The Black Mage & Elemental Staves

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Muertos

RoloTony BrownTown
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BladeWarriors
What do you guys think, preferrably a blm who has all the elemental staves, because I use the ice staff mainly (Int +4 & Elemental Magic Skill +10) but I've heard people say using the staff that corresponds to the element increases dmg, however condunting tests on my own would be costly and I would like to know if the increase is in dmg large enough to spend the gil on 5 more staves.

P.S. I'm pretty sure staves is the plural of staff but I may have just butchered the english language a lil bit there.
 
Each staff has a hidden effect of +10% effect on corresponding element spells, including nukes and enfeebles. HQ staves boost that to +15%.
 
I was always under the impression that when a peice of armour of weaponry that has (+5 WIND) or whatever, that element only applied to defense from that element, and did not have anything to do with the power of your spells.


But I'm still a BLM n00b, so... feel free to prove me wrong. :)
 
The elemental resistances that are on the staffs do only apply to defense; but there's a hidden stat that Tagrineth stated. There's also the hidden stat of -2 to the perpetuation cost of avatars of the same element, -3 for the HQ staves.
 
Pairing a spell with the proper elemental staff increases damage 10 or 15% depending on staff quality. It also lowers resistance rates similarly to Elemental Skill + equipment. A few people on Allakazham did fairly convincing and conclusive tests to show that it's always better to use the matching elemental staff if you have it. The hidden bonus to spell accuracy helps more than the +10 Elemental Skill. Ice magic will just happen to be even more accurate than any other element because of the hidden accuracy bonus and the +10 elemental skill.
 
Yes, the staves do in fact give a 10% increase on damage for the corresponding elemental spell. The HQ's give a 15% damage increase. An easy test is to get the dark staff (you should have this anyway), cast bio several times on newb mobs, equip the dark staff and do it again. You will notice that the initial damage increases with the dark staff equipped.
 
It is defintiely worth it. NQ-HQ is only a 5% increase... yet in the few Manaburn parties I've had(where we cast Freeze) I have owned all(including Taru BLM's ^^) using my Aquilo's. Now if there's that much difference with only the 5%... imagine the boost between having no corresponding staff and the +10% from having one.
 
I dunno, 5% is alot! If you land that freeze and it normally hits for 800, with an ice staff it lands for 885-ish (+4Int modifier) and with aquillo's it lands for 927-ish.
 
Elemental Staves are very important for any class that does elemental damage. Buy them and macro them into your spells.
 
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Can't comment on BLM, but on my bard, after I bought my earth staff, my fail rate on landing elegy (earth elemental) plummeted.
 
Well, it's not really a matter of choice, here. Not only is it a good idea to get at least the normal quality versions of all the elemental staves, you really HAVE to if you want to receive anything close to a "passing grade" as a black mage. It's not even a question. It's part of your job to have them (as they increase your damage so significantly), and you're expected to have them. It may not feel that way quite yet, but as you get higher in level, anyone worth their salt is going to call you on it if you're lagging behind.

I think you can survive if you don't have them all the moment you turn 51, but by the time you're 55, you should have at least 7/8 (leaving out the Light staff). If I was ever in a party with a black mage well over 60 that didn't have them all, I'd whack them over the head.

There was a few people a while back that insisted that the Ice Staff was better in case you were suffering a lot of resists (because of the + Elemental), but as Pompidou has already said, there have been a lot of extensive tests by the patrons of Allakhazam and other places that have shown that the hidden bonus for each elemental staff also extends to your chance of successfully landing the spell for full damage. It is always better to use the corresponding elemental staff.

Not only that, but they also increase your chance of landing a debuff of the corresponding element. You'd have a better chance of landing Sleep, for example, with your dark staff equipped.

Don't skimp on this equipment, please. Black mage is CENTERED around elemental damage. I know prices are going all over, but you really need them. They are some of the most universally useful pieces of equipment in the game. There's a reason they're a big cash cow. ^_^
 
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Last I looked, normal quality elemental staves were dirt cheap. I haven't looked post holiday inflation, but unless I'm mistaken, staves are still one of those HQ-profit or nothing synths. The NQ's are almost throw-away priced. Pick up a full set.

