Welcome to the Wizard101 Message Boards


Player Guide
Fansites
News
Game Updates
Help

Follow important game updates on Twitter @Wizard101 and @KI_Alerts, and Facebook!

For all account questions and concerns, contact Customer Support.

By posting on the Wizard101 Message Boards you agree to the Code of Conduct.

Some advice for a new necromancer please...

AuthorMessage
Survivor
Mar 10, 2009
42
Hello all. I just recently started my third wizard, this time i chose Death and Storm. I have learned QUICKLY that at least for the time being there are many more disadvantages to steal spells than advantages unfortunately. The ONE advantage: you get some healing back however minimal at this point. LOTS of disadvantages however: they are comparitively quite WEAK as far as damage, so you have to take the time to blade and trap up, and by the time you do that, a life monster will have shielded more times than not. Secondly, you cannot enchant steal spells with a tough card. UGH! they are for attack spells only. Probably the worst disadvantage though is the fact that you cannot convert them with a prism. OUCH! Once again prisms only convert attacks NOT steals. SO...i would have to say that going against your own type and opposite is going to be CONSIDERABLY harder than the rest of the schools. I chose storm as a second precisely for this reason as a good low pip high power backup IF they dont fiz lol. I would REALLY like to have other necromancers input AND strategies on this subject! Keep in mind i am only level 10 but this is my third wizard so i know the ropes quite well.

Thanks in Advance!
Connor DeathWalker
Level 10 Necromancer

P.S. I know Iknow, i will be getting feint later on and i think a global trap as well (hex? curse?) Anyway would also LOVE to have a complete list of spells in sequence of learning

Squire
Dec 02, 2008
543
Death prism does convert lifestealing from death damage to life.

A+ Student
Jan 05, 2009
1706
The Prism does work with the life stealers.

Ghoul's damage per pip is within the range of all other variable 2-pip spells (besides storm)...yes the low end, but it is fine and will take out most foes (+a 0-pip wand spell) in WC besides the bosses you will meet in the first four areas.

As far as shields from life foes, you won't meet many at the beginning, and a 0-pip wand or 1-pip dark sprite will easily take care of them.

It takes a special style to play Death, very much different from the elementals...much more planning is required, both in deck construction and in combat. If it fits your style you will find the other schools very weak in comparision.

Explorer
Dec 22, 2008
58
<blockquote>
<div>
<cite>gtippett wrote:</cite>The ONE advantage: you get some healing back however minimal at this point. LOTS of disadvantages however: they are comparitively quite WEAK as far as damage, so you have to take the time to blade and trap up, and by the time you do that, a life monster will have shielded more times than not.

You will be getting a DOT spell called Poison (I think that's what it's called) that will take care of the shields

Probably the worst disadvantage though is the fact that you cannot convert them with a prism.

Actually, you can. You will be getting a death to life prism that is quite effective against death mobs

It's hard at first, but as with any wizard, the higher you get, the easier it gets. Good luck!


Defender
Feb 07, 2009
155
gtippett wrote:
Hello all. I just recently started my third wizard, this time i chose Death and Storm. I have learned QUICKLY that at least for the time being there are many more disadvantages to steal spells than advantages unfortunately. The ONE advantage: you get some healing back however minimal at this point. LOTS of disadvantages however: they are comparitively quite WEAK as far as damage, so you have to take the time to blade and trap up, and by the time you do that, a life monster will have shielded more times than not. Secondly, you cannot enchant steal spells with a tough card. UGH! they are for attack spells only. Probably the worst disadvantage though is the fact that you cannot convert them with a prism. OUCH! Once again prisms only convert attacks NOT steals. SO...i would have to say that going against your own type and opposite is going to be CONSIDERABLY harder than the rest of the schools. I chose storm as a second precisely for this reason as a good low pip high power backup IF they dont fiz lol. I would REALLY like to have other necromancers input AND strategies on this subject! Keep in mind i am only level 10 but this is my third wizard so i know the ropes quite well.

