- For staves in other Dragon Age titles, see Staves (Origins), Staves (Dragon Age II), and Staves (Inquisition).
Staves are a type of weapon for the mage class in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. There are two types of staves: Elemental Staves, which deal Cold or Fire damage, and Arcane Staves, which deal Necrotic or Electric damage. Additionally, arcane staves tend to have higher stagger than elemental staves. There are otherwise no functional differences between the two weapon types beyond what is already stated in the given weapon attributes.
In addition to normal attacks, every third consecutive light attack fires three projectiles instead of one (each dealing normal staff damage).[confirmation needed]
Staves[]
| Name | Damage | Stagger | Acquisition | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acolyte's Staff | 40 Necrotic (base damage, unupgraded) | 10 (base stagger, unupgraded) |
|
|
| Flamebranch | 184 Fire (base damage at +10 legendary) | 62 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+15% Mana generation Hitting a Burning enemy with this weapon generates +2 Mana +50 maximum Mana Deal +25% bonus Fire Ability damage for every 50 Mana spent |
| Frostbranch | 184 Cold (base damage at +10 legendary) | 94 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+20% Charged attack damage +50% Charged attack damage vs. Armor Apply Frozen to enemies when this weapon breaks their Armor Charged attacks with this weapon are Critical vs. Frozen enemies |
| Glacial Rod | 188 Cold (base damage at +10 legendary) | 126 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+20% Heavy attack damage Heavy attacks with this weapon apply an additional Chilled stack on full Staff Energy +50% Staff Energy charge rate +2 maximum Chilled stacks |
| Scorch Staff | 201 Fire (base damage at +10 legendary) | 260 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+25% Fire Resistance +15% Fire damage Heal 100 on kills with this weapon Your Fire Resistance also contributes to your Fire damage bonus |
| Shadowbreath | 192 Electric (base damage at +10 legendary) | 339 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+25% Ranged attack damage +15% Weakpoint damage -20% ranged Mana cost Ranged attack damage increases by up to 100% based on missing Mana |
| Shockbranch | 188 Electric (base damage at +10 legendary) | 281 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+20% Final attack damage Deal +40 added Electricity damage Gain Shocking Weapons when Final attacks defeat an enemy Defeating enemies with a Final attack increases the damage of Shocking Weapons by +20% (resets when combat ends) |
| Spiritcaller | 189 Necrotic (base damage at +10 legendary) | 339 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+30 Defense +20% Resistances while at Low Health This weapon leeches health on hit if you are at Low Health Low Health effects trigger at 10% higher health |
| Stormcaller | 194 Electric (base damage at +10 legendary) | 191 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+20% Charged Light damage Charged attacks apply Shocked on hit if not already applied Gain Rally Party on defeating a Shocked enemy Companion cooldowns are reduced by 15% while Rally Party is active |
| Veilseeker | 200 Necrotic (base damage at +10 legendary) | 281 (base stagger at +10 legendary) |
|
+20% Light attack damage Final attacks with this weapon fire an additional projectile Final attacks with this weapon fire an additional projectile if you have at least 3 Staff Energy charges Final attacks with this weapon create 4 projectiles, each dealing a different magical damage type |
Unique[]
| Name | Damage | Stagger | Acquisition | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archon's Gaze | 150 Electric (base damage) | 75 (base stagger) |
|
Ranged attacks with this weapon now hit up to 3 enemies |
| Meredith's Legacy | 266 (rogue), 171 (warrior), 180 (mage) Necrotic (base damage) | 140 (rogue), 160 (warrior), 130 (mage) (base stagger) |
|
+10% leech effectiveness This weapon leeches health on hit You no longer gain health from Potions or companion Abilities |
| The Bargain | 187 Necrotic (base damage) | 187 (base stagger) |
|
+400 Health -50 maximum Mana Using an ability spends health instead of Mana at 250% its cost. |
Damage and stagger[]
The following tables rank all weapons in this slot based on base damage and base stagger.
Base damage[]
Base damage values of non-unique weapons at +10 legendary (i.e., at the maximum rarity and upgraded level) are given below, along with the base damage values of unique weapons, which cannot be upgraded. The "base damage" is the weapon damage without any skill tree traits (note that each trait adds +10% weapon damage) and also without any bonuses from passives, stat-boosting valuables (specifically, Kirkwall Select 9:36), or other items.
In practice, the final, modified weapon damage will typically be much higher than the base values listed below due to the presence of traits, passives, and other bonuses. However, the base values shown below illustrate the relative damage between different weapons.
| Rank | Weapon | Base Damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scorch Staff (elemental stave) | 201 (Fire) |
| 2 | Veilseeker (arcane stave) | 215 (Necrotic) |
| 3 | Stormcaller (arcane stave) | 194 (Electric) |
| 4 | Shadowbreath (arcane stave) | 192 (Electric) |
| 5 | Spiritcaller (arcane stave) | 189 (Necrotic) |
| 6 | Shockbranch (arcane stave) | 188 (Electric) |
| 6 | Glacial Rod (elemental stave) | 188 (Cold) |
| 8 | The Bargain (unique arcane stave) | 187 (Necrotic) |
| 9 | Frostbranch (elemental stave) | 184 (Cold) |
| 10 | Flamebranch (elemental stave) | 181 (Fire) |
| 11 | Meredith's Legacy (unique arcane stave) | 180 (Necrotic) |
| 12 | Archon's Gaze (unique arcane stave) | 150 (Electric) |
Base stagger[]
Base stagger values of non-unique weapons at +10 legendary are given below, along with the base stagger values of unique weapons, which cannot be upgraded. As shown, arcane orbs generally have higher stagger than elemental orbs.
| Rank | Weapon | Base Stagger |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shadowbreath (arcane stave) | 339 |
| 1 | Spiritcaller (arcane stave) | 339 |
| 3 | Shockbranch (arcane stave) | 281 |
| 3 | Veilseeker (arcane stave) | 281 |
| 5 | Scorch Staff (elemental stave) | 260 |
| 6 | Stormcaller (arcane stave) | 191 |
| 7 | The Bargain (unique arcane stave) | 187 |
| 8 | Meredith's Legacy (unique arcane stave) | 130 |
| 9 | Glacial Rod (elemental stave) | 126 |
| 10 | Frostbranch (elemental stave) | 94 |
| 11 | Archon's Gaze (unique arcane stave) | 72 |
| 12 | Flamebranch (elemental stave) | 62 |
Companion weapons[]
- Emmrich uses staves, but Emmrich's staves are not usable by Rook, and vice versa. For a list of staves useable by Emmrich, please see the main article on companion weapons.
- Neve does not use staves, but instead use a scepters, a weapon type unique to Neve.
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