem with the old system was that achieving a high Critical Rating was easier than Block. It was making Block obsolete compared to Critical. With the new changes, it’s more balanced.

The following variables represent the corresponding data sets:

c = Critical rating

b = Block rating

l = Level / 100, where l ≤ 1.

The changes to Critical involve two new formulas. Both equations depend on the attacker’s Critical and the defender’s Block. The first formula determines your Critical chance. Note that Critical chance and Block chance must always add to 100%. For example, if you have a Critical chance of 90%, your opponent would still have a 10% chance to Block.

If your attack doesn’t Critical, or if the enemy blocks, the calculation ends there. In this scenario, the second formula isn’t necessary. But, if you do land a Critical hit, then the second equation runs. This determines the Critical Multiplier. This formula relies on the attacker’s Critical and the defender’s Block. Further examples are available in KI Developer Ratbeard’s Dev Diary.

Critical heals also use the Critical Chance formula. But they’re based on your Critical Rating and the Block of the person you are healing. The only difference is, they cannot Block a heal but instead can “resist.” The higher your Block, the less you’ll get from a critical heal. Fortunately, the schools that have more Block also tend to lean towards a tank-type playstyle. Tank builds have more Health and Resistance, so they can afford to lose some of that incoming healing from the Critical. Regardless, the amount of extra healing uses the same critical multiplier formula. Remember, it’s still impossible to block a critical heal!

Spell Alterations

Another important note to these changes is the way Vengeance and Conviction work. Vengeance is an Astral spell that increases your Critical chance by 20% for four rounds. This bonus only affects your chance to Critical. It doesn’t affect the enemy’s Block or your damage multiplier. Conviction increases your stun resistance by 90% and Block chance by 20% for four rounds. This 20% increase only affects the possibility to block a Critical. It doesn’t affect the enemy’s chance to critical, nor does it lower the multiplier.

Charts and Calculations

There are a few basic formulas that can roughly estimate Critical and Block ratings. These formulas are interchangeable, and most involve moving numbers and variables around. The following equation presented removes the need for complex fractions. Here are two general procedures for determining Critical chance:

Much like the Critical percentage formula, the damage ratio also follows a function. In this case, the damage multiplier is equal to 2 – 3 * Block / (Critical + 3 * Block). See the formula below.

Here is an estimate of your Critical Chance against mobs with ninety block (blue) and two hundred-forty block (red). The green line at the top represents the Critical Chance soft cap at ninety-five percent.

Using these formulas, you can now find optimal Critical numbers for mobs and bosses. Karamelle mobs have around 90 Block while Karamelle bosses have at most 240 Block. Except for the final boss, it would seem.

What Does this Mean?

It’s important to remember that everything we’ve shown you is subject to change. Critical and Block in PvP are calculated differently than PvE.

Using these numbers, you can find your optimal amount of Critical; 570 Critical will get you up to 95% Critical against most mobs. Using the formula for Critical Multiplier, we suggest 630 Critical as a good general goal. This way, against monsters with 90 Block, you’ll Critical 95% of the time and get a 1.7 multiplier against them.

As we enter the “Third-Age” of Critical, there’s potential for more diverse character builds. An example of this could be full-damage pets as opposed to pets that have Critical and damage. These changes also give new life to the may-cast Vengeance talent. This update creates better balance and a more dynamic flow between Critical and Block, allowing players to customize stats to their unique play-style. Thanks for reading; we hope this helps you understand the changes and how they affect your Wizard. If you have questions, you can always find us around the community. That’s all for now, until next time, we’ll see you in the Spiral.

-Nathan Shadowbringer & Scot Moonshade

Pip Wizardry 2020

Posted on July 22, 2020November 4, 2020 by Ravenwood Community Guest Author

Pip Wizardry 2020!

Hello Wizards, this is Nathan Shadowbringer here to help you calculate the actual damage of spells per pip!

This article will be updated if spell changes happen down the line. Eventually, I plan for this list to include even Loremaster and crafted spells.

