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The Life School, Spells, Wizards, and You.

AuthorMessage
Survivor
Sep 16, 2008
16
KingsIsle,
Wizard101 really has changed over the past 5 years, hasn't it? It's grown from something that wasn't very popular in the beginning to an MMORPG that tons of people can log into, play, and have fun on. And while the growth of the game is good, there can usually be a few dark spots along the way.
I have been playing since 2008. Since a few weeks after the game was released, actually, and so I've seen it grow and change since the very beginning of it opening.

I've watched PvP grow from being one simple, small arena into a plethera of different arenas available with several distinct battle choice and abilities to choose from. I've seen new worlds grow and take shape along the way, ranging from DragonSpyre in '09 up until now. My point is, I've been here for a while and have really seen the game change along the way.

And during that time period, sadly, the class has been dumbed down and shrunk into nothing but a support class for most players. If you look in both PvP and outside of it, people commonly use the Mastery Amulet to allow themselves to heal relatively easily and without much problem.

In PvP, Life Wizards do not attack. In fact, they are told by many of their peers not to, because they "just aren't good enough at it." They are told to stay in the corner and heal when necessary. With the introduction of the mastery amulets, the one sole things life wizards were "good at" has been singlehandedly stripped away from them, and now they are told to just sit and the corner and heal.

Even outside of PvP, Life is becoming increasingly useless. Life wizards were once seeked out by other wizards around the spiral for their healing capabilities. Now that any wizard can heal, they aren't needed as much any more. Several new spells brought to other classes have also ensured that this remains the case: Healing Current for the school, and Availing Hands for the school.

You may think, "Well, Life Wizards can choose from any other Mastery amulet! They have a wider range of options!" Yes, they do, but in actuality it doesn't matter.

Life Wizards can choose to take attacks from other schools, but they never get the damage bonus to use them with because it is locked in with that scool's armor they can't access. On top of the, healing is universal in its use. And many of the benefits people can use healing with are found in rings and athames that anyone can buy because they, too, are universal.

You may also think, "Doesn't matter, life wizards can still heal better than most classes!"
Yes, but the health to pip ratio almost negates that. The only healing spell worth using, most of the time, is Rebirth, and that's only in special cirmcumstances like 4v4 PvP.

Life is growing weaker. My request, and plea, KingsIsle, is that you give Life Wizards SOMETHING to make them more powerful. Otherwise they'll just be useless.
Thank you.
-A concerned and Legendary Life Wizard

Champion
Dec 03, 2012
485
Umm...
Level 58 and up has been forest lord, gnomes, and spinysaur. No spell improvements needed. Just people need to realize how good they are. And we can't fix that.

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
I have to disagree with you. As a Lvl 89 (Archmage) Life, who has done a lot of solo as well as doing dungeons with others, I find that my life wizard is still very useful. I don't feel that Life has been dumbed down as you put it. I do not have a Matery for any school, but do have Death as secondary to Feint. Feint is the only spell I use from Death.

Life still has the best Heals and with the right gear can Crit a heal quite often. I only load Rebirth for a Team run, but in general, don't use it very often. I can and have when running solo, done a ONE hit kill on all of the bosses i have encountered.

As a life wizard I DO NOT mind playing the role of a healer when running with a team. I also do damage with a team as long as everyone has at least 3/4 of their health. But that is also what is considered as TEAMWORK.

I have heard of some of the things being said to Life wizards in the PvP arena, but it is my Opinion, that it is up to the life wizard to prove they do have what it takes. I have also watched a few of the matches with a life wizard that knows how to use their spells to the best advantage whether a heal or damage. What some need to realize is that there is a "group" of players that are taunting and insulting a lot of others in the Arena trying to to get them angry enough to flee the match. I have seen this happen more than I care for. That is not good sportsmanship, but unfortunately, unless KI makes the Arena a NO Chat zone, this kind of thing is going to continue. The best Advice here is to turn off Chat Bubbles when a 1v1 and use Group if with a team. What is ignored does not escalate.

