I don't understand why it was removed in the first place for Oblivion.

It was removed because enchantments weren't mapped to the same button as magic anymore, so they needed the attack button for the magical effects of the staff. Also because in reality whacking any strong enemy with a low weight long stick shouldn't affect them much however strong you are. I like the way they're now, although maybe being able to assign a spell to the block button when carrying a staff would be a good idea.

how would anyone think removing staffs was the best thing bethesda ever did?

It isn't the best thing they ever did, but it was one of those features that they might as well cut out. Partly for making it easier for mages using a staff (they now have two buttons to cast magic), and partly because staffs wouldn't be a practical weapon anyways. Or they'd have to make them 3x weaker than blunt weapons. I'll accept staffs as melee weaons when they have sharp pieces of metal on the end of them.

:stare:

Do you know anything, anything at all about martial arts?

I remember picking up a staff in Oblivion and trying to bob somebody over their head with it...was disappointing.

Yeah, martial artists have been using staves as melee weapons for centuries.

It would be great to see them back in-game

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-quest-Felen%27s_Ebony_Staff.jpg

ok i get your point. but for the sake of roleplaying, i think staffs belong in games like tes, and i didnt really like the staffs in oblivion. id like staffs that you can use as melee weapons(but do little damage) but which also has magical powers (either makes you a stronger mage by altering your magical abilities, or something else). however, dont know how this would work with the buttons etc mentioned by someone

I don't know much about them, but I do know that teaching people to fight with a stick, and actually fighting in mortal combat with a stick are two different things. Just because people in a dojo beat each other up with a blunt stick doesn't mean they try to kill people with it. It's just learning to fight with stick shaped weapons without killing each other. In reality, the battlefield was filled with spears and other sticks with sharp pieces of metal on them.

Also just to clarify, if there would be an unused button with which you could give tiny whacks to enemies, I don't mind having staffs as melee weapons. But it would be about as effective as hand to hand combat. Actually, you'd probably break your staff before killing anything if you're up against armored enemies. Then they can become a blunt weapon, and their damage would be governed by blunt weapon skill.

We're not talking reality here, this RPG fantasy and your staffs can be enchanted to do serious damage in combat.

But they never had to fight against spells and creatures
And if you wear heavy armor, martial art won't make you any damage

I liked both Morrowind and Oblivion staves, but maybe be able to both hit and shoot spells with it ? With different buttons or something ...

Against heavily armored opponents, they wouldn't be as useful. But not everyone runs around wearing plate at all times. So against lightly armored or un-armored opponents, they can be, and are, very effective.

I dont see why they shouldnt be brought back. I for one had many times in Oblivion where I wanted to womp somone with a big stick, yes im looking at you adoring fan!

But staves would still be a curiosity rather than a plausible weapon. It would be like hand to hand fighting in oblivion. Yes, it's cool to roleplay a character with it, but you'd never try and do some serious fighting with just a staff. Whereas using the fighting buttons for magic attacks when using staves actually makes them very useful. I'd rather they just put some sharp metal on top of them and reintroduce spears. With those it's actually plausible to kill enemies in a few hits.

I'd like it if staffs would have touch spells, and you'd whack them with one. But that's something different than using them as a pure melee weapon.

Actually, that's a good way to reintroduce staffs as melee weapons. So when a staff has an on-target spell as enchantment, it doesn't have a melee function. But let there also be on-strike enchantments for staffs. So then you swing with your staff, and whenever you connect, you hit them with the enchantment. They could also add a bit of melee damage to it. Then they can also have staves with only a constant effect (like light 40ft), that you can use as pure melee weapons. But whatever happens, I still want staves with on-target spells that I can use with the attack button. It just makes being a pure mage a lot easier.

I dont care if they bring back martial staffs, but let my wizard melee without having to pull out another weapon!

Staffs don't necessarily need to be made of wood. Why not have different types of staffs made from steel or silver?

biased poll much?

I would like to see a return of staffs, spears, halberds, and I would also like to see flails added to the mix

It would appear that many people in here havent played Morrowind with a Deadric staff that had some sort of 'damage on strike' enchantment on it. There's nothing weak about it. And btw, how many of have actually been hit with big stick? That [censored] is not fun. Go out, get smacked up with one, then come back here and tell me it's not effective.

I miss my melee staffs.

I really liked the aforementioned idea of changing a staff's use by the enchantment. Like, a target spell would make it like Oblivion's staffs, whereas a cast on strike or touch spell would make it a melee staff, a la Morrowind. Then maybe an extra spell on self, like light as a neutral, secondary enchantment.

Staffs don't necessarily need to be made of wood. Why not have different types of staffs made from steel or silver?
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[IMG]http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy257/B_William1987/MW_Weapons_Staves.jpg[/IMG]



Damn they were sick looking! I was really disappointed that they didn't show in Oblivion

They are just as plausible as most weapons in oblivion/morrowind. A dagger isn't really that plausible except as a coup de grace weapon against heavily armored opponents. Staves can fairly easily break bones that makes them deadly and plausible outside of the wont work vs heavy armor thing probably 1/2 the weapons in oblivion would fail to as well.

Oh God yes, please bring back melee staves!

They're not wands, for crying out loud. If I want a spell launcher, I'll buy the spell and use my hand.

Don't "bring them back", add them in the first place. I'd hardly call the staves in Morrowind melee-capable weapons, they were basically rolled-up newspapers. A staff is a very effective martial weapon, capable of breaking bones against lighter-armored opponents. If you add a little realism to the speed and mobility issues of armor, you could use a staff to very easily trip up a heavily armored enemy, doing whatever you want to them while they're on their back, or just walking away. And I doubt a helmet will be enough to keep you from being knocked out if you're rammed in the face by the end of a staff.