Elemental Staves

[Armando]

Re: Elemental Staves

The main weapons especially with Shield Mastery are the sword and shield. I know a few Galka who use a great sword, but that's to generate hate through damage, since they can't count on using casting flash or self healing to help hold hate.

In most cases a PLD can do just as much damage with a sword (maybe more if you take into account the skill gap.) The good swords in the game have DMG/Delay comparable to Great Swords, and Attack/Defense affect all weapons pretty much evenly.

[Stiker]

Re: Elemental Staves

As far as EXP parties go, the only staff you really need is a Dark Staff. The shield patch makes sword/shield much more desirable than using an Earth Staff in a party. I used my Dark Staff in parties, but stopped using it often once I got Sprits Within since the weapon swap kills my TP. I only use the Dark Staff now if our whole party is healing after a tough fight so I can heal myself faster.

I do have an Earth Staff though, and I still believe it will be quite useful in endgame/HNM as well as soloing. I also use it to level my NPC. I don't have Spirt Taker yet (the staff WS that will restore MP), but I am still working to get it. I know once I do, I will be really hard to take down when I solo.