Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks What does a staff do tangibly?

Staffs and robes do confuse me.
I tested the Blitz Bolt on a bench. Using no staff, a level 3 Air-staff and a Level 7 Water staff with my Enchantress. The damage is consistent on a Level 10 bench. So what does a staff do exactly? What's the difference between an air staff and a water staff? I don't get it at all and I feel I cannot move on knowledgeable.

Also robes, what do they do? Why should I equip my wizard or enchantress with, say, plate armor instead of some high level robe?

A staff does the damage listed (of that elemental type) in melee, or 80% of said damage at range using the Staff of Magus skill. A staff can also hold magical enchantments just like any other item. That is all a staff does. If you want to use another weapon you can do so with no penalties to spellcasting.

Robes are things you wear. They can hold magical enchantments just like any other item. That is all a robe does. If you want to wear plate armour, you can do so with no penalties to spellcasting. The only reason why you might want to choose otherwise is because heavier armour is heavier.

It's just that simple.

Ooh I see. But if I remove the staff, my offense rating goes low like heck. Doesn't that affect spellcasting like "Blitz Bolt"? Or is that stat only for physical weapons?

I believe that the offense rating is for hitting things with your stick in melee. Since that is something you never want to do, it can be ignored.

Awesome. Thanks for answering. Seems to me the character classes are basically useless inherently. It's just that they have different starting parameters.

Yes the starting classes are just examples. They can be customized completely. The only really fixed thing they determine is your starting equipment.

Awesome, thank you so much for your time.

Just to add something to the "why robe and not plate or leather armor?"

Aside from armor have Strength or Dexterity requirement which your mage/enchanter/witch probably don't have. Armors can also restrict movements. And that would matter if you need to move 2m and can only spare 1 action point.