The Spellsparkler is amazing with a Magic Missile Machine gun build, used by an evocation wizard, using Psyquic Spark, Ring of Absolute Force, and a member of the party used the Shriek ability of Phalar Aluve, the wizard can solo some fights, or even deal with 80% of the health of enemies, so the rest of the party can clean what is left alive.
Putting the belligerent sky gloves on tosses out a ton of reverberation as well. One magic missle can decimate an encounter and leave survivors prone for clean up
I’m so happy to get more Cephalopocalypse biography and historical weapon content!! More please, big fan of your physics-forward analysis of fantasy gaming staples!
Rain dancer - The radius of the effect is larger than a thrown bottle’s radius. It’s basically three (give or take bards and elixirs) first level spell slots per day. Early in the game when you have only three first level spell slots for the day it’s not terrible. Early in the game you also don’t have a huge stockpile of water bottles. It’s also easy to micromanage and rotate in and out. Obviously you’re not using it in act 3 or anything. But, when you first find it, it has value. Yes you have to buy it. I think with a charisma character the cost is less than 200 gold if I recall. That’s less than the cost of a single hill giant elixir.
Exactly this, this weapon never left my pack when I picked it up. There was a sub-set of useful gear I kept on me but only equipped for dialogue or world traversal. Especially in act 1, there's a lot of area's blocked by fire (Whakeens Rest notably) and I'd prefer my characters not fumble with jumping around them. Water bottles weigh enough to be annoying aswell, I'd rather hold 1 staff the whole game and have more than enough casts of create water for the entire game.
True and you can steal the raindancer from Aaron easily with Astarion or any decent rogue or bard with sleight of hand expertise with the smuggler ring and a cast of cats grace from Shadowheart. And that’s not an exploit … its playing as intended.
@@Alex-qy8nj He didn't talk about magic missile, which is in my opinion the best use of this staff in act 1. Can do some crazy damage with that :D I guess he didn't think of it.
@@BurzmanA tier is best in slot for a specific build, so that sounds reasonable to me? I can see an argument for S tier though. It’s just that most casters will probably prefer Melf’s for the bonus to spell save DC, and some will prefer Morning Frost
Correllon’s Grace is pretty good for spell casters too-just for the bonus to saving throws. In the early game, that will help a character maintain concentration on s-tier cleric spells like Bless or s-tier wizard /warlock spells like Cloud of Daggers. So not only is this an s-tier staff for monks. It’s also s-tier for clerics and wizards So it is very versatile-the proper way-because many different classes of characters will benefit from using Correllon’s Grace. But, wait! There’s more … When it comes time to read the Necromancy of Thay, equipping Corellon’s Grace (along with a few other saving throw boosting and/or proficiency items) before opening that book can help whoever’s reading it pass those savings throws in one go. Durge could also use it in Act 2 when it comes time to resisting the urge and not murder whoever is being romanced at that point in the campaign. So it is worth hanging onto to this magical quarter staff and using if for some key camp scenes.
I'm a martial artist and was totally ready to chime in on your weapon rant. But you are also a martial artist, and your rant was quarterstaff specific! Thank you for knowing what you're talking about, and for talking about that specific weapon. I love your content - if you ever start a more general chanel about tactics, dnd, weaponry etc I'd watch the fuck out of it.
Spellsparkler has a fun interaction with Tempest Cleric lvl 6 ability Thunderbolt Strike + Spike Growth, as every time they take a step, they take 1 lighting point of damage, and thus are knocked back. Comes online at lvl 9, 6 in Cleric, 3 in Druid)... Maknig them basically unable to ever reach you. xD
@zero11010 for a more real build you can also go gloomstalker ranger to 5th lvl for spike growth and dual attacks, that way you can benefit even more of pushback via ranged attacks. Slap on the reverb gloves and boots for even more meme, elemental weapon for more lightning, give alacrity weapon damage helmet and then get the mysterious scoundrel, and now you got a pretty good command bonus action use as well. So now you can force them to walk that path 😆
@@TheRedAzuki that’s also a fun thing. But, it doesn’t come online until level 11. The game is over at that point. I don’t know if every thing that happens needs to come from the same character. It’s OK if the barbarian is hurling people into the spike growth, or if the warlock is using repelling blast or whatever else. The key combo is spike growth and pushback. Or, hunger of hadar or any number of other options that kinda do the same thing. There’s an effect (not spiked growth) where for each meter of movement a target takes damage, right? That would stack with the spike growth really well, and also mesh with the pushes. Plant growth would also go well with these things … I think. But, you could also just do the Wolverine and badger barbarian combo or whatever where you knock people prone and remove ALL movement and things are stuck prone because it takes movement to stand up.
