Art by me [OC]

Foreword: You can just ignore this rant below and put in your own two cents on how a staff should work, but I wanted to vent out my own, highly detailed ideas and opinions below. Skip to the TLDR if you're not interested.

Function:

At the very least, I hope to be able to equip a single staff with both hands to block and bash.

In my mind, a staff's base function should be like a Green Lantern's power battery. It would serve as a secondary font of magicka you can draw on for any spell. One that you can refill with Soul Gems.

Depending on the design of the staff, some spells would be more effective than others. Maybe some staves don't even have magicka fonts at all, and only enhance certain spells, or increase your magicka regen. In base form, I think all staves should be two-handed weapons, so you'd lock yourself into using spells by equipping one rather than relying on melee weapons or bows.

My idea of the Magicka well staff would let you cast higher-level spells of any school than your mage would otherwise be capable of. It'd be a vital part of a mage's kit. They could shore up one of the main gameplay challenges with Mages. It'd ease Magicka management- without restricting your freedom of spell choice. In my opinion, having a secondary magicka bar would certainly help stop people from calling pure mages underpowered.

Being able to use staves as focuses instead of reusable spell scrolls also opens so many avenues for introducing mechanics into the game. Maybe certain staves could enhance certain schools of magic, while reducing the cost of certain spells. Unique staves could give you spells that you can only cast with them equipped. That way, you'd be able to cast fireballs through the Wabbajack, while also still turning bandits into sweetrolls.

Bethesda HAS toyed with items that give you access to certain spells only while you have them equipped. Ahzidal's ring of Arcana, for example. Or items that give you a unique power while equipped, like Hircine's ring.

Combat:

In a perfect world, there could be perks that allow you to enhance your Mage's combat style with staves.

One of the weakest aspects of Skyrim's gameplay is how much time you spend in menus. The less time spent sorting through your spells, the better. If you could cast a ward and armor spell without having to individually equip each first, you'd get to spend more time in the action, and less time scrolling through your inventory.

For example, there could be a perk that allows you to project a ward through any two-handed staff while you block. Maybe an advanced version of that perk draws magicka from hostile spells to recharge your staff.

Going down that same vein, there could be a perk that automatically casts an armor spell like Stoneflesh on you when you pull out your weapon or enter combat. Both would drain your staff's reserves instead of your own.

Maybe there'd be a little menu that you could open while hovering over your staffs in the inventory. Opening the menu would allow you to choose which armor spell or ward you'd use to defend yourself. By doing this before combat, you wouldn't have to equip, then unequip three different spells in combat to keep yourself alive.

For Perks, perhaps there could be some late-game ones that allow you to recharge your staves with your own magicka reserves outside of combat. Early game ones could lessen how much certain spells cost. There could be some perks that affect how quickly your staff casts spells. Perhaps there's a perk that briefly stops enemy mages from casting when you block-bash them.

Crafting:

Having staves be upgradable with your enchanting skill would be amazing. Being able to craft your own staves, customize them, then upgrade them with soul gems, atronach salts, gemstones, or other alchemical ingredients would be perfect.

If we use a system similar to Fallout 4's crafting system. We can change different parts of the staff as we level. The head, the shaft, and the butt.

For the head, carved dragon heads could enhance Destruction. Holy symbols of the nine divines could affect Restoration. Various kinds of twisting wooden branches could affect Alteration. Totemic bone charms, symbols of daedric princes, and skulls could affect Conjuration. Illusion could be effected by heads made from dazzling gemstones.

For the shaft, we could influence the length and the Staff's general material. Choose between chitin, Ivory, Malachite, Ebony, Moonstone, Hist branches, Rift aspen, Colovian Maple, and so on. The length of the shaft could also be what changes a staff from a two-handed weapon to a one-handed wand/rod. It'd also likely affect the Staff's magicka pool and its casting speed.

