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How to Use the Six Icons


by starluffy

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I remember the day I first signed up Lazuli for Training School. The teacher told her that her Talent Icon was Air. She spent the rest of the week showing off all she was taught, blowing the heaviest thing her power would let her. This resulted in two broken plates and a shattered mug. Needless to say, she never practiced in the house again.

Lazuli really enjoyed battling and was a frequent participant of the Battledome. One time, I was watching her battle a Tonu. The two were more or less evenly matched, and I was beginning to wonder if the battle would ever end. But then the Tonu made her fall. This was a bad move on his part, because Lazuli was in a perfect position to send him flying and win the battle. So, Air Faerie Scepter in hand, she thrust it forward... and nothing happened. Actually, that's not true. The air she conjured up made the Tonu stumble, but compared to the other gusts that she conjured up throughout the whole battle, that one was considerably weak. Because of this, Lazuli lost. Honestly, it baffled me! What happened to make Lazuli's wind so weak? I'm fairly certain that Neopets don't use magic points like in an RPG game to cast magic. So after the battle on our way home, I asked Lazuli why her wind was so weak at the critical point. Her answer was thus, "I forced too much on the air, so it didn't flow smoothly. I do that a lot under pressure."

At first, I thought I understood so I didn't ask her anything else. Then I realized that, actually, I had no idea what she was talking about. I had the sudden revelation that I knew nothing of battling, even though my own Neopet enjoys it. I jolted at this realization considerably. I had always considered myself to be a good owner who was always involved with her Neopets. To realize I knew little to nothing about one of my Neopet's favorite hobbies was startling. And so, I went to learn at least a little bit about battling. Needless to say, I enjoyed researching it so much, I continued.

In the course of my research, I've found that a lot of the owners don't know anything about Icons – much like me before – even the ones who enjoy battling. So I've decided to make an article about the most basic things of battling, the six Icons. Arguably there are seven Icons, the seventh being Physical, but it is not really an icon; it is just the normal use of the weapon. If a weapon doesn't have a Physical Icon, it means that you can only use it for magic, like a wand. For example, you can't try to cut anything with a sword if it doesn't have a Physical Icon. You need to use magic to cut it.

As you probably know, the six icons are: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, Dark and Light. What you probably don't know is that the Icons are separated into two categories: Stable and Unstable. So far, so good? Stable Icons consist of Water, Earth and Light. Unstable Icons consists of all their counterparts Fire, Air and Dark. In my analysis of the Icons, I shall include a description of the faeries that use the Icon because the icons are a part of them. Their personality is suited to the use of the icon.

First up are the Unstable Icons. There's a reason why these three Icons are called Unstable. It's because there power differs depending on how you feel. They draw their power from your emotions. The more strongly you feel, the more powerful they are. But beware! Unstable Icons don't just draw power from your emotions, they encourage them. If you don't keep them in check, you could very well go berserk. Not only that, if you use a spell that is too powerful for you or you don't keep a firm enough grip on the spell, you could lose control of it and hurt you and your surroundings.

Fire

"Fierce and quick-tempered, Fire Faeries have a reputation for impatience." What you'll also find is that Fire Faeries are very emotional and moody. One minute you can be chatting happily with them, then the next their shouting at you to leave them alone. They don't get along well with their counterparts, the Water Faeries, as they find their haughtiness unbearable.

Fire is fueled by your emotions. It doesn't matter what they are. All that matters is how strong they are. Happiness, anger, confusion... the list goes on. So, to be a Fire user, you need to be very emotional. As with all Unstable Icons, you need to have a firm grip on what you're doing to make sure nothing gets out of hand. If you're furious at someone or something and you use Fire, expect an explosion. If you're feeling strong emotions, Fire will be easier to use but harder to control. If you're calm, the opposite will happen. Fire has its little tricks and things but it isn't a really complicated Icon. That doesn't make it any easier, though. It is very difficult to keep under control. That's why all Fire teachers are strict. If you don't listen to what they say and practice, even spells you know and are good at can get out of hand.

Dark

"Though most Neopians fear and distrust these creatures, Queen Fyora claims that Dark Faeries are not all evil." Though impatient, irritable and sometimes sarcastic, Dark Faeries are surprisingly loyal, whether for good or bad. Whichever side they choose, they're sure to stick to it.

Dark is the most misunderstood of all the Icons. Neopians think that Dark Faeries are all evil (even though Queen Fyora trusts them), and anyone who has Dark as their Talent Icon will be evil. But that's not true. It's only that it's easy to fall to the dark side when you use Dark. The reason is all in the way you use it. Now, from the above you should understand Fire, right? So you should understand that it reacts to your strong emotions. Well, Dark is very similar, only instead of any emotion in general – as long as it's strong – Dark reacts to your negative emotions. Anger, sadness, jealousy, revenge and so on. Dark fuels and encourages these emotions as well as, it takes its energy from it. Similar to Fire, when you feel strong negative emotions, Dark will be easier to use but harder to control and if you're calm, vice versa. That's why Dark Faeries are so loyal. They're used to fighting their dark side and have accepted it more than most others. So what's a little encouragement to change sides from others? They're used to fighting against temptation to use a more powerful spell in whatever situation because they know that it'll get out of hand. Not just the faeries but also the Neopets.