Thanks in Advance!
Connor DeathWalker
Level 10 Necromancer

P.S. I know Iknow, i will be getting feint later on and i think a global trap as well (hex? curse?) Anyway would also LOVE to have a complete list of spells in sequence of learning


Yes you can convert it in prism you need the prism first lol. You don't have the prism yet, but you will get it.

Survivor
Jan 04, 2009
14
I am a level 34 Necromancer and this school is pretty cool yes you do have to keep putting shields and fients up but the school makes up for it buy boosting two schools instead of one like all of the other school (life, balance). I will tell you right now you made a good choose buy going with storm as your second school, it is the most powerful school there is I looked into it I also made my second school storm. If you need any advice plz ask me by posting a reply

Alexander Drakeward

Survivor
Aug 09, 2008
16
gtippett wrote:
Hello all. I just recently started my third wizard, this time i chose Death and Storm. I have learned QUICKLY that at least for the time being there are many more disadvantages to steal spells than advantages unfortunately.


Er .... I don't think you'll find many that agree with you on that one. ;)

LOTS of disadvantages however: they are comparitively quite WEAK as far as damage, so you have to take the time to blade and trap up, and by the time you do that, a life monster will have shielded more times than not.

Alright, um .... where to begin?

1) About needing to "waste" turns blading and trapping up, even the lowest drain spell (ghoul) is a two-pip event. At a point in time in which power pips are going to be a common event for you, the ghoul will be retired. Yes, even with the lowest drain spell at our disposal, while accumulating the necessary pips, what ELSE would you be doing besides applying damage boosts? Using wand charges? A 40% blade + a ghoul is superior to one wand + a ghoul.

2) How often do you find yourself fighting life monsters that this really becomes a concern, friend? Considering the rarity of that, how often do you fight life monsters that use the damage absorb shield more than rarely? Those shields are something every school has to deal with (including other life students) when fighting those types of enemies.

What's more, as far as I know, drain spells are impervious to the damage shield. Even if they weren't -- I promise you -- layer on a curse, death blade, and a death trap, then cast a vampire (exactly the number of pips you'll need, without any power pips) .... it would not only exceed a 400 HP buffer with ease, you'll also get a substantial amount of damage beyond it.

Once in a while a life monster will get smart, and use a -80% death shield, which basically means treating it like a death monster for one attack turn. Eventually being confronted with fighting a monster of your own school is something all wizards must eventually face, no matter which school they choose. For the most part, it's something you won't need to be concerned with, and at a point in which the resists really become enough to cripple you .... you'll have death prism.

Ah, Death Prism! Which leads me to .....

Probably the worst disadvantage though is the fact that you cannot convert them with a prism. OUCH! Once again prisms only convert attacks NOT steals.



No. This isn't the case at ALL. I understand it's a simple mistake, but you said it with such confidence and authority, in an effort to build your case, that .... well, never mind.

Death Prism does does does DOES work on your drain spells.

SO...i would have to say that going against your own type and opposite is going to be CONSIDERABLY harder than the rest of the schools.

Again, no.

Whenever I see a death boss, or a cluster of death monsters to fight .... I can only rejoice, because the addition of a few prisms to my deck means that not only will I not be at a disadvantage at all -- I'll actually have the UPPER hand. The prisms turn both your drain and damage cards into a "life" element, which translates into a damage/drain BOOST against those enemies.


Secondly, you cannot enchant steal spells with a tough card.

No great loss there. *shrug*

Use accuracy enchantments if you want to make treasure cards for friends. As for yourself -- you should be casting your spells straight out of your deck, for the most part!

I chose storm as a second precisely for this reason as a good low pip high power backup IF they dont fiz lol.

Well ... you did say you'd like feedback, and my first true bit of advice would be to seek another secondary school (if you're really of the mind that you're going to have to "stick" with one secondary school in the first place). I promise you -- you won't have a problem with damage. It just seems that way right now, perhaps, because you're so low in level, but ... with feint, curse, plague, death trap, death blade, etc.... necromancers probably have the most effective damage boosters at their disposal of any of the schools. If I were you, and I was dead set on not picking and choosing from various shields and blades from other schools .... I'd go with Balance (for generic blades, debuffs, and shields), or Life (for pure heals), or Ice (for shields).

