After battling through the Eclipse Tower in Khrysalis, Wizard101 players can potentially unleash their inner darkness by training shadow spells. Shadow magic is supposedly the most unstable and difficult magic to control. In fact, Bartleby and Grandmother Raven urged Merle Ambrose to stay far away from it. Luckily, rebellious wizard is my middle name.
Pure Shadow Spells
Pure shadow spells consist of spell cards that have a black/navy edge. All current pure shadow spells cost 0 regular pips, but vary in shadow pip requirements. These spells differ from regular spells not only by appearance, but also by something called backlash. Backlash is equal to a certain percentage of your current health. While in a shadow spell transformation, spells that you cast will influence your backlash. Spells that are "liked" by a particular shadow spell will decrease your backlash, and spells that are "disliked" by a particular shadow spell will increase your backlash. Once your shadow spell expires, you will be hit with your backlash and your health will decrease accordingly.
Currently there are six trainable shadow spells, but I only use and recommend one - Shadow Shrike. Shadow Shrike gives +50% armor piercing, +10% outgoing damage, and -25% incoming heal (plus adds a dragonspear to all allies when attacking) for 3 rounds. What I like most about Shadow Shrike is the tremendous amount of pierce it provides. When facing enemies with high resist, Shadow Shrike can make it all go away in the blink of an eye. Although this spell could be useful at any boss, some notable battles that Shadow Shrike could be meaningful in include Balor the Broken Fang (Both in the Sardonyx and The Galleries) and The Rat.
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Shadow Enhanced Spells
Shadow enhanced spells were introduced with Darkmoor, specifically after players bested Shane Von Shane in the Upper Halls. Unlike pure shadow spells, these spells are still listed under the primary schools of focus and require both regular pips and shadow pips in order to be casted. The extra requirements are worth the effort though ... because shadow enhanced spells are easily some of the most powerful spells in the game. Glowbug Squall, Raging Bull, Mystic Colossus, Call of Khrulhu, and Snowball Barrage are just some examples that will leave your opponents running in fear.
The Waiting Game
Both pure shadow spells and shadow enhanced spells offer fantastic options in battle, but sadly sometimes shadow pips are hard to come by. Something very high on my "want" list right now is a way to increase my shadow pip chance, even if it's only temporary. Some possible ways to do that are:
A Shadow Pip Chance Elixir - The most recent Feedback Friday saw many players suggest this idea and I'm all for it! I would be willing to shell out a few crowns if it meant more reliability when it came to shadow pips.
A Bubble/Aura that Increases Shadow Pip Chance - We already have a bubble that increases power pip chance - Power Play. Imagine a shadow version of that?! It would be so helpful!
Donate Shadow Pip Spell - Too many times my allies have been sitting pretty with two shadow pips while I'm still stuck at zero. What if players could give their shadow pips to friends in need? Think of it as a shadow version of Donate Power. In order to give someone a shadow pip, that player would already need to have a shadow pip of their own.
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Over time I expect more gear will have shadow pip stats attached, but I think the above would be great additions in the meantime. Shadow pips will probably progress much like power pips did in the beginning of the game. They may be hard to get for now, but someday they might occur just as frequently as power pips!
What ideas do you have to increase shadow pip chance? Post your thoughts down below in the comments!
