I thought some pictures might help, so I took one.
(Click for fullsize, 130 kb - 578 x 178)
That Arcane Staff on the left has attached mods that give the bonuses listed below the red box. The Envoy Staff on the right is a screenshot from visiting the gold zcoin NPC in GToB, so it is completely unmodded.
On the left is a normal, modern, inscribable staff with a max base:
Halves skill recharge of spells (Chance 20%) (Please note this is 20HSR for all spells, not for spells of a specific attribute.)
Energy +10
<type> Dmg: 11-22 (Requires <#> <some attribute>)(Any staff heads, staff wrappings or inscriptions allowed on either "weapons" or "spellcasting weapons" which triggers on the item's attribute will be based off this attribute.)
On the right is an Envoy Staff. It has a base unlike normal, inscribable staffs.
Energy +10
<type> Dmg: 11-22 (Requires <#> <some attribute>)(Like a normal staff, any mods which trigger on the attribute will trigger on this listed attribute. The five available gold, moddable Envoy Staffs come in the five primary caster attributes; no other versions are available.)
Halves casting time of spells (Chance 10%)
The difference between the Envoy Staffs and most every other staff in the game is that they have 10HCT all spells as part of their base
instead of 20HSR all spells.
Both staffs could be modded with:
- Swift or Adept Staff Heads, giving either an additional 10% chance at HCT all spells or 20% chance at HCT for the staff's attribute's spells.
- "Don't think twice" or "Aptitude not Attitude" inscriptions, giving the same two additional HCT chances as the staff heads above.
They will each give extra chances on top of the base 10HCT on the Envoy Staff, but they will stack as percentages. There is no mod allowed on any staff which increases the chances of halving spell recharge.
Hands of the Gods is asking folks if they know of a case where that would be a useful tradeoff. What situation(s) would it be worth giving up a one in five chance for half the recharge time on any spell you cast for the sake of a one in ten chance for half the cast time of any spell you cast?
(Correct me if I'm wrong in my interpretation here, please.)
As to your question, I've looked at these staffs and wondered the same thing myself. The only situation in PvE I can think of is a caster/caller running Assassin's Promise. I'm not sure it makes sense in the context of meta PvE, powered by consets, because the celery reduces both skill (not just spell) recharge and activation times. I don't PvP, so I'm not goint to try guessing that one.
I think the new possibilities are interesting, but I wish they'd made the option more readily available in less-expensive forms for us to tinker with. As it stands now, I can't really justify the cost of getting a gold one, especially with it available in such a limited number of attributes.
The mods on the green one strike me as even less useful in general. It might make a nice mid-high-energy running staff to replace my pictured Arcane Staff, but I can't see why I'd want the mid-high-energy running staff to have a +30 suffix instead of an enchanting suffix.