We will start with the highest Pip spells, and works our way down to the lowest ones. You will notice some of the spells are not a whole number. Why is that, you ask? Currently, Shadow-enhanced spells that use Shadow and standard Pips – have been changing. In the summer 2020 Test Realm, KI has confirmed that one Shadow Pip now equals 3.6 pips. This number is subject to change.

Before the 2020 Summer Update, Shadow enhanced spells had severe damage compared to non-shadow-enhanced spells. These spells went through changes to balance them. Shadow Pips previously never had an absolute value, but now they do thanks to the new spell changes! They are still powerful, but now within reason to normal spells of a similar rank.

Calculating Damage Per Pip

First, if the spell has a damage range, we must find the average damage. For example, let’s take the spell Storm Owl. Storm Owl is a ten Pip spell, that can do anywhere between 1330 – 1470 damage. Which, on average, is about 1400. I would divide 1400 by 10 to get the spell’s loss per Pip or DPP. Storm Owl would come out to be 140 DPP.

This can be represented by the formula: (damage)/(x-y).

Here you would take the spell’s average damage (based upon the values on the card), and divide it by the difference of its Pip cost (represented by the letter x) and its utility Pip cost (represented by the letter y) which we’ll get to in a moment.

So the math for Storm Owl would look like this:

(damage)/(x-y)

(1400)/(10-0)

1400/10

= 140

It seems simple, right? Not always. To get a spell’s true DPP, we have to factor in Pip reductions, and damage multipliers.

What Are Pip Reductions?

A Pip reduction is something factored into a spell’s DPP calculation. These reductions happen when a spell has an added effect or utility attached to it. When calculating DPP, some Pips may get subtracted.

For example, one type of Pip reduction is the scion condition. Scion spells cost 11 pips, and do x2 damage if a particular condition is met depending on the spell. Because Scion spells can do x2 damage, reducing their initial damage. Their base damage is around the damage of a ten Pip spell. See where I’m going with this?

The Scion Condition results in -1 Pip when calculating damage per pip. Yet, the Scion condition is not the only Pip reduction. There are, in fact, many more.

Types of Pip Reduction

The following list contains the types of Pip reductions along with how many Pips they reduce.

Special: 10% Pierce blade: -0 Pips
Rusulka’s Wrath blade/weakness: -0.5 Pips
800 Absorb: -1 Pip
Disarm: -1 Pip
Guiding Light: -1 Pip
Infection: -1 Pip
Pierce: -1 Pip
Remove 2 pips: -1 Pip
Scion Condition: -1 Pip
Steal 1 pip: -1 Pip
Stun: -1 Pip
Summon minion: -1 Pip
Trap: -1 Pip
Tower shield: -1 Pip

Bubble change: -2 Pips
Double Disarm: -2 Pips
Double stun: -2 Pips
Gain 1 pip: -2 Pips
Plague: -2 Pips
Pierce before hit: -2 Pips
Smokescreen (40% accuracy debuff to all enemies): -2 Pips
Spirit Shield + Elemental Shield: -2 Pips
Stun all: -2 Pips
45% Weakness: -2 Pips
AOE 45% Weakness -3 Pips

What This Means

These Pip reductions may NOT all be accurate, because determining the number of Pips a utility takes away is tricky. KI developer Mattnetic has said some utilities may cost less and others more. The issue is finding out which ones. Most pip reductions appear to be -1 one Pip, with AOE utilities such as Plague counting as -2. One for the utility, and one for the AOE effect. However, that still leave some loose ends, so allow me to to tie those up right now.

Because all King Artorius spells to get a 10% Pierce charm, the Pierce charm is not counted as a utility. Thus, every King Artorius spell gets it for free.

Rusalka’s Wrath gives either a 30% storm blade or a 30% Storm Weakness to the caster. Considering it has a chance to positively and negatively affect the caster, it was given 0.5 pips instead of 1.

Because the typical bubble would cost two pips, the Pip reduction is counted as two Pips.

