I'm sure this has been done before, but I really don't recall seeing one, so-- which Mage's Staff do you prefer?

My first time through, fresh from Morrowind and quite fond of Soul Drinker, I went with Soul Trap, but found I almost never used it.

Then I went through quite a few characters who picked Paralyze or Silence, but again, I almost never used the staff. I'd get into a heated battle and just barely survive, then think, "Oh yeah.... that's right-- I could've paralyzed/silenced them." :facepalm:

So now I don't bother hauling the staff around at all, since they never use it anyway, and mostly go with Telekinesis, just so that the character's got something entertaining to play with during their time off.

Honestly, I pick Shock Damage just because I think it looks cool to shoot lightning out of a staff :rolleyes:

It would probably be of more use to me to choose something like Silence or Paralyze but I feel like I'd use a staff more if its intended effect is pretty much always applicable in combat situations. Plus, like I said, I just feel like a badass shooting lightning out of a staff

I usually pick the paralysis staff, even though I rarely use a staff at all (It looks nice above the fireplace in Rosethorn Hall)

Paralysis.

Dispel. For offence I can use my spells, and I'm removing my enemy's buffs and monsters. Profit.

For a vanilla game, I'd pick paralysis but for OOO, I'd pick shock because so many OOO enemies are weak to shock.

Paralysis, always. It's my 'Oh [censored]' button.

Paralyze. Because

1. Paralyze staves and weapons in general are non-existent or hard to find, and
2. While mages can cast similar Paralyze spells they take up a lot of magicka. If you use a paralyze staff you have magicka for casting destruction or other spells

My most recent mage (Breton with lots of magicka fortifications) actually used the staff quite a bit. Alot of earlier characters rarely used a staff of any kind, but after getting used to it it was fun

Used to always get Paralyze, since it's staff is so much more powerful than any of the other rare paralyze enchantments.

Tend to go for Silence if not that.

This entirely, or silence for when mages cast silence on me.
But I am playing on the game with a magic mod that makes dispel "banish" summons, so I may give that a go at some point.

My character got the University to take the wood for a mages staff and turn it into a bow staff. I mean, she's a mystic archer, after all. Ok, just kidding. She actually had them turn the wood into a fire staff on behalf of the poor young dead mage she found wihile getting the wood. She delivered the staff to his father. Turns out that fire may have been a bad choice. A farmer with a fire staff living in a farmhouse with a STRAW roof . . . .

I love paralysis, but generally get the Cobra's Dance special power at low level. Its long paralize effect plus damage over time can change the tide of early fights (well, once a day anyway).

All that said, if my character was a real mage, she would go for the paralize staff.

Paralyze. But ...

I play with a fatigue mod, so my characters can only carry so much stuff. I try to keep my equipment to a minimum. So I get it - with the best intentions of using it - and then rarely, if ever, do I have it with me when I need it.

~ Dani ~

Edit: In fact, I rarely use staves at all. I'm sitting here thinking and I cannot recall a single character that's actually uses a staff more than a few times. In fact, the only staff I use with any degree of regularity is:



~ D ~

Paralyze, since the actual paralysis spell uses too much magicka for practical use.

I tend to pick Paralyze as it is extremely useful for low level characters who can't cast the spell yet. But honestly, by the time I can cast the spell, I don't have much trouble keeping my casters alive (errr minus OOO surprise spawns) so I never use the darned thing after that LOL.

Paralyze or shock depending on sadism level of the character

Paralyze.

Paralyze for me, it seems to be the most practical at that point unless you're a really high level but I rarely if ever use staves.

Shock Damage usually. I like lightning.

Paralysis. I find enough of the other staffs by exploring and killing bandit mages and necromancers.

I found most everything useless. I just take the Shock damage as a backup in case I am having a tough time and want to go ranged. The spell is faster and more powerful than an arrow if I am retreating and a measly 10lbs is nothing to me lol.

Shock damage. verry useful, and watching enemies spasm is very fun

I do usually consider paralyze because of it's usefulness, but always end up with a staff of shock because the lightning effect looks cool.

Shock staff.
Ghosts are immune to frost and deadra are resistant to fire, so logically shock is the best cuz the only creature immune to it is the lightning elemental.
i never get a chance to use silence effectively
paralyze i think is a wimpy way to win
telekinesis is just not practical, but fun to play with
i always forget to use soul trap, thus the reason i carry umbra, and her friend azuras star
dispel is completely pointless i swear cuz it never does anything
i can make a charm spell that charms 60 points for 2 sec and uses very little magic (2 sec cuz when you enter conversation, time stops so that spell lasts as long as you are talking to said person so why spend the extra magicka on a 60 sec spell.)
Theres my explination on why i ALWAYS pick the shock.

I like using either silence or paralyze.

Telekinesis...I just don't get it :/ I never use it, 'cause it makes NO sense XD

Destruction?...Bah...Seems too ornery.

Dispel's good...Should have kept that one staff I had XDD

And Charm can help you out of tight spots if it'll work on the hostile >.>

Sarrah had 35 staffs but her 'Mage's Staff' was paralysis. She would cast two chained weakness spells before firing her staff. Using this technique she could paralyze an opponent for a very long time. Sadly, Sarrah's Mage's Staff was lost in a Daedra tower when she was disarmed during a fight. She hunted for hours after the fight but never found her staff.

EDIT: Sarrah's favorite mini-game at home was to try to stuff as many staffs as she could into an open topped barrel in her basemant. At some point they start rattling around and then all come flying out of the barrel. Her top score was 8 staffs.