Magic has quietly become the most dependable combat style in RuneScape Dragonwilds, and the staff is the weapon that carries it. From the Ash Battlestaff you craft in the opening hour to the Ancestral Staff you build in the Scorned Wilderness, every staff shares the same four-hit combo, the same elemental spell set, and the same reliance on runes as ammunition. What separates them is the rune damage multiplier, a special effect, and how far each one can be ascended. With this RuneScape Dragonwilds Staff Tier List, we rank every staff worth talking about in the 1.0 release, explain how to get each one, and then settle the wand versus staff debate that arrived with the Scorned Wilderness update.
RuneScape Dragonwilds 1.0 Best Staff (Magic Weapon) Ranking
Staffs are the glass cannons of magic in Ashenfall. You cannot block with one, but in return you get a heavier cast, a proper four-hit combo that finishes with a power attack, and a special action that changes with the element you are casting. Water spells pour down a tsunami of AoE damage and summon a healing puddle. Fire scorches everything in front of you and calls fire from the sky, with a special that mimics dragon breath. Air spells summon a hurricane that rips through groups or, at minimum, knocks enemies off their feet.
Two things make 1.0 a good time to be a staff user. First, the Scorned Wilderness added power level 8 Ancestral gear, so core staffs finally have a top-end craftable option. Second, ascension at the Mystic Forge means several low-tier masterwork staffs can climb to power level 7 or 8, and a few of them end up with higher multipliers than anything that starts at a high tier. Base power level is a poor guide to what you should actually build.
Here is the full list, ordered from the strongest pick down to the weakest, with the rune damage multiplier, the effect that matters, and the route to the recipe on each entry.
S Tier: Magic Staff Weapons Worth Building Around
1. Staff of Light (Power Level 4, Ascendable)
The Staff of Light is the best early magic weapon in the game and one of the best investments in the whole staff category. It starts at power level 4 with a 4.5 rune damage multiplier, already higher than every other staff of its tier. Because it is a masterwork staff, it can be ascended, and its ladder climbs to roughly 8.7 at power level 7, ahead of any staff that starts natively at tier 7. It also keeps 1,300 durability, so it holds up well in long dungeon runs and the Fight Caves. You can obtain it on the early side of the map, and it looks like a proper wizard's weapon.
How to get: finish the side quest Highlighting the Problem. Examine the wizard statue at the Runecrafting Guild in Bramblemead Valley, north of Temple Woods, then fetch the password from a statue inside the Thishepen Kara Dragonkin Vault below the cliffs. Charge the orb at three pedestals on the guild towers with Windstep, return to the statue, and the recipe appears. Craft it at the Mystic Forge with 16 Blightwood, 8 Wild Anima, 4 Sapphires, 12 Vault Shards, and 1 Vault Core.
2. Ancestral Staff (Power Level 8)
The Ancestral Staff is the current ceiling for craftable staffs and the natural endpoint of the core progression that starts with the Ash Battlestaff. It shares its attacks with every lower-tier core staff, but each tier adds to the magic damage multiplier until it caps here. There is no special effect attached to it, and that is fine. It needs no ascension cores, it carries all three elements at full strength, and it is strong enough to main for every normal mob in the Kuldra raid. If you prefer a staff's special actions over a wand's quick basic attacks, this is where you finish.
How to get: craft it at the Mystic Forge from Magic Logs, Harmonised Compound, Vis Cloth, Dragonstone, and Draconic Vis Wax. Magic Logs come from the late game regions, so this is an endgame craft rather than a midgame shortcut.
3. Zamorak Staff (Power Level 6, Ascendable)
The Zamorak Staff is the strongest fire weapon in the game and one of the coolest staffs to carry, straight from the wider RuneScape lineage. It adds 33% burn damage when casting fire magic, and its special action produces a halo of burning energy that roasts everything around you while applying burn instantly. That special covers the staff's usual weakness when a group gets close. The catch is a passive called Elemental Imbalance, which cuts your air and water damage by 50%. Against fire-immune enemies like the KotHaar, or fire-resistant knights and mages, this staff falls flat. Carry it alongside a second staff and swap as needed.
How to get: complete the side quest What's Theirs is Mine! in Dowdun Reach, handed out by Doric at The Nexus, then craft it with 10 Black Metal Bars, 10 Cursed Leather, 6 Demonic Oil, 4 Diamonds, and 64 Infernal Fragments.