Calculating the Pip reduction for an 800 Absorb was difficult. The actual Absorb spell is three pips for a 400 Absorb; therefore, wouldn’t it be counted as six Pips for an 800 Absorb? If so, then the DPP of Hungry Caterpillar would be extremely high. But that wouldn’t be, right? Would it? These things can be quite challenging.

What Are Damage Multipliers?

You factor in a damage multiplier after you calculate a Pip reduction. For example, a standard damage multiplier is an AOE, or area of effect. An AOE spell is when a spell hits all enemies. Let’s take the spell, Glowbug Squall. This spell is an AOE, and it does 940 damage to all enemies. It costs five regular Pips and one shadow Pip. A Shadow Pip currently equals 3.6 Pips; therefore, Glowbug Squall would be 8.6 Pips in total.

AOE spells have their damage multiplied by 0.75, or 3/4. To account for this spell being an AOE, we get the inverse of 3/4 and multiply by 4/3. Instead of dividing 940 by 8.6, we would multiply 940 by 4/3 first to get 1253.3. Now, we divide by 8.6. Finally, this makes the DPP of the spell Glowbug Squall 145.7.

Calculating Drain DPP

Calculating the damage multiplier for drains was difficult. Thanks to the new spell, Ship of Fools, we can now figure it. Ship of Fools has two routes you can go and upgrade using spellements. One is damage, and the other is a drain.

We can now accurately compare drain damage to typical damage. For example, the final tier of Ship of Fools. We found drains to suffer a 0.88% damage dropoff compared to pure damage. The final drain tier for Ship of Fools deals 330 damage. The final pure damage tier for ship of fools deals 375 damage. 330/375 is 22/25, 0.88, or 88%.

This rate stays consistent for each upgrade of Ship of Fools. Therefore, before we calculate a drain spell’s DPP, we have to multiply its damage by the inverse of 22/25, which would be 25/22, to find the true DPP.

Calculating DOT DPP

One more type of damage multiplier is “damage over time” or DOT. These spells have initial damage, and then the damage dealt over three rounds. Because this damage takes longer to deal, the damage is 25% higher than the average spell—DOT’s damage multiplies by 1.25. So, to find DPP of spells with DOT’s divide by 1.25 to get the final DPP value.

X rank spells like Tempest and Snowball Barrage are not affected by the AOE multiplier. Because they already have their damage per Pip value listed on the card.

What do the Devs say?

The first chart here is from Ratbeard’s Dev Dairy, it shows the individual base DPP for each school of magic. In addition to the new and old DPP for each school’s Shadow-enhanced spells.

With the damage per pip chart below, you will start to notice things with some spells above rank 7. The damage per pip curve caps off at eight Pips. It does not increase further. To account for this, rank eight spells and above get utility for cheaper then what a rank seven or lower would. They get these utilities at a 50% discount, compared to a rank seven or below spell.

There is one utility that does not get this discount, the Scion Condition, which remains at -1 Pip, not -0.5. The discounted utilities are bolded on the chart.

Another thing to note is rank seven spells DO NOT get penalized for being an AOE. They are purposefully over the damage curve. None of the things mentioned above apply to Shadow enhanced spells.

Formulas: (x = number of Pips and y = utility Pip cost)

AOE: [(damage)(4/3)] / (x – y)

DOT: [(damage)(0.8)] / (x – y)

Drain: [(damage)(25/22)] / (x – y)

If you’re interested in learning more about DPP you can check out Ratbeard’s Dev Dairy on the subject with this link! https://www.wizard101.com/game/dev-diary/spell-balance-audit

Final Notes

Moving forward the it’s important to keep this information in mind:

One Shadow Pip equals 3.6 pips
Storm base DPP is 125
Fire base DPP is 100
Myth base DPP is 90
Death and Balance base DPP is 85
Life and Ice base DPP is 83
DOTs have a damage multiplier of 1.25
Rank 7 spells are intentionally above the curve in DPP (no x4/3 AOE multiplier when calculating DPP)
DPP scales slowly as spells start to cost more Pips
Shadow enhanced spells have a higher DPP compared to regular spells.

