We look at Shadow Magic!

With the addition of Krysalis to Wizard101 comes a new type of magic: Shadow Magic! The magic that we've seen Morganthe desire back in Ghost Avalon has now come into light, and Wizards themselves can train it towards the end of Krysalis Part 1. But, be warned... it's very powerful and dangerous, but, by familiarizing yourself with the usages of this type of magic, you will soon be an expert at using it!

Shadow Magic cannot be trained as your primary school of focus, but, rather, it is a secondary school like Astral Magic. Currently, there are no damage spells available - instead, Shadow Magic provides Shadow-Self spells, which transform your Wizard into a Shadow creature and enhance your other spells. After three turns, the effect of your Shadow-Self spell will vanish, and, depending on your actions while the Shadow spell was in effect, you'll take a certain amount of Backlash damage.

Backlash is the damage you take after the duration of a Shadow spell. Backlash is not a fixed amount of damage, but, instead, it is a percent of your current health. Backlash damage will deal 30% of your health, but that number will either increase or decrease depending on how "angry" your Shadow aura gets. Shadow spells "like" or "dislike" certain types of spells; for example, one Shadow spell may like attack spells while another may dislike it. For every "liked" spell you cast, Backlash damage will decrease by 10%. For every "disliked" spell cast, Backlash damage increases by 10%. The maximum Backlash you can take is 70% and the minimum is 10%; this means that, even if you use 3 liked spells while the Shadow-Self spell is in effect, it can only decrease to 10% Backlash damage, so you will always take at least some damage when a Shadow spell runs out

*Note: Pet may cast spells have no effect on Backlash damage, nor do spells other players on your team cast.

Shadow Shrike is the “offensive” Shadow-Self spell. It adds 50% pierce to the caster, 10% damage, but their incoming healing decreases by 25%. The additional pierce is extremely helpful for breaking through shields, if the enemy resists your school (no real need for prisms!), and especially in PvP, against opponents with especially high resistance. Keep in mind that, if you break through a shield, it’s likely that little pierce will actually go to an enemies’ resistance – make as much use as your high pierce rate as you can!

Also, whenever you attack, a 10% pierce blade will appear on everyone on your team. Combine pierce from Shrike itself, the pierce blade, and the piercing from your gear, and enemy resistance will practically be useless with this spell active! Storm, Fire, and Myth wizards train this spell for free, but, if you want the benefits of Shrike yourself, you can spend a training point to learn this Shadow-Self spell.

 Likes: Attacks and Blades

 Dislikes: Heals and Shields

Shadow Sentinel is the "defensive" Shadow-Self spell. It will give the caster the ability to intercept attacks, 80 more critical block, and 10% less incoming damage. Intercepting attacks is an ability exclusive to Shadow Sentinel, and works just like it sounds - by intercepting attacks directed at an ally! Whenever one of your allies would be attacked, 75% of the damage goes to them, but 25% is directed at you. Note that, due to the 10% deducted damage, you'll be taking less damage than you normally would, and you'll have a higher chance to block attacks due to the increased critical block.

This spell is very useful if you're able to tank effectively and wish to protect your teammates. As Storm and Fire wizards are generally easier to defeat, having another wizard who can cast Sentinel will protect your more vulnerable teammates. Be prepared to intercept a lot of hits if you cast this spell! Ice and Death wizards train Shadow Sentinel for free.

Likes: Damage Incercepting and Shields

Dislikes: Attacks and Blades

Lastly, Shadow Seraph is the "healing" Shadow-Self spell. It increases your outgoing healing by 25%, but also increases your incoming damage by 25%. Additionally, whenever you heal, an Absorb will appear on the healed player, shielding them for 100 damage. If you can efficiently heal your team, this is the spell for you - while you may take more damage, your heals will do much more, keeping your team at high health while this spell is in effect.

Life and Balance wizards train Shadow Seraph for free. While the benefits for Life wizards seems to be obvious, Balance wizards can make good use out of Seraph with their Helping and Availing Hands cards.

Likes: Heals

Dislikes: Attacks and Blades

All of these Shadow spells cost one pip to cast, but they aren't regular pips - they're Shadow Pips! You have a chance at getting a Shadow Pip at the beginning of each round along with your regular pip. You can hold up to one Shadow Pip at a time, and, whenever you use one, you have the ability to gain another.