4. Necromancer's Staff (Power Level 5, Ascendable)
The Necromancer's Staff is the best thing to come out of Fellhollow for a mage. Its base rune damage multiplier is 5.9, ahead of the Splitbark Staff at the same tier, and it carries the highest modifier of any staff documented in the game once ascended, reaching 8.8 at power level 7. That edges out the Staff of Light by 0.1, which in practice is a 0 to 4 damage difference per hit. The trade-off is reduced durability at 1,050, which is trivial once you have Magical Mending but can matter over 30 waves of the Fight Caves. If you want one staff to camp from the mid game to the end game, this is the pick.
How to get: enter the spectral door in the Vekchenven Kara vault in Fellhollow, near the Lake of Lost Souls, and interact with the Dragonkin Effigy inside. Craft with 24 Undead Bones, 6 Sacred Oil, 4 Fine Threads, and 6 Vault Shards.
A Tier: Strong Staff Picks With Real Effects
5. Pharaoh's Sceptre (Power Level 7, Ascendable)
The Pharaoh's Sceptre is the most unusual staff in the game. Its passive, Royal Mandate, lets you cast Confuse without spending runes. Its special action, Sworn Servant, summons a friendly kalphite named Buddy who fights beside you for up to three minutes, at the cost of 10% slower stamina regeneration while he is active. The sceptre is a strong tier 7 magic weapon on its own merits, and it can be ascended. Buddy is less reliable in boss fights and there is a known bug where he fails to spawn in online worlds, so treat him as a bonus rather than a core part of your damage.
How to get: complete the Contact! quest in Umbral Sands, which rewards the Icthlarian fetish. Craft at the Mystic Forge with 10 Gold Bars, 10 Scorch Leather, 32 Shimmerscale Powder, 4 Dragonstone, and 4 Gypsum Wax.
6. TokTz-Mej-Tal (Power Level 7)
The Obsidian Staff is a tier 7 specialist from the Umbral Sands with an 8.4 rune damage multiplier and increased crit chance, similar in spirit to the Draconic Staff. Its multiplier sits slightly above the Pharaoh's Sceptre, so for raw, reliable damage at tier 7 it is the stronger choice. The downside is reduced durability, so you will be repairing it more often. By the time you reach the desert you should have Magical Mending, which makes that far easier to live with. It cannot climb higher than tier 7, so an ascended Staff of Light or Necromancer's Staff will pass it eventually.
How to get: craft it at the Mystic Forge in Umbral Sands with 22 Refined Obsidian and 4 Dragonstone. No quest stands in the way.
7. Master's Staff (Power Level 7)
The tier 7 yew battlestaff, sitting at 8.4 with no gimmick attached. That sounds dull until you price the alternatives: no quest, no vault, no reduced durability, just a clean upgrade path out of the tier 6 staves.
How to get: craft at the Mystic Forge with 16 Yew Logs, 6 Refined Obsidian, 4 Infinity Cloth, 4 Dragonstone, and 4 Gypsum Wax, all from the late regions.
8. Subjugation Staff (Power Level 6, Ascendable)
The Subjugation Staff shares its 6.8 multiplier with the Zamorak Staff, and the difference between them is versatility. This one has no elemental penalty, so your air and water spells stay at full strength, and it adds bonus damage against demons and abyssal demons. Anything that makes shardbound lesser demons less of a nightmare deserves attention. The bonus does not apply to hellhounds or hell rats, which limits it a little, but as an all-round tier 6 staff it is the safer choice over the Zamorak Staff for anyone who leans on air magic.
How to get: Get the Demonic Metal Rod from chests in Dowdun Reach, or buy it from Postie Pete at the Evil Emporium. Craft with 16 Maple Logs, 6 Mithril Bars, 4 Glass Vessels, and 18 Infernal Fragments.
B Tier: Solid Midgame Options
9. Maple Battlestaff (Power Level 6)
The plain tier 6 staff at 6.8, and the version most raiders will actually make in Dowdun Reach. It shares its multiplier with the Subjugation and Zamorak staffs and asks for less trouble than either.
How to get: craft at the Mystic Forge with 16 Maple Logs, 6 Mithril Bars, 3 Glass Vessels, and 16 Infernal Fragments.
10. Splitbark Staff (Power Level 5)
A power level 5 staff at 5.4, sitting just behind the Necromancer's staff and ahead of everything in tier 4. It fills the gap between the vault staves and the tier 6 crafts without a boss or a quest attached.
How to get: craft at the Mystic Forge with 16 Hollow Bark, 6 Sacred Oil, 4 Fine Threads, and 6 Vault Shards.
Top 11. Draconic Staff (Power Level 4, Ascendable)
The Draconic Staff is the Staff of Light's cheaper neighbour at tier 4. It has a 4.1 multiplier, the same as the Blightwood Staff, but with a +15% crit chance bonus that pulls it ahead in sustained fights. It is a good first upgrade once you have iron bars, and far easier to assemble than the Staff of Light. The problem is its ascension ladder. It tops out around 8.3 at tier 7, behind every native tier 7 staff, so do not pour ascension cores into it long term.
