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The Staff of Herding


Drias
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Since I haven't come across anyone describing on how to get the staff, where to find parts for it, I Guess I'll do it since I've done my Hellfire Ring guide.

 

So the Staff of Herding is a staff you can make and use after you beat normal/NM/Hell/Inferno. The pieces to make the staff are a little hard to find, and the gold required to actually have the staff made is only 75,000 gold (5,000 Gold for Console) for the Normal Staff. To get the Infernal Staff of Herding, it's going to run you 1,945,000 gold. (255,000 Gold for Console)

 

An Infernal Staff of Herding can be used in all difficulties, thus not needing one of each staff. However, in order to get the Infernal Staff of Herding, you must create the normal, then buy the plans in the respected difficulty all the way up to infernal, and upgrade. You can buy the NM/Hell/Infernal plans in Act IV after Diablo from Gorell the Quartermaster.

 

Normal Staff plans: Dropped by Izual(Any Difficulty/Not Guaranteed)

Nightmarish Plans: 20,000 Gold

Upgrade: 10,000 Gold

Hellish Plans: 50,000 Gold

Upgrade: 20,000 Gold

Infernal Plans: 100,000 Gold

Upgrade: 50,000 Gold

 

In order to craft this Staff, you must find four (down from six) items: The Blacksmithing Plans, Wirt's Bell, Gibbering Gemstone, and a Black Mushroom.

 

I already covered the Plans, and how to get them, but just in case, You can grab the normal plans from Izual from any difficulty, and buy the next difficulty books from Gorell the Quartermaster.

 

The Black Mushroom can be found in Cathedral Level 1 when looking for Cain. Look for patches of glowing violet/purple mushrooms. When you find these, go up to them and press A as if you were opening a chest. If it's there, it'll drop. If not, reload and try again.

 

Wirt's bell is easy to find. Just look for Squirt the Peddler in Act II and she'll sell you the bell for 25,000 Gold.

 

Finally, the last piece, the Gibbering Gemstone, Can be found in Act III in the Fields of Slaughter, in a cave Called the Caverns of Frost. This piece is just like the Liquid Rainbow. Multiple Variables, which take time to get correct.

 

Start by going to the quest Machines of War. This places Ballista's in places where the cave can spawn, thus leaving you a few places to look. (Dual edged sword here, if you want to do it a quest after machines of war, it'll give you more ground to look but I don't know if that ups the Spawn Rate for the Caverns of Frost or not). There are only 2 possible caves that can spawn in the Fields of Slaughter, and only one can exist at a time. So if you find the Icefall Caves, exit and resume until you find it.

 

Once you find the Caverns of Frost, You will not be looking for a chest, but for a Super Unique Mob (Purple Name, Gold Ring around feet) named Chiltara. She likes spawning on the second level, but can be found on the First level. There is a catch though. She's not guaranteed to spawn, just like the Mysterious Chest for the Liquid Rainbow. However, the Gibbering Gemstone is Guaranteed to drop off her when she is killed.

 

Once you find all these pieces, you'll need 5,000 Gold to craft the staff at the blacksmith. In order to get into the secret place, you must have the staff of herding in your inventory.

 

Start Act I with the Quest A Shattered Crown (Or later if you choose). From New Tristram, head east out the gate, then north. Follow the path all the way before the graveyard where you kill the Brood Mother. You'll notice a Skeleton of a Cow laying there. If you have the Staff of Herding on you, you'll see the Ghost of the Cow King. Talk to him, listen to the dialogue (humorous to some), and the rift south-east of the dead cow will light up and grant you access to the secret level, which is not the Secret Cow level, but Whimseyshire.

 

Happy Hunting!

Edited by Drias
Accurate Pricing
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I do believe the enemies are harder than in Act 4, though I haven't confirmed this yet. However, it seems the loot drops seem to be better. There are also, literally, Loot pinata's that spawn that you beat on the loot drops.

 

Also, i honestly believe it's just to be funny. It was really fun beating the shit and maiming unicorns and teddy bears on the PC version :D

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I do believe the enemies are harder than in Act 4, though I haven't confirmed this yet.

 

On the PC version it was to be expected that Whimsyshire was at least as harder, and probably harder than Act IV on any difficulty, which is why I would usually drop down a difficulty (ie Hell > Nightmare) when I wanted to farm it. It may be full of unicorns and weird purple and pink puffy clouds, but it's serious business.

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What's the point of going to Whimseyshire? Any good weapons/armor drops?

 

Since the cost and effort to make into the damn place requires a bit of work. Not to mention, if you want the Infernal version...

From what I have read, it's the only way to raise the Blacksmith and Jeweller about a certain level by finding the pages of training required.

 

http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Page_of_Training

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The Chitara drop is the hardest component of the Staff of Herding to find.

 

Please remember that she only occurs in the Cavern of Frost so if you get the other dungeon then rinse/repeat.

 

As for the Black Mushroom you should Google as it only occurs in a room with a shape sort of like a crown, so that also helps in the farming of it.

 

I actually found both of these components with 1/2 hour on the weekend; I got lucky as I did not expect to get them so expeditiously. I thought I would only possibly find one in that timeframe.

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You need to have the Prime Evil quest active on Nightmare Difficulty and when in Bastion Keep, talk to the vendor that is right next to the followers. He is selling the plan for the upgrade. And I think since you can get more than one Black Mushroom etc. You can craft another Staff and give it to a friend. Not sure if it is account bound tho.

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I got the plans for the Infernal staff so I went back on difficulties to buy the other plans but it doesn't let me buy the Normal plan.

 

This means I have to farm on Normal for the actual plan or am I missing something?

 

To craft any of these staffs, I need the earliest version for it or it wouldn't let me upgrade.

 

Thanks for the guide.

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The Chitara drop is the hardest component of the Staff of Herding to find.
I was farming for ages and didn't get a single thing pre-normal completion, but once I finished Normal I got both items first try but still haven't found the plans yet:( I spent all night farming Izual and Diablo on normal (easy) and nothing even with a 107% magic, what am I doing wrong? I'm only doing it to get the pages, so is it worth it or are they a frequent drop on nightmare mode?
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You can craft another Staff and give it to a friend. Not sure if it is account bound tho.

 

I am at work at the moment so can't check but I believe it is account bound, sorry.

 

I got the plans for the Infernal staff so I went back on difficulties to buy the other plans but it doesn't let me buy the Normal plan.

 

This means I have to farm on Normal for the actual plan or am I missing something?

 

Izual drops the plan for the Staff of Herding. The other plans are only upgrade plans.

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I am at work at the moment so can't check but I believe it is account bound, sorry.

 

 

 

Izual drops the plan for the Staff of Herding. The other plans are only upgrade plans.

 

Okay I understand.

I had the Inferno plan before anything else and from that one I started upgrading to lower versions.

Never had the Normal one but I will start farