Gem staff question?

[Vanced]

... and thanks for starting this thread, it has been a kickstart to get this stuff figured out. Now please start one about the staffs too :D


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Staffs... lol... is that really a question... IF ya already made the call to go staff... there is only one question, and to butcher Shakespeare ... "To AOE or not to AOE, that is the question"



Right but it's a more interesting question this time around. In AO3 the keeper was the clear staff choice because in addition to having AOE, it had the highest damage and skill damage of any staff. In BS, there are many new factors. The non-AOE staff has better damage (same skill damage though) and armor, an in BS AOE can be a bad idea in many situations. Anyway, don't want to go off topic (well apparently I do ;) but I'll stop now).

After multiple requests.... and to help a derail.. here she is folks...

Aging Champ... Keepers Staff vs challenger Gem Blast Staff...

With Gemstone looking to play situational spoiler....

Let the banter begin...

Ok... here is my initial knee jerk thoughts after using the gem blast only...

See my quote above... can ya get away with playing without the shield?... if so go staff... and if the situation is one that ya can go staff MOST of the time it is go AOE Boomstick build as I call it, because IMHO if it is one of the rare times you are somewhere there is not a greater benifit with bracer ac, the very good wand options, and gem bracers with 10dmg making up some of skill difference... you are likely street sweeping or low level farming... prime aoe times...

IMHO, ya seem to need the ac in sewer runs to help avoid the 1 mis-step deaths due to traps... (or idiots setting off barrels without toxic protection)...

... or you are just that big of BOOM junkie, that you will buy tanker potions to support your habit... Feel free to enjoy your staff...

Only fairly common situation I can see for gemstone staff is against non aoe bosses with multiple top notch tanks to avoid agro?

That is just my first thoughts worthless virtual 2 gold on the subject...

[Royce]

Yay :D
So here's my assessment of the new staffs and the best old staff.

First I compared the Keeper staff with the Keeper set to the Keeper staff with the Mega Mage Cowl and Robe. The Staff with MM robe and cowl wins hands down for regen, damage and armor. So I then compared the Keeper staff with MM gear to the other AOE staff, the Gem Blast Staff:
Damage: The Gem Blast has higher min damage (+16) and lower max damage (-11), but overall higher average damage. Because the Gem Blast also fires faster (1.1 speed as opposed to the Keeper's 1.2), it has a clear DPS advantage. The Gem Blast Staff also gives higher skill damage (+22 for lighting for example).
Other stats: The MM Gem Blast has 4 more M/s, and 4 less H/s, definitely favoring the GB for mage regen. The Keeper has 7 Hit% and 3% Crit over the the GB, but as a level 55 mage you should be around or over 100% hit anyway, so that isn't so significant, and the 3% crit won't make up for the GB staff's damage advantage. The GB also has 1 Int and 6 armor over the Keeper.
So it seems to me the GB is the clear champ among AOE staffs now.

However, is AOE worth it in BS? I would say sometimes. However, since there are many situations where AOE will be a terrible idea (areas full of grates, cockroach once his barrels reappear, etc.), a non-AOE staff is more desirable than it has been in the past. If you are willing to switch to wand when AOE will hurt you and your party, then the GB is not a bad option. However, for a staff that you can use all the time, I would say the Gemstone is a very good option. The comparison to the Gem Blast is pretty simple:
Damage: The Gemstone staff has +3 to +18 damage compared to the GB. However skill damage is identical to the GB staff.
Other Stats: The Gemstone Staff gives you 8 armor over the GB.
Other notes: The Gem Blast has a burn proc (and as noted is AOE) while the Gemstone so far seems to have no proc (like all lightning staffs).

Personally I am very happy with the variety of Int weapons in BS. There are several viable options, each with advantages and disadvantages. I wish they weren't such a girly pink, but I can look past that ;)

[Vanced]

Yay :D
... Personally I am very happy with the variety of Int weapons in BS. There are several viable options, each with advantages and disadvantages. I wish they weren't such a girly pink, but I can look past that ;)

Yeah, what he said... ;) see told ya not much of a question...

[WhoIsThis]

So the gemstone staff has no burn proc?

A bit related - how much more skill damage do the staffs give over the gemstone and gemshard wands?

I think it will look like:

Gem staffs > gemstone/gem star > gemshard for skill damage.