We hope this article helps you to understand the logic behind the recent changes to the game and how they will help balance things going forward. Personally, I am excited to see what new spells will be possible now.

Thanks For Reading!

Special thanks to Shawn Fire and Dustin from the Ravenwood Community Discord for assisting me in the many calculations throughout this article. I would also like to thank KI developer Ratbeard for responding to my questions about DPP so quickly, he was extremely helpful! And, thank all of you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did writing it. If you did, please check out the other guides and information Ravenwood Academy has to offer. Let us know what you think and what your calculations find in the comments below, or at the Ravenwood Community!!

Spring 2020 Test Realm Updates!

Posted on April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by Kyle Sword

As we enter April, the first Wizard101 update for 2020 is here!!! Past Spring Updates have brought popular quality of life changes, as well as new features and systems. Two updates you may remember included Monstrology and Hatchmaking. The 2020 update lives up to those expectations without a doubt. So, let’s explore what Spring is going to bring to the Spiral this year!

Beastmoon maps and changes

The first thing KI revealed early told us a lot about the future of the Beastmoon Hunt. We get two new maps in the hunting grounds! A beautiful, underwater Celestian building and an industrial Aquilan quarry. These new maps add swimming and new adventure to Beastmoon Hunt, potentially changing strategy and game-play.

In the same teaser we learned that changes would be made that will allow us to group-up and hunt together with our friends!

pets!

Pets are receiving lots of attention in this update! The first change we’ll look at is an update to pet training. The new system works in tiers. Upon completing any pet mini-game 25 times, the option to skip the game unlocks. This new system allows you to feed your pet snacks and level them up faster than ever before. I feel that this update will help make pet training more accessible to Wizards of all levels. Below you can also see the new Pet UI and the new pet-based event, the Pet Promenade.

The addition of an exciting new pet talent, called “Will-cast” is the next fantastic update. Unlike May-cast talents, Will-casts aren’t cast by random chance. Instead, the talent appears in your Wizards’ hand to be cast at your direction. While currently restricted from PvP, it could be interesting to see this come to the Arena if it could be balanced. The new stat called Happiness determines these talents. To cast a Will-cast spell, you need a high enough level of Happiness.

You can control your pets if your Happiness is high enough. This depletes at a rate of 5 Happiness per second, but you can feed your pets snacks to increase their Happiness as you go.

Set Bonuses!

New set bonuses could redefine the “best” gear sets entirely. Now, equipping multiples pieces from a gear set will give you bonus statistics. This update allows for gear adjustments and stat maximizing that were never possible before, potentially unlocking exciting new gear setup strategies. We also get a brand new interface for inspecting gear! Now you can use Ctrl + Right-click to see where another Wizard got their gear!

New gold key boss

This update also brings an exciting new boss to challenge us! Meet Fellspawn, a new Gold Key boss that was locked away inside the Wizard City catacombs by the ancient Druids. Although the challenge is nice, Fellspawn is not too difficult and is expected to drop Dragoon’s gear!

Fishing in Khrysalis!

Fish have slowly spread through the Spiral over the years. Now, fishing has finally come to the end of the second arc in Khrysalis. There are eight new fishies for you find, so go out there and catch them all!

Housing!

This update also brings a much-awaited quality of life change to housing. The new Advanced Move system makes the old rug-glitching system practically irrelevant. Items can now be moved or placed wherever you see fit!

Shadow Magic

Impactful changes are coming to Shadow Magic. Now, Shadow enhanced spells like Shrike will backlash every single time. Backlash starting values have changed, and final backlash caps out at +70%. For example: at the start of a round when you cast Shrike, you will get +40 Backlash. When you blade or hit, you receive -10. So, even if you flawlessly execute your Shadow’s preferred moves, you will still be hit with at least ten backlash at the end. This change will be impactful in PvE and the Arena. Further changes in the Arena include PvP becoming turn-based as the standard mode, and tournaments free to enter. However, tournament rewards have been temporarily removed.

