Staff Buff Doesn't Fix the Core Issue

I want to give some feedback on the upcoming staff buff (+105% increased mana regeneration possible). It’s a nice gesture, but it doesn't address the real issue: staves are still vastly inferior to the wand + shield setup.

Here’s why:

Wand + shield is simply stronger in almost every way: more damage, better defenses, more flexibility, better sustain.

Even for mana-based builds like Archmage, the regen isn't a selling point—you can already reach high regen through the passive tree, Clarity, and jewelry.

In the end, despite this change, staves still offer no unique advantage and remain an objectively weaker choice.

If you want to make staves viable again, they need:
Mods that scale directly with mana spent (e.g., "Spells gain increased damage per 200 mana spent").

Affixes like “Spells socketed in this staff gain Archmage support,” “Your spells can’t be interrupted,” or “Gain % block chance per 1000 unreserved mana.”

A new caster-oriented staff base type with modern affixes like mana, scaling, or cast speed.

Or even a unique mechanic exclusive to staves.

Right now, staves look like a mage weapon, but feel completely underwhelming in actual gameplay.

What do you think about this?

have to agree that staves still feel weak for spellcaster compare to 1h+shield.

personaly i would add a second implicit to all staves, This implicit will randomly pick a mod from a pool with the tier of the mod being tied to the item level of the staff.


few that come to mind:

Regenerate 0.2-0.8% of Mana per second

5-15% more mana

1% increased Effect of Arcane Surge on you per 150-250 unreserved mana

Grants Level 1-20 tempest staff (tempest shield equivalent but for staff)

add 1-5 lightning damage to socketed spells every "x" int

add 2-3 cold damage to socketed spells every "x" dex

add 2-3 fire damage to socketed spells every "x" str

warstaves as well. These weapon types are both underused.

You have no idea how sick I am of seeing every build guide using wands. Yes, staves for spellcasters and warstaves are weapon types no one plays — that's why, next league, I'll just do like everyone else and go meta with the most popular skill, so I’m not at a disadvantage compared to everyone else.

admittedly my first t17 farmer was a heist staff user (ice crash berserker with fourth vow xibaqua)

The only reason it worked out was because i grave crafted a completely broken staff.

Its just too easy to make a +1 +1 sceptre with veiled prefix. Ive never looked at what it takes to make a perfect staff but i cant imagine it being easier than sceptre. Now that they made attack mods harder to hit on wants im sure that its easier on wands too.

how do you make +1 +1 1hander 'easily'?? +1 to all spells has a weight of '5' (out of almost 200000 IIRC), so getting that +1 is a nightmare, and it cannot be easily forced/slammed. to the point that I actually envy the real life courage of people who recombinate them as the 'miss' is heartbreaking


for the staves: attack staves are easy. they offer second 6 link, unrivalled base crit, defensive options (or great Eventuality alternative), fine passives. the price is skill selection, bad accuracy support relying mostly in Precision or 'hits cannot be evaded' craft and lack of hardcore defensive perks from Shield

I actually think it is fine for weapon type identity


Caster staves are 'bad' because charge stacking does not use staves and charge stacking is THE way to play the game, even after Ralakesh nerf. miniscule change to mana regen roll wont change a thing, mostly because nobody wanted that roll on their weapon in the first place

i believe one can make decently tanky character with caster staff. be it block based, ES/regen based or various damage conversion tricks. the Battery Staff is actually a pretty damn interesting concept with lots of tricky uses

i think what makes people dislike caster staves is simply lack of recovery on block. it is pretty cheezy sustain on 1h/shield setup that trully cannot be matched with anything staves have (2% mastery is split attack/spell)

Caster staves actually used to be the preferred option before the big shield/block rework.

So what we should take from this is that the imbalance issue is more to do with how good shields are at helping you not die than any kind of offensive benefit of going wand/sceptre.

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ARealLifeCaribbeanPirate#2605 wrote:

Caster staves actually used to be the preferred option before the big shield/block rework.

So what we should take from this is that the imbalance issue is more to do with how good shields are at helping you not die than any kind of offensive benefit of going wand/sceptre.

Block is such a powerful defensive layer, you really feel it when you go to a staff user. Because I am an old D&D guy, my Elementalist and Necro use staves, and boy, do I have to play careful.

Every game I have played has run into the problem of staves on casters. Ultimately, you have a combination of 2 item slots + defense vs staff.

You're loosing magical item properties and you're losing one of the game's best defenses - and in many cases, things like elder gear or the Squire, you're not even losing a 6-link.

I think back to every AARPG, and even most MMORPGS, and the casters always ended up moving away from staves because of these issues.

2-handed melee weapons have the same issue to a degree, but at least have big damage hits.

Maybe built-in ward as an implicit on staves? Extra mod slots? Elemental or physical buffers like the Ghastly Theater or Magna Eclipsis?

+ 1 all spells is a 1/5 on a 4 socket resonator to get +1 all and you need some anulls, if you hit an attack prefix its really easy to anull. Admittedly I've only done it on phys sceptres so its just easier on it. once you get +1 you regal, clear suffixes, multimod, lock prefix, cannot roll attacks, aug phys then prefixes will be clean. if the dice rolls your way you just veiled orb and pray for spell damage. that is the only rng in the prefixes other than the fossil. Compare this to trying to hit tyrannical + dictators + flaring. You have a route to 100% the prefixes without 2000 dice rolls. Also once you get +1 +1 if you're lazy or poor you can multimod and craft spell damage prefix and cast speed suffix and exalt it and clean it later.

If you want to do it with fire, light, or cold. you can also get lucky on your aug and hit flat damage which in some cases is fairly comparable.

With recombs you can get +1 one on sceptre and +1 all is easy on another sceptre with fossils and im sure there are ways to manipulate the odds in your favor.

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ARealLifeCaribbeanPirate#2605 wrote:

Caster staves actually used to be the preferred option before the big shield/block rework.

So what we should take from this is that the imbalance issue is more to do with how good shields are at helping you not die than any kind of offensive benefit of going wand/sceptre.

Shield has pretty much been most used since Expedition. Block nerf or otherwise.
If not Aegis then Shaper 30% Reservation +2% Max Res 5% Life on Block.

Pretty much ever since they turned us all into aura bots and removed reliable defense.