Your staff is the whole build. It sets your damage, and several staves carry properties that change how a stance behaves rather than just adding numbers. Crafting a new one at a shrine is usually a bigger upgrade than several levels.
Staff basics
- Craft staves at any shrine from boss and enemy drops plus Will.
- Every staff adds a passive — extra Focus, spin damage, or on-hit effects.
- Upgrade your current staff before chasing the next; raw damage matters most.
- Match staff perks to your stance and spell plan.
Choosing a staff
- Focus-generating staves accelerate your charged-Heavy loop — great for Smash builds.
- Spin-damage staves reward Pillar/aerial play and crowd fights.
- Higher base damage almost always beats a fancy perk on a lower-tier staff.
- Keep materials in reserve so you can craft the newest staff the moment a boss drops the parts.
Crafting & materials
- Staves are crafted at any shrine from boss and enemy drops plus Will.
- Save rare materials for the newest staff rather than upgrading an outgoing one.
- Each craft needs specific boss drops, so a new staff often follows a King fight.
- Keep your current staff upgraded so you're never under-powered between crafts.
How to choose
Craft on schedule, not on impulse
Check the shrine every chapter. Materials you have been carrying often turn out to complete a staff you did not know you could make.
Read the property, not the damage
A staff with a lower number and a property that suits your stance will usually out-damage the raw upgrade.
Match it to your window
If your build is charged Heavies, take what improves charged Heavies. Generic damage is the weakest thing a staff can offer you.
What to spend materials on
- Finish one staff properly rather than half-upgrading two.
- Rare materials are worth holding until you know which set you are committing to.
- Do not sell crafting materials for currency; the currency is easier to get back than they are.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 and re-checked on 26 September 2026 against the Fextralife Weapons page, a staff-guide round-up, Game8 and Vandal's guide. The total is disputed: Fextralife and Vandal list 21 (Vandal's 20 plus one Deluxe-only staff), the round-up 24, so treat any single count as approximate; named staves include the starting Willow Wood Staff, the Twin Serpents Staff (from the White Robed Noble, Chapter 1), the Rat Sage Staff (crafted from the Yellow Wind Sage's own Chapter 2 drop) and the Mythical Jingubang, found at Water Curtain Cave and requiring the Somersault Cloud ability to reach. What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.