When playing my mage character in oblivion, i pretty much used staffs as disposable objects. This really killed the feeling of being a powerful wizard for me because i think a wizards staff should be somewhat of a symbol to a wizard. I strongly think that they should create a different systems for staffs. Here is my idea. Make a level up system for the staff that ties to the players magic level and make the staff a buffer for the players magic level. Spells could be cast from the staff but they would be no different than if they were cast from the players hand. It is the object itself that gives the player their magic skill bonus. The number one thing that killed the feeling of staffs in oblivion though was having to recharge it. Why would a wizard have to recharge his staff? A wizards staff is tied to him and is not something to be used and cast aside. Ill just say it, think of the lord of the rings wizards. What do you think?

i like the idea of the staff being a way to channel the mages spells to make them more powerful i wanted something like this in OB cause like you said i just picked them up and used them like a disposable camera just to get gome extra ranged hits in before acutal comabt

I hope there is variety of staffs as opposed to Oblivion where there was only a twisted stick if I remember correctly. Also I would like a walking animation when I put away my staff, I always thought it was dumb that he strapped a staff to his back.

I want the experience they tried to give us in OB, where you make your own staff, but I want it to be more special, and have the staff be more useful.

My question about enchanting your own staffs is this.

Can you enchant a staff with a spell effect you don't have skill points in?

For example, can a warrior who has a high enchantment skill, make a fire staff, healing staff, invisbilty staff, ward staff?

If so, enchantment can be a pretty powerful skill. I wonder if enchanting your own staffs is a good idea.

I imagine you could only enchant something up to your own skill in it. I.e - Enchant a cloak with chameleon up to whatever your skill in illusion is. So if you wanted a complete invisability cloak, you would need to have 100 skill in Illusion, plus probably a 100% chameleon spell. But with the doubt of spell creation now ... I'm not sure how useful enchantment will be.

I would assume you would have to have a spell you could cast to enchant something with it, just like Oblivion. The strength would probably then be dependent on Soul Gem and enchanting skill. So a warrior (having at least 5 points in Restoration by Oblivion standards) would be able to make a heal staff that is at least as powerful as the weakest heal spell.

Problem with the mage staff in Oblivion is that it was level scaled and you got it early because you wanted access to spellmaker and enchanting.
Paralyze staff and quest award levelling mod was overpovered, nice at the defence of Bruma, just paralyze daedra and let the guards kill them.

they tried to do that in oblivion? but yes that is what im getting at. A wizards staff is a huge part of the wizard and should not be like a gun that you pick up, spend the ammo, and then discard. I was very surprised when i realized thats all they were while playing oblivion. In an interview todd howard said that they were using lotr as a big influence on the game so i was bummed out that they didnt make the staffs more a part of a mage character.

The gun was because they wanted a weapon with ranged magic effect, little use with an on hit weapon as a sword would work better, yes it could do a fortify magic+ magic skills but no constant effect on weapons.
The ammo/ charges was to limit it, with no charges they would have to nerf it down to 5 in damage at level 20 as you can easy shoot 4-5 times each second as long as you wanted. with a autofire function on mouse/ controller you would have a minigun with unlimited ammo.

That gave me one idea for a new weapon you can craft; take 6 magic staves place them around an axle, add a gearbox and a crank at the backside :rofl: :gun:

lol ya. im sure a mod could be made. My idea though is that the staff wouldnt really be its own weapon. It would just be there to give the user a bonus that would be determined by how the owner of the staff levels the staff up. The more you use the staff to cast spells the more experience the staff gets and the more points the player gets to use toward whichever benefit they want the staff to give them. For example, points could be put toward the staff giving you a permanent magica bonus. or gives your destruction skill a bonus. How you level up the staff will define it and that will determine how it looks. I wasnt a fan of fable 3, but the way the weapons changed their appearance according to how you used them fits with what im trying to say

The staff chooses it's owner.. Sounds like Harry Potter and LoTR mixed together into TES. But I have nothing against the thought that the staff symbolizes the wizard, maybe it's power could get more than doubled when it's true wielder uses it.