How to get: the recipe comes from Parts of a Sinister-Looking Staff found on the northern wall of the Dragonkin Vault in the north-east of the Fractured Plains. Craft with 10 Iron Bars, 6 Granites, 4 Jades, and 4 Vault Shards.
12. Blightwood Battlestaff (Power Level 4)
Another 4.1 multiplier at power level 4, and the easier of the two vault-era staves to assemble. Blightwood grows freely in the Bloodblight Swamp, which sits in the same region as most of the other ingredients.
How to get: craft at the Mystic Forge with 12 Blightwoods, 6 Wild Anima, 3 Swamp Threads, and 4 Vault Shards.
C Tier: Starter Steps and Skips
13. Oak Battlestaff (Power Level 3)
A power level 3 staff at 2.8, and the first real upgrade after the starter stick. Cheap, quick, and forgotten the moment a tier 4 recipe lands in your bag.
How to get: craft at the Mystic Forge with 12 Oak Logs, 6 Anima-Infused Bark, and 3 Wool Threads.
14. Ash Battlestaff (Power Level 2)
The opening staff: power level 2, a 1.9 multiplier, and the only battlestaff built at the Crafting Table rather than the Mystic Forge. Every mage run starts here, and it lasts exactly as long as it needs to.
How to get: craft at the Crafting Table with 12 Ash Logs, 6 Rune Essence, and 2 Coarse Thread.
15. Grieving Moonstaff (Power Level 3)
A power level 3 staff at 2.6 that carries a 15 percent penalty to crit chance. The recipe costs a rare drop, and the finished weapon performs worse than the cheaper Oak Battlestaff beside it. Skip it unless you are filling a display case.
How to get: obtain a Mysterious Crescent Carving from Garou Druids, then craft at the Mystic Forge with Oak Logs, Antlers, and Animal Bones.
Suggested Staff Progression
Ranking is one thing, but the order you actually acquire these matters. Here is a practical route from a fresh save to the raid.
Early game: Ash Battlestaff, then Oak Battlestaff.
Iron tier: Draconic Staff if you want something quick, or hold out for the Staff of Light once you can enter Bloodblight Swamp.
Fellhollow: Necromancer's Staff. Camp this and ascend it if you plan to stay on staffs.
Dowdun Reach: Subjugation Staff or Zamorak Staff, or ascend your Necromancer's Staff to tier 6.
Umbral Sands: Obsidian Staff for straight damage, Pharaoh's Sceptre for fun.
Scorned Wilderness: Ancestral Staff, plus an Ancestral Wand and Dragonfire Shield for dragon fights.
Once you reach the raid, the question becomes which magic weapon type to bring, which leads neatly into the final debate.
Staff vs Wand: Which Magic Weapons Are Better?
Wands arrived with the Scorned Wilderness update as one-handed magic weapons, and they fill a very different role than staffs.
What Wands Do Well
They are one-handed, so you can hold a shield while casting. Pair an Ancestral Wand with a Dragonfire Shield or Tempest Shield and you become very tanky, which matters against dragon breath.
Basic attacks are faster, and you stay mobile.
They still apply elemental build-up: water slows, fire burns, air knocks down.
Rune upkeep is cheap, and there are no masterwork wands to chase. Progression is just the core wood tiers up to the Ancestral Wand.
Kuldra's Wrath, the only power level 9 magic weapon in the game, is a wand. It drops from the Queenslayer's Reward Pack after killing Kuldra, at roughly a 3 in 29 chance per pack. It lists bonus damage against dragons, although the wiki notes that bonus does not currently apply because of a bug.
Where Staffs Pull Ahead
Raw damage. In side-by-side dummy tests, a staff combo lands noticeably harder, and the fourth hit is a true power attack. Wand combos do not finish with a power hit.
Special actions. Every staff has one. Wands have none at all.
AoE. Staff spells clear groups. Wands are single-target only.
Masterwork variety. Staff of Light, Necromancer's Staff, Zamorak Staff, Pharaoh's Sceptre, and the rest give staffs a depth that the wand line simply does not have.
Staffs are the stronger magic weapon in Dragonwilds 1.0, especially for solo players. They do more damage, clear groups, and bring a special action to every fight. Wands shine in two situations: group play where someone else is tanking and you want to keep applying elemental effects while blocking, and dragon encounters where a shield saves your life. The ideal end-game kit is both. Main the Ancestral Staff for normal mobs, then swap to a wand and Dragonfire Shield when a dragon or Kuldra herself turns up. If a Kuldra's Wrath drops into your pack, so much the better.