Only staff...?

[ZanyScum]

I like the staff very much.
Can I ignore agility and recycle all rogue weapons and just only use the staff?
Or will there be situations where this is a bad idea?

[Keldor]

Yes and no, let me explain.

The character progression system only allows you enough points to flesh out one tree and a smattering in another (generally the technomany tree for one of the desired technomany special abilities). So it's in your best interest to use whatever weapon you choose to focus your talents on. However....the games combat mechanics make it so certain enemies are best fought using a certain weapon. For example, the first huge bug boss you fight is easiest when using rogue style and pewpewing it with your gun and alternating lightning attacks when you can. So you can stay away from its claws. Or when there's an enemy with a rifle, rogue style is best. Since they have higher than average resistance to disruption and do more damage the closer you are to them. While also having a disruption kick with a chance to knock you down. Overall, not a good idea to get in close. So Rogue style shines as you can pewpew them from a range that gives you time to dodge. When they reload tumble in and try to poison them...repeat.
But, if you like staff and focus your points into that. Then your rogue style is going to be weaker. Especially if you're giving one of your two pistol using companions the better guns. The combat mechanics and skill progression system work against each other in this game. Especially late game when a lot of enemies near the end of the game have lightning resistant armor which undermines all your technomancy abilites unless you get a specific one that causes the enemies lightning resistance to be lowered. Which consequently is near useless on all other mobs.

You can also try spreading your points out across all trees. But if you do that you need to focus on a specific purpose in each tree. For example, taking only the warrior skills that increase AoE range/damage to use when you're surrounded by weak enemies. And the block/parry skills in guardian for when you don't have room to dodge or the enemies are too strong to risk everything on dodging. And the pistol skills in rogue to add to your ranged damage for encounters where staying away means staying alive. This approach leaves you more adaptable but weaker in all regards.

That got really long-winded. But I felt like giving you the full rundown so you can make an informed decision on how to proceed.

[Keldor]

I forgot to mention. If you're going to use the staff a lot. Make sure you upgrade it with disruption mods. Couple that with the upgraded electric weapons skill in the technomancy tree that you can choose +15% disruption on your weapons with the buff active. And you can get a 100% disruption chance to your fast/aoe attacks with staff. Which means other tthan rifle mobs, some monsters, and bosses. You'll be able to smash people in the face with a lot less dodging required.

If you go with a rogue focus, stick to armor penetration as the skill tree has a lot of passive damage/crit to it.

And if you go Guardian take damage as the shield already has a high disruption and you have procs that will knock down people anyway. But the damage is a bit lacking in that stance so take damage mods.

Hope all this helped and you enjoy the game for all it's unique flavor and short-comings. lol

[ZanyScum]

Thank you. Staff it is then. I just love it.

[Coristrum]

I tried an all staff run (never finished the game) and realized at some points it is worth using the dagger and gun so you can kill enemies and roll away when you have low health

[Keldor]

Originally posted by TheMarc3:

I tried an all staff run (never finished the game) and realized at some points it is worth using the dagger and gun so you can kill enemies and roll away when you have low health

If you finish the game you can take all weapon skills in a branch and have enough points to take most of the technomancy skills (not all upgrades though if i remember correctly). At which point you can lean back on pewpewing lightning when you're low. Though you'll need to split your attributes to a full str/power stack. You'll have two points left over for agi or con depending on if you want more damage or health/capacity.

[kschang77]

Different styles are for different types of enemies, basically.

Rogue style (blade and gun) is for jumping around, dodging attacks, and getting hits on enemies one at a time. It's good for fighting a giant boss or whittle down a mob one at a time if you have room to maneuver, but not good when you're surrounded, and range is too close. You can get a few hits in, then jump back and take a few shots, repeat. Not that good against guardian style enemies as they just keep a shield on you, or against gunners.

Guardian style (mace and shield) is good for one-on-one duels against even a slightly superior opponent. But your shield only works in one direction and if you're surrounded you'll get pummeled on multiple sides. You'll need to learn to use the disruption attack (kick, basically) to knock the other guy off and get your licks in.

Warrior style (staff) is okay against both a single individual or groups as the swings has a nice reach (not as long as the gun, but better than blade/mace) while a wide sweep can hit multiple enemies. Can get into a little trouble with the guardian enemies.

And the technomancer bolts obviously have its own uses to supplement any of these three styles.

Don't forget to use the active pause to engage the special technomancer capabilities when you get them. Can make the difference in a battle.