Stave spell level?

[NiteWing]

Is the damage or effect of a spell cast by a staff different from that cast by hand and if so how? What spell level is a stave at if I have not yet learned its' spell? Is the same true of scrolls? Are there any wrinkles or exceptions in this? Why is the number of charges in the staves I encounter seeming to diminish as the "brute strength" (durability+damage) of the staves increases? The # of charges does start to raise again and not just tank so that the staves of early spells become simply glorified whacking sticks right?

Please consider I am very new to the game, having just purchased this classic slightly after Christmas this year; and having only played a rogue conservatively to a level 14 on dungeon level 5(normal) and a warrior to level 8 on 3(normal). So please try to word out the more "in depth" shorthand and forgive the naivete. *hehe* Hope you guys are nostalgic for helping out newbies. I'm also new to forums, having mostly engaged in live chat but have looked at a few of the posts and am thus attempting to adapt and not annoy. So please attempt to be understanding in that too.

This is my first run-through of the game so I am fumbling in the dark. I ask the questions about the staves because with my rogue I enjoy killing monsters at a distance with magic as well as bow and it seems somewhat comforting having a weapon that can beat down things blocking your retreat after your charges have been spent rather than seeing a damaged or near destroyed bow warning and having to pull up a window to grab another weapon or offensive spell in order to make my escape. (Oh and for some reason my fingers would rather slam off the keyboard than engage the correct function key in a panic situation) Any strategic advice that would help me with either of my characters regarding staves or magic or magic as opposed to bows would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Feel free to answer in whole or in part and then get back to it, I know I asked kind of a lot, sorry. Thanks again.

[Nystul]

Here is an excerpt from Jarulf's Guide:

When casting a spell from a scroll or staff, it will have the same slvl as the slvl you know the spell (including any modifications from items). If you don't know the spell it will be cast at slvl 1 (plus any modifications from items). There is a bug, however. If you cast a spell from a scroll and currently have another spell hot keyed, it will use the slvl of the hot keyed spell instead of the spell you are casting. This is true even if you don't know the spell.

slvl = the level of the spell. There has been some debate in the past that if you don't know the spell and use a staff or scroll, it may actually cast at slvl 0 rather than slvl 1. I don't remember what the final conclusions were. But for your purposes, it's not that important of a distinction.

While magic can play a vital role for any character class, it is usually not the primary attack for a warrior or rogue. I think you will find that as you go deeper, you will want to have your primary weapon in hand when you engage the enemy. This, unfortunately, does not leave a lot of opportunity to use spell staves (unless you play a sorcerer). When the monsters get tougher, if you are close enough to hit them with a staff, you will want to have a shield equipped to keep from getting ripped to shreds! Casting spells from mana becomes more practical though, and you will find that some spells like healing and firewall can compliment a moderately young warrior or rogue very nicely.

You are still pretty early in the game, so I would suggest continuing to just play and experiment until you reach a point where something really gives you trouble. A lot of the fun of the game is trying to figure out what the heck you are doing the first time through :) But if you have any questions, this is the place to ask.

[Zyr]

While magic can play a vital role for any character class, it is usually not the primary attack for a warrior or rogue.

*Chuckle* I shared NiteWing's affinity for staves, to the point of obsession. I found myself playing variant characters I called (for lack of the imagination necessary to coin a better name) Illiterate Treehuggers-- Rogues and Warriors who could not read spellbooks or scrolls, and who used only staves as weapons. They could kill monsters only by whacking them with a staff or casting a spell from it. (I think I was inspired in part by one of your variants, Nystul, though I don't recall which one.)

Clubs (but not shields) were permitted until the character found the first staff, or accumulated enough GP to buy one. The game was not particularly fun until a staff of Town Portal was acquired...

I started with a Warrior in Single Player, and he did everything but kill Diablo. I got a Rogue to level 14 in SP. Then my son convinced me to play on battle.net for the first time.