All of this is subject to change, as that is the fun of Test Realm. Make sure to log on and check it out yourself. Don’t forget to let us know what you think at the Ravenwood Community, or on Twitter. We would love to see pictures of your adventures in Test Realm, like this one of me as my pet little Boomer!

Ice School Guide to 99% Resist

Posted on March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 by Sarai Willowbreeze

Have you ever wondered how you could increase the resistance on your level 110 Ice Wizard? Well, Ravenwood Academy is here to help. Let us guide you on the right gear and pet to achieve 99% universal resist in Wizard101.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, can this be true? Imagine having ninety-nine percent universal resist… Sounds amazing right? Well, like all good things it won’t be easy. So, lets begin.

An Ice Wizard with that kind of resist isn’t dying any time soon, unless the opposing party has a LOT of pierce. Even then, it will take some time to defeat an Ice Wizard with almost complete immunity. Now, if that doesn’t sound like a worthy challenge for any Ice Wizard, I don’t know what is.

Its pretty fun to show other Wizards how amazing Ice school can be with all that resist. Spamming shields, Boss battles, leveling with friends, farming. Your team will be become unstoppable as you take the “damage” for them.

Now on to the fun part…. Where and how do we get the items we need to achieve all that resist?

Hat

The first thing you will need is the Jade Hood of Mystery. At level 110, it gives 22 Universal Resist, 6 % Power Pip chance, +340 Health, 6% Incoming and 5% Outgoing Healing. This Hat Comes from the “Keeper’s Lore Pack” and sells for 399 Crowns per pack.

**Note for newer players if you are not level 110 or higher it will not give you these stats!!**

Robes

Next, the Jade Robe of Mystery. It gives 23 Universal Resist, 4 % Power Pip chance, +480 Health, 5% Outgoing Heal, and +40 Critical Block at level 110. You can get this robe from the “Keeper’s Lore Pack.”

Boots

Then, the “Rockstar Kicks.” Patt Minotaur, in the once shot Gauntlet, “Battle of the Bands”, drops this rare item. These boots give +224 Health, 6 % Power Pip chance, +85 Critical Block, +6 % Damage, 18% Universal Resist at level 100.

Amulet

Now for the Amulet, the “Arcanum Exile Snowflake Torc”. Many bosses in Polaris including Boris the Boarder, Colonel Orlov, Marshal Gill, and the Rat, all drop it. The Amulet itself gives +326 Health, +88 Critical Block, +6 Universal Resist. It also gives one card, the Bolstered Ward.

Athame

The Heartsteel is an Athame you can get at Level 5 from the Crowns Shop. It gives +45 Health, and +5 Resist. You can buy it for 260 crowns. Or, you if you would rather, you can farm it from Prince Gobblestone. He is a rank 3 boss located in Colossus Boulevard, in Wizard City.

Ring

The ring you need is “Elissa’s Chill band”, which is for level 66+. It gives +415 Health, +165 Mana, 8% Power Pip chance, +3 Universal Resist, +54 Ice Critical Block, +2% Ice Damage, and 4% Incoming Healing. Now, how do you get this ring? Well, let me tell you, there are 11 bosses and mobs that drop it in Zafaria!! They are, Amedras Lightstep, Blackback Soldier, Custos Decimus, Ghuerruld, Goliath Bruiser, Gorilla Spider Witch, Oya Bloodstorm, Shadow- Web Haunt, Shaka Zebu, The Hoarder, and Tse-tse Snaketail. If you don’t have luck with one, try another!

Wand

Next, we have the wand, “Katana of Takanobu’s Wrath.” It gives +1 Universal Resist, and +1 Power Pip, as well as 5 wand hit cards. It also has a “Shift Ninja Pig” May-Cast. Takanobu the Masterless in the Cave of Solitude Wooden Key Room, in Mooshu, drops this rarely seen wand.

Pet Stats

Finally, this set-up wouldn’t be complete without a resist pet. Strive for Relentless, Mighty, Unshakeable, and Durable even though they are usually considered selfish talents. In this pet, they boost the standard Proof + Defy to provide extra universal defense. In a pet with base stats of 255 strength and 260 agility, these talents will increase that to 360 strength and 400 agility which determine the pet’s final resistance.

