I feel like I can’t get the Battlemage to work for me. The bonus effect on the staff is very cool and I feel like I see some theoretical synergies with artifacts that can be charged quickly with melee strikes, but in practice it seems like I always eventually run short on resources and can’t output the damage I need.
Certainly not before floor 11. On my best attempt with the Battlemage I was able to use an hourglass to cover the time I needed to swap to a sword when I wasn’t getting hits with the staff. Should’ve won that run too but I underestimated my own shrapnel bombs hehe
I speed augmented my staff on floor 16 and I’m having no problem dealing damage with it. It’s a Staff of Corruption, so melee is pretty much my only damage. Plus some throwables, and a +0 Wand of Lightning. Oh, plus all the enemies I convert to my side.
I’m wearing +5 scale armor. I usually don’t upgrade armor for a mage, but I really need it with just a Staff of Corruption. If it randomly gives an enemy the Weakness debuff, they can barely do any damage to me. If it gives them Vulnerable, I do quite a bit of melee damage to them. When they get low, I just keep zapping until they get corrupted. If there are multiple enemies in the room, the Amok debuff that triggers on melee is fantastic! The enemies start fighting each other.
The final boss fight should be interesting. I’ll have to try corrupting some worms, I guess.