After playing a couple of conventional Rogues for a while, I couldn't resist creating two new Illiterate Treehuggers on bnet (though I always played them solo). Talk about a challenge! Inventory space allows only six staves, one set of armor, and ten spaces free for spare amulets, rings, and GP. Which spells to choose?

I settled on Chain Lightning and Fireball as my primary killers (I never came close to mastering the knack of proper Firewall placement. :() For me, Town Portal was mandatory, as was Telekinesis, for post-death equipment retrieval, and Stone Curse. The sixth staff slot varied; usually it was Mana Shield, but if I'd found a particularly nice Holy Bolt staff during a game, sometimes I'd keep it. Occasionally, I'd have to choose between, say, a Bountiful Staff and an Arch-Angel's Staff of either Fireball or Chain Lightning; I'd keep both, and hope a monster or Adria would supply a Mana Shield staff in the next game.

(Did you know you can reach the Catacombs stair from Adria in three clicks, but it takes four clicks to get back to Adria after resetting her inventory? Did I mention obsession?)

I managed to get both Zyr the Warrior and Zyl the Rogue into Hell on bnet before I was persuaded to start playing Diablo II LoD last summer, by the independent efforts of my son and a friend from another online game. Then the D2LoD1.10 patch was released, and that's what I've been playing ever since. Recently I checked, and both Zyr and Zyl have been deleted. Ah, well...

NiteWing, despite all of these words, I concur completely with Nystul's advice. In my opinion, the most important staff you should look for (and perhaps the only one for your first character) is a Staff of Sorcery, to boost your Magic level temporarily, permitting you to read Spellbooks that would otherwise be red and unavailable to you. (You might also want to hang onto other "reading glasses" such as rings and an amulet of Sorcery for this purpose.)

You might wish to download Jarulf's Guide, if you haven't already done so-- or you may find it more convenient to use the online HTML version.

[Moldran]

slvl = the level of the spell. There has been some debate in the past that if you don't know the spell and use a staff or scroll, it may actually cast at slvl 0 rather than slvl 1. I don't remember what the final conclusions were.

Tests with 3 different spells (Firewall, Infravision, Manashield) indicated that unknown spells cast from staves and scrolls are cast at slvl 0.

[NiteWing]

Thanks all for the very helpful advice, and thanks Zyr for the link to the HTML version of Jarulf's Guide. I had been looking all over for that but had only been able to find the downloadable file. It's helped a lot to be able to look up and make sure that I had actually gotten past the heart attack inducing black deaths. At least now my rogue can stop creeping ever so slowly through levels. It's been an insightful read too (not really trying to get a leg up on things so much as me and a couple friends are the types that whip out a printed out game guide or fan fiction as opposed to a paperback novel when in a waiting room.)

Also, in respect to Nystul's comments and advice, yes I know that half the fun is not knowing what to expect around the next corner but I'm sure that knowing a few of the intricacies beforehand won't take away too much from the excitement and replay value of a game this challenging. I'm also, to be totally honest, a little eager to get into diablo II and it's expansion pack before too much of the userbase moves on or becomes an expert. You know always being a newbie among titans can give you a complex if it happens too much. So I'm probably only going to run through diablo a few times before I try the sequel. I just have a thing about trying a sequel before I've tried the original.

As far as practical use for staves it does feel that on most occasions the weapons that the character was "designed" for do feel the most comfortable although it has felt extremely rewarding to barbecue an entire room of black deaths with a staff of firewall. It seems I have to pick and choose my staves carefully based on the spells natural strengths and whether I would be able to cast it in the volume I would want with my limited mana and if any of the other weapons I have available would be more effective and cheaper to fix.

I'm also keeping a sharp lookout for those reading glasses and magical modifiers that I can carry into battle aswell. Currently outfitted my Rogue has a Ring of the Mind, Raven's Ring, Shield of the Mind (kite shield), Flail of the Mind and Bow of the Mind. 57 modified magic tops and 106 modified mana at character level 13. I suppose I've been pretty lucky considering my Rogues interest in magic.

Well I guess I'll keep reading the posts in the Lounge and maybe try and add to the pot if I have something of relevance. Thanks again for all the help.