The Best Staffs in Skyrim

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Ariana loves playing immersive video games like Cyberpunk 2077, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and any Assassin's Creed game. She hopes to share her love for games through her writing!

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is full of interesting weapons. Out of all the available options, staffs are some of the most powerful and useful in the game. In today’s article, we’ve put together a list of the best staffs in Skyrim, in no particular order. Our picks are helpful at various levels of the game, and each offers unique attributes and features.

Let’s get started!

10 Best Staffs in Skyrim

For each of the best staffs in Skyrim, we’ve provided a description that should give you a solid idea about how the staff can help you with your quests and various other needs.

1. Staff of the Familiar

The Staff of the Familiar allows you to summon a familiar to fight enemies with you for sixty seconds. The higher your Conjuration skill, the lower the charge cost of this effect. The more you work on your Conjuration skills, the better this staff will be to use!

The Staff of the Familiar is one of the best in the game because it can help you when fighting difficult enemies or more than one enemy at a time. You can purchase this staff from the mages at the College of Winterhold, or find it in in Fellglow Keep before beginning the quest “Hitting the Books.”

2. Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson

Next up, we have the Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson. Though its description says it only deals damage to enemies, using it casts a lightning bolt that deals 25 health damage and 50 Magicka damage. This is one of the most useful staffs in the game, as it mimics a Destruction spell. You can get magical effects on your attacks without spending Magicka at all!

You can find Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson by completing the quest “Under Saarthal.” This quest is part of the College of Winterhold questline, and takes you to a Nordic ruin called Saarthal that you have to explore with Tolfdir. You’ll have to go on an expedition through most of the ruin and defeat the Draugr Jryik Gauldurson to get his staff.

3. Staff of the Frost Atronach

The Staff of the Frost Atronach allows you to summon a Frost Atronach to fight for you. If you enjoy Conjuration magic, this is the staff for you. This staff emulates the Conjure Frost Atronach spell exactly, and you don’t have to use Magicka to summon it.

Another noteworthy perk is that if you have a higher Conjuration skill level, the staff consumes less charge each time you use it. This allows you to keep the staff charged for longer and reduces the number of times you’ll have to recharge it.

You can purchase this staff from some of the mages at the College of Winterhold. If you’re not able to find any of the mages selling it, using the Wait feature in the game and checking again might cause it to spawn.

4. Staff of Magnus

The Staff of Magnus is a unique weapon that grants you the ability to absorb twenty Magicka per second (or health, if the enemy you try to steal from is out of Magicka). Any Magicka or health you absorb will be used to replenish your own. This makes it one of the best staffs in Skyrim if you’re playing a mage.

To get the Staff of Magnus, you will have to complete some of the College of Winterhold quests to get to the specific quest “The Staff of Magnus.” You’ll have to travel to the ruin Labyrinthian and follow the ghosts of the mages through the Nordic ruin to the locate the Dragon Priest Moroekei. Once you defeat him, you will be able to retrieve the Staff of Magnus and leave Labyrinthian.

5. The Eye of Melka

The Eye of Melka is a staff that allows you to mimic the Fireball spell. This staff casts an explosion of fire that does 40 damage to enemies in a fifteen-foot radius. Enemies will also take extra damage if they catch on fire. This is one of the best staffs in Skyrim if you enjoy using Destruction magic and don’t want to use up your Magicka resources.

To retrieve this staff, you will have to travel to Blind Cliff Cave, located east of The Lover’s Stone near Markarth. You’ll find Melka the Hagraven locked inside a cage inside the cave. Release her, and she’ll reward you with the staff.

6. The Wabbajack

The Wabbajack is a Daedric artifact with unpredictable effects. Not surprising, considering it was created by the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath! The Wabbajack is one of the most unique staffs in the game because it can do anything from casting a powerful Destruction spell to transforming your enemy into a chicken or a rabbit.

The staff also has a chance of causing your enemy to explode and leave gold behind, summoning a Dremora, and my favorite — replacing the enemy with cheese! Though the item has unpredictable effects, it can be fun to try it out on different enemies and witness the random effects it has. Some of the effects are incredibly useful and can help you win fights against formidable enemies.

To find the Wabbajack, you will have to travel to Solitude and speak to Dervenin. He’ll ask you to locate his old master, which begins the quest “The Mind of Madness.”

7. Staff of Ice Storms

The Staff of Ice Storms creates a powerful storm of ice around your enemy, freezing them and doing 40 Frost damage to their health and stamina. It’s a great weapon to have if you want to use the spell without using up Magicka in a fight. The Staff of Ice Storms is one of the best staffs in Skyrim because of the amount of damage it deals, making it useful in fights against stronger opponents.

If you’re at a higher level, you can purchase the Staff of Ice Storms from some vendors like the ,ages at the College of Winterhold. Some Falmer in the Dawnguard DLC also wield the staff, so you can find it that way as well.

8. Staff of Firebolts

The Staff of Firebolts casts a bolt of fire at your target, matching the Destruction spell of the same name. It deals 25 damage to your enemy (and more, if they catch fire). This makes it one of the best staffs in Skyrim. You can also reduce the amount of charge the staff uses every time it is used by leveling up your Destruction skill.

The Staff of Firebolts is available for purchase from the mages at the College of Winterhold. Similar to the Staff of Ice Storms, you can find it on Falmer if you have the Dawnguard DLC.

9. Staff of Chain Lightning

The Staff of Chain Lightning is a powerful staff that shoots out a lightning bolt that leaps between targets. It deals 40 Shock damage (20 to health, and 20 to Magicka) to each target.

It’s one of the most powerful staffs in Skyrim due to its impact effect, which throws off the stability of your enemies and leaves them unable to retaliate or heal themselves. This allows you to deal more damage to stronger enemies before they are able to harm you. The Staff of Chain Lightning is also useful if you have not acquired the spell Chain Lightning yet.

You can purchase the Staff of Chain Lightning from Mages at the College of Winterhold.

10. The Sanguine Rose

The Sanguine Rose is one of the most unique weapons in Skyrim, as it allows you to summon a Dremora to fight for you. Dremora are a type of human-like Daedra. The Dremora you summon will fight for you until they are killed or for sixty seconds. There is also a chance that your Dremora will drop their two-handed weapon once they’re gone, which you can then pick up.

To receive the Sanguine Rose, you will have to complete the quest “A Night To Remember,” which becomes available at Level 14. To begin the quest, you can travel to any tavern in the nine holds of Skyrim and will have to search for a man named Sam Guevenne. Sam will challenge you to a drinking contest, and accepting his challenge will begin the quest.

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