@zero11010 lvl 11 is basically start of act 3. The push back & control on same character is just for the fun of it. This game is easy enough that you don't even need meta builds to complete it on honor mode. Edit: The effect you're thinking of is rapture and I only know of 1 dagger that causes it. Comboing it with plant growth is negative synergy since theyll walk less. You want to force them to walk a lot.
@@TheRedAzuki yep. Rupture and push back. Sorry, was trying to think of additional ways to make use of the push back mechanic as a way to create damage while walking.
Correlons grace is also an excellent stat stick for things like the zathisk or the omelleum saving throw checks or even the shar’s blessing statues. That’s actually the primary use for it and what makes it S tier imo and not a niche monk build that doesn’t qualify as S tier.
Pedantic comment time! It appears to me that the Versatile property was an attempt to emulate the "dual weapon" property from 3.5ed. (Dual weapons function like two weapon fighting, but uses only one item, attacking with both sides) The reduced damage might be argued as using the staff in a short form, balancing your hands equally around the haft. The greater damage die would be long form, the way Ceph explained at the start the the video. Dual weapons might have been intended for 5ed, but dropped because of time constraints, or because they didn't quote fit the vibe.
There is a particular use for Incandescent staff which negates a lot of its downsides and its on a Open Hand Monk or Moon Druid. You fireball a group of enemies, unequip it for free and continue punching or clawing.
Blind is very good with staff of cherished necromancy since it can be upcast and doesn't require concentration, you can disable a large group of enemies.
The staff also works well with Bestow Curse: Dread. Forcing a powerful enemy to skip turns on failed saves with disadvantage is a worthy use of your concentration! Also a cleric being able to upcast inflict wounds to sixth level without using a spell slot is fun
FYI, Staff of Arcane Blessing does not work with sources of the Bless effect besides the spell itself. It doesn't work with Elixir of Heroism, Bless-on-Heal ring, or statue.
Rain Dancer should have gotten at least C tier IMO. Depending on your route through Act 1, you may have a whole bunch of content to do before you see an upgrade to it. Especially for builds/parties that are utilizing cold or lightning damage. It's a level 1 spell that is much warranted in that case at a time when spell slots are more limited.
Im a little bit confused about the order of the act 1 staffs 🤔❓ You get Corellions Grace and Rain Dancer both in the Druid's Grove from vendors right on lv2. But for Mourning Frost you have to investigate the... How to say without Spoilers? ... Investigate the Darkness very extensive. Most of us have to make a bunch of quests in a row and fight against a really tough lv5 boss, to lay hands on this. (Yes, there are some sneaky magic tricks to avoid things.) And also have to come up with the idea how to finally obtain this staff. This usually does not happen before reaching enough money to pay the trader for his Rain Dancer. I don't think so. Even the Spellsparkler is way faster and easier to obtain. You just have to reach this smoked building, and manage to don't fall over your own shoelaces, by immediately stress-clicking on your camp-button, instead of helping dieing NPCs. No long Questline and no surprised Boss. Most of us actually will see Staff of Crones before Mourning Frost! Just because of the Questmarker you got from one of the Vendors. You know, who I mean... Near Dammon from an old lady, called Auntie Ethel (kind cute granny with lots of lotions and potions 😃). Yeah, I knew you remember her! 😄 She marks her sweet little teahouse kindly on your map. Isn't she adorable? Does anyone noticed how good larian designed this though old lady? Super strong female Character. Anyway! Im confused by the order. And im going to test dualwielding first Gold Wyrmlibgs, than Mourning Frost and Spellsparkler on an lv 4-5 Tempest Cleric Sorcerer. Yes, I plan to have some fun in this game 😁 Avoid Spoilers and Have a nice day!
I always go straight for gold wyrmling staff in the beginning of the game to make Shadowheart have something to do more consistently, specially as produce flame is very annoying to use on console. Then I swap it for the Mourning Frost as soon as I can.
I usually dont build my monks such that it makes sense, but the funny thing about Correlons Grace is that there are Open Hand Tavern Brawler monk builds that only give up a slight bit of versatility that might want to start equipping the Correllons Grace again after getting the ability to regular action unarmed attack for a ki point. Not many other items have legitimate reasons to use early and late, but not mid game.
Cacophony is a fantastic sword and board weapon for a paladin on the mid game. Thundurus smite on a short rest is fantastic for extra damage for paladins. You will typically run into this merchant around level 6, which is where paladins get a huge power spike with aura of protection. It will also become the strongest flat damage options for 1 handed weapon attackers since it's a +1 quaterstaff that as an extra damage dice. I'd put it at least in a tier since you won't find a better weapon until the end of Act 2
Well the blood of lathander is literaly in the same area and is a way better weapon for paladins. And if you want to go for a greatweaponmaster build the sword of the gith captain is better since it gives you +2 Initiative
@SebastianLamprecht I tend to put the blood of lathander of a non attacking character. Cachonpy will still do more damage (3.5+1+2.5 = 8 vs 3.5+3 = 7.5, also crits and savage attacker feat will favor the dice) and gives a decent spell for melee characters every short rest. The gith sword doesn't really compare on a sword and board paladin because you can not use it with a shield.
That's a good point! I often build S&B paladins as dex characters so the natural pick is phalar, but for a str-based or shillellagh paladin cacophony is probably the goto
@@davidwagner3710 your calculation asumes every hit lands but the BoL has +2 to attack rolls compared to the Cachonpy. Also you disregard its way more important effect: blinding all nearby undeads, ehich is incredible in act 2. So you really want the BoL to be on a character that wants to be surronded by enemies aniways, which would be either a fighter, paladin, cleric or barbarian depending on your party. And even if you have two melle characters, its better the other one probably wants to equip phalar alune for its shriek ability. I think Cachonpy is a really powerfull secondary option and i would honestly agree with A tier, its just a shame that its slot (one hand mellee weapon) has two of the best items in the game already contesting it.
The spellsparkler also works with magic missile, even more effective when combined with the necklace. Considering how early you can get both items with very minimal fighting you could say its almost S tier. Though standalone it's probably still A tier
Staff of the Emperor is my favorite weapon for my favorite Lore Bard/Divination Wizard, thematically. It also just makes Lae’zel is just so happy when you let her crack the Emperor
For the Rain Dancer it does have a niche use for Sorcerers since you can Quickened cast Create or Destroy Water with a bonus action if your goal is to end encounters quickly by abusing the wet mechanic. Pairs particularly well with Storm Sorcerers mechanically and thematically for obvious reasons, though it of course becomes obsolete when you get the spell later with that subclass or if you multiclass with Cleric.
>Rain dancer in D slot. ...you did that to annoy the people who didn't watch the video/troll the h8ers, didn't you? Alright, I'll give that a watch, ya' smartass. :P *oine watch later* ooooooh! I always forget about water bottles...I really need to use them and mage hand for that. Derp. XD
I would have bumped up Staff of Crones very slightly to C tier, because it drops alongside the Poisoner's Robe after Auntie Ethel. This causes poison spells to deal bonus damage. I could see it being marginally useful for a poison-themed character, such as a black dragonborn draconic sorcerer.
Your Paladin and Eldritch knight Shillelagh builds really like Cacophony because it can be used to stack arcane acuity while still leaving the helmet of arcane acuity open still, and of course it works with Shillelagh which is very important. For paladins especially, Cacophany is worth using as its thunderous smite per short rest makes super smiting (thunderous + divine smite together) much less resource intensive whether used with Shillelagh or not. The combination of these two extra factors that you didnt mention here makes me feel like Cacophany is an A tier weapon.
I refuse to dualwield quarterstaves. :p But I really love to build quarterstaff fighting characters. Edit to agree wholeheartedly about Nature's snare. So cool for druids, nature clerics or archfey warlocks in general.
Great video. staffs are hard to choose because so many are amazing and most people mainly ignore then because they are not damage dealing on their own.
