Players usually associate sorcerers with spell casting. However, as every good sorcerer knows, having a staff is as important as learning new types of spells. In Dark Souls 3, we have a few staves that go hand in hand with a sorcerer’s arsenal. In this guide, we will take a look at the Dark Souls 3 Best Staff and determine which one is superior to the rest.
Key Takeaways
- Staves are tools used by Sorcerers and Clerics to cast their spells and miracles.
- They provide the ability to output consistent damage while being at a safe distance.
- The best Staves are the Izalith Staff, the Heretic Staff, the Sorcerer’s Staff, and the Court Sorcerer’s Staff.
- You can get the Izalith Staff from the smouldering lake. It provides good stats and high physical damage to conserve your FP.
- The Heretic Staff is found in the Road of Sacrifices and has low equipping restrictions making it a good staff early game with decent scaling.
- The Sorcerer’s Staff can be equipped if you choose the Sorcerer class or by killing dead mages. It provides excellent damage along with the ability to cast powerful spells.
- The Court Sorcerer’s staff deals enormous damage while casting powerful spells, making it easy to defeat most bosses. However, it requires a high intelligence stat.
Normally, players looking to try the Faith Build will want to use a staff since it is considered a faith weapon. Unlike Dex Weapons, staves are meant to be used from a distance. Casting spells use your FP bar, which can be replenished via the Ashen Estus Flask
Dark Souls 3 offers a variety of staves that come in handy for magic users. This guide will include the top 4 staves and showcase them to show their potential. Let’s not waste any time and get find out what is the Dark Souls 3 Best Staff.
Dark Souls 3 Best Staff
Not only will I be listing the 4 best staves, but I will also showcase their power and give a short review of each weapon. The stats required to properly equip the staff will also be mentioned so you can prepare your character beforehand. I would suggest choosing the fire gem as your starting burial gift because it increases fire damage. This would greatly enhance the fire spells and defeat enemies quicker.
Izalith Staff
| Phy | Mag | Fire | Light | Holy | Crit | Boost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 120 | - | - | - | - | 100 | - |
| Defense | 30 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 20 | - | - |
| Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Faith | ||||
| Scaling | D | D | B | C | |||
| Requires | 12 | 0 | 14 | 10 | |||
| Skill | Steady Chant | ||||||
| Stability | 15 | ||||||
| Durability | 55 | ||||||
| Weapon Type | Staves | ||||||
| Wgt. | 20.0 | ||||||
| Attack type | Strike | ||||||
| Focus Cost | 7 (-/-) |
Starting with the first weapon on our list, the Izalith Staff. To get it, you must go to the Smouldering Lake and remove the illusionary wall found in the corridor. Once the wall disappears, follow the narrow corridor until you see a corpse; loot it to get this staff.
Since you’ll reach this area almost mid-way through the game, your stats will be quite decent. Players looking to go for an Intelligence build combined with a bit of Faith will have a good time using this weapon. If you want to focus solely on the INT stats, I’d suggest going for the Murky Longstaff instead.
This staff is a good choice for sorcerers since it provides good stats across the board for early/mid-game. You gain 120 attacks, 100 critical, 30 physical defenses, 25 magic defenses, and tons of decent defense against all elements. It buffs all of your spells by 130 and has a durability of 55, which is pretty nice to have.
However, to equip it, you will need to have at least 12 STR, 14 INT, and 10 Faith. One of the most significant advantages of this staff is its high physical damage. You can deal with low-level enemies without wasting any Focus Points. This allows you to save your FP for either boss battles or tough enemies like Lothric Knights.
Finally, the Faith stat will only affect dark sorcery spells and has no impact on magic damage. Due to the misleading description of this staff, most players often get confused.
Heretic Staff
| Phy | Mag | Fire | Light | Holy | Crit | Boost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 63 | - | - | - | - | 100 | - |
| Defense | 30.0 | 25.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 20.0 | - | - |
| Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Faith | ||||
| Scaling | D | D | B | C | |||
| Requires | 12 | 0 | 14 | 10 | |||
| Skill | Steady Chant | ||||||
| Stability | 15 | ||||||
| Durability | 55 | ||||||
| Weapon Type | Staves | ||||||
| Wgt. | 3.0 | ||||||
| Attack type | Strike | ||||||
| Focus Cost | 7 |
The previous staff was a mix of INT and Faith. This one is ideal for Intelligence centric users. Players who have an INT stat of 40 or less are perfect candidates for this. Since staves are more powerful work well with a higher level of intelligence, you will not find a better option than this.
Using the Heretic Staff will allow you to boost spells to deal insane amounts of damage. Again, this is only useful if you have an intelligence stat of 40 or less. Due to how the magic scaling works in Dark Souls 3, if you equip a stronger staff with less than 40 INT, it will not be used at its maximum potential.
You can find this weapon relatively early in the game. Head over to the Road of Sacrifices and visit the castle ruins. There you’ll have the option to loot a corpse to get this staff. Stats wise it’s pretty decent all across the board. While it does not provide ample defense, it allows you to greatly enhance damage.
Unlike the previous staff, this one does not have high physical damage, so you probably won’t be using this for melee attacks. Requiring only 8 STR and 16 INT to equip, this staff is perfect for your early game. Keep in mind that this staff drains more stamina than other staves, so using it only for spells is recommended.
Sorcerer Staff
| Phy | Mag | Fire | Light | Holy | Crit | Boost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 60 | - | - | - | - | 100 | - |
| Defense | 25 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 15 | - | - |
| Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Faith | ||||
| Scaling | E | - | B | - | |||
| Requires | 6 | - | 10 | - | |||
| Skill | Steady Chant | ||||||
| Stability | 10 | ||||||
| Durability | 50 | ||||||
| Weapon Type | Staves | ||||||
| Wgt. | 2.0 | ||||||
| Attack type | Strike | ||||||
| Focus Cost | 7 (-/-) |
Moving onto the second-best staff in the game, the Sorcerer Staff. Using this weapon is recommended if your character is somewhere around 40-60 INT. As compared to the previous staves, this one heavily outclasses them.
Most people don’t know this but you can get this weapon as soon as you start the game. If you choose the Sorcerer or Assassin class, you will automatically get this staff. However, at that stage, it might seem bad and will not perform well. This is only because you are severely under-leveled at that point. In my playthroughs, I start with this weapon and swap it for the Heretic or Murky Longstaff. This will allow you to have this weapon ready when you reach the 40-60 Intelligence stats.
If you do not want to pick the mentioned classes, you can find this staff by killing undead mages. You can encounter these enemies really early, and they have a slight chance to drop this weapon. Now, as far as the stats go, it has pretty decent damage and defense. The physical damage is enough to take care of weak enemies, but it won’t be of too much use.
Trending: Elden Ring Builds
The main reason why it outperforms the weapons mentioned above is that you can greatly boost your damage and cast powerful spells. It only requires 10 INT and 6 STR to equip; having above 40 intelligence will reap the best results.
Court Sorcerer Staff
| Phy | Mag | Fire | Light | Holy | Crit | Boost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 60 | - | - | - | - | 100 | - |
| Defense | 25 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 15 | - | - |
| Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Faith | ||||
| Scaling | E | - | A | - | |||
| Requires | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||
| Skill | Steady Chant | ||||||
| Stability | 10 | ||||||
| Durability | 45 | ||||||
| Weapon Type | Staves | ||||||
| Wgt. | 2.0 | ||||||
| Attack type | Strike | ||||||
| Focus Cost | 7(-/-) |
Now comes the absolute best staff of Dark Souls 3. If you are planning to level up your character above 60 intelligence, then there is no better option than this. Court Sorcerer Staff allows you to gain a massive spell buff due to its amazing scaling.
Keep in mind that this staff isn’t necessarily the best if you want to focus on the dark spells. Plus, it only shows its true potential when you’re above 60 INT. The stats are superb as compared to most staves, but the real magic happens when you cast powerful spells. It deals an insane amount of damage that can intimidate even the strongest bosses.
Finding it can be a little troublesome, but the reward is worth it if you are willing to do so. Head over to the Profaned Capital bonfire and make your way down the ladder. Continue to walk forward until you are met with a toxic swamp. Move through the swamp and find a church – it is easily visible, so don’t worry. Once you are in the church, climb up the ladder and move past the mutated monsters to find a treasure chest. Be careful though, this chest is a mimic, and you will have to kill it for it to drop the staff.
Conclusion
Now you know which are the top 4 staves in Dark Souls 3. Finding most of them is quite convenient as long as you are committed to the cause. Unless you want to use dark sorcery, the staves other than the Izalith Staff are all quite good. Depending on your stats, equip the relevant staff to make the most out of it and cast strong spells.
With that said, we are now at the end of our guide about Dark Souls 3 Best Staff. Hopefully, you’ll find a staff that works best with your playstyle. Leave a comment below telling me which weapon was the most suitable for you.
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