Any other class but Death .... I'd recommend Death as a secondary. :-D


Anyway would also LOVE to have a complete list of spells in sequence of learning

Here:

http://wizard101.wikia.com/

Go to the "spells" link on the left-hand side, then click "Death."


Let me just close by reiterating that you're very much mistaken regarding your perception of the Death school's drain spells as "weak." Maybe they fail to match Storm's top damage on the cards, it's true, but .... Connor ... your damage boosts that you're going to be using to save pips in the first place are more effective than the ones from other schools, you'll get MORE of them than other schools, and you'll never have to waste a turn's offensive potential on a pure heal again.

You're only level 10 now. I'm sure you'll be singing a different tune at 20, when you'll have vampire experience. ;)

Survivor
Dec 15, 2008
9
I have had three grand master necromancers.
My biggest hit (almost 14,000 damage) came against a death enemy using the wraith spell. The prism card was the key component in any huge damage hit I have ever done. I first place the life traps, then the prism, then the death traps. Curse, Hex & Feint can be placed at any time during the set up.
Life enemies are also very good for huge damage hits although you don't want to use the prism.
A steal spell is not affected by an Absorb shield. So a pirate or a banshee spell would be blocked by an absorb but not a vampire, ghoul, wraith or scarecrow.
While other schools have to save pips for an attack spell and then save pips again for heal spell, the death steal spells do it all with the same spell and same pips. Big advantage here.
It is true that life enemies seemingly use an unfair amount of death shields so generally don't over invest in traps and blades before casting the attack.
If you are a minion fan then the death minon is probably the best. I can summon up to a rank 7 minion. Minions typically don't play very smart so I rarely use them but rest assured, a rank 7 minion plays a whole smarter than a rank one.
The Doom and Gloom bubble is probably the worst of all the bubbles. Because enemies of any level rarely use heal spells, the health negative has very little affect. If you are dueling in the Arena and the other team has a designated healer, then the Doom and Gloom could prove valuable.

Hope this helps!
Morgrim Drake

Explorer
Apr 17, 2009
78
I have to agree with the other Necromancer posters on this one. You do apparently have a misconception on how the death school works.

First off, let me say that with my grandmaster necromancer, Valkoor Titanwraith, he typically is the tank of our group. Allow me to explain. When we are fighting very tough bosses, I end up being chosen to deal with the boss and the others in my group deal with the minions. Even though this is not necessary as I can via a few blades and traps, do as much damage is about as much times as others, they still want me for the heavy damage output. Personally I have done 25000 damage on my own to a boss, and against malistair I have done almost 60 000 damage. On top of that I heal for half. So if that is your idea of underclassed than yes death is at a disadvantage.

If your playstyle is typically in teams than you could consider com other class, but death is a soloest's dream.

Finally, for chosing the storm as a secondary, I think you are mistakened. Personally I would ensure you have enough training points to get both the spirit blade and trap from niles, reshuffle from collossus ave, and enough points to get satyre from life. This has proven to be a very good combo for me and the satyr also aids in team ups. But this is only my opinion.

Any I hope I cleared up a few things. Good luck.

Valkoor Titanwraith
Grandmaster Necromancer
Soloed Kensington Park

Survivor
Mar 10, 2009
42
WOW! GREAT Feedback everyone as i expected and yes i just learned yesterday that prisms DO convert steal spells YAY! (Even though the prism card says converts death attack NOT steal) it was awesome to hear from grand master necromancers defend our school with such conviction! makes me proud! :-D That is precisely why i posted ;) Thanks again to everyone for great feedback and advice! see you out there! And keep the comments and suggestions coming!

