What's the obsession with staffs?

[Wildroses]

I totally thought when I opened this thread it was going to be about how every single follower in the game is obsessed with staffs. I have yet to find a follower who doesn't instantly latch onto every single staff in their inventory. I'm playing one character who doesn't loot anything from bodies, and yet somehow Lydia still has a staff in her inventory she brings out every battle. I suspect she got fed up with my not looting the bodies and looted it herself from one of the necromancers we were fighting.

Word of warning from the voice of experience: Never give your follower a staff of chain lighting or staff of paralysis. It took me a while to figure out why every single guard we helped put down a dragon or vampire would instantly ignore me and make Serana slaughter them when the enemy was dead. But I figured out why I was suddenly going into a cutscene of my character going rigid and falling VERY quickly. Vorstag didn't get to keep that staff very long.

 

[shadowkitty]

I never use them but they do look pretty, stacked in a corner of my house
Once in a while I will take out the Aetherial staff, so I can conjure up a dwarven spider for fun.

 

[shadowkitty]

I totally thought when I opened this thread it was going to be about how every single follower in the game is obsessed with staffs. I have yet to find a follower who doesn't instantly latch onto every single staff in their inventory. I'm playing one character who doesn't loot anything from bodies, and yet somehow Lydia still has a staff in her inventory she brings out every battle. I suspect she got fed up with my not looting the bodies and looted it herself from one of the necromancers we were fighting.

Word of warning from the voice of experience: Never give your follower a staff of chain lighting or staff of paralysis. It took me a while to figure out why every single guard we helped put down a dragon or vampire would instantly ignore me and make Serana slaughter them when the enemy was dead. But I figured out why I was suddenly going into a cutscene of my character going rigid and falling VERY quickly. Vorstag didn't get to keep that staff very long.

I have NEVER again given Lydia a staff after the "Chain Lightening Bunny Death" incident.

 

[Cherry]

I totally thought when I opened this thread it was going to be about how every single follower in the game is obsessed with staffs. I have yet to find a follower who doesn't instantly latch onto every single staff in their inventory. I'm playing one character who doesn't loot anything from bodies, and yet somehow Lydia still has a staff in her inventory she brings out every battle. I suspect she got fed up with my not looting the bodies and looted it herself from one of the necromancers we were fighting.

Word of warning from the voice of experience: Never give your follower a staff of chain lighting or staff of paralysis. It took me a while to figure out why every single guard we helped put down a dragon or vampire would instantly ignore me and make Serana slaughter them when the enemy was dead. But I figured out why I was suddenly going into a cutscene of my character going rigid and falling VERY quickly. Vorstag didn't get to keep that staff very long.

I have NEVER again given Lydia a staff after the "Chain Lightening Bunny Death" incident.

Poor bunny
Oh, Lydia, what have you done?

 

[shadowkitty]

I totally thought when I opened this thread it was going to be about how every single follower in the game is obsessed with staffs. I have yet to find a follower who doesn't instantly latch onto every single staff in their inventory. I'm playing one character who doesn't loot anything from bodies, and yet somehow Lydia still has a staff in her inventory she brings out every battle. I suspect she got fed up with my not looting the bodies and looted it herself from one of the necromancers we were fighting.

Word of warning from the voice of experience: Never give your follower a staff of chain lighting or staff of paralysis. It took me a while to figure out why every single guard we helped put down a dragon or vampire would instantly ignore me and make Serana slaughter them when the enemy was dead. But I figured out why I was suddenly going into a cutscene of my character going rigid and falling VERY quickly. Vorstag didn't get to keep that staff very long.

I have NEVER again given Lydia a staff after the "Chain Lightening Bunny Death" incident.

Poor bunny
Oh, Lydia, what have you done?

I was trying to save it from wolves and she sent it flying. Poor bunny indeed. I was horrified. And that one bunny death forever besmirched my "No bunny deaths" policy.

 

[Fighter X]

I rarely use them as well. Not sure why to be honest I actually like them. I love the raise zombie staff a lot, and I do have some as backups if I encounter a fierce character who's about to destroy me. They do come in handy. I might try to use them more often now too.

 

[Majir-Dar]

Staves are fun and can really save your life at early levels. I have marked a few places and when i start a new character i always go to these places and get the staves as soon as possible.

I really like the staves of the Dragon Priests as well. There is a reason they use these 'more special' staves. They're more powerful and lethal than the normal ones.

And i also wonder why can't we enchant staves just like in Oblivion...??
....Oh, right.... We will become godlike.

That being said, i think that the only reason to even think about staves later on in the game is their value and rareness.

If you have the Dragonborn DLC you can enchant your own staves using Neloth's staff enchanter.

 

[Harc]

Staves are fun and can really save your life at early levels. I have marked a few places and when i start a new character i always go to these places and get the staves as soon as possible.

I really like the staves of the Dragon Priests as well. There is a reason they use these 'more special' staves. They're more powerful and lethal than the normal ones.

And i also wonder why can't we enchant staves just like in Oblivion...??
....Oh, right.... We will become godlike.

That being said, i think that the only reason to even think about staves later on in the game is their value and rareness.