Probably a long shot, but any chance you'll review the "Mystra Spells" mod? I really enjoy how you explain things and break mechanics down, and I'd appreciate your perspective on these spells in the realm of BG3.
Ive been playing with it on my most recent run, and gotta say the early level spells are pretty fun green flame got hit with a nerf hammer, compared to its 5e Spells (and dnd variant), but booming blade claps cheeks. Have only gotten to level 3 so havent tried the higher level stuff, but will report as i play.
@@fallout3fanboy1 The Blade cantrips were the biggest reason for me wanting the mod, honestly. How is Green-Flame Blade different from the 5e Spells version? Any future updates/experiences you're willing to share would be much appreciated!
@@MarkSpirals So in 5e spells, it scales the way it does in TT, 1d8+1d8 1-4, 2d8+2d8 5-9,3d8+3d8 10+ in this one, its 0+1d8 1-4, 1d8+2d8 5-9 ect ect, booming blade stays mostly the same, but insteqd of being a full action you can "smite" with them once per turn, or just use them as part of your attack.
@@fallout3fanboy1 Ah, I see. Still very much worth it seems. I can only guess it was a balancing measure. Booming Blade seems VERY strong though, especially on Eldritch Knight.
You missed the primary use of Corellon's Grace. It is a DRUID weapon, because the bonus applies when shapeshifted, since all attack count as unarmed. And Druids normally cast Bark Skin while not wearing armor, thereby counting as not wearing armor for the +2 saving throws.
I think the cacophony is slightly undervalued. I used it on my first monk playthrough on a reverb build all the way through to the end game and it crippled enemies with nearly instant prone from the reverb stacks. That utility should bump it up to A tier imo.
I always wondered why people kept telling me to fire at him but then he told me he was the blade of frontiers for the 18th time in an hour and I understood
I would have thought that Correllon's Grace would be A Tier. A great weapon for one class (Monks) for generally one level (3). Usually you'll be third level by the time you can get to a merchant, and most monks will take Tavern Brawler at 4th level. S Tier that does not make.
something fun I like to do with gale is dual wield markoheshkir + staff of spellpower and use the amulet of spell slot restoration, four level 6 spells per day baby
Ceph - no matter how long I play the game I always learn something new from your videos. This time I learned that to apply the Frozen condition with Mourning Frost you have to do Chilled first and then use Water. I always used the staff the other way around .. water first .. since that does make common sense. But that does not ever get to Frozen and it wastes the power of the staff which applies vulnerability to cold damage. When will I learn to always read the notes in the Wiki?
I do wish there were a little more weapon options for spellcasters to prevent staves from being best in slot for so many of them, considering how many of the classes are casters. I was thinking magical instruments for bards, but of course that doesn't compete for weapon slots so wouldn't make a difference.
I modded my game to receive Staff of a mumbling wizard early just for the roleplay. I made an apprentice wizard who sometimes doesn't quite get the spell he wants lol. It felt really cool throwing a fire bolt and praying it'd trigger a fireball (and it did during some clutch moments.)
The staff of cherished necromancy isn’t just for necromancers. I equip it on my light cleric to cast lvl6 inflict wounds. Devastating if combined with hold person/monster
I might be wrong on this, but shouldnt monks after lvl 4 not even use a stave anymore since you deal way much more damage with tavern brawler? Like, you basically debuff yourself when you cant use your fists for an action to punch or do i miss something? ^^ Edit: It gets even worse when you make Karlach a monk if u consider how soul coins work with tavern brawler
That's correct for tavern brawler monks (which is, of course, the most powerful way to build them)! For weapon monks or dex-based monks, using a staff can still provide a lot of value.
I'm wondering about Corellon's Grace - would this weapon work for a elk trampler barbarian? Can you think of other weapons that could compete with in this build?
With all of your random background and historical knowledge of how these things work, it makes me wonder what you do besides make content? Or what was your job before you became a content creator? I personally find your historical knowledge very interesting but I'm just curious if it was another hobby of yours to learn more about it or if you have some sort of job where you utilize all of this.
Golden Wyrmling staff's casting of firebolt: useful for clerics, Druids, and bards who don't get good ranged options. Incandescent staffs firebolt: useless trash that is outclassed.
