Staff or hands?

[Charlemagne]

Is there a difference between a spell cast just with the hands vs. casting it through the staff? I'm experimenting with an arcane mage and when she's using a melee weapon sometimes she will cast Arcane Bolt or Lightning. I was under the impression that the staff is like a conduit that makes magic attacks more effective but is this so?

[Charlemagne]

BTW can someone explain how an Arcane mage functions because from what I see at first glance it simply sucks both at magic and melee.

[fauxpas]

Arcane Warriors are great provided you build them like a traditional warrior and use sustainable spells.

[Ilja]

Do you mean Arcane Warrior? There are so many ways to play that special class that I don't even know to begin.

Personally I picked it for Wynne due to it's passive and never developed it further for her. Leather armor item sets grant a nice bonus for stamina regeneration. For a mage, that stamina regeneration translates as magic regeneration. With very high quality light armor set, Wynne could cast her heals almost endlessly, requiring just very small breaks while waiting for magic to regenerate. And that specific set already gave her a hefty bonus to magic to begin with.

Using the class at front line works as well, but requires a bit more planning and heavy armor. Arcane Warrior does not get combat feats, so they rely on big punches, instead of disabling their enemies. Certain spells can be used with weapon drawn and others can not. If you play such character at front line, then it might be best to check which spells you actually want to use, so that your arcane warrior does not waste time sheating and unsheating weapons for spells all the time.

Aura spells are useful with that class. Especially Miasma can make a big difference, when you march with it to frontline, where your other warriors are fighting. Debuff from the spell can be stacked 3 times, making it one very useful spell for Arcane warrior and their allies.

[Charlemagne]

Yeah I was thinking to use her more like the Sorcerer from Oblivion, to carry armor but otherwise to continue relying on magic. But, supposing I wanted to make her use a weapon in melee, how do I go that way? because right now even with combat magic activated she is quite ineffective.

[fauxpas]

Yeah, fatigue still applies so heavy armor and spells don't work, so focus on sustained spells that make up for the fact you don't have warrior skills and just use basic attacks ... it's slow starting but works in the end.

[Charlemagne]

OK back to my original question (I shouldn't have asked two in the same thread), does casting a spell with the hands make any difference with casting it through the staff?

[fauxpas]

Yes and no ... if the staff gives you spellpower then it's added to the effectiveness of your spells.

[Charlemagne]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Yes and no ... if the staff gives you spellpower then it's added to the effectiveness of your spells.

Yeah there's that... Also, I have noticed that the animation if you are wielding a weapon loses a lot of time, sheathing the weapon then moving the hands. Much better to carry the staff as secondary and swap before casting, that is instantaneous.

[LukanGamer]

ya make sure to cast all you want before switching to actual weapons.

[Charlemagne]

Wow the Arcane Warrior is really a blast. I can wear any armor, use any weapon, and I can interchangeably act as a spell caster or a melee fighter, depending on circumstances.