Staff MD: The Battlemage

What makes a Staff MD Build good?

So first, let's look at the other weapons.
Shields give Staff more durability options & access to FTS.
Daggers give Evasion & access to close/mid-ranged Physical DPS.
Arrows gives access to most Shot Skills without the Skill bonuses.
Daggers give Evasion and access to Dagger & Assassin Skills.
Knuckles give access to Martial Skills.

So what does Magic Device give?

1. Evasion & Mobility.

While Dagger increases your Evasion to 10,
Magic Device increases it to 14 stacks of Evasion.

Additionally with Magic Blade Skills, you gain access to:
- 2 mobility skills
- 2 Physical/Magical Damage Reduction Skills.
- Auto Casting


2. More ways to inflict Weaken.

So with other subweapons, they can only access it though Imperial Ray.
That, or hope another party member uses it. (MD Main in a nutshell)
Staff MD gains access to Element Slash & Enchanted Burst.
E.Slash is the most reliable way to inflict Weaken.
E.Burst has a 15 second duration, but requires stacks from Siphon Barrier.​

 

How to Land Critical Hits


1. Skills with Absolute Critical
These are: Qadal, Magic: Arrows(Calibration), & Imperial Ray.
These skills always land critical hits.

2. Weaken Ailment
This ailment converts 50% of your Critical Rate into Magic Critical Rate.
With Spell Burst, it increases to 75% conversion.
This is inflicted by 4 skills:
- Element Slash(Lasts 5 seconds)
- Imperial Ray(Lasts 10 seconds)
Enchanted Burst(Lasts 5-15 seconds)
- [Bow/Bowgun]Spreadshot(Lasts 5 seconds)

3. Neutral Magic
Neutral Magic converts 25% of your Critical Rate into Magic Critical Rate
With Spell Burst, it increases to 50% conversion.

4. Spell Burst
This passive converts 25% of your Critical Rate into Magic Critical Rate.
This is the weakest against High Critical Resistance.

This also passively converts 75% of your Critical Damage into Magic Critical Damage.
Without Spell Burst, you only have 50% conversion.


Your Eternal Enemy: Critical Resistance
Starting in a specific chapter,
some (mini)bosses have a stat that negates some of a player's Critical Rate.
This is a minor annoyance for Physical DPS, but an absolute pain for Magic DPS.

For Reference:

For 100% Critical Rate
( 100 + (Target's Critical Resistance)) ÷ Conversion Percent

Example:
If a boss has 0 Critical Resistance:

(100 + 0) ÷ 25% = 400 Critical Rate Needed
(100 + 0) ÷ 50% = 200 Critical Rate Needed
(100 + 0) ÷ 75% = 133.3(134) Critical Rate Needed

​

 

Hard-Hitting Skills

Magic: Finale
Total Skill Multiplier: 72.6 with 510 INT

*It's base damage is a bit higher than Magic: Burst with a critical hit.*
With Qadal, it gives a way to deal massive damage quickly.
But if you can reliably land critical hits with Finale:
Then it has better Sustained DPS.


*The Why of This*
Burst Multiplier = 26.1
DtE bonus with 510 Base INT, Overlimit, & Element Advantage:
51% + 20% +25% = 96% damage boost
26.1 x 1.91 = 49.8
And that's without elemental gear & other factors.

Critical hits can multiply this by up to 250%.
49.8 x 2.5 = 124.5
Sadly, Element Slash slightly kills its proration.

But if Finale lands all three critical hits:
76.6 x 2.5 = 181.5

It deals higher damage even if Burst has Elemental Advantage.


Magic: Magic Cannon
Total Skill Multiplier: 85.5 with 510 INT

This has higher damage, but takes longer to use.
Even with spamming quick skills, it takes at least 10 seconds to fully charge.

UNLESS

You spam the skill Teleport.
This lets you reposition while charging Cannon.
But this means you do no damage while doing so.

Nemesis
Total Skill Multiplier: 151 with 510 INT & 20 stacks

This is an underestimated DPS skill for long fights.

Enchanted Burst
Total Skill Multiplier: 43.75 with 3 stacks, 131.25 with 9 stacks

This is a very situational DPS Skill.​

 

Your Sub DPS Skills

Imperial Ray
Total Skill Multiplier: 30 (36 with Magic Research)

Imperial Ray is basically a damage booster,
& is meant to be paired with other Magic Skills.
This is best paired with Magic Arrows.
Both have Absolute Critical & can be used from 12 meters.

And with Elemental Advantage,
it also inflicts Weaken, which lasts 10 seconds.

Magic: Burst
Skill Multiplier: 26.1 with 510 INT

This is your best DPS skill for mid-range.
However, it needs the Weaken ailment to be good.

Magic: Crash
Total Skill Multiplier: 41.1 with 510 INT
This is...

Magic: Lance
Total Skill Multiplier: 19.56 with 510 INT
This is...

Magic: Laser
Skill Multiplier:
This is...

Magic: Arrows
Total Skill Multiplier: 15 with Magic: Arrows Registlet
This is...

Magic: Storm
Total Skill Multiplier: 36 with Calibration
This is...

Magic: Wall
Total Skill Multiplier: 75 with Calibration & Magic: Wall Registlet
This is...​

 

Gameplay

​

 

Recommended Stats

INT> STR

INT> CRT
Edit: So apparently 200 Critical Rate is possible with an INT> STR build...
Because of this, it makes this build kind of meaningless...

...Unless you can find a way to get 50+ Critical Damage to offset it.​

 

Recommended Equipment

Weapon
Jibril's Tome III: Damage To Neutral + Magic Pierce
Amnis Staff: +120 Critical Rate + Magic Pierce
Elemental Staffs


Subweapon
Armor
Additional Gear
Special Gear

Recommended Crysta

So FYI:

Crysta Name
*Crysta Upgrade Line*
The Crysta's Stats

Weapon Crysta
Armor Crysta
Additional Crysta
Special Crysta
​

 

Bonus: The Magic Warrior(1H Sword)


Why Should You Play​

 

Elemental Advantage & Why it's Important​

 

Your Reliable Skills

These skills have the least requirements

Enchant Sword/Enchant Burst Sword
This is your...

Union Sword /Reunion Sword

Enchanted Burst

Magic: Finale​

 

Your Other Skills...

These skills *require* the right element, or their damage is crippled.

Nemesis
Magic: Magic Cannon
Magic: Burst
Magic: Crash
Magic: Lance
Imperial Ray
This is only good for the Weaken ailment.
While this skill can be good,
Wizard Skills rely on 75% MATK & 25% ATK for damage. ​

 

Gameplay & Build ​