Well, there you have it! This is currently the best resist available. 99% Resist for Ice School is the highest that we can currently go. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open for gear that will take us to a full 100%. Until then, so long wonderful Wizards, cya when 100% resist is possible.

~Ravenwood Community Guest Writers, Tsunami and vKoor

How to Get Elixir Vitae

Posted on March 4, 2019October 27, 2019 by Kyle Sword

You may be wondering how to achieve the Elixir Vitae badge for healing One Million. It sounds difficult! While it’s not easy, it’s possible for any wizard. So, read through my tips and tricks for getting this badge.

The Heal

The spell you use is very important. You need to maximize your potential healing output. To do this you will use the strongest healing spell you can.

Flowering Dryad is the best possible option for this. Not even a doubled Scion of Life can live up to this bad girl, healing 3360 base with full power pips.

The average Dryad can substitute, but you will lose 15 healing per pip, a total of 210 base.

The Buffs

The buffs make all the difference. You’re going to want to use every healing buff available. Use the following spells:

• Brilliant Light
• Guiding Light
• Sanctuary Treasure Card
• Vengeful Elixir
• Shadow Seraph
• Mend Treasure Card

Let’s go through each of these cards. You can have a total of four different copies of Brilliant and Guiding Light. The trained, treasure card, item card and pet card versions. You could also use an extra 45% Guiding Light TC from the Eye of Bartelby pack, for extra insurance.

The Vengeful Elixir is critical to this strategy. You need to Critical Strike this heal to reach one million. Mend and Shadow Seraph spells will act as extra healing buffs to help you reach your goal.

The Stats

Stats are the key to success. You need to have at least 135% outgoing, and a friend with over 85% incoming to make this work.

Some items, such as the Stone of the Other Side or the Wolf’s Emerald Talon are drops. You can get these in Avalon and Wintertusk by farming bosses, or by checking the Bazaar. Combined, they give 58% outgoing! Throw in the Sword of Kings and any decent outgoing gear and you should be able to reach your target of 135%!

Remember!

You cannot use your heal without maximum power pips. Make sure you have those before you even try it!

This battle should be done against a lost soul in a peaceful realm. They don’t have a chance of defeating you and you shouldn’t have Unicorn Way bound wizards questing in your area.

If you’re not a Life wizard, be sure to equip a Life Mastery Amulet and an extra friend or more for the trained spells!

With all that said and done, go out there and get yourself an awesome badge!

How to Get “One in a Million”

Posted on January 10, 2019October 27, 2019 by Kyle Sword

“One in a Million” is one of the most popular badges in Wizard101. Unfortunately, without the proper setup and strategy, you may fail at your attempt to earn it, wasting time and gold. So, here are my tips and tricks on how to achieve “One in a Million.”

Prisms

If you use a prism in your setup, you can double the number of traps used for your big hit. By using your counter school traps first (for example, a Fire wizard applying Ice school traps) and then casting a prism before placing fire traps, the fire traps will be triggered followed by the ice traps. This will double the damage your school traps can provide!

You can easily get treasure card traps for your opposing school at the Bazaar. With the help of a friend from that school, you will also have access to the regular trap and regular potent trap.

Universal Traps and Blades

Bringing a Balance wizard along will make your life a lot easier. They can layer you with many blades, you could even end up doing 50 Million if that was possible! You also can get a few balance blades by using treasure cards.

Feints are super important to this strategy. If you use regular feint, potent, treasure card, potent treasure card, item card, pet feint, and mass feint, you’ll have a huge advantage in getting your damage up to one million!

All The buffs!

It’s really easy to forget a couple of blades or traps when you’re assembling over twenty, so try to write a list and quintuple check that you have packed everything. You may forget that one last sharpen or an elemental trap which could result in you not reaching your goal.

Some schools get especially useful spells like Supercharge and Backdraft that will make hitting a million much easier. Be sure that you include these in your setup if you can!

