staff of the serpent and druids

Originally Posted by whitishknight on wotc forums:
I'm making a snake themed druid/poisoner and I came upon something. The Staff of the serpent implement staff enhancement from Adventurer's Vault has a property which adds +1d6 poison damage to "any melee attack made with this staff". A druid in beast form uses implement melee touch attacks. Therefore, all melee attacks in beast form add the +1d6 poison damage, yes?

Originally Posted by Belile on wotc forums:
Melee touch attacks are melee attacks (as opposed to area, close or range attacks). In beast form you can use the properties (and powers) of implements". The +1d6 poison damage to melee attacks is a property of the implement and therefore you do get that bonus to your beast form powers that are melee touch.

If they had wanted the property to apply to only melee weapon attacks (see blurring claws feat), they would have specified that. And there are no "melee implement" attacks.

Originally Posted by Taenia on wotc forums:
After [level 10], a Staff of Ruin will out pace the dps bonus of the staff [of the serpent] and apply it to all your powers. The staff daily is ok, but I like the flexibility of the staff of ruin esp since you can shift in and out and play controller both at range and in melee.

Originally Posted by alien270 on wotc forums:
The Staff of Ruin is widely cited as a great way to boost a Druid's damage. And I would recommend it; it's a very good item. However, I'd like to point out an alternative: Staff of the Serpent + Iron Armbands of Power. The Staff of the Serpent adds +1D6 poison damage to all of your melee attacks (so most of your beast form attacks). Since the average damage of 1D6 is 3.5, the Staff of Ruin outstrips it once you get up to a +4 implement. But the Staff of Ruin's bonus damage is an item bonus, and this is important because so is the bonus to Iron Armbands of Power. Thus, your armbands will not stack with the Staff of Ruin, but they will stack with the Staff of the Serpent! The armbands are a 6th level item, and that extra +2 means that the Staff of Ruin will only outstrip the serpent/armbands combo when you get a +6 Staff of Ruin. It should be noted that the staff of ruin will apply to ALL of your attacks, while the Serpent/Armband combo only applies to melee attacks (which is why the Staff of Ruin is often preferred). However, at levels 16 and 26, you can upgrade your armbands to a +4 and +6 bonus, respectively. So if you use melee attacks the majority of the time, the combo is a better choice. Especially considering that when you're focusing on being a striker, you're in beast form (because you can charge).