If you have the Dragonborn DLC you can enchant your own staves using Neloth's staff enchanter.

Neloth doesn't like random visitors that appear just to mooch off of his staff enchanter, you would have to kill one of his past apprentices to earn his trust

 

[TheLonelyWolve]

I use them, I use them with a warrior, or an archer, thats because My character doesn't need to learn magic, and yet use it against mages, while using perk points for other skills.

 

[LotusEater]

Staves are fun and can really save your life at early levels. I have marked a few places and when i start a new character i always go to these places and get the staves as soon as possible.

I really like the staves of the Dragon Priests as well. There is a reason they use these 'more special' staves. They're more powerful and lethal than the normal ones.

And i also wonder why can't we enchant staves just like in Oblivion...??
....Oh, right.... We will become godlike.

That being said, i think that the only reason to even think about staves later on in the game is their value and rareness.

If you have the Dragonborn DLC you can enchant your own staves using Neloth's staff enchanter.

Neloth doesn't like random visitors that appear just to mooch off of his staff enchanter, you would have to kill one of his past apprentices to earn his trust

Not true, all you need to do is find him a new steward. It's an easy quest that he will give you with little required beforehand. As soon as you see: "No, I haven't seen Verona" in the dialogue box, you are almost there. Black Book in there too.

Half the time I don't even bother killing his old apprentice as that is one of the last things he asks you to do and there really isn't much of a reward. IIRC, a cheesy staff and some septims.

 

[Naginata]

Agreed, I never use staffs. However, I always pick up as many as I can because they usually sell for a good amount. My dad likes using staves for the more powerful spells if he can't cast them, and he also gives tons to his followers. I notice that followers love using staves... I once had Cicero with me and gave him two staves, one of fire and one of ice, and he looked so badass duel-wielding those.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

I totally thought when I opened this thread it was going to be about how every single follower in the game is obsessed with staffs. I have yet to find a follower who doesn't instantly latch onto every single staff in their inventory. I'm playing one character who doesn't loot anything from bodies, and yet somehow Lydia still has a staff in her inventory she brings out every battle. I suspect she got fed up with my not looting the bodies and looted it herself from one of the necromancers we were fighting.

Word of warning from the voice of experience: Never give your follower a staff of chain lighting or staff of paralysis. It took me a while to figure out why every single guard we helped put down a dragon or vampire would instantly ignore me and make Serana slaughter them when the enemy was dead. But I figured out why I was suddenly going into a cutscene of my character going rigid and falling VERY quickly. Vorstag didn't get to keep that staff very long.

The only follower I've ever had that uses a staff appropriately is, believe it or not, Vilkas of the Companions! As we traveled about he had fire, lightning and blizzard staffs at different times and he never used them on me (even accidently) or on anyone except the enemy. Maybe he's just different morally.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

If you have the Dragonborn DLC you can enchant your own staves using Neloth's staff enchanter.

Neloth doesn't like random visitors that appear just to mooch off of his staff enchanter, you would have to kill one of his past apprentices to earn his trust

Not true, all you need to do is find him a new steward. It's an easy quest that he will give you with little required beforehand. As soon as you see: "No, I haven't seen Verona" in the dialogue box, you are almost there. Black Book in there too.

Half the time I don't even bother killing his old apprentice as that is one of the last things he asks you to do and there really isn't much of a reward. IIRC, a cheesy staff and some septims.

Besides, Neloth is fun! He's completely amoral, treats you like crap, underrewards you and likes to push you off of high places. He reminds me of Mom.

 

[Jei El]

The have good monetary value, so I sell them!

 

[Daelon DuLac]

For the last 2 weeks my Den Moria has been walking around with a "Staff of Summon Storm Antronach" and guess how many times I've used it? Zilch, nada, not even once. I finally put it in the sale bin yesterday. Who needs to carry around an extra 8# when you're not putting any points in stamina?

 

[MalkavianVentrue]

For the last 2 weeks my Den Moria has been walking around with a "Staff of Summon Storm Antronach" and guess how many times I've used it? Zilch, nada, not even once. I finally put it in the sale bin yesterday. Who needs to carry around an extra 8# when you're not putting any points in stamina?

That's exactly my problem with (most) staffs, I find a decent seeming staff and think "Wow! This will be handy", then it spends the entirety of it's time with me being a very expensive weight that keeps me from floating away, or something as equally useless.

 

[Pete]

My vampire characters can only use raise spells. If they are alone, a staff of summon [name it here] is a life saver.

Staffs are especially useful when you place restrictions on your character.

 

[BG5150]

Staffs are especially useful when you place restrictions on your character.

What if your restriction is "I won't use staffs"?

 

[Daelon DuLac]

My vampire characters can only use raise spells. If they are alone, a staff of summon [name it here] is a life saver.

Staffs are especially useful when you place restrictions on your character.

I'm wondering what sort of restrictions you would place to make staff's necessary?

 

[sticky runes]

I never use staffs, I find them difficult to aim compared to spells. i always give staffs to followers, they seem to find more use for them. But I don't give them fireball staffs or anything that casts wall spells because those get on my nerves, exploding and flashing up my screen all the time.