Life is what you make it. We can be very strong in more ways than one, but it is up to you to make a strong wizard with what we have to work with.

Archon
Feb 07, 2011
3175
Well said, Fallon~ life is what you make of it, literally.

My Tavia is not a healer~ she's a mean, green fighting machine; her damage boost is much higher than my balance wizard's was at the same level, and her forest lords regularly hit 5K. Good gear and a good deck setup are essential to making it work for you.

I pack only one Satyr for solo battles and one Rebirth for team runs. Life *can* heal better than most, but I would like to see less focus on healing for theurgists~

1) Cycle of Life and Mend (universal heal-boosting aura in Zafaria) are almost the exact same spell, minus a small boost to power pips and the +10% incoming to Death damage. Why not just use Mend and save yourself the trouble?

2) Life is no longer the "healer" in the Spiral~ all schools, except Myth and Ice, can heal themselves, and my Balance wizard has taken on the healer role in many situations.

3) The other schools all got damage-boosting auras in Azteca~ why was Life left out and rewarded with yet *another* healing boost, which they clearly do not need?

(note: I don't PvP enough to even pretend to care, but I imagine that theurgists face a whole other set of problems in the arena)



-von

Laura Shadowsong, 90
Valerian Deathwhisper, 90
Sestiva Stormblade, 80
Tavia Summershield, 62
Patrick Dreamstalker, 40
Tara Winterbloom, 40
Angela Nightflame, 23

Survivor
Sep 16, 2008
16
Molly the Balance ... on Jul 12, 2013 wrote:
Umm...
Level 58 and up has been forest lord, gnomes, and spinysaur. No spell improvements needed. Just people need to realize how good they are. And we can't fix that.
These spells do not cover up for anything.
Sorry.

Explorer
Jun 05, 2011
55
I may not be an experienced wizard, me having a level 28 life wizard, but I can say this: You are seriously underestimating the power of life

A friend of mine that I know IRL, I was questing with her and her wizard for a while. She had gotten some Avalon crafted gear, and it was doing her well. She knew what she was doing, and she put her strength to very good use. Even against mobs/bosses, she knew what she was doing. In fact, I was doing a LOT of the healing, with my , as she was taking out the bosses

I can also, very likely, find lots of wizards who know exactly what to do. I'm a capable healer as , but I can find even more capable healers as. Even some excellent offense with .

All in all, do not underestimate the power of . Anywhere from Promethean to Adept, like mine, you can find very capable healers and players that go on the offense too.

Mark DeathMask, 83 /
Rachel StormSword, 70 /
Andrew SpiritStrider, 57
John Rainwalker, 33
Elijah Redthistle, 28
Isabella DeathMask, 17

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
TheWaywardWind on Jul 12, 2013 wrote:
These spells do not cover up for anything.
Sorry.
The spells were not intended to cover up anything. The fact being that many life wizards made it a point to let KI know that we could dish out damage as well as heal. And we do quite efficiently I might add.

Even when with a team, there are times when the life wizard can and does deal that final blow to that boss trying to devastate the team. Easier to do with 2 life on the team but not necessary. If your team is in reasonably good health, the life wizard has the pips and spell in hand to finish the battle, then why should we not do so. I have on a few occasions. As long as all of my team members SURVIVE the battle is the main point. Not all life wizards are out just for themselves.

So please don't say life has been dumbed down. The only problem for life wizards is the fact we keep getting more and more HEAL BOOSTS that we DO NOT NEED. They are all essentially the same just with a different name and additional clutter in our spell books. I have only trained one of them with no intentions of adding more of the same spell.