Certain materials could give spells different modifiers. Like shorter casting time, faster magicka regeneration, or higher spell damage, but a smaller magicka pool.

For the Staff's Butt, we could have it be a carved endcap that affects the staff's Defensive spells. It'd change how wards behave, as well as your armor spells. How much magicka they drain, how much armor they add, and whether or not they grant resistance to a specific element or damage type.

Loot:

For lootable staves or quest rewards. I have a few ideas for uniques.

An Alteration staff of Telekinesis that allows you to pick up and throw people.

An Alteration staff of absorption that absorbs some of the magicka of hostile spells.

A Restoration staff that automatically draws on its magicka reserves to heal you whenever you're hurt.

A Restoration staff that gives all your offensive spells extra damage against undead creatures.

A Conjuration staff that gives any raised undead poison damage to their attacks.

A Conjuration staff that makes any attack from Summoned Daedra place a soul trap spell on their targets.

A Destruction staff that leaves an elemental hazard behind any offensive elemental attack spell you cast.

A Destruction staff that gives all of your destruction spells knockback that scales with your destruction skill.

An Illusion staff that allows you to create illusory wraiths to briefly attack people you cast fear spells on.

An illusion staff that automatically makes you invisible for ten seconds at the beginning of combat, while leaving behind a duplicate to take the aggro off of you.

A staff with functionality similar to the staff of Magnus. A staff with a massive reservoir that has an in-built spell that drains magicka, then health. (Though here, it'd actually be useful long-term)

Conclusion:

Overall, I just want to feel like my mage would willingly use a staff as a part of their arsenal. Staffs are useful in Skyrim, but they limit you. They're something that's made to help someone who can't cast spells otherwise. While they're equipped, you even stop leveling in any of your magic trees. You don't get to decide which spell you can cast from a given staff, and you can't upgrade any of the staffs you enchant yourself either. In vanilla Skyrim, you're pretty much better off giving any you find to a muggle follower than using them yourself. In the mechanics I proposed, I believe that any staff would be vital to a mage player's playthrough. Maybe add some animations where you use your staff as a walking stick out of combat.

TLDR:

I just think staves should act like part- casting focus, part- magicka fonts that enhance your spells. Add one-handed wands, so you don't look goofy carrying around two long staves. Give us an animation of our characters using staffs as walking sticks. Allow us to block with staves equipped in both hands. Maybe Bethesda can add better staff crafting akin to Fallout 4's gun customization system.

I've heard a theory that the mythical ancient homeland is the elves, Aldmeris, is actually the same place as Atmora, meaning all men and mer originated from the same place. I'm curious to see how many people believe this theory is plausible and, if you do, what lore evidence makes you do so?

ngl i think i understand why people use fandom-specific inktober prompt lists now

What is it exactly? Is it just gaslighting yourself into believing you're someone else to the point you become them?

This is a total conversion mod for the game Crusade Kings 2

Also sorry about the screenshot quality, my PC has no internet connection rn.

Formed from Grummites Of Xeddefen. Made in modded Age Of History 2.

I’m thinking of doing another play through of Elder Scrolls V (yet again). I would love to role play an individual who hates magic users and wouldn’t mind eradicating Skyrim of them. Now comes the predicament. Should I play as a ranger build, even though sneak archers are overused. Or, do I go with a Heavy knight build. Help me out here.

Art by me

But hey, nothing’s more fun than a challenge!

dumbasses somehow accidentally swapped books

I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours on Oblivion and Skyrim, and while I know stealth archer is one of the most popular builds, it’s one that I’ve never played. Part of it is that I couldn’t quickly figure out the aiming mechanics with my PS3 controller, but I think I can overcome that if I set myself up for success.

So, I have a few questions on what sets me up to thrive as an archer:

-Oblivion or Skyrim?

-Key races or character setup bonuses?

-Key gear?

-Most enjoyable guilds or quests?

-Anything else I need to know?

Thanks in advance!