For life? Death would be a great secondary school for Life; I would suggest training Death to Feint, then spirit blades/traps (maybe elemental blades?), Reshuffle, Stun Block, Ice up to Tower Shield, and when you get to Celestia train Sun Magic up to Colossal and a few Star spells. My life wizard(Currently Level 33 and questing in Marleybone/Wysteria) used to have Storm as a secondary(damage), but then I realized that it was essentially going to be useless later on and bought back my training points. So far this build(Death to Feint, spirit blades, reshuffle) is working out great. Basically, spend your points on things that will buff your school. You may be tempted to try Storm as a secondary, but the fizzle rate is ASTOUNDING and later on you will have more things that buff your main school and you'll essentially have wasted your training points. Life may have lower damage, but try getting offensive pets/clothing and you'll be fine. Level 30 Aquila is great for farming for great drops(*cough**cough*SkyIronHasta) and you'll be okay.
Secondary schools aren't all that great because you cannot optimize their damage. I normally use my training points for spells that cost one or no pips such as shields, blades, traps, and utility spells like reshuffle.
On my balance wizard, I trained in all the life spells just so I could have satyr and sanctuary in my spell book after I got the life mastery amulet during the St. Patrick's Day sale.
Most experienced players opt for a combination of these spells with training points depending on their wants and needs.
Death to Feint Ice to Tower Balance to Weakness Life to Satyr Reshuffle (Balance) Infection (Death) Spirit/Elemental Blade (Balance) Spirit/Elemental Trap (Balance)
You can also get no pip cost shields at the Fairgrounds for one training point each and a free one for your school and they are very helpful in dealing with difficult bosses.
i agree with general american~ secondary schools aren't that useful, since you can't maximize that school's resources in the same way you can your own.
i was level 80 before i realized that having one was a mistake, and it was a rookie move that cost me a lot in real money. but, if i wanted to maximize my wizarding potential, i had to suck it up and buy my points back, in order to get the spells i actually needed.
the only off-school spells you really need (in order of importance) are:
reshuffle: it took me running out of cards in a boss fight in avalon (on my then-transcendent balance wizard, no less) to learn the value of this spell.
stun block: my second wizard (death) was questing in celestia at the time... more like attempting to, since the ice and myth mobs would basically chain-stun him to death before he could even get a shot off. my balance wizard never had that problem, so i came to the boards with the issue and some nice person told me about stun blocks.
needless to say, the rest of my wizards trained these early on.
spirit/elemental tri-blades spirit/elemental tri-traps sun spells (enhancements) star spells (auras)
optional: my balance, life, and myth wizards all have death to feint; storm (exalted with fail health) and fire (magus pvp captain) have ice to tower shield instead.
for pvp: in addition to the above, infection and weakness (although they are by no means required).
for your other wizards: life to satyr is not worth it unless you have a mastery amulet, which costs about $20 in real money. pve players generally don't need these, so just stuff some tc heals in your sideboard and away you go.
if your life wizard absolutely *must* take a secondary, i'd go with myth. not only do you now have several attack-all spells (which life doesn't get until level 58) at your disposal, but your spirit blades will be good for both types of damage.
I agree that satyr's not worth it for non-life wizards without a life mastery amulet. 4 pips for a heal is too costly, especially when you can shield for nothing to prevent incoming damage and reserve those pips for attacking. If you have life mastery then satyr and sanctuary are definitely worth it. These spells have saved not only my balance wizard from defeat, but has also saved team mates the trouble of having to flee, losing them their pips and blades.
Feint deals in taking down bosses, especially cheating bosses like waterworks' final boss, but it's self-destructive to use against mobs. It's not something I'd recommend for wizards with low health, few defenses, and limited recovery options.
I stand by my claim that tower shield is a must have for any wizard. Single spell shields are great for eliminating heavy boss damage, but you don't know what to expect in pvp. Also, bosses often have mobs that issue significant damage of their own as well as secondary attacks.
Weaken is great for pvp and for team play in which enemies have aoe spells, but I discovered too late that death wizards do not need it because of the plague spells.
Reshuffle is needed for any wizard. I'd suggest learning it. It is only one point out of the dozens you can earn and saves you the inconvenience of having to shop for tc.
Astral spells come with and after celestia. I personally don't bother with auras until I can get the top tier one for my school because you can't have more than one aura active at a time.
Sun schools, however, require you to purchase them in order depending on what spell your want or need.
For wizards with low-base accuracy, Sun to Extraordinary is preferred. It's recommended that storm wizards opt for extraordinary. Fire and Myth can benefit from Extraordinary or Colossal (Extraordinary for fire if you don't build heavy accuracy). Ice, Life, Death, and Balance are better off with Colossal.
Level 86 is when you can learn sharpened blade and trap.
