Small Guide: Comparison between Destruction Staves.

Dracane

Hey folks,

I want to give a quick overview and comparison between the 3 elements in The Elder Scrolls when it comes to destruction staves in TESO, to help newbies to choose the right element And also some hints on how to use each staff and in which situation.

Fire Staff:

The fire staff offers the most overall damage. Most animals and undead are vulnerable to fire, meaning they take more damage from this element. Using fire against those enemies can cause 'Explosion' dealing a huge amount of flame damage, igniting the target and knocking them down, provided they have no knockdown immunity.

The real strenght of this staff is its heavy attack. A fully charged heavy attack deals 12% more damage, allowing you to unleash devastating burst combos.
The fire staff is the first choice for all damage dealers in PvE, because you can weave heavy attacks with it and they are much stronger than light attacks and can be just as fast. All fire attacks also have a chance to inflict any target with a burning effect, dealing additonal damage.

Frost Staff:

Probably the least popular of all staves. Most fire elemental, desert animals and mountain beasts are vulnerable to frost. They take additonal damage and can instantly be rooted by any frost attack, provided they have no root immunity.

The functionality is compareable to fire staves, except this staff receives no 12% damage bonus on fully charged heavy attacks and it's projectiles are the slowest of all staves. Instead this offers a damage shield, equal to 8% of your maximum health on fully charged heavy attacks, making this staff an interesting choice for health builds.
Damage wise, this staff is inbetween the others. It's true strenght is its strong Crowd control component. All spell casted with a frost staff either snare or even root several enemies. This probably makes this staff the best option for unexperienced mages, as it allows them to keep enemies slowed and makes it easier to survive. All frost attacks have a chance to proc 'Chill' dealing frost damage to the target and snaring it.

In endgame pvp, it's CC component can be dangerous, despite easy to avoid because its attacks are slower than any other.

Lightning staff:

Some Daedra are vulnerable to shock damage. They will suffer increased damage and will be knocked down, provided they have no knockdown immunity.

The lightning staff works totally different. It's heavy attack is no full projectile, but a channeled beam. The true strenght of this staff is its light attack. Lightning staves have a 50% higher light attack speed than any other staff. DPS wise it is behind the other 2, because its heavy attacks can not be implement inbetween damage rotations. Its heavy attack bypasses dodge rolls and reflective abilities, but not blocks unlike any other beam. This staff is mainly usefull in pvp situations, as it is more reliable in some situations, but offers less burst.

All lightning attacks have a chance to proc 'Concussion' dealing shock damage to the target and reducing its damage output.

Dracane

I'm sad to do this EDIT. Seems like some of my informations regarding Lightning staves are wrong.
This staff received too many nerfes with the last patch. The 50% increased attack speed is no longer true, it does NOT bypass roll dodges anymore, it deals 0 damage while enemies roll dodge. It no longer penetrates blocks.

Sorry for the wrong information this was the case in 1.6, but got changed without being announced. All of that could as well be a bug due to this.

kupacmac

Doesn't the final hit of the Lightning Staff heavy attack deal AoE damage?

Dracane

kupacmac wrote: »

Doesn't the final hit of the Lightning Staff heavy attack deal AoE damage?

This is also bugged currently.

craftycarper73

Read this with interest, i am an avid lightening staff user and ever since IC dropped ive noticed my damage is just not as effective as before IC, would you think a change is wise considering im used to using lightening staffs over the other 2?

Dracane

craftycarper73 wrote: »

Read this with interest, i am an avid lightening staff user and ever since IC dropped ive noticed my damage is just not as effective as before IC, would you think a change is wise considering im used to using lightening staffs over the other 2?

I've been using lightning staff almost since this game exists, even when it used to be so weak at the beginning
But now, Zenimax took the 2 most iconic and important traits from this staff. It no longer bypasses blocks, and it does not ignore dodge anymore. I honestly don't see a reason in using this anymore, too heavy nerfs.

I am using a fire staff like everyone else now and it's better.

Septimus_Magna

Interesting read Dracane!

Personally I prefer a fire staff for single target dps because it weaves nice with crushing shock.
For aoe dps I use a lightning staff because of the sorc disintegration passive.

Dracane

A HUGE problem with fire staff though: Does really nobody recognize this ? Heavy fire attacks, either weaved or fully charged have a HIGH chance to just don't hit the target. The projectile flies and basically hits, but just dissappears and deals no damage. This happens all the freaking time, therefore making heavy attacks unreliable and mostly useless.

So I still light attack weave with a fire staff. But I like the extra burst opportunity when the chance is given.