Defender
Apr 22, 2012
114
TheWaywardWind on Jul 11, 2013 wrote:
KingsIsle,
Wizard101 really has changed over the past 5 years, hasn't it? It's grown from something that wasn't very popular in the beginning to an MMORPG that tons of people can log into, play, and have fun on. And while the growth of the game is good, there can usually be a few dark spots along the way.
I have been playing since 2008. Since a few weeks after the game was released, actually, and so I've seen it grow and change since the very beginning of it opening.

I've watched PvP grow from being one simple, small arena into a plethera of different arenas available with several distinct battle choice and abilities to choose from. I've seen new worlds grow and take shape along the way, ranging from DragonSpyre in '09 up until now. My point is, I've been here for a while and have really seen the game change along the way.

And during that time period, sadly, the class has been dumbed down and shrunk into nothing but a support class for most players. If you look in both PvP and outside of it, people commonly use the Mastery Amulet to allow themselves to heal relatively easily and without much problem.

In PvP, Life Wizards do not attack. In fact, they are told by many of their peers not to, because they "just aren't good enough at it." They are told to stay in the corner and heal when necessary. With the introduction of the mastery amulets, the one sole things life wizards were "good at" has been singlehandedly stripped away from them, and now they are told to just sit and the corner and heal.

Even outside of PvP, Life is becoming increasingly useless. Life wizards were once seeked out by other wizards around the spiral for their healing capabilities. Now that any wizard can heal, they aren't needed as much any more. Several new spells brought to other classes have also ensured that this remains the case: Healing Current for the school, and Availing Hands for the school.

You may think, "Well, Life Wizards can choose from any other Mastery amulet! They have a wider range of options!" Yes, they do, but in actuality it doesn't matter.

Life Wizards can choose to take attacks from other schools, but they never get the damage bonus to use them with because it is locked in with that scool's armor they can't access. On top of the, healing is universal in its use. And many of the benefits people can use healing with are found in rings and athames that anyone can buy because they, too, are universal.

You may also think, "Doesn't matter, life wizards can still heal better than most classes!"
Yes, but the health to pip ratio almost negates that. The only healing spell worth using, most of the time, is Rebirth, and that's only in special cirmcumstances like 4v4 PvP.

Life is growing weaker. My request, and plea, KingsIsle, is that you give Life Wizards SOMETHING to make them more powerful. Otherwise they'll just be useless.
Thank you.
-A concerned and Legendary Life Wizard
I myself haven't been playing life a lot, but i gave a level 34 and you have underestimated your valuable wizard. Mine has tons of healing spells but I don't really use them a lot, when in marleybone all I have to do is stack blades, traps and hit with centaur and it defeats the street mobs in one hit, before i got centaur, seraph defeated the same monsters in one hit. For pvp, try going with people you know irl that won't expect you to just be the healer.

if you ever feel down, have some peanut butter

Survivor
Feb 19, 2013
44
TheWaywardWind on Jul 11, 2013 wrote:
KingsIsle,
Wizard101 really has changed over the past 5 years, hasn't it? It's grown from something that wasn't very popular in the beginning to an MMORPG that tons of people can log into, play, and have fun on. And while the growth of the game is good, there can usually be a few dark spots along the way.
I have been playing since 2008. Since a few weeks after the game was released, actually, and so I've seen it grow and change since the very beginning of it opening.

I've watched PvP grow from being one simple, small arena into a plethera of different arenas available with several distinct battle choice and abilities to choose from. I've seen new worlds grow and take shape along the way, ranging from DragonSpyre in '09 up until now. My point is, I've been here for a while and have really seen the game change along the way.

And during that time period, sadly, the class has been dumbed down and shrunk into nothing but a support class for most players. If you look in both PvP and outside of it, people commonly use the Mastery Amulet to allow themselves to heal relatively easily and without much problem.

In PvP, Life Wizards do not attack. In fact, they are told by many of their peers not to, because they "just aren't good enough at it." They are told to stay in the corner and heal when necessary. With the introduction of the mastery amulets, the one sole things life wizards were "good at" has been singlehandedly stripped away from them, and now they are told to just sit and the corner and heal.