Some extra tips

You need to remember to bubble and aura. Combined, these provide a significant damage bonus.

Also, remember to pack a heal or two. Even max-levels may get too low on health. you don’t want to die and lose all of those carefully stacked blades.

Don’t forget to attempt this on an enemy that your school boosts on. It’s a free, easy damage bonus you wouldn’t get from a different creature. Also remember that if you’re using the prism as I previously suggested, you’ll want to face a creature of the same school that you are to get this boost.

Go to an empty realm if you are attempting this in an open area! I cannot stress this enough. Otherwise, unknowing or inexperienced players may run in and wipe out all your progress. Take preventative measures in advance.

That said, go out there and earn your “One in a Million” badge!

Play Wizard101 for Free!

Posted on November 24, 2018October 27, 2019 by Peyton Lionheart

Let me start by saying, we’ve all been there. There’s always been a time in the game when you’re considered a free player, whether you’re out of crowns or your membership has just run out. Especially when you’re playing for the first time, crowns and membership can be difficult to get if your parents don’t agree to it.

This guide assumes you want to level up to receive more spells from your professor and receive lots of gold, without ever paying crowns or membership.

Phase I: The Early Days

Farming

There are plenty of different places to farm, but where do we start? Farming is the repetitive act of defeating an enemy’s instance or gauntlet.

Let’s begin with the simplest places to farm that you can access yourself.

1. The Kraken

Kraken, the mighty monster of the depths is famously farmed, right in Triton Avenue. This is the best option until you are about level 12. The Kraken drops clothing and furniture you can sell in the bazaar (or keep for your future house!)

I recommend that you join a busy realm, such as Ambrose or Balestrom to get as many people to join the fight as possible so it will go quicker. After defeating the boss if you return to the Storm Mill through the teleport pad and come right back, the Kraken respawns.

2. The Harvest Lord

Farming The Harvest Lord has all the same benefits as the Kraken, except now you have a Team-Up button. Once you click that button, higher levels will join to help you farm him from the Team Up station right outside the bazaar.

3. Housing Gauntlets

Winterbane Hall and the Midnight Sun Pagoda are some of the best gauntlets there are for this purpose. When you farm them you will get weapons, clothing, furniture, seeds, and pets. The only downside to gauntlets is that there is no Team-Up button to find higher levels to help you. Therefore, you must invite your own friends, or find a way to gather help. Find this place in a shared home on the housing tours menu.

Below are the tiers of difficulty and experience for all gauntlets. The numbers represent your level. I suggest you should farm the gauntlets around level 12 to level up quickly. The closer you are to the latter end of the levels, the more experience you will receive. Upon second entry, you will receive half of the experience you received the first time.

01-19: Tier 1
20-39: Tier 2
40-59: Tier 3
60-79: Tier 4
80-100: Tier 5

Remember to try to mix it up between the various gauntlets offered. They can yield large rewards and XP. Here is a list of all housing gauntlets there are, as of November 2018

Winterbane Hall
Midnight Sun Pagoda
Spiral Cup Gauntlet
Grand Tourney
The Great Clock
Fantastic Voyage Expedition
Accursed Playhouse

Please note: Tanglewood Terror, Baddle of The Bands, Zeus, Krokopatra, Meowiarty, and Rattlebones housing instances from the crowns shop are non-repeatable, but yield great rewards. Use with caution. They are extremely challenging and do not adhere to the same tier of difficulty rule as the gauntlets listed above.

Gardening

Upon the completion of level 11, you will be given a quest. You must speak to Moolinda Wu, informing you that your status as a level 12 player now gives you the ability to garden. Farming the Kraken and Harvest Lord all this time, have been saving your money?

The two best seeds you can buy are Stinkweed and Prickly Bear Cactus. Prickly Bear Cactus is useful for pet snacks, because there is a chance it will give a mega-snack at the elder stage, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t give you one too often.