Defender
May 06, 2009
120
For me in-partiqular my first wizard was a death wizard and I love him to pieces, yes every school has disadvanges the key to any successful wizard is knowing what you can and can't do and also timeing (strategy). ME personally I make sure to trap up the mobs to the high heavens and I get HUGE returns on health which allows me the time to actually do the trapping. When fighting a life mob, usually i don't bother too much with traps just throw anything (ghoul (yes I even use this some at high levels although very rarely), wraith, and vampire) primarly to get past when they do their hit point ward, and when that is down then the rest of the gambit. I also keep a death wand/sword on me for life fights primarly to knock off their death ward which i find useful. Other then that I much prefer another type of wand/sword since death sword will also use my buffs/traps which anoys me. :-)

Also ME personally I went fire school for my second school I really like the shields they give you, and of course i love throwing the fire imp to clean up any fire shields that my oponent might have. I went life for my 3rd school basically enough for the pixie to heal since normally i don't need more then that, and it is nice to be able to lob life mobs at death mobs from time to time. :-)

Also to one of the previous posters about going with balance. Actually I thought about that, i was going to pick up one of the balance trap from the tree in krockatopia to finish off my last point. Although I have been entertaining changing from fire to something else, but man I like fire...

Survivor
Mar 10, 2009
42
HAH! OK thanks again everyone for all the feedback and may i just say that i am level 20 now and everything i said about disadvantages that you all so passionately and in some cases violently defended was DEAD WRONG! ROFL! (pun intended) once i got going in krok and got my rhythm things changed alot from my original view back in WC. so this is it for me everyone thanks again for all the posts are you were right! DEATH SCHOOL ROCKS! ;) see you out there!

P.S. all you new necromancers out there remember prisms and curse traps DO work with steal spells (ghoul, vampire) even though the card says attack only ;)

P.S.S. BTW for the moment i still really like storm as my second although i will stop at kraken and start learning life up through satyr (stealing is very nice but sometimes you need healing too lol)

Explorer
Jun 08, 2008
81
Death is the school that lets you Heal and Kill at the same time, I Love it, but then again i am a Grandmaster Necromancer, and i too have storm as my second school, the two of them together makes a Strong Wizard.

Survivor
Aug 01, 2009
10
gtippett wrote:
Hello all. I just recently started my third wizard, this time i chose Death and Storm. I have learned QUICKLY that at least for the time being there are many more disadvantages to steal spells than advantages unfortunately. The ONE advantage: you get some healing back however minimal at this point. LOTS of disadvantages however: they are comparitively quite WEAK as far as damage, so you have to take the time to blade and trap up, and by the time you do that, a life monster will have shielded more times than not. Secondly, you cannot enchant steal spells with a tough card. UGH! they are for attack spells only. Probably the worst disadvantage though is the fact that you cannot convert them with a prism. OUCH! Once again prisms only convert attacks NOT steals. SO...i would have to say that going against your own type and opposite is going to be CONSIDERABLY harder than the rest of the schools. I chose storm as a second precisely for this reason as a good low pip high power backup IF they dont fiz lol. I would REALLY like to have other necromancers input AND strategies on this subject! Keep in mind i am only level 10 but this is my third wizard so i know the ropes quite well.

Thanks in Advance!
Connor DeathWalker
Level 10 Necromancer

P.S. I know Iknow, i will be getting feint later on and i think a global trap as well (hex? curse?) Anyway would also LOVE to have a complete list of spells in sequence of learning


Dude, you can prism Vampire, Wraith, etc. I'm a Grandmaster Necro and I do it all the time. Also, I see Death Magic as having a huge advantage over other schools, simply because I every time I attack using a stealing spell (they are the only attacks I use in my deck), I'm healing. The computer has to work hard to kill me. Other magics have to constantly watch their strength levels and waste pips on healing spells. I don't! I just keep attacking and keep attacking. Give it some time. You'll learn to love it. You won't even carry healing spells anymore. Plus, you're able to fight alone. You don't have to constantly ask for help. Because it's like having a life wizard with you at all times!

*Carlos DeathHammer*