Air

"Masters of weather and the sky, Air Faeries are known for being a little flighty. Perhaps they're just very busy; they do need their beauty sleep, after all." Air Faeries are very imaginative and creative and are frequent visitors of Dream Land.

Air is a little different from Dark and Fire because while they extract their power from emotions, Air doesn't. You have to be relaxed to use Air, let yourself go. You'll find that people who have a love for imagination and have a tendency to lose concentration will have Air as their Talent Icon. Another trait about Air is that it requires a lot of movement to do a powerful spell, although not much concentration. Bear in mind though that this Icon requires imagination. Being able to see what is happening when you use an Icon is very important, so if you have an Icon like Air – which you can't see – you need to improvise a little. You need to picture in your mind what it is that you want to happen and then you release the magic. Air is easier to use when you're used to it, it comes more naturally. So, for instance, if you find someone with Air as their Talent Icon and they let their mind wander, you'll probably feel a slight breeze, even though they don't realize that they're doing it.

Now for the Stable Icons. Stable Icons are the ones that take the most amount of concentration to use and are also weaker than their counterparts. But the Stable Icons are much more stable, hence the name. It's impossible for them to get out of hand. If you do a spell wrong, it just won't work. Stable Icons don't rely on your emotions as their source of power. They're completely independent of them, besides for a few key feelings.

Water

"Wisest of the faeries, Water Faeries guard the ancient secrets of magic, which has given them a reputation for haughtiness." Water Faeries are secretive, as mysterious as the depths of the ocean. They say that all Water Faeries have a book that they write in all the things that they have learned. Supposedly, there is a secret library (not to be mistaken with the Hidden Tower) where they store the books of all the past Water Faeries. From there, other Water Faeries and their most trusted apprentices can borrow any book from the library that once belonged to a Water Faerie with a similar talent. They can learn from past Water Faeries things they may not have figured out on their own.

The use of Water differs from user to user but the most important characteristics is concentration and relaxation. Like all Stable Icons, you need to concentrate on what you're doing while you're using water or it won't work. You need to think about it without distractions and remain a firm mental hold on it or the water will just flop onto the floor. You need relaxation because Water isn't jumpy. So if you are feeling: tense, nervous, jumpy, or something along those lines, Water isn't going to respond that well to you. You have to be relaxed and calm at all times, so that the water flows smoothly and will react to any little touch. The way you use Water differs from person to person and because of this you have to find out what suits you best in order to use it correctly. For example, you can find someone that's best at changing the form of Water (changing it to ice, water vapor and back to water), while another may be best at making Water shields and so on. Another thing about Water is that you need to figure out how to use it. Like learning to ride a bicycle, your teacher can tell you what training you should do and help you along with useful tips, but you need to figure out how to do it on your own. It's much like solving a puzzle but a puzzle that has a different way of solving for each person.

Earth

"Kind-hearted protectors of nature, Earth Faeries love to take care of Neopians and make sure that everyone has enough to eat." Earth Faeries, you'll find, are very patient and thorough with everything they do and have a wide knowledge of the earth and all its secrets.

Some Neopians consider Earth as the hardest Icon of the six. The reason for this is that to master it, you have to have a vast knowledge of Biology. While you're using it, you have to be aware of exactly what will happen to it. You have to use your magic to make the nutrients it needs to grow, know exactly how much the roots and stem will grow, etc. Another characteristic of Earth is that it – like Water – requires a lot of concentration. If you let your mind wonder for a second, the spell breaks and you have to start all over. Earth requires a lot of intelligence, like Water, but in a different way. So you can say that Water requires street-smarts, while Earth requires book-smarts.

Light

"Said to be great seers, Light Faeries use simple trading cards to predict the future." Light Faeries are always cheerful and hardly anything can ever get them down.

Light is a bit different from other Stable Icons. It completely depends on your positive emotions, much different from its two subordinates. Upon hearing this, I had the same question that most of you are probably thinking. If Light relies on your emotions to work, then why isn't it an Unstable Icon? Well, there's a very interesting answer to that question. Light isn't really unstable where you have to have a strong grip on your emotions if you don't want the spell going crazy. It is very easy to control, you can give it as much or as little as you like without it going crazy. The problem with Light is that you need something to give it in the first place. So, while its counterpart, Dark relies on negative emotion, Light relies on positive emotions. You may think it easy and simple but can you imagine being optimistic and happy in the heat of battle? You've been hit and attacked for hours, your health has almost finished, could you still smile and be happy at that point? Not easy.

So there you go, my article on the six Icons. I hope you've enjoyed it, and will keep better track of what your Neopets are doing. This is Roxanne signing out!

My first published article! Yay! Please note that none of the above is true. All of it was completely made up by me.

 
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