Staves of Skyrim
Adds 30 new staves to the game; 15 new models, and new textures for all staves. Staves are equipped in the Shield slot, and allow you to block/parry in the same way a shield does. Adds perks to Block tree to enhance your staff, including Illumination and elemental infusion/discharge.
by Kearsage
? Features ?
30 New Staves added to the game! 15 new models and textures, plus new textures for the default models
Defensive Staves! No longer feel your mage has to carry a shield around to defend against swordsmen
Staff Conversion! Convert your staff between a Defensive Staff and a Magic Staff on the fly. Recharge your staff with your magicka instead of soul gems
New Perks! Enhance your mage’s defensive abilities with new Perks in the Block Tree
Enhanced abilities for daedric and special staves! Convert to a defensive staff, illuminate, or recharge back to a magic staff at will
? Where to get the new staves ?
1- Kill enemy casters. The staves have been added to the leveled lists of enemy mages, warlocks and other casters as well as some chests.
2- Crafting. All staves have crafting recipes, and will unlock as you unlock the material-appropriate Smithing perk.
3- Vendors. Staves have been added to the leveled lists of Court Wizards. In addition, Rindirsen, a traveling staff vendor, has set up camp just outside the bridge to the Mage’s College in Winterhold to peddle his staves to aspiring mages. The staves available will increase as you level up.
? Requirements ?
Staves of Skyrim requires Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) as of version 1.6. This is required to process the new staff conversion scripts.
You can get SKSE here: http://skse.silverlock.org
If you not want to use SKSE, you don’t have to; however, you will not be able to switch between Focused and Wild magics, and all Converted staves will default to Fireball/Icespike/Lightning Bolt.
So, if you don’t want to get SKSE, and don’t mind using default staves – everything else in the mod will work just fine!
? Defensive Staves ?
The Defensive Staves come in both Light and Heavy armor variants. A Light Armor staff is called a “Defender”, whereas a Heavy Armor staff is called a “Warstaff”.
Staves are roughly equivalent to the the shield of the same material. So, the Elven Defender has approximately the same stats as an Elven Shield, and wooden staves being approximately like Leather.
All staves have crafting recipes which unlock with the perks in the Smithing Tree.
Staves are added to the leveled lists of caster enemies, so you should see them drop from time to time.
? New Perks and Spells ?
A new perk now sits alongside the Block tree (and is part of the Block skill).
Some of the basic Block perks will work with Staves (and vice versa) but most require you to use one or the other. In addition to Block perks specifically for your staff, the tree unlocks new spells to make your staff even more versatile. These spells are also available in Spell Tomes from Rindirsen, the staff vendor in Winterhold, though they are quite expensive to buy.
Illumination Staves:
Illuminate your staff to light up dark areas by casting Illuminate Staff. Cast Illuminate Staff again to turn it off. An Illuminated Staff is not a re-skinned torch, and can still be used to Block/Bash just like a shield.
Charged Staves:
Convert your staff to shoot Fire/Frost/Shock magic for 300 magicka. Cast the spell again to recharge your staff. No need to use Soul Gems to recharge: your magicka recharges the staff. To convert a charged staff back to a Defensive Staff, use the “Discharge Staff” lesser power. This costs no magicka to cast, as is learned when you learn the “Illuminate Staff” power.
In addition, Charged Staves synergize with both Destruction skill (to increase their damage done) and the Alteration Skill (which decreases the charge cost to cast).
You cannot sell a Charged Staff. No vendor wants to take a staff that is bristling with elemental energy. Discharge it first and convert back to a Defensive Staff to sell it.
? Hotkeys ?
Due to the way the mod handles the charging/illumination of staves, you cannot hotkey a staff directly without it being lost at some point. To fix this, a new item should appear in your apparel inventory: = Create Defensive Staff Hotkey =
With a Defensive Staff equipped, click on the = Create Defensive Staff Hotkey =, and a new item will appear, with the name of the Defensive Staff and the word = Hotkey = after it.
This item will remain, even if you illuminate or charge your staff. Set this as a favorite, and assign a hotkey. As long as you have at least 1 of the correct Defensive Staff in your inventory, activating the Hotkey Item will equip the appropriate staff.
To remove individual Hotkey Items, simply drop the hotkey item from your inventory. The Create Hotkey item has a mesh, and will appear on the in the world when dropped. If you do not use Hotkeys, you can remove it this way (or by placing in a container). However, once it is unloaded from the game, you will need to use console commands to re-add it:
1) Type into console: help “= create defensive”
2) This will tell you the item code for the hotkey item
3) Type into console: player.additem XXXXXXXX 1 (replace XXXXXXXX with the hotkey item code)
? Compatibility ?
This mod may conflict with other mods that happen to alter the same leveled lists. It will also conflict with mods that change the Block Perk Tree. Simply adjust the load order to change which mod gets priority.
SkyRe: I use SkyRe myself, and normal Staves of Skyrim will overwrite SkyRe’s Block Perks with SoS ones if loaded after SkyRe in the load order. If you want to use SkyRe’s Block Perks, install the compatibility patch below, which merges the Block skill tree for both mods, and gives the feel and intent of SkyRe while still retaining much of the compatibility with staves.
ASIS When using ASIS with Staves of Skyrim, you must put the following perks on the ASIS exception list:
_DSWildPerk1
_DSWildPerk2
_DSFocusedPerk1
_DSFocusedPerk2
If you do use ASIS and constantly get the conversion messages, add these perks to the exception list!
ACE Combat Skills: ACE should be fully compatible with Staves of Skyrim. The modifications ACE makes to the combat system doesn’t affect any of the Block perks or skill tree, so there are no conflicts between the two at this time.
Artifact Balance Overhaul: ABO is also compatible, though you must load Staves of Skyrim *after* ABO. Since ABO adjusts staff descriptions you’ll need to load SoS after in order for the scripts to work properly.
Dual Sheath Redux: Many thanks to Neovalen for creating the compatibility patch for Staves of Skyrim and Dual Sheath Redux.
Combat Remasterd: WTFus has created a compatibility patch for using Staves of Skyrim with Combat Remastered.
? Optional Files Available ?
SkyRe Compatibility version – Merges both SkyRe’s Block Skill Tree Perks and Staves of Skyrim’s Block Skill Tree Perks to bring you the best of both. Note that some of SkyRe’s Block perks may not work with Staves.
SkyRe Compatibility defense modified – Same as the SkyRe compatibility patch, but modifies the Defensive Staves’ armor values to be more in line with SkyRe’s armor values. Thanks to Steelsouls for putting this together!
No Perk version – Does not add the new Block Perks or change the Block Tree. Vanilla perks are modified to be compatible with the new staves. Staff-side Perks/Spells/Abilities are available for sale from Rindirsen.
? Acknowledgements ?
Special thanks to 747823 for making his staff models available for use. They formed the base for several of the new models in this mod.
? Latest Version ?
1.7 BUG FIXES:
– Fixed an issue that caused Jarl Balgruuf to fail to talk to Farengar during the start of Bleak Falls Barrow quest