Even outside of PvP, Life is becoming increasingly useless. Life wizards were once seeked out by other wizards around the spiral for their healing capabilities. Now that any wizard can heal, they aren't needed as much any more. Several new spells brought to other classes have also ensured that this remains the case: Healing Current for the school, and Availing Hands for the school.

You may think, "Well, Life Wizards can choose from any other Mastery amulet! They have a wider range of options!" Yes, they do, but in actuality it doesn't matter.

Life Wizards can choose to take attacks from other schools, but they never get the damage bonus to use them with because it is locked in with that scool's armor they can't access. On top of the, healing is universal in its use. And many of the benefits people can use healing with are found in rings and athames that anyone can buy because they, too, are universal.

You may also think, "Doesn't matter, life wizards can still heal better than most classes!"
Yes, but the health to pip ratio almost negates that. The only healing spell worth using, most of the time, is Rebirth, and that's only in special cirmcumstances like 4v4 PvP.

Life is growing weaker. My request, and plea, KingsIsle, is that you give Life Wizards SOMETHING to make them more powerful. Otherwise they'll just be useless.
Thank you.
-A concerned and Legendary Life Wizard
I haven't been playing that long, but the most progress I've made is on life. Whenever I'm told to just heal, I don't listen. I do the spells i want to do when i want to do them. I'm concerned just as much as you are. The reason to solve being " Totally useless, " Is to choose one of the tougher elements, such as storm. Life to heal and storm to kill. People should give more credit to the Life, they don't understand how hard we try!!!

Katie Duskleaf, Level 28

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
kgzblove2002 on Jul 28, 2013 wrote:
I haven't been playing that long, but the most progress I've made is on life. Whenever I'm told to just heal, I don't listen. I do the spells i want to do when i want to do them. I'm concerned just as much as you are. The reason to solve being " Totally useless, " Is to choose one of the tougher elements, such as storm. Life to heal and storm to kill. People should give more credit to the Life, they don't understand how hard we try!!!

Katie Duskleaf, Level 28
Katie, I am not going to tell you how to play a life wizard, but I am going to tell you how I and many of my friends play and we each have wizards in all schools.

First off, if you are playing with a team and the only life wizard on that team, your first priority should be to make sure your team mates all survive tha battle. My first wizard was Fire, I still have her but moved her to my second account. My life is now my main wizard on my main account. I have run most of the game solo but I do have many friends. I do call for help when I am entering a dungeon or an especially difficult instance. I also carry multiple decks based on what or who I am fighting and whether solo or with friends. I also help friends when the call on me to run a dungeon. Sometimes there are 2 of us from life but not that often. IF there are 2 of us, we keep track of which one can deal a damage blow and which one will heal.

When I am with friends, my deck is set to contain mostly heals and a few damage hits. I make sure my friends are all in good health as much as possible and that is including when they are helping me with a quest. I also do damage but not if I have to sacrifice a friends life in the battle. We are actually very fortunate to be able to heal and deal damage. But don't let being a healer and damage dealer get the best of you. You make the best of it. Life is an awesome school. My life wizard will always be my favorite and I have no problem of running her strictly as support for a team either.

I will say this, if others are demanding you heal, then maybe that is not the team you really want to be with. Team play is team effort all the way through. It can be awesome fun or down right frustrating. But it is much easier and more fun as you learn how each other battles.

Geographer
Feb 15, 2009
992
They've actually been giving us pretty good stuff, regardless of the other schools healing abilities. We can play the mastery amulet game to! Kicks butt with myth mastery amulet. You don't want to face a life going first with one who knows how to pvp. Spirit blade life blade, full power pip, surprise earthquake and the immediate gnomes. All shields and blades removed, massive damage, and 2 heal blocks in 2 rounds. Can't beat that. Plus we have more guardian spirits than the other schools. Shield; and when you see them stacking blades, keep quaking them.