IMO - neither of these two will have huge use in the long run - Zum'rah's Vexing Cane has much better values than Celestial Stave, and it has 2 big advantages over HB+CO setup: one is 10 stamina instead of 3 spirit - which hold much more value to the mage or priest, whose well developed intellect will make almost any ammount of spirit unsufficient, but 100 extra hp will mean 2 or 3 hits taken extra, that some times makes all the difference ;)
Second thing - and this goes also against dagger/sword + off-hand setup in general for levels 35-48, not only Hypnotic Blade with Celestial Orb: Hypnotic Blade is level 34, as far as the Enchanting is concerned, and there is simply none one hand weapon of level 35+ until level 48, that will balance even the Celestial Stave, Intellect-wise.
Why is it important? Well, if you have a weapon of lvl35+, you can enchant it with Major Intellect to get huge bonus of +30int, that will make your staff last for a long time without even having to browse AH/web for a better one (think it's easily good enough until Rod of the Ogre Magi@lvl58). Major Intellect will set you back about 100-120g (10GPE + 2LPS), if you'd buy mats from AH, but there if you are an enchanter, by that time you have probably passed lvl275 (Enchanting 275 allows you to Disenchant items 55+), and have some GPEs at least.
So - I'd hugely recommend waiting for Zum'rah's Vexing Cane and add Enchant Weapon - Major Intellect to it, if you are not building lvl39 twink (in that case only Staff of Jordan ;P), and don't bother about looking for other setup. And if you don't wanna spend money... keep comparing and wasting time ^^
One thing though - that staff drops rarely (around 12% chance, and ZF run takes a while), so start running as early as you can if you want it :)
It appears there is alot of different opinions about the quest rewards...
i play a mage, lvl 70 atm, and i found the following advice to help me chose quest rewards...
first look at what will u will benefit the most out of, like wat is the biggest upgrade...(mages i find need 2 sets of gear, 1 for instances (+ spell dmg, + int), and the other for pvp/grinding/questing (+ stam, + spell dmg, +int)
next, look at what u will use the most, or will last u for a long time (as pointed out, Zum'rah's Vexing Cane is easy to get in Zul'Farrak)
i found this to help my choice to chose my reward...i went the celestial orb...i was still using at lvl 60...and i still have it in my bag, as the use has no real eqivilant...i used hypnotic blade until i got the 1h blade from Maraudon...
as far as stats go, all i need is int (dont really need stam to much) and the orb has the use...which is 40-120 intellect i might point out...fair enuf it has a CD but with evocation, i never seemed to go out of mana in a battle...
the orb i think is far superior, but that is just my opinion...hope this helped u all out a bit :)
why does it increase healing? mages don't have healing spells...that's why these rewards suck. when you have +dmg and +healing the number is less. when you have one alone the number is much more.
They do that so that it affects all schools; You will never see an item that just says "Increases spell damage by..."; it's always either a spell school (such as frost, arcane, fire, like with the wand) or it's listed as damage and healing. The mage Tier sets read the same way.
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"Someday, I hope to find the nuggets on a chicken."
Well if you look at the stats, Hypnotic Blade and the orb would give you all together +22 spell damage as does the staff The staff only gives +8 Int whereas the blade gives 8 int and 3 spirit + the 3 int from the orb, and you have the special ability. So the orb is much more useful than the staff. Only other thing the staff has on blade is DPS :P
PS: most people dont want to pay for epic gear unless they are twinking or its end gear stuff. This is free stuff.
LOL "Prophetic Cane" Thats a piece of crap, horde still gets teh Celestial Orb... GG NOOB READ UP ON UR FACTS BEFORE POSTING CRAP, btw that orb is a pos too
It drops really commonly from Doan in the library of Scarlet Monastery and is one of the best caster weapons you'll find until at least the 50s. My warlock used it until eventually replacing it with Rod of the Ogre Magi in DM.
lol, that staff sucks dick, and if u stuck with that till you ran DM your even worse, there are 20 staves in between illusionairy staff and that DM staff
and hey if your gonna twink at lvl 39 ,why not spend 110g and get the staff of jordan like i did
Right, and what are the chances of finding a Staff of Jordan on the AH, and for a non-twink having the money for it? For most players, this staff will be fine for a good many levels.
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She left her family warm and kind, All of her friends said "You're out of your mind!" Life of her own she would find, It's Monday and she's got to grind.
Spell power mage? All mages should get spell damage. it's much more important than intellect because you tend to have a lot already. the orb + hypnotic blade are awesome. Spell damage is as important to a mage as agility is to a rogue.
The staff was obviously made for pvp. That plus spell damage is great for a damage spec. At this level finding a good sword for + fire/arcane/frost is kinda hard. That means that to use the orb along with a 1hander is not the best idea for spell damage. The orb is meant for grinding and is a good option and rules with that mana use. Personaly i do pvp at this level simply to break up monotony of grinding. Im waiting till 60 to pvp. Then there wont be any dumbass 12 year olds pvping at lvl 31. Wtf are they retarded?
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Lightning is like God taking our picture... right before he kills us. Akama: 33 Pally 40 Mage 29 Warrior
I still prefer illusionary staff with drops from the mage guy in the library of SM -_-;; gonna have to take the staff, it sells for around 1g to vendors >.>
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~Chinese Servers~ 54 Gnome Mage 28 Night Elf Druid (Retired)
Probably why they said they'd sell to a vendor, which you can do with a souldbound item. You can't sell a soulbound item to another player. If you've been destroying all your useless soulbound items up til now, I feel kinda sorry for ya. ;;>.>
I recently re-rolled on a different server and am playing a mage now. At lvl 39, I've found that all the mage class quests (wand quest excluded) are really only worth the xp you get.
For the sake of argument. The Celestial Orb is the superior choice for these quest rewards. The stats are modest. Good for a spell dmg mage. But as previously stated in the posts on this quest. The 'Use' function is awesome.
Currently I use a Hypnotic Blade & Prophetic Cane. Which come from Doan and a quest reward. Collectively I get 20 int from them and that makes them superior in my book over the Illusionary Rod.
I'd contemplate using the Celestial Orb when I'm out grinding since I'm kinda specced for xp farming with instant arcane explosion. And any extra spell damage gear helps the killing go faster.
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
Can't decide, wich one I should take. I normally use staff, and that staff with +22 spell dmg is nice, since im spell damage specced. Illusionary Rod kinda sucks. But also, that orb has a nice Use -ability, and thats 13+ spell dmg also. So I thought I would get the sword with +1% spell crit from Maraudon. But also, the staff is really nice... Somebody can help me with this hard decision?
I was confused by this chain and the one that leads to Mage's Wand, which is a separate quest chain. I'll post on that chain under that quest. Here goes, for the 'Celestial Power' chain:
1. It's not listed here, but there's a Horde quest like the Alliance-side 'Journey to the Marsh' that you get from the mage trainer in Ogrimmar, sending you to Tabetha, who is southeast of Brackenwall Village in Dustwallow Marsh, almost to the coastline. 2. Tabetha gives you 'Infernal Orb' that sends you to Desolace to get an orb off a Burning Blade summoner at Mannoroc Coven. Summoners are level 38-39 warlocks with imp pets - kill the imp first, fast. Beware of demon adds here. Take orb back to Tabetha. 3. Tabetha summons (just outside her shack) a level 40 elite demon from the orb that you have to kill for 'The Exorcism' quest. This thing hits hard for its level and is a pure melee mob. 4. Tabetha then wants you to kill the Obsidian Sentinel (42 elite) just inside the back entrance of Uldaman in Badlands ('Power in Uldaman' quest). He drops the power source you take back to Tabetha. This mob a. reflects spells, including the shaman Purge spell, back onto you, and b. splits itself, making more level 42 elites. The split-off mobs also reflect spells back to you - just melee this thing down. I saw as many as 2-3 at a time, counting the original - see the thread under his listing here at Alla's. 5. Tabetha then gives you 'Mana Surges' quest. Do NOT accept this quest til you are ready. Once you accept, she goes outside her shack and starts the event that pops a chain of level 40 (non-elite) water elementals. You have to kill 12 in 10 minutes: yes, there is a timer. These things are frostbolt casters and will not come to you to melee unless you stop them casting somehow, like a silence or a shaman earth shock. Frost protection potions would be good here. As other posters in these threads have said, the first 2 elementals will aggro on you but the rest will not. You can pull singles from the group of them that pop by Tabetha's shack - there are usually as many as 4 up at a time. Once 12 are dead, do not kill more - run to Tabetha and finish the quest. If you're in a group they can kill more while you run to Tabetha. 6. After the elementals are dead, Tabetha gives you the 'Celestial power' quest, where you choose the Orb or the staff. In my opinion, the Orb is the way to go - up to 1200 mana on a clickie off-hander = yes!! Go get an Illusionary Rod in Scarlet monsatery library off Doan for your staff at this level.
Great quest-set walkthroughs.. Really made things more organized as to which quests were for which line of quests. Rate up. ^^
Corrections, though..
For #5, the "Mana Surges" quest.. The elementals are level 40 elementals that spam Shock and Lightning Bolt, not Frostbolt. I tried this three times solo before successfully completing the quest, and all three times the elementals spammed Lightning spells. (So you can use Frost spells, and Frost protection potions will not help you.) My first failure was lack of preparation (I thought they were Frost-based, so I was totally thrown off), and the second time I ran out of time because three elementals were casting on me at once. Turns out, these do not link.. not even the first two! They just aggro. My third time was a charm, and I soloed 12, with 3 minutes to spare on the timer. As a Troll 41 Mage, I would kill one with 5 Frostbolts (unless some Crit'ed), then kill another. I would then rest health/mana, then kill two more. Rinse and repeat.
So to reiterate: - The Elementals spam Shock and Lightning Bolt. - The Elementals are susceptable to Frost, Fire, and Arcane spells. - The Elementals are not social, but they will aggro. (Even the first two can be killed separately as long as you aren't close enough to aggro the other one.)
The Orb is definitely the superior choice for me, as a spellpower mage. The int+6 is ok, but what really shines is the spellpower+13 and mana recharge ability. The mana recharge abiility makes it superior to Spirit of Aquamentas, another great offhand. Both are replaced once you get your hands on a Rod of the Ogre Magi from Dire Maul tribute, though.
Tough decision...., the healing of the off-hand rocks and with my hypnotic blade would be good but ive been wanting to get a good staff.... will probably go with off-hand tho.
Second thing - and this goes also against dagger/sword + off-hand setup in general for levels 35-48, not only Hypnotic Blade with Celestial Orb: Hypnotic Blade is level 34, as far as the Enchanting is concerned, and there is simply none one hand weapon of level 35+ until level 48, that will balance even the Celestial Stave, Intellect-wise.
Why is it important? Well, if you have a weapon of lvl35+, you can enchant it with Major Intellect to get huge bonus of +30int, that will make your staff last for a long time without even having to browse AH/web for a better one (think it's easily good enough until Rod of the Ogre Magi@lvl58). Major Intellect will set you back about 100-120g (10GPE + 2LPS), if you'd buy mats from AH, but there if you are an enchanter, by that time you have probably passed lvl275 (Enchanting 275 allows you to Disenchant items 55+), and have some GPEs at least.
So - I'd hugely recommend waiting for Zum'rah's Vexing Cane and add Enchant Weapon - Major Intellect to it, if you are not building lvl39 twink (in that case only Staff of Jordan ;P), and don't bother about looking for other setup. And if you don't wanna spend money... keep comparing and wasting time ^^
One thing though - that staff drops rarely (around 12% chance, and ZF run takes a while), so start running as early as you can if you want it :)
Edited, Jan 9th 2009 10:19am by Psylocibeus
i play a mage, lvl 70 atm, and i found the following advice to help me chose quest rewards...
first look at what will u will benefit the most out of, like wat is the biggest upgrade...(mages i find need 2 sets of gear, 1 for instances (+ spell dmg, + int), and the other for pvp/grinding/questing (+ stam, + spell dmg, +int)
next, look at what u will use the most, or will last u for a long time (as pointed out, Zum'rah's Vexing Cane is easy to get in Zul'Farrak)
i found this to help my choice to chose my reward...i went the celestial orb...i was still using at lvl 60...and i still have it in my bag, as the use has no real eqivilant...i used hypnotic blade until i got the 1h blade from Maraudon...
as far as stats go, all i need is int (dont really need stam to much) and the orb has the use...which is 40-120 intellect i might point out...fair enuf it has a CD but with evocation, i never seemed to go out of mana in a battle...
the orb i think is far superior, but that is just my opinion...hope this helped u all out a bit :)
Hypnotic Blade and the orb would give you all together +22 spell damage as does the staff
The staff only gives +8 Int whereas the blade gives 8 int and 3 spirit + the 3 int from the orb, and you have the special ability. So the orb is much more useful than the staff. Only other thing the staff has on blade is DPS :P
PS: most people dont want to pay for epic gear unless they are twinking or its end gear stuff. This is free stuff.
using any other non epic staff in lvl 40 would be just plain stupid...
The only way Celestial Orb is useful, is as an extra mana pot
Edited, Oct 11th 2006 at 1:45pm PDT by Bloodhoofie
"Prophetic Cane"
Thats a piece of crap, horde still gets teh Celestial Orb... GG NOOB READ UP ON UR FACTS BEFORE POSTING CRAP, btw that orb is a pos too
Get this instead
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=7713
It drops really commonly from Doan in the library of Scarlet Monastery and is one of the best caster weapons you'll find until at least the 50s. My warlock used it until eventually replacing it with Rod of the Ogre Magi in DM.
Edited, Sep 4th 2006 at 5:32pm EDT by ShadySnake
and hey if your gonna twink at lvl 39 ,why not spend 110g and get the staff of jordan like i did
the best staff would be staff of jordan; it gives the absolute most spell dmg and gives ripped stats
All of her friends said "You're out of your mind!"
Life of her own she would find,
It's Monday and she's got to grind.
Weapons can be swapped in combat which means in effect a free mana pot even when you are 60 and raiding. Swap in, use, swap out.
Akama:
33 Pally
40 Mage
29 Warrior
Jaedenar
15 Hunter
54 Gnome Mage
28 Night Elf Druid (Retired)
For the sake of argument. The Celestial Orb is the superior choice for these quest rewards. The stats are modest. Good for a spell dmg mage. But as previously stated in the posts on this quest. The 'Use' function is awesome.
Currently I use a Hypnotic Blade & Prophetic Cane. Which come from Doan and a quest reward. Collectively I get 20 int from them and that makes them superior in my book over the Illusionary Rod.
I'd contemplate using the Celestial Orb when I'm out grinding since I'm kinda specced for xp farming with instant arcane explosion. And any extra spell damage gear helps the killing go faster.
Mzy ^^
1. It's not listed here, but there's a Horde quest like the Alliance-side 'Journey to the Marsh' that you get from the mage trainer in Ogrimmar, sending you to Tabetha, who is southeast of Brackenwall Village in Dustwallow Marsh, almost to the coastline.
2. Tabetha gives you 'Infernal Orb' that sends you to Desolace to get an orb off a Burning Blade summoner at Mannoroc Coven. Summoners are level 38-39 warlocks with imp pets - kill the imp first, fast. Beware of demon adds here. Take orb back to Tabetha.
3. Tabetha summons (just outside her shack) a level 40 elite demon from the orb that you have to kill for 'The Exorcism' quest. This thing hits hard for its level and is a pure melee mob.
4. Tabetha then wants you to kill the Obsidian Sentinel (42 elite) just inside the back entrance of Uldaman in Badlands ('Power in Uldaman' quest). He drops the power source you take back to Tabetha. This mob a. reflects spells, including the shaman Purge spell, back onto you, and b. splits itself, making more level 42 elites. The split-off mobs also reflect spells back to you - just melee this thing down. I saw as many as 2-3 at a time, counting the original - see the thread under his listing here at Alla's.
5. Tabetha then gives you 'Mana Surges' quest. Do NOT accept this quest til you are ready. Once you accept, she goes outside her shack and starts the event that pops a chain of level 40 (non-elite) water elementals. You have to kill 12 in 10 minutes: yes, there is a timer. These things are frostbolt casters and will not come to you to melee unless you stop them casting somehow, like a silence or a shaman earth shock. Frost protection potions would be good here. As other posters in these threads have said, the first 2 elementals will aggro on you but the rest will not. You can pull singles from the group of them that pop by Tabetha's shack - there are usually as many as 4 up at a time. Once 12 are dead, do not kill more - run to Tabetha and finish the quest. If you're in a group they can kill more while you run to Tabetha.
6. After the elementals are dead, Tabetha gives you the 'Celestial power' quest, where you choose the Orb or the staff. In my opinion, the Orb is the way to go - up to 1200 mana on a clickie off-hander = yes!! Go get an Illusionary Rod in Scarlet monsatery library off Doan for your staff at this level.
Corrections, though..
For #5, the "Mana Surges" quest.. The elementals are level 40 elementals that spam Shock and Lightning Bolt, not Frostbolt. I tried this three times solo before successfully completing the quest, and all three times the elementals spammed Lightning spells. (So you can use Frost spells, and Frost protection potions will not help you.) My first failure was lack of preparation (I thought they were Frost-based, so I was totally thrown off), and the second time I ran out of time because three elementals were casting on me at once. Turns out, these do not link.. not even the first two! They just aggro. My third time was a charm, and I soloed 12, with 3 minutes to spare on the timer. As a Troll 41 Mage, I would kill one with 5 Frostbolts (unless some Crit'ed), then kill another. I would then rest health/mana, then kill two more. Rinse and repeat.
So to reiterate:
- The Elementals spam Shock and Lightning Bolt.
- The Elementals are susceptable to Frost, Fire, and Arcane spells.
- The Elementals are not social, but they will aggro. (Even the first two can be killed separately as long as you aren't close enough to aggro the other one.)
whm75 | smn75 | brd75 | rdm75 | blm66
ck 99+1 | clth 78+1 | lth 60+1 | sm 60+1
sandy & bastok 10 | zilart & cop complete
The int+6 is ok, but what really shines is the spellpower+13 and mana recharge ability. The mana recharge abiility makes it superior to Spirit of Aquamentas, another great offhand.
Both are replaced once you get your hands on a Rod of the Ogre Magi from Dire Maul tribute, though.
Edited, Wed Nov 16 14:04:39 2005
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