You can get the GWS very early in the game, when casting firebolt can be a good option. By Act 2, most characters probably won’t be using firebolt very often unless they’re building around it (eg Draconic bloodline sorc)
Both staffs and staves are acceptable english plurals - staffs is more common in US english and staves in british english. I used one in the title and the other in the thumbnail because I don't trust youtube's search algorithm to know those are the same word!
Spellsparkler in A is a massive L. It's good when you get it and it only gets better. I have it equipped throughout the entire game. The damage it brings is way better than a +1 save DC, no question. You didn't even mention magic missile, it pairs with it gorgeously.
@Cephalopocalypse because I said an opinion is an L? That's just Internet talk as far as I know. I greatly enjoy your videos and have learned a lot from them.
@@Jewgubu Thanks! You may find that most internet talk is designed to win an argument by shutting down conversation rather than foster a discussion, since it originates in toxic and boring social media environments. It's worth considering whether that's your goal!
Its a shame how mediocre Pale Oak is considering its 1: Class specific; you have to be a certain class to get it; and 2: locked behind an optional questline. Fortunally you can still get it with the Broodmothers amulet (Rath gives it instead) but considering how rare it is for an average player to get it it really should be something more special. At least it looks kinda cool I guess
Idk I just did a cold sorc run and I felt like the Mourningfrost wasn't worth dual wielding. 12 CON is really bad and it was really annoying having chilled not proc when I could just have a support create water or a martial throw a bottle. 2 damage is also nothing when you're doing 60-100 damage. Compared to the insane shields you get in Act 2/3 it really isn't worth it.
44:58 during my honor mode run, whenever I killed an enemy with lvl 6 Inflict Wounds, I never got a life essence stack. Whenever I killed one with sacred flame I did. Is that a bug or something?
The reason I wanted to learn quarterstaff fighting was the awesome treatment they got in Wheel of Time - those books haven't *entirely* aged well but they were pretty formative for me as a teenager and there's no better description of how dangerous a big stick is anywhere in literature
@@Cephalopocalypse literally exactly the same man! I picked up fire staff spinning along the way to get some fun party utility out of the skill in my late 20's lol. I feel the books aged mostly fine, but wow the show broke my heart.
I always thought about Corellon's Grace more as a druid weapon, since you turn into an animal and therefore, all your attacks are unarmed and you don't have an armor, so... doesn't it work best there?
Feels like you over rated the mourning frost; for, say, abjuration wizards was one of your examples as a good user, literally all you're getting out of it is a +1 cold damage because enemies on higher difficulty are very infrequently going to fail the very low DC.
Any of the elemental staves are fine. 1D8+1D4+dex mod+enhance damage (give or take any extras like the act 1 caustic band). Mourning frost’s cold damage will double with wet condition. Wyrm staff gives a little fire damage, and it also gives a ranged cantrip which … VERY rarely can be useful. Light crossbow shots will usually be better. Special fire arrows can do what the cantrip does. I don’t use my monks as archers and don’t leave special arrows on them. So, on the off chance you need ignite something now the monk can do it, too.
Yep, zero pretty much covered it - though I'd add that unless you want specifically a staff for the aesthetic, there's great alternatives in the blood of lathandar and later the spear of evening, which is best in slot for a shadow monk. Generally though I think a lot of weapon monk builds will be multiclassing with something that gives martial weapon proficiency so they'll have access to other weapons as well, which may change your evaluation
While we are weapons D&D does a horrible job with polearm weapons. These are some of the most powerful melee weapons and they are depicted as worse then a sword most of the time. Also where are my 18 feet Sarissas?
Both staffs and staves are acceptable english plurals - staffs is more common in US english and staves in british english. I used one in the title and the other in the thumbnail because I don't trust youtube's search algorithm to know those are the same word!
Both staffs and staves are acceptable english plurals - staffs is more common in US english and staves in british english. I used one in the title and the other in the thumbnail because I don't trust youtube's search algorithm to know those are the same word!
Both staffs and staves are acceptable english plurals - staffs is more common in US english and staves in british english. I used one in the title and the other in the thumbnail because I don't trust youtube's search algorithm to know those are the same word!