How are you supposed to tell the damage output on staffs?

[Justin_760]

Hello. So for the longest time I thought the physical damage on staffs meant the base damage it does on spells, but recently found out its only when you whack with it. How are you supposed to see what damage it does?

Its strange, theres nothing but physical damage and scaling, and other than that there is no way to determine which staffs are better with spells. I dont get why they didnt add some kind of thing for this, its such an esoteric and vague system. Most staves look identical, with same INT scale, and physical damage, yet Ive heard people say they are totally different and that some do this and that better, cast faster, etc. So confusing.

Also does Heysel Pick do same damage on spells as other staffs? Theres gotta be a catch, its so superior melee wise to other staffs, and there would be few reasons NOT to use it over any of the others. But seems to good to be true, wondering if it is comparable to other basic staffs, damage wise when casting spells. Thanks.

[sangeo]

i think that you can tell by the spell buff, the spells dont show the damage, i think, but you can tell how strong the staff is with the spell buff

[Justin_760]

引用自 unloadTHEtoad：

i think that you can tell by the spell buff, the spells dont show the damage, i think, but you can tell how strong the staff is with the spell buff

I thought spell buff was just when you use R2 and you hold staff in the air, and it turns blue, which increases spell damage a bit. Im pretty sure thats what it is, but then again who knows, the game doesnt do a great job making it understandable, even the "explanation" help thing doesnt explain jack. I wish there was just a base spell damage value, and obviously there is in the code of the game, they just didnt make it visible.

[i dont use this profile anymore]

引用自 Justin_760：

引用自 unloadTHEtoad：

i think that you can tell by the spell buff, the spells dont show the damage, i think, but you can tell how strong the staff is with the spell buff

I thought spell buff was just when you use R2 and you hold staff in the air, and it turns blue, which increases spell damage a bit. Im pretty sure thats what it is, but then again who knows, the game doesnt do a great job making it understandable, even the "explanation" help thing doesnt explain jack.

That's not spell buff by any means. Spell buff is the staff's modifier for the spells. Higher spell buff means more damaging spells.

That's the weapon art you're thinking of, and it doesn't last terribly long.

[40+13x-3=17x-363]

引用自 unloadTHEtoad：

i think that you can tell by the spell buff, the spells dont show the damage, i think, but you can tell how strong the staff is with the spell buff

^This.

Heysel pick steady chant buffs both spell buff and the magic damage it deals in melee.

Immolation tinder is also another good weapon for a sorcerer.

Long staffs are good for farron flashsword.

Court sorcerer+steady chant from sage staff will get you the best spell damage.

Or if you don't like heysel and immolation, use court in off-hand and any other weapon in your right, even a pyro flame works.

Diferent tools for diferent purposes.

[Justin_760]

引用自 ChattyRevolver®：

引用自 Justin_760：

I thought spell buff was just when you use R2 and you hold staff in the air, and it turns blue, which increases spell damage a bit. Im pretty sure thats what it is, but then again who knows, the game doesnt do a great job making it understandable, even the "explanation" help thing doesnt explain jack.

That's not spell buff by any means. Spell buff is the staff's modifier for the spells. Higher spell buff means more damaging spells.

That's the weapon art you're thinking of, and it doesn't last terribly long.

Wow thank you so much, great answer. I had no idea, so your 100% sure that "spell buff" is the value that determines spell damage? Huh, makes sense then because Heysel Pick has like 64 spell buff or something, which obviously is very low, had a feeling there was a catch to that weapon, never see it in PvP either and people mostly use strong stuff.

[i dont use this profile anymore]

引用自 Justin_760：

引用自 ChattyRevolver®：

That's not spell buff by any means. Spell buff is the staff's modifier for the spells. Higher spell buff means more damaging spells.

That's the weapon art you're thinking of, and it doesn't last terribly long.

Wow thank you so much, great answer. I had no idea, so your 100% sure that "spell buff" is the value that determines spell damage? Huh, makes sense then because Heysel Pick has like 64 spell buff or something, which obviously is very low, had a feeling there was a catch to that weapon, never see it in PvP either and people mostly use strong stuff.

Yep, I'm 100% certain. I had to keep an eye on spell buff when I was using a melee sorceress build, every little bit counts when all you limit yourself to using are Farron Flashsword, Great Magic Weapon and Soul Greatsword.

But yeah, Heysel Pick doesn't have much to it. Try casting a spell with it, you'll note it does less damage than if you were to cast the same spell at the same target using the regular sorcerer's staff.

That's because the regular Sorcerer's Staff has more spell buff to it. It's like MagAdjust from the first Dark Souls, if you ever played it.

[Justin_760]

引用自 ChattyRevolver®：

引用自 Justin_760：

Wow thank you so much, great answer. I had no idea, so your 100% sure that "spell buff" is the value that determines spell damage? Huh, makes sense then because Heysel Pick has like 64 spell buff or something, which obviously is very low, had a feeling there was a catch to that weapon, never see it in PvP either and people mostly use strong stuff.

Yep, I'm 100% certain. I had to keep an eye on spell buff when I was using a melee sorceress build, every little bit counts when all you limit yourself to using are Farron Flashsword, Great Magic Weapon and Soul Greatsword.

But yeah, Heysel Pick doesn't have much to it. Try casting a spell with it, you'll note it does less damage than if you were to cast the same spell at the same target using the regular sorcerer's staff.

That's because the regular Sorcerer's Staff has more spell buff to it. It's like MagAdjust from the first Dark Souls, if you ever played it.

