The Complete Guide to the Voodoo Staff

[mrcharisma316]

aww wicked those are some nice spells i cant wait till i lv up more my staff

[Spaghettimonster]

I think spending skill points for leveling benefits is unwise, because eventually you will have that skill maxed out and the skill points you used for leveling you will regret. Plan Long Term!

I've never used a staff before but after reading this I want to take a stab at a spec by applying knowledge from past MMOs. First you have to ask yourself what the point of the staff is? It's obvious of course, but for clarity I want to just list them off. There are three components.
1) Doing lots of damage
2) as quickly as possible
3) for as long as possible

You have to find a combinatin of these three elements that will allow you to sustain relatively high dps for a relatively long period of time (when grinding for example). Too much emphasis on damage will leave you out of voodoo and unable to cast anything! Too much emphasis on regen and replenishment and you will be weak or unable to spend those Voodoo fast enough. Where that balance is, is the question, and until I can get up to that level and do some number crunching I won't know.

If someone would be so kind as to type out the Base Cost and Base Cooldown for these abilities, with no benefits from passives, I would greatly appreciate it.

Few important questions about this:
Does "Curse" in the Voodoo Doll tree "Stack" with "Spirit Mastery?"
Would this be a 55% dmg increase in total, or is there some limitation or catch?

How much regeneration do you actually get in combat, and is that more or less than the average reduction in cost assuming a 20% reduction in commonly casted Hexes? Only the math will tell us, if I had the numbers I would happily share the findings with you guys.

This is my tentative outline of what a powerful build might be.

--Combat Skill--
(1/5) Blast. * [Frontal AOE] [Base Dmg?]
--Hexes--
(1/5) Soulflay. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?]
(0/5) Pestilence. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?]
(4/5) Wither. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?] [-30% AtkPwr for 30s]
(4/5) Flaming Skull. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?]
(0/5) Banish. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?]
(0/5) Desolation. * [Cost?] [CD?] [Base Dmg?]
--Passive Effects--
(5/5) Concentration. * [+50% Voodoo Recovery Rate]
(4/5) Spirit Lore. * [+20% Casting Speed for Staff]
(2/5) Conservation. * [-20% Casting Cost for Staff/Doll Hexes]
(4/5) Spirit Mastery. * [+25% Dmg to Doll/Staff Spells]
(25/25) Total

[katmgck]

I have a 20 staff and just got Desolation. I must say it is probably the silliest skill I have ever seen, except for the graphics which are pretty cool. I never heard of a high level skill that takes 2/3 of your health and does only fair damage.
Seems quite a waste to me.
Eliza, I tried your way of going to Kingshead and using it first and then wither. I am only Notoriety 32, but the soldiers did hurt me enough to make using the spell deadly for me.
I do love Fire Skull and Wither. I have 5 points in each and think I will be sticking to using those.