The light staff might be "luxury", but look at it this way: You're a blm. You're supposed to make the mob dead. This is what you picked the job to do. You don't want to have to cure much. Emergency healing is part of every mage's responsibilities. You don't want to have to be casting cures when you could be casting nukes, so make every cure count. The light staff boosts cure potency by 10%. It makes a pretty significant difference on cure III and curaga II. The quicker you get the HP situation back under control, the faster you can get back to making fireworks. That and your pt will respect your desire to emergency heal to the fullest of your abilities. Blm/Whm has so many spells at its disposal. It's the best job combo of any in the game, in my biased but humble oppinion. Make the most of your insane utility.
 
Current ballpark prices (I've been checking them often recently as I have 6/8 )

Dark and Light are around 200k
Ice and Thunder are around 50k
Fire and Wind were 150k when I got them a week ago, now 200k
Water is up to 400k
Earth is 600k


I have all but water and earth (I don't have an extra million gil laying around and when I get that million gil I'm buying Erase). I'll get them as I get the money, but I'm not going to drop everything to get them. They are important, but get the ones that will be most useful. If money is tight, buy 1 or 2 at a time as you get it. Start with Dark and Ice. Thunder should be next, then I'd say Wind and Fire, Water, Earth, Light.

I got my light staff for BRD, but shortly after pickup up BLM again. I don't cure much in xp parties, but I do find myself using it a ton outside of xp.

Macro your staves into every elemental spell you cast. Elemental debuffs, white magic debuffs, black magic debuffs, nukes, stun, aspir, drain, cures. If you don't know the elemental affiliation of a spell (which you should, you're an elementalist) look it up! http://ffxi.somepage.com/spelldb/class.php is a very good page to use.


Not everyone is filthy stinking rich; 200k isn't chump change for me. If you can easily afford all 8 staves, get them immediately. If you can't get them all at once, work on getting them over time but do get them.
 
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If you don't know the element of a spell, look at the colored orb to the left of it in your spell list.
 
Pompidou said:
If you don't know the element of a spell, look at the colored orb to the left of it in your spell list.
Click to expand...
Yes, they're color-coded according to the element. In other words, a green dot next to a certain spell indicates a Wind affiliation. So, you need look no further than your spell window itself. ^^;
 
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Mortanius said:
Current ballpark prices (I've been checking them often recently as I have 6/8 )

Dark and Light are around 200k
Ice and Thunder are around 50k
Fire and Wind were 150k when I got them a week ago, now 200k
Water is up to 400k
Earth is 600k


I have all but water and earth (I don't have an extra million gil laying around and when I get that million gil I'm buying Erase). I'll get them as I get the money, but I'm not going to drop everything to get them. They are important, but get the ones that will be most useful. If money is tight, buy 1 or 2 at a time as you get it. Start with Dark and Ice. Thunder should be next, then I'd say Wind and Fire, Water, Earth, Light.

I got my light staff for BRD, but shortly after pickup up BLM again. I don't cure much in xp parties, but I do find myself using it a ton outside of xp.

Macro your staves into every elemental spell you cast. Elemental debuffs, white magic debuffs, black magic debuffs, nukes, stun, aspir, drain, cures. If you don't know the elemental affiliation of a spell (which you should, you're an elementalist) look it up! http://ffxi.somepage.com/spelldb/class.php is a very good page to use.


Not everyone is filthy stinking rich; 200k isn't chump change for me. If you can easily afford all 8 staves, get them immediately. If you can't get them all at once, work on getting them over time but do get them.
Click to expand...

Make sure you get the Earth staff when you get higher on Bard, it helps with Elegy.
 
cool thanks guys, not what I wanted to hear because it may take me a minute to fork out the gil, but i can already begin to macro in dark staff with the dark spells.
 
there's also a hidden -10% (-15% for H.Q) if the spell is weak to that element.

So if you use an Ice Staff and cast Aero, it will be weaker then normally.
 
Bajaratt said:
The elemental resistances that are on the staffs do only apply to defense; but there's a hidden stat that Tagrineth stated. There's also the hidden stat of -2 to the perpetuation cost of avatars of the same element, -3 for the HQ staves.
Click to expand...
actually i think its 1 NQ 2 HQ on avatars not 2NQ 3 HQ
 
Can you swap staff after you start casting to get effect, or do you have to have it pre-cast equipped?
 
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