24 Best Staves in Skyrim

In Skyrim, staves are a relatively underused weapon class.

They possess strong enchantments that can change the course of a battle or shorten the duration of a straightforward conflict.

Having a crew with you when traveling is undoubtedly worthwhile because they provide so much.

Even though this is a list of the best staff in Skyrim, feel free to utilize the best one you have even if it isn’t on this list because every staff in the game is valuable.

However, the following entries will provide you with all the information you require if you have a large number of staves and are unsure which one to use.

24. Staff Of Familiar

Who wouldn’t want a ghostly wolf to hang out with? The Staff of Familiar can help players fight enemies early on, especially if they need a little help.

The familiar you call up will be there for 60 seconds. You don’t have to buy one from a mage at the College of Winterhold. There are a few easy places to find one.

At Fort Greymoor, there is a thief being held in the prison. During the quest Hitting the Books, players can also find two of them at Fellglow Keep.

Lastly, Lu’ah Al-Skaven sometimes has one, which players can steal from him or take from his dead body.

23. Staff Of Arcane Authority

At the Frozen Hearth in Winterhold, this staff is hidden in plain sight. Just go to Nelacar’s room, which is on the right side of the counter at the inn.

Nelacar’s valuable staff can be found on the bottom shelf behind the table. During a small side quest, Malur Seloth, the town’s steward, will ask the Dragonborn to steal it.

The staff itself is pretty standard, and it mostly just has a low-level Fear-spell inside. When used, both humanoid and animal-like creatures will run away for 60 seconds.

The catch is that these creatures must have a level of 8 or less for the staff to work. In the end, as the player and their enemies gain levels, the staff will likely become useless quickly.

22. Hevnoraak’s Staff

Hevnoraak, a dragon priest, is buried in Valthume, which is in the area around Markarth.

People think of him as one of the tougher priests in the game because of his special staff, which lets him cast a powerful Spark spell called “Wall of Storm.” In essence, this is Rahgot’s staff in its Spark form.

Wall of Storm is an Expert-level spell that can be cast with Hevnoraak’s unique staff, just like Wall of Fire.

It makes a lightning-filled area that does 50 health points of damage to any target that comes into contact with it.

21. Aetherial Staff

The Aetherial Staff is the first Dwemer staff in the game, and the Dawnguard DLC is the only place you can get it.

This staff can call either a Dwarven Spider or a Dwarven Sphere, which are both mid-level enemies with high resistances to all kinds of damage.

They are very helpful allies in battle, and they stay there for 60 seconds. It can also make extra Dwemer scrap, which can be used for Smithing.

At the Aetherium Forge, you’ll need an Aetherium Crest, two ebony ingots, one gold ingot, and two Dwarven metal ingots to make this staff.

20. Miraak’s Staff

So, if you thought the Staff of Magnus was cool, you should check out the Staff of Miraak. You can only get this unique weapon if you have downloaded the Dragonborn DLC.

Miraak owns it, so you have to kill him and take his stuff to get the staff.

When used in battle, this weapon casts a spell that makes poisonous tentacles appear on the ground. These tentacles attack any nearby enemies and stop them from moving across the area where they appeared.

You should use Miraak’s Staff when you are surrounded by a lot of enemies, since it can be used to split up groups and stop them from all attacking you at once.

19. Staff of Expulsion

One of the most expensive staves in the game is the Staff of Expulsion.

You can buy this weapon from a merchant, who often sells it for a high price, or you might find it in a very rare loot box.

The staff is meant to be cast at summoned Daedra, and the spell sends them back to the depths of Oblivion, where they belong.

With the Dragonborn add-on, the only way to make this staff is to use 4 Heart Stones at the Neloth’s Staff Enchanter in Tel Mithryn.

18. Staff of Dread Zombies

The Staff of Dread Zombies is another powerful staff that is easy to get.

Some mages in the College of Winterhold sell it, and it can also be found as random loot.

The staff itself lets players bring back from the dead a powerful corpse that will fight with them for a minute before going back to being a corpse.

If you don’t mind having dead people fight with you, this is the staff for you, my young wizard.

17. Staff of Soul Trapping

Even though this staff isn’t very strong, it has a lot of uses.

It lets the person holding it cast a spell on any living thing, and if that thing dies within 60 seconds of the spell being cast, its soul will be used to fill a soul gem.

So, if you want to play as a Battlemage, you might want to use the Staff of Soul Trapping with another staff or along with a sword.

In any case, the staff can be bought at the College of Winterhold, found in random loot chests around Skyrim, or dropped by enemies.

It’s not an especially rare staff, so you might be better off looking for one instead of making it.

16. Staff of Daedric Command

With The Staff of Daedric, we are now in the School of Conjuration.

It lets the player bring powerful Daedra creatures from the depths of Oblivion to the battlefield to fight with them.

If you are willing to go into the shrine of the Daedric Lord Mehrunes Dagon, you can find this staff there. It can be used while the quest Pieces of the Past is being done.

The staff could also be dropped by some high-level enemies, but this would be rare.

It can also be made in the Dragonborn DLC with Heart stones.

15. Halldir’s Staff

This unusual staff can trap the souls of fallen adversaries if they died within 60 seconds in addition to calming down weaker foes.

This staff is particularly helpful while fighting several enemies at once because of that ability.

You can not only soothe some while dealing with the more formidable foes, but you may also instantly set up a soul trap without physically casting the spell.

The fact that Halldir’s Staff only deals 17 base damage is the only downside.

Halldir’s staff can be found inside Halldir’s Cairn, which is in Falkreath. It is lootable from Halldir’s ashes in the final chamber.

14. Staff of Ice Storms

This staff deals significant damage to an opponent’s health and stamina, mimicking the Destruction Spell Ice Storm.

The staff may appear to be rather unnoticeable, but the fact that it reduces health and stamina by 40 every second makes it one of Skyrim’s more offensively potent staves.

You need a staff that can damage enemies while also slowing them down.

13. Staff of Hag’s Wrath

The Staff of Flame Wall and the Staff of Hag’s Wrath are virtually identical.

It deals 50 points of damage every second to the target area by casting a wall of flames that engulfs anything in its immediate vicinity.

Once the Repentance mission has been completed, the staff can be found in the Dark Tower.

If you choose to take the more moral path, you can trade with Illia, the holder, or try to pickpocket her.

Illia will drop the staff if you kill her, so you are free to do so if you like. This is the case if you desire to take the exact opposite of an honest course of action.

12. Dragon Priest Staff ( Wall of Lighting )

Similar in function to the Staff of Hag’s Wrath, the Staff of the Storm Wall instead summons a wall of thunder that deals 50 shock damage to everything in its path.

You’ll need to defeat a few of these monsters before you find one for yourself because Dragon Priests frequently use the staff.

You won’t want to give up the power of a lightning wall, so it’s well worth trying.

11. Dragon Priest Staff ( Wall of Fire )

Although this staff shares a lot of similarities with the Staff of Hag’s Wrath and the Staff of Flame Wall, Dragon Priests throughout Skyrim use it, hence its appearance is fairly distinctive.

It can only be acquired by killing a Dragon Priest and looting its corpse, the same as its Wall of Lighting counterpart. In order to obtain this bad boy, you will have to make one hell of a voyage.

As you might expect, the most effective way to utilize this staff is to spray it on the ground to block enemies’ paths or deal area damage to a group of enemies.

10. Staff of Icy Spear

The Staff of Icy Spear directs a very potent ice bolt directly at whatever you aim it at.

It harms the enemy’s health and stamina by dealing 60 points of frost damage to the target. This creature is definitely a beast!

The staff itself costs a lot of money, and if you need the cash, you can sell it for almost three thousand septims.

It is unique to the Inner Sanctum and shares a form with both Dragon Priest staves.

It will take considerable effort to obtain this staff because vendors only have it when you are at a higher level, and treasure rarely contains it.

9. Eye of Melka

The Eye of Melka is a distinctive variation on the Forsworn staves, bearing the name of a Hagraven of the same name.

This destruction staff may unleash a blazing explosion that causes 40 damage in a 15-foot radius and deals a lot of fire damage to opponents of all kinds.

Simply said, you require this weapon if you enjoy setting stuff on fire.

In Blind Reach Cave in The Reach, you can find Melka and her team.

You can either help Melka defeat the terrible Hagraven Petra or you can kill Melka and take the staff from her corpse.

8. Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson

You can use this staff, which formerly belonged to one of Skyrim’s most feared magicians, to make your adversaries dread you.

This staff is simple to obtain if you have a low-level character because it may be acquired during one of the College of Winterhold questline’s introductory quests.

The Staff of Jyrik Gaulderson deals 50 Magicka reserves and 25 points of health damage to an opponent. As a result, the staff is an extremely effective weapon against other magic users.

During the quest Under Saarthal, the staff can be found in Saarthal’s final boss room.

7. Sanguine Rose

The staff is a potent Daedric artifact that is yours to possess. It was made by the Daedric Prince of Debauchery and everyone’s favorite drinking companion, Sanguine.

A leveled Dremora that has been summoned by the staff will fight for you for 60 seconds, giving you access to some very potent Dremora allies.

After the hangover-style task is completed, the staff receives a prize. A Memorable Night
This mission won’t start until you reach level 20 in the game.

6. Staff of Incineration

The Staff of Incineration is a rather straightforward weapon that can easily melt opponents despite its initial simplicity.

Given that it gives additional damage to enemies that are already on fire, the 60 points of fire damage it deals with is obviously quite significant.

Due to its rarity and the fact that it only has 48 charges before requiring a soul gem to recharge it, it only ranks number 10 on the list.

How to get it: Although it is expensive, you can buy this stuff from vendors. If you’re very fortunate, you might also find it a treasure.

5. Staff of Inspiration

This stuff is a fantastic option for your first excursions because it has a ton of uses before it runs out.

It works best when employed in tandem with your partner because it gives the target more health and stamina and keeps them from running away from a fight.

Although it is hardly the strongest stuff you have ever seen, it can be helpful in boss battles.

How to acquire: Found as a piece of loot. There are also other wizards in the College of Winterhold who will sell it to you.

4. Staff of the Frost/Storm Atronach

You can use calling atronachs to your aid in the battle to deflect attention from yourself.

For example, a magician can have up to two allies draw the attention of an enemy while they fight them from a distance.

Flame wasn’t included because of the charge quantities; I just took into account Frost & Storm.

Compared to the Flame atronach staff’s 15 summons, you can call an atronach up to 22 times before needing a recharge with the Frost & Storm staves.

Similar to the earlier entries, these staves are rather simple to come across. Simply discover one as loot or buy one from one of the many merchants scattered around Skyrim.

3. Staff of Magnus

There are good reasons why staff with such amazing looks is listed in seventh place rather than higher.

Let’s look at its enchantment first; if the enemy has no magicka, it absorbs health instead of doing 20 damage to magicka.

Sounds amazing! As long as you can utilize it, it is okay.

Before considering adding the Staff of Magnus to your arsenal, stock up on lots of soul gems because it has a base charge per usage of 17. But it does appear cool.

How to get it: In the College of Winterhold, finish the Staff of Magnus questline.

2. Wabbajack

The iconic staff known as Wabbajack is probably the most recognizable item on the list and is adored by Elder Scrolls gamers all around the world.

Although it can be quite worthless if the change isn’t on your side, its greatness is just too much fun.

Due to its impressive design, I was inclined to rank it higher, but the shots per recharge aren’t all that fantastic.

I won’t go into the specifics of each casting possibility; I’ll let you discover that when you get your hands on it!

How to get it: Finish Sheogorath’s Mind of Madness quest.

1. Skull of Corruption

There is no denying that it looks fantastic. If you have dreams that you have acquired from sleeping people, the damage is enhanced to 50.

Cast the staff on a sleeping NPC to gather dreams. Yes, that is all. You now possess a staff that deals 50 damage per shot, has 75 charges, and looks fantastic.

Why not adore it?

Obtainable after the quest “Waking Nightmare,” which is located in Dawnstar.