Stinkweed

This is unironically one of the best plants you can buy at a lower level, purely for the sake of how much gold you get per harvest. Remember to save your gold to buy items, like the mounts for gold. Please click here for Amber Ravynsong‘s guide on the various permanent mounts that you can purchase for gold.

“Smoke Screen” and “Poison” will give you 200 and 215 gold each, respectively, by selling them at the bazaar. It is also worth mentioning that each stinkweed will give you about a hundred gold per harvest.

All you need to do is buy one stinkweed. It should roughly cost 480 gold. The gardening spells, pest control and water are all you need for this plant. Don’t waste money on much else, besides a gardening gnome. The stinkweed will give you more seeds over time- after all, it grows like a weed.

Buy a castle block floor from the bazaar. Although, there may be a chance there won’t be one there right away. You can grow small plots on these like a grid. I suggest plotting it as a 3×3 to a 6×6 grid. If you do ever plan to get a membership to continue questing, the large range Mooshu gardening spells will be your friend.

Phase 1 Review

At levels 1-9 (roughly), you will quest until you are completely done with the free-to-play zone offered.
When you are levels 9-12, you will farm the Kraken and The Harvest Lord.
Reaching level 12, you will garden Stinkweed.
By planting a 6×6 plot of stinkweed, you will earn thousands upon each harvest, selling poison and smoke screen treasure cards.
Also when reaching level 12. you will farm the Winterbane and Midnight Sun Pagoda gauntlets.
By level 15, you should have 100,000 gold to buy yourself a nice house from the Crowns shop.
Try all the gauntlets at least twice by level 19, then repeat.

Phase II: The Higher Levels

Over time, you will feel this is going to be monotonous and grinding. What variation can we add to this sequence, to make it more fun? You can begin by helping those who have the same goal as you. You can go to the Team-Up center outside the bazaar and aid lower levels with their quests. Remember, you earn 3 xp per pip used in battle, so attempt to use bigger spells when you have the chance.

Fishing

Try to get involved in fishing. By catching fish, you can earn even more money. As you progress, you will get more energy every 2 levels. You can earn hundreds to thousands of gold for every fish you sell, especially if you catch the fish of the day, or the fish of the week. Please click here for our fishing guides for more information.

In-game Events

Within the game, you should take advantage of an event whenever it comes around. Events such as The Lost Pages and The Five BOXES come around once every few months. Seize the moment and go for it. With The Lost Pages, farming is built right into it. Try helping other young wizards with the event even when you are done.

Free Crowns

Overall, you cannot deny that crowns are king in this game. They buy so many of the nice items in the crown shop, such as pack items, unique housing items, and much more.

On the KI free games website that opens every time you log out of the game when you aren’t a member, there’s a trivia tab where you can earn 10 crowns for each quiz you take.

In-game, check out the “Free Crowns” button to watch videos and earn crowns. Recently, they’ve stopped working, so be hasty with using these when you see one available.

Every Christmas, free crowns are offered as a part of “The 12 Days of The Spiral” event where you can receive gifts. Be warned! Keep up with the event every day, even on the thirteenth day, or else you may just miss the day they offer that gift.

Thank you, Starlights, I hope you have a wonderful evening, and good luck playing the game.

Permanent Mounts for Gold

Posted on November 6, 2018November 16, 2019 by Ravynlea

Never quest on foot again, get a permanent mount for gold.

There is no reason any wizard should have to run around The Spiral on foot with the great selection of mounts Kings Isle is offering for in game gold only. Enjoy a 40% speed boost and get every quest done faster, just follow the instructions below! The first thing you should do is open the Crowns Shop and navigate to the Permanent Mounts section.

Next, scroll down to the Bengal Tiger, the first mount on the list that is available for gold. You will notice a tab activate that says “gold” Click the Gold tab, and you will see the price in Gold!

Classic Mounts

Not every mount can be purchased for gold, but there is a great selection of classic mounts such as Dragons, Cats, and Broomsticks that can be. When you switch the tab to gold for the Bengal Tiger, you will be able to see which other mounts can be purchased for gold and their prices. Now you can quest in style!

~ Amber Ravynsong