how many mesmers want staff to be a better weapon?

[Abelisk.4527]

Staff condi Mirage is still strong in sPvP.

[GoodWithGravy.8019]

Staff is a top tier PvP weapon and has been since release.

Until Mesmer specs stop dominating every game mode Anet shouldn’t really buff anything, and when buffs do happen staff isn’t a great place to start. Anet would probably have to greatly increase to the cool down of phase retreat when any buffs were made or staff would be game breaking in PvP.

We only just got the phantasm rework, it’s time to let other classes have their turn. Personally I’d much rather the two expansions worth of power creep was rolled back, that would be a relative buff to staff anyway.

[Michal.4513]

Buffing no need but some QOL like change AA of staff so ppl will stop outrun it would be nic. And some tweaks on chaos armor also would be nice. Like Chaos Armor now transfer conditions you have, to a nearby foes insted of apply random ones. Also 25s cd on Chaos Storm also could be quite nice.

[Agent Noun.7350]

@bara yaoi.3824 said:have fun with it being your main weapon for your mirage. i don't want to ruin your fun but if you go anywhere non-open world with it you will be kicked from everything because there is no point in having it when axe/torch axe/pistol and scepter/torch are just miles better

I think the disconnect here is that you're only thinking about PvE. In PvP and WvW, staff is an extremely useful and versatile weapon.

I'd love to see it be more useful in PvE, but it's not like Mesmer staff is the only weapon that's great in PvP/WvW and not all that useful in PvE, so it's not a particularly remarkable situation. For now, I'm not too worried about it.

[Ashabhi.1365]

I voted indifferent...Aside from being a tad slow, I find staff great for the correct situations, and kind of meh in the rest, so while part of me would like to see it buffed up a bit, not for every situation. I carry one with me so I can switch out when I need it but other wise I run other things. I've even been known to run axe/sword for the cc in sword 4.

[Dace.8173]

@Agent Noun.7350 said:

@bara yaoi.3824 said:have fun with it being your main weapon for your mirage. i don't want to ruin your fun but if you go anywhere non-open world with it you will be kicked from everything because there is no point in having it when axe/torch axe/pistol and scepter/torch are just miles better

I think the disconnect here is that you're only thinking about PvE. In PvP and WvW, staff is an extremely useful and versatile weapon.

I'd love to see it be more useful in PvE, but it's not like Mesmer staff is the only weapon that's great in PvP/WvW and not all that useful in PvE, so it's not a particularly remarkable situation. For now, I'm not too worried about it.

I agree, the staff is a stand-up weapon in PvP and I'm seeing it work well for me in WvW. I kinda scratch my head at the idea that a Mesmer would be kicked from a team over the staff though. Due to all that the Mesmer can do I have problems believing too many Mesmers get kicked due to their weapon of choice or that they just don't swap to a different weapon if it's a kickable offense. Also, everything I've learned indicates that scepter isn't a good weapon, even in PvE.

[mortrialus.3062]

I consider staff more of a PvP weapon to be honest. If you want to arbitrarily add a bunch of damage to it fine. I won't complain.

Staff is all about attrisive game play and fighting. Phase retreat is one of the best skills in the game and meant staff was a must have for any sPvP or skirmishing WvW build. But in an era where fights are quick and explosively lethal it's attrisive focus just doesn't cut it compared to axe.

In a meta that's a bit slower paced, staff will be back.

[RabbitUp.8294]

I was ok with staff, but after seeing the aura changes with ele, it got me thinking whether mesmer staff should do something similar for chaos armour.

A flip skill that applied some condis in an AoE would be handy, split between pve and pvp so that pve core mesmer could get some much needed AoE condi damage, while the pvp version would be more harmless.

[Artyport.2084]

choas armor should have an explode like the aura of the ele.

[Lucius.2140]

Staff its good out of pve and interesting for some solo fights on it.

[Levetty.1279]

While I'd like some more damage for it in PvE (and for them to un nerf the ambush since it was a bug causing that dps and they knew that since they fixed it in the same patch) even in terms of it being a PvP weapon, skill 4 isn't worth the effort to cast it even with it being insta cast.

[RlyOsim.2497]

@mortrialus.3062 said:I consider staff more of a PvP weapon to be honest. If you want to arbitrarily add a bunch of damage to it fine. I won't complain.

Staff is all about attrisive game play and fighting. Phase retreat is one of the best skills in the game and meant staff was a must have for any sPvP or skirmishing WvW build. But in an era where fights are quick and explosively lethal it's attrisive focus just doesn't cut it compared to axe.

In a meta that's a bit slower paced, staff will be back.

This. Staff 2 is love. Staff 2 is life.

[Ansau.7326]

I have been playing with Staff for over 2 years and basing my roaming and PvP builds around it with the combo Phase Retreat+shatters and getting perma protection.Sadly, past are the days considering it as an option. The weapon undeniably lacks any feature relevant to mesmer or anything meaningful enough in combat:

• AA and ambush. Slow as hell, mediocre damage and sluggish mechanic forcing you to be next to the target to get all the benefits from bouncing.
• Phase retreat. Only reason to take Staff, but since Mirage came in scene, all the beauty of it is now covered by the new elite and making Staff no longer a must for mobility.
• iWarlock. Absurdly overnerfed phantasm. When you do more damage with Scepter AA chain than what 2 phantasms achieve in 2s then it is clear something is wrong.
• Chaos Armor. Easily one of the most uninspiring skills of the game with an unreasonable high CD for such a bland effect. Get an Aura that gives 1 boon and applies 1 condi on hit, I doubt it could be more insipid as it is.
• Chaos Armor. Balanced around initial game state with clunky mechanic forcing you to pray to do what you want. Apathetic skill since ever, and forever.
• And also Chaos trait line has seen a craziness of consecutive and unreasonable nerfs, turning the synergy with staff an illusion of what it was.

So, where is the utility everyone is praising? A backward teleport, some random boons and an occasional soft CC?Because then I look at any combination possible between Sword, scepter or axe with OH sword, pistol, torch, focus or shield and I can find a heaven of utility: Invulnerabilities, blocks (some of them being counterattacks), teleports, soft and hard CC, one of the best pulls in the game, blinds, stealth and target braking.

Get it right, staff is nothing more than a glorified gimmick. A weapon that used to be awesome but, thanks to anet consist overnerfs and lack of update to its ancient uninspiring mechanics, it's easily overshadowed by any other weapon combination with bumped utility capabilities, while still lacking any kind of offensive pressure.

[Visceroff.7038]

I love my staff Mirage but hey I am always happy to get a buff

[Zawn.9647]

staff is already great and mesmer ir already strong. if staff gets buffed, mesmer will be even more op. so no. thanks

[OriOri.8724]

@EpicTurtle.8571 said:

@Pyroatheist.9031 said:Staff in general is perfectly fine. It's not a dps weapon, it's a utility weapon. The only thing on staff that really needs adjustment is the phantasm.

Chaos Storm and Chaos Armor could both use cd reductions, there's stronger skills with shorter cooldowns than both of them.

Either cd reduction or improving chaos storm itself would be nice to see.

[MithranArkanere.8957]

All I want for it is some tweaks to Winds of Chaos, Chaos Armor and Chaos Storm:

• No more randomness. These 3 skills and and their effects should either produce all of their effects on each hit, produce their effects in a fixed sequence.
• Turn Winds of Chaos into a better autoattack that can hit up to 5 enemies. Maybe by making it a charged skill that gets more bounces the longer it was charged, or give it a 3-skill chain to be used in succession for more impact, kind of like the charge for guardian staff, but with increasing bounces instead increasing radius and number of targets.
• More oomph for Chaos Armor, like the Transmute elementalist auras got.

[Obtena.7952]

I see the usual suspects stirring the pot without fundamental understanding again ...

There isn't a problem with this weapon. It's has it's place and in that place, it works well. Sure, there are tweaks that would make it better; but when ISN'T that true for anything? It's not a reason to change it. Neither is RPing Kasmeer.

[bara yaoi.3824]

@"Obtena.7952" said:I see the usual suspects stirring the pot without fundamental understanding again ...

There isn't a problem with this weapon. It's has it's place and in that place, it works well. Sure, there are tweaks that would make it better; but when ISN'T that true for anything? It's not a reason to change it. Neither is RPing Kasmeer.

Obtusea, its only use is spending 5 years to solo things in PvE with the guise of safety even though if you just use Axe/Torch everything will melt anyways. It literally has no use anywhere else, what is this "place" you keep speaking of?

Staff is an old, dusty weapon that needs a rework like Guardian's staff.

[Obtena.7952]

And that means it's a useful weapon and there isn't a problem ... don't make it sound like there is something exceptional about a weapon being useful for a specific thing like that ... it's how weapons in this game are designed across all the classes. You say it needs a rework, but you don't say why (or you appeal to RPing as Kasmeer!!!). You're fishing for someone to give you any reason to buff it because you don't have one; you just have some vague idea that you want staff to be better for whatever you're using it for. That doesn't suggest to me a reason to change it.

As it is right now, it does what it does ... and well enough. Again, 'it could be better' is not a reason to buff something; that 'reason' is applicable to every single thing in the game. These threads you make are just a setup; you don't want to hear why it shouldn't be changed (even though you made a poll!) You just want people to prostrate the idea it does.

[Pyroatheist.9031]

@Obtena.7952 said:And that means it's a useful weapon and there isn't a problem ... don't make it sound like there is something exceptional about a weapon being useful for a specific thing like that ... it's how weapons in this game are designed across all the classes. You say it needs a rework, but you don't say why (or you appeal to RPing as Kasmeer!!!). You're fishing for someone to give you any reason to buff it because you don't have one; you just have some vague idea that you want staff to be better for whatever you're using it for. That doesn't suggest to me a reason to change it.

As it is right now, it does what it does ... and well enough. Again, 'it could be better' is not a reason to buff something; that 'reason' is applicable to every single thing in the game. These threads you make are just a setup; you don't want to hear why it shouldn't be changed (even though you made a poll!) You just want people to prostrate the idea it does.

Pretty much. There are appropriate tweaks that could be made to the staff: adjustments to the chaos armor skill, changes so that the iWarlock isn't utter trash, that sort of thing. However, those issues do not affect how the staff is primarily used: as a mobility/utility weapon that adds powerful defensive capabilities to almost any build that needs them. The staff is quite functional and while it could use some tweaks, it really doesn't need any significant buffs.

[OriOri.8724]

@bara yaoi.3824 said:

@"Obtena.7952" said:I see the usual suspects stirring the pot without fundamental understanding again ...

There isn't a problem with this weapon. It's has it's place and in that place, it works well. Sure, there are tweaks that would make it better; but when ISN'T that true for anything? It's not a reason to change it. Neither is RPing Kasmeer.

Obtusea, its only use is spending 5 years to solo things in PvE with the guise of safety even though if you just use Axe/Torch everything will melt anyways. It literally has no use anywhere else, what is this "place" you keep speaking of?

Staff is an old, dusty weapon that needs a rework like Guardian's staff.

It doesn't really need a rework though. Some tweaks sure, but not a full rework. Its not a dps weapon, of course you will kill stuff faster on a dps build like axe/torch. Staff is a utility weapon, full stop. Especially when paired with the chaos line, you get protection and regen out the ass on staff. Decent clone generation. Built in mobility that doesn't require a target. Interrupt on demand with chaos storm. Not to mention that since the phantasm changes, its the only mesmer weapon to have both a combo field and a finisher.

[Jijimuge.4675]

I'm pretty happy with staff, but some tweaks wouldn't go amiss....in particular to skill 4, chaos armor.

I'm curious whether, with Anet having tweaked all of the Ele "aura" skills so that they can be detonated, the same treatment will be extended to Staff 4. This is the only remaining "aura" skill that does no more than grant an aura which hasn't yet received the "detonate" tweak. (Light aura of course doesn't yet have a specific "aura" skill in the manner of the ele and mesmer ones)

[bara yaoi.3824]

@OriOri.8724 said:

@bara yaoi.3824 said:

@"Obtena.7952" said:I see the usual suspects stirring the pot without fundamental understanding again ...

There isn't a problem with this weapon. It's has it's place and in that place, it works well. Sure, there are tweaks that would make it better; but when ISN'T that true for anything? It's not a reason to change it. Neither is RPing Kasmeer.

Obtusea, its only use is spending 5 years to solo things in PvE with the guise of safety even though if you just use Axe/Torch everything will melt anyways. It literally has no use anywhere else, what is this "place" you keep speaking of?

Staff is an old, dusty weapon that needs a rework like Guardian's staff.

It doesn't really need a rework though. Some tweaks sure, but not a full rework. Its not a dps weapon, of course you will kill stuff faster on a dps build like axe/torch. Staff is a utility weapon, full stop. Especially when paired with the chaos line, you get protection and regen out the kitten on staff. Decent clone generation. Built in mobility that doesn't require a target. Interrupt on demand with chaos storm. Not to mention that since the phantasm changes, its the only mesmer weapon to have both a combo field and a finisher.

So because it has utility it can't have damage?

Classes like Tempest have "utility" weapons that still do damage. It is able to generate its own boons and might out the kitten. Classes like Herald are able to as well.

Its so called "utility" when compared to other class weapons that actually have real utility is pathetic.

[Obtena.7952]

@bara yaoi.3824 said:

@OriOri.8724 said:

@bara yaoi.3824 said:

@"Obtena.7952" said:I see the usual suspects stirring the pot without fundamental understanding again ...

There isn't a problem with this weapon. It's has it's place and in that place, it works well. Sure, there are tweaks that would make it better; but when ISN'T that true for anything? It's not a reason to change it. Neither is RPing Kasmeer.

Obtusea, its only use is spending 5 years to solo things in PvE with the guise of safety even though if you just use Axe/Torch everything will melt anyways. It literally has no use anywhere else, what is this "place" you keep speaking of?

Staff is an old, dusty weapon that needs a rework like Guardian's staff.

It doesn't really need a rework though. Some tweaks sure, but not a full rework. Its not a dps weapon, of course you will kill stuff faster on a dps build like axe/torch. Staff is a utility weapon, full stop. Especially when paired with the chaos line, you get protection and regen out the kitten on staff. Decent clone generation. Built in mobility that doesn't require a target. Interrupt on demand with chaos storm. Not to mention that since the phantasm changes, its the only mesmer weapon to have both a combo field and a finisher.

So because it has utility it can't have damage?

Classes like Tempest have "utility" weapons that still do damage. It is able to generate its own boons and might out the kitten. Classes like Herald are able to as well.

Its so called "utility" when compared to other class weapons that actually have real utility is pathetic.

So what do you mean it 'can't have damage'? Do you actually KNOW how much damage the staff does? What build did you use to determine it needs more?

I got the feeling you didn't do much to conclude Staff should have more damage ... other than anecdotally note it doesn't do as much as something else. That's not a problem that needs fixing.