One more question, what is the best staff in your opinion? You seem to know your stuff with magic, and I know different tools for different jobs, but personally what is your favorite/best staff?

And does anyone know if heretics staff is any good? I heard it has fastest cast speed for staffs, but it doesnt say anything about that in item description and when casting back to back with sorcerers staff, I couldnt even tell a difference on great heavy soul arrow.

[Hugh Mungus]

引用自 Justin_760：

引用自 ChattyRevolver®：

Yep, I'm 100% certain. I had to keep an eye on spell buff when I was using a melee sorceress build, every little bit counts when all you limit yourself to using are Farron Flashsword, Great Magic Weapon and Soul Greatsword.

But yeah, Heysel Pick doesn't have much to it. Try casting a spell with it, you'll note it does less damage than if you were to cast the same spell at the same target using the regular sorcerer's staff.

That's because the regular Sorcerer's Staff has more spell buff to it. It's like MagAdjust from the first Dark Souls, if you ever played it.

One more question, what is the best staff in your opinion? You seem to know your stuff with magic, and I know different tools for different jobs, but personally what is your favorite/best staff?

And does anyone know if heretics staff is any good? I heard it has fastest cast speed for staffs, but it doesnt say anything about that in item description and when casting back to back with sorcerers staff, I couldnt even tell a difference on great heavy soul arrow.

Best staff will vary, depending on your investment in INT. If you're shooting for 50 or less, the regular Sorcerer Staff is best. Anything over 50 INT is Court's.
Sage staff is a special case cause, unbuffed he loses to both above, but buffed he is the best staff in the game.
PS. When I say buffed, I meant Steady Chant WA. Sage's WA is stronger than other staffs.

[i dont use this profile anymore]

引用自 Justin_760：

引用自 ChattyRevolver®：

Yep, I'm 100% certain. I had to keep an eye on spell buff when I was using a melee sorceress build, every little bit counts when all you limit yourself to using are Farron Flashsword, Great Magic Weapon and Soul Greatsword.

But yeah, Heysel Pick doesn't have much to it. Try casting a spell with it, you'll note it does less damage than if you were to cast the same spell at the same target using the regular sorcerer's staff.

That's because the regular Sorcerer's Staff has more spell buff to it. It's like MagAdjust from the first Dark Souls, if you ever played it.

One more question, what is the best staff in your opinion? You seem to know your stuff with magic, and I know different tools for different jobs, but personally what is your favorite/best staff?

And does anyone know if heretics staff is any good? I heard it has fastest cast speed for staffs, but it doesnt say anything about that in item description and when casting back to back with sorcerers staff, I couldnt even tell a difference on great heavy soul arrow.

My personal preference lies with the Court Sorcerer's staff, but that's because it looks like Logan's Catalyst from the first game.

[Hugh Mungus]

One minute video showing damage comparison of Court and Sage at 50+INT, have fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ2e9_xb0aM

[Justin_760]

引用自 LeoK3191：

引用自 Justin_760：

One more question, what is the best staff in your opinion? You seem to know your stuff with magic, and I know different tools for different jobs, but personally what is your favorite/best staff?

And does anyone know if heretics staff is any good? I heard it has fastest cast speed for staffs, but it doesnt say anything about that in item description and when casting back to back with sorcerers staff, I couldnt even tell a difference on great heavy soul arrow.

Best staff will vary, depending on your investment in INT. If you're shooting for 50 or less, the regular Sorcerer Staff is best. Anything over 50 INT is Court's.
Sage staff is a special case cause, unbuffed he loses to both above, but buffed he is the best staff in the game.
PS. When I say buffed, I meant Steady Chant WA. Sage's WA is stronger than other staffs.

Cool thanks. But wouldnt the court sorcerers be best even under 50 INT? Isnt it supposed to have S scaling?

Also, sorry for incessant questions, but how much does INT scaling effect damage? It seems like it makes very little difference. When I levelled up my INT 5 points, I left Firelink and noticed the damage increase on same enemies with same spell was miniscule. An A scaling sorcerers staff, from 22 to 27 INT, and the difference was like 15 damage. It seems like the scaling is almost insignificant, and that spell buff is the value that is most impactful.

[Hugh Mungus]

引用自 Justin_760：

引用自 LeoK3191：

Best staff will vary, depending on your investment in INT. If you're shooting for 50 or less, the regular Sorcerer Staff is best. Anything over 50 INT is Court's.
Sage staff is a special case cause, unbuffed he loses to both above, but buffed he is the best staff in the game.
PS. When I say buffed, I meant Steady Chant WA. Sage's WA is stronger than other staffs.

Cool thanks. But wouldnt the court sorcerers be best even under 50 INT? Isnt it supposed to have S scaling?

Also, sorry for incessant questions, but how much does INT scaling effect damage? It seems like it makes very little difference. When I levelled up my INT 5 points, I left Firelink and noticed the damage increase on same enemies with same spell was miniscule. An A scaling sorcerers staff, from 22 to 27 INT, and the difference was like 15 damage. It seems like the scaling is almost insignificant, and that spell buff is the value that is most impactful.

The scaling isn't constant accross all levels, you get a lot of extra damage between 50 and 60 points, for example. After 60, the returns are minimal.
INT builds tend to shine more at end game, for that reason.
The reason why Court isn't best before 50 INT is because of it's S scaling and low base spellbuff. Without the proper INT investment, the low spellbuff will pull your scaling bonus back.
The sorcerer staff, on the other, gets an A scaling and higher base spellbuff, which makes up for the lowish INT.

Either way, just roll with Sorcerer's till your INT reaches 50, then make the switch, you won't regret it.