Wards

Traps, Shields, and Absorptions. Are traps trapping you, shields shielding you from the awfulness that they are, and are absorptions abortions? No. That's the short answer. Are you ready to hear why? Well, sit back and relax. There's a lot of reading to be done.

Traps
Traps are a form of ward that makes it so the next move of that type that hits the opponent will do more damage, and are then consumed. Traps are an important part of the Wizard101 metagame. Most teams will probably have 2 or more traps. Why are traps so efficient? Because in the metagame, you want to get as much damage as possible in a maximum of 3 turns. You could set up a trap and then on the next turn hit 'em with a spell of that type.

Shields
Shields are a form of ward that makes it so the next move of that type does less damage. Shields are another very important part of the Wizard101 metagame. Most teams, however, only have about 1 shield. Why are they so uncommon? Because a lot of teams will setup traps, and unless you have some friendly teammates, you probably won't have time to setup a shield. You maybe thinking "But can't you use a shield the same turn they use a trap or before that?". No because it's far too risky.

Absorptions
Absorptions are a form of ward that act like a second health bar. They take damage for the user until they can't take anymore and go away. Absorptions are rarely seen in the Wizard101 metagame, but still a nice addition. If you have an absorption spell, then you can use that to setup some traps and shields or get some damage off!