Which Staff

[styrix]

Which staff should I use? I'm a Fire Wizard, with some utility and irresistible spells too, like Repel Missiles and Mystic Blast. I carry a Staff of Energy for my honeycomb spells, like fireball, but I have a Staff of Wizardry and a Staff of Fire. Should I go Fire with Bolt of Magma, or Wizardry with Mystic Blast?

Further, I have a Ring of Int +3 and a Ring of Fire. Which is better?

[mageykun]

Wizardry helps with spell success rates. So you should only be wielding that if you've got otherwise unreliable spells you need to cast. Very handy for casting spells from other schools before you've built up skill levels.

As for energy vs fire... that kinda depends. Fire will let you do more damage, but energy helps you conserve resources. What's more important depends how hard up for food you are, how bad the spell hunger you're trying to beat is, and how badly you need damage output now, etc.

My advice would be to use the energy / wizardry if you need to, but work on training your skills so you don't. Get those spell success rates up, and food costs down. There's also nothing wrong with carrying several staffs and swapping as the tactical situation demands.

The rings... I'd probably go with the int, the increase might be enough to render your hunger / success rate problems moot, making your staff choice easy. I tend to avoid rings of fire due to the -rC. Not sure which ring would actually maximize your damage output though. Do the bonuses from rings & staffs of fire stack?

[styrix]

Wizardry helps with spell success rates. So you should only be wielding that if you've got otherwise unreliable spells you need to cast... Do the bonuses from rings & staffs of fire stack?

It sounds like I shouldn't worry about my Wizardry, then, as my success rates are high. Staff of Fire and Energy, with quick swap for tactics. Thanks!

I also wonder about the effects of Fire staves and rings. I now have two Rings of Fire. I'll probably wear the Int+3 and Fire rings, but for max damage, would two Fire rings be even better?

[asdu]

I'll probably wear the Int+3 and Fire rings, but for max damage, would two Fire rings be even better?

A ring of fire definitely boosts damage more than 3 int. Watch out though, as rings of fire give you cold vulnerability; with 2 on you'll die painfully to the first kobold with a wand of frost.

[Twilight]

Also, two or three levels of fire/cold vulnerability is actually the same as one level, so being rC--- is no worse than rC-.

Is that actually true? If so, that seems like an oversight that should be corrected.

[galehar]

Also, two or three levels of fire/cold vulnerability is actually the same as one level, so being rC--- is no worse than rC-.

Is that actually true? If so, that seems like an oversight that should be corrected.

I just checked the source. It's true.

[Twilight]

Also, two or three levels of fire/cold vulnerability is actually the same as one level, so being rC--- is no worse than rC-.

Is that actually true? If so, that seems like an oversight that should be corrected.

I just checked the source. It's true.

But is it an oversight? Or is that intentional?

[goo]

On the subject of staves, what do channeling ones do? Their description is kind of vague.

[lucy_ferre]

On the subject of staves, what do channeling ones do? Their description is kind of vague.

It's the same as Sif Muna's ability. Evoke it to channel MP. It's not worth using.

[Kate]

It gives you less MP than Sif (1d3 MP per successful use, evoc+1/30 chance of success), and costs less hunger per use. It's certainly worth using if you have some evoc (for example, if you're training for a ball of energy), as well as being pretty vital in the fairly likely case that said ball of energy fails and drains your MP.

[lucy_ferre]

I prefer to use Sublimination of Blood when the crystal ball fails. It's much faster, even if it damages you. I only ever use the staff to get 2MP quickly, so I can use Sublimination.

[szanth]

Can't you also just hold chunks of meat and use it to not be damaged?

[Kate]

Yes, but chunks of meat aren't easy to come by in Pan/Hell/Zigs where you'll likely be wanting to use the ball of energy, unless you worship Kiku.

[styrix]

What about Staff of Conjuration vs Staff of Fire? I mostly use fire spells, but I also use Meph Cloud, Orb of Destruction and Mystic Blast. Does the Conj Staff increase damage, or casting success, or what?

[Kate]

They both increase the spell power (which is related to damage) of anything using the relevant spell school, but the staff of fire also gives you rF+ and can be an awesome melee weapon (inflicting large amounts of extra fire damage) if you have high evocation skills.

If you mainly use fire spells, use the staff of fire for the resistance and power boost (or swap to the staff of conjuration when you cast non-fire spells, if you can be bothered).

[szanth]

Spell power for meph cloud helps against the resistance check for the enemies, doesn't it? I often notice a higher power will more often confuse tougher hit dice enemies.