Tired of losing to people with Hidden Tower items? Ever wonder how to render
them useless? Hopefully with the help of this article, you too shall learn the
secret powers of Battling Defensively.
I realise that I do not have the strongest pet in Neopia and I also realise
that I do not have the strongest weapons in the game, but does that stop me
from trying to win? Never. Some people think that just because a person has
stronger weapons there is no chance that they can win. I'm here to prove that
wrong. In short, just because somebody uses a Golden Butterknife on you, it
doesn't necessarily mean it's game over…for you that is.
Shields
To it all off I will now focus on the stereotypical defensive item, the all
mighty shield categorized from cheapest to the more expensive. I know that I
skipped a few shields, the ones I'll write about are some of the more popular/well
known shields.
Large Metal Shield - Cheap and effective. What more could you want?
This shield defends air, earth, fire and water icons for less then 500 NP! Excellent
for Newbies and long time battlers alike.
Mega Fire Shield - This HIGHLY underrated shield is always a part of
my arsenal. Why? Because not only does it defend physical attacks (which is
hard to find) and some water icons but it also defends ALL fire attacks! Having
problems with tiki bombs? Pair this up with a soul stone and you pretty much
got rid of that threat. VERY useful in the right situations.
Ice Shield - This shield is an all around defender, it blocks air, earth,
water and fire attacks (sound familiar?) and has a chance of freezing an opponent's
item. If you're not sure about what your opponent may be using to attack you
with, ice shields can give you that extra security.
Shadow Shield - At the moment, shadow shields are by far one of the
MOST useful shields. It defends fire icons and ALL light. What does that mean?
Tired of Grand Lightning Beam users? How about Snow Flames, Dark/Ultra/Super/Novas,
Dual Expert Bows, Ancient Manchu bows, Zaptwigs, Banana Swords and all other
weapons that use light or fire attacks? Shadow shields will block out most if
not all of these problems. In short…beautiful.
Superior Shield of Lightning - It seems that I have been glorifying
shields too much so I guess this evens it out. Superior Shields of Lightning
defend 2 fire icons and 2 light icons for around 200k. Now...it may look nice
but if you compare it to a shadow shield that does the same and a whole lot
more for less, I don't think this shield comes up to par.
Shield of Soaring - I personally never had the chance to test one of
these out so I am relying on information from other sources. It is said to defend
ALL air attacks and some fire attacks. With that in mind you may realise that
Wand of the Air Faeries and Battle Slices are close to totally defended for
the price of 250k-500k.
Superior Reflection Shield - With the power of an U-Bend of Great Justice
and a beefed up Combo Battle Mirror for the price of only 500k it really makes
me wonder how come this shield is not very popular. Reflecting ALL water and
ALL light attacks from my point of view is extremely useful. But then what do
I know? I'm just the crazy guy writing an article…
Sponge Shield - Since there are only 60 of these Cove items in Neopia
I myself never have had the chance to use one. But rumour has it that it defends
ALL water and 1-8 physical icons. Think of the possibilities… drool...
Umbrella Shield - Defends: 5 earth icons, 5 air icons, fire, and ALL
water. Another useful tool for all around defending and it can negate an Ultra
Attack Chive attack. Handy in most situations but has a price tag anywhere from
2 million NP-5 million NP at the moment. But if you can afford to get your hands
one I suggest you do so since they're Cove Items and there's only 100 of them
in Neopia, no more, no less.
Icon Specific Defense Items
Another form of defense in battle is those Icon Specific Defense Items. No clue
about what I'm talking about? So are many other people. These items are one
of the MOST useful defensive items and can be bought for less then 1000 NP.
Here's a quick list:
Amulet of Fire - Defends ALL water icons
NightStone - Defends ALL light icons
SoulStone - Defends ALL earth icons
CloudCharm - Defends ALL air icons
LaughGrenade - Defends ALL physical icons
FireGem - Defends ALL fire icons
SeekVisor - Defends ALL dark icons
How is this useful? Well in combination with shields or in between themselves
these items can be deadly effective. For example: Shadow Shield + Amulet of
Fire would block an entire Snow Flame, Mega Fire Shield + Soul Stone would block
most of a tiki bomb, a laugh grenade renders a Golden Butterknife USELESS and
a fire gem makes a Sparkshooter look better then a Portable Kiln. In short,
these items can save your butt in battle and just because your opponent has
a Hidden Tower item doesn't mean he has an advantage. And don't forget these
are unlimited use items! Woohoooo!
Defensive Scorchstones
Everybody already knows about healing Scorchstones and how useful they are in
battle but little is known about the leftover Scorchstones I mean c'mon… so
helpful in battle yet so neglected.
Earthen Scorchstone - Remember how I cloud charms defend all air icons? Well
for a little more NP you can defend all Air icons and Dark icons too. Now selling
for less then 2k.
Silver Scorchstone - Defends water, light and air attacks. Not too helpful
for those Clash of the Titans battles but does save your butt more then once
when you're starting out.
Golden Scorchstone - Ditto. Same thing as Silver Scorchstone but defends light
and fire attacks.
Reflectors
Not quite in the mood for defending without the satisfaction of an attack
as well? Reflectors are for you my friends. Though the lower models may be a
bit ineffective the higher end models can and will work wonders when used correctly.
Rainbow Swirly Things - Not only does this item have one of the coolest
item names in the world but it also reflects ALL of a random icon that is in
use. Now the random bit my sound bad but please do remember that it's an icon
in use which can really turn the tides.
Reflectozap 2000 - The most powerful version of a flame reflector found
in the Hidden Tower. It's on the expensive side but then again...its reflects
80-100% of all fire damage…mmmm…
U-Bend of Great Justice - Also found in the Hidden Tower and does the
same as it's HT counterpart but reflects water instead of fire. Sadly its usefulness
has been lessened due to Superior Reflection Shields that do the same and more
for a quarter of the price.
Flame Reflectozap - The best non-Hidden Tower Fire reflector.
Mega U-Bend - The best non-Hidden Tower Water icon reflector.
Combo Battle Mirror - Best Light icon reflector out there if you don't
count Superior Reflection Shields.
Ultra Dual Shovel - Best Earth icon reflector.
Triple Turbo Dryer - Best Air icon reflector.
Ultimate Dark Reflectorb - Best Dark icon reflector.
Sadly nothing has been made to reflect physical attacks but at least you have
the rest of the icons to retaliate with. Remember this though, reflecting may
return damage but it doesn't defend you as well so expect to get a little more
damage in the process. However, reflecting is fun and is worth the damage if
you ask me.
As the old saying goes, "a good defence is the best offence" and to tell you
the truth it does make sense. Just because you have a fancy new shield it doesn't
mean you will win. Remember shields only defend certain icons and therefore
you must not only anticipate every move your opponent will make but you must
most of all KNOW WHAT THEY ARE USING. Without that information what would be
the use of a Soul Stone when somebody is using two Grand Lightning beams on
you?
By defending carefully and cleverly you can beat pets that are much stronger
then you or have better weapons. And what about those people that rely on stealing
items to beat you? Well…let us just say NeoPets hasn't put in the option to
whack your opponents with shields yet =) Hopefully this short article will give
you a new option when battling and maybe even improve your skills. I did not
include everything because first of all, I do not know everything and second
of all there's not enough room!
Thanks to: Shinkohyo (the guy who opened my eyes to defending), likebutta,
horsewin, neopiaorbust and all my guildmates who helped made this possible.
I wouldn't be typing this up without they're help. So turn an eye to the Share
The Wealth Co-operative Guild because it worked wonders for me.
Oh yea don't hesitate to Neomail me with questions, I typed this to help out
and that's what I'm here for. | 