Staves are magic items.
Anyone can use one.
I do believe that you should be able to enchant a staff though.

Staves should definitely do more for mages than they did in Oblivion. The Staff creation quest in Oblivion was awesome, and it felt nice to make your own staff and it become an important status symbol(that is, until you found a better staff). In Skyrim I believe players will be able to craft their own weapons and armor, so with that in mind I'm sure there is room for a crafting system for staves as well. You would cut some wood and shape it then you would use your enchanting skill to give it magical properties exclusive to staves, such as Fire damage, Paralyze, and Charm.

The feeling of creating something powerful for yourself has always filled players with a bit of pride and achievement. It's why many are uneasy about the supposed loss of spell-making, and hope crafting fills the void. I believe players should be able to craft their own arrows as well, but that's off-topic.

Definite yes here on making your own staff.

Totally agree, man. Couldn't say it better myself.

No, shame on you

Staves aren't something that anyone should be able to just pick up and wreak havoc with man, they are intense magical items that take time and superior skill to make and wield people who aren't schooled in magic should NOT be able to pick them up and just use them right off the bat unleashing their power, thats like someone who has never used an electronic device in their lifetime picking up a PDA and flawlessly using programs and such( i would have used a better anology but i am just not that clever, if someone could help me out here id appreciate it)

The way they are handling weapons and such in this game is a little bit of a drag, I mean I could see someone with no combat background picking up a dagger or tiny sword and swinging it helplessly if they were in a life or death situation but thats about it, allowing people to pick up two handed swords and swing them like nothing just seems silly, and the same goes for picking up a staff and just casting away, i mean come on man wheres the diversity of character

Getting back on track here, I think its real lame that anyone could just pick up a staff in oblivion and unleash its power with no training, i think it should have backfired or something i really hope its done better this time around with enchanting and staves, as far as your skill mattering while using them goes

If a warrior(or player who dislikes being left out of using everything) really really wants to use magic in some sort of way without going through all the training and stuff a mage would, i would say they should be able to take a weapon to an enchanter and pay for it to be imbued with power, like viking runes on a sword or axe that gave some sort of power to it, OR if they did the proper leveling up of their intelligence and practice of skills they could combine enchant and smithing to have that same effect, but leave the casting to the pros man, or at least the battle mages

man i wish i was more articulate and better at writing, but i am sure you guys know what i am trying to say here.... anyway... thats my first post ever, I just had to create an account after he said that to say what i said, not sure why... just compelled

Haha I understand
just speaking from an Oblivion standpoint

I hope there will be better ways to recharge your staff / enchanted items. Using souls and welkynd stones was really tiresome in Oblivion, I'd prefer a recharge over time like in Morrowind or something entirely different.

Definite yes on the arrows and hope your right about the crafting. We will see

Dead on. I really like the rune idea. Maybe go a little farther with that and make a system where you can customize and make your weapon your own with markings

what i was wondering was why didnt they make the enchanted items drain your magicka (not just the staffs)

like if your holding an enchanted sword, you could see the magical effect radiating of the blade while draining your magicka
and soul gems wouldnt be useless as you would need them to enchant(you just dont have to keep hunting to get them filled all the time)
a mage wouldnt be defenseless up close plus a warrior wouldnt be able to exploit it to its max potential

and pretty much the same as what was being said earlier, just have the staff amplify certain spell effects from the mage and not from its own charge

sorry if i went off topic there

not at all, thats a good question. a warrior would only be able to get one swing out of an enchanted item if that. Bethesda needs to come up with a new system so it doesn't feel like you have to go collect ammo after you use all the ammo that your magic has. Listen to how that sounds. Lame. If a warrior wants his sword enchanted, make him pay an arm and a leg for it. If a mage wants to enchant his items, make them wait for it. Make it a high level ability. Bam. Problem solved. Dont take us out of the atmosphere of this amazing world you created bethesda, find a new way!