Alright so yesterday I decided to mess around with that Ancient Staff I’ve had gathering dust in my bank. Seriously, never really touched it. Figured, why not? Let’s see if this thing’s actually any good in a fight or just some fancy-looking stick.
Grabbing the Staff & Heading Out
First thing, I hopped over to the Grand Exchange. Snagged myself an Ancient Staff – didn’t cost too much, which honestly made me even more suspicious. My main setup is usually a whip and dragon defender, standard stuff. Felt a bit weird swapping that trusty whip for this glowy blue stick.
First Stop: Sand Crabs
Gotta start somewhere easy, right? Tele’d to Rellekka and ran down to the beach. Found my spot with three crabs spawns. Clicked on a crab and… well, it swung kinda slow. Damage felt pretty underwhelming compared to the whip. Kept at it for a few minutes, just auto-attacking. Thought maybe I was missing something. Felt pretty dumb just whacking crabs with a magical staff. Like, obviously? It’s a staff. Maybe I needed to use its special thingy? Checked it: costs 100% of the green bar juice to shoot a magic attack while also giving a prayer boost. Didn’t seem amazing for crab bashing. Packed up after maybe 5 minutes, feeling a bit disappointed.
Time to Get a Bit More Creative
Walking back to the bank, I was thinking. Ancient Staff… Zamorak thing, right? What about fighting stuff weak to Zamorak? Or maybe Barrows? Yeah, Barrows! I usually mage those brothers anyway with Iban’s Blast. Could I use the Ancient Staff with magic?The Barrows Run Test
Got my magic gear together – Mystic robes, runes for Iban Blast – and shoved the Ancient Staff in my weapon slot instead of my usual Staff of Fire or whatever. Okay, here goes nothing. Got Karil first – not ideal for magic, but whatever. Cast Iban Blast a bunch of times, praying like normal. Worked just fine. Then Ahrim – same deal. Thing I noticed? The magic attack speed was actually decent, and the prayer boost from the special could be clutch if I messed up prayer flicking. Didn’t happen this run, but good to know!
The “Oh, That’s Actually Kinda Useful” Moment
Where it really started to click was fighting Ahrim and Verac specifically. Usually, after maging them down, I need to swap to melee for the tomb. Here’s the kicker: I could auto-cast Iban’s Blast and still smack them with the staff when they got close! No switching weapons! It’s not a godsword, obviously. The melee hits were still kinda “meh”, maybe like… a rune scimitar? But sometimes that last little bit of damage is all you need.
- Against Ahrim: Mage him down until he gets close. Instead of frantically swapping gear while moving, just keep spamming the Cast button. The game does the Iban Blast if he’s far enough, or if he closes in, whack, you automatically swing the staff. Slight damage, but keeps the pressure on.
- Against Verac: Get your hits in while praying, but he inevitably strolls over. Same deal – keep praying, keep casting, and when he’s right on you, you’re still hitting back with the staff without missing a beat. Felt smoother than stopping to change weapons.
Felt weirdly efficient, like I was cheating the weapon swap mechanic. Plus, popping the special when my prayer got low in the tunnels actually saved my bacon once when I got cornered by a smelly brother and a bunch of crypt spiders. That little burst of prayer let me sip a brew and tele out without dying! Talk about a panic moment.
Not a Whip Killer, But…
Look, I’m not gonna ditch my whip anytime soon. This thing isn’t winning any DPS races against standard melee enemies, and its special attack is super niche. BUT! For situations where you’re primarily maging something and it might walk into melee range? It’s actually kinda brilliant.
Ended up doing several more Barrows runs just for fun, deliberately letting the melee brothers come close. The auto-swap from casting to bonking works flawlessly. Saves you that fraction of a second and a whole inventory spot. Also, that prayer boost special? I used it a couple more times in the tunnels. Sure, 100% spec is steep, but when you need 10 extra prayer points right now and you’re already holding the staff… it works!
Final Verdict? Ancient Staff isn’t gonna be my main weapon. But for stuff like Barrows, or maybe fighting stuff that requires switching attacks, it’s way more useful than I ever gave it credit for. Felt pretty smug finding a legit use for it. Don’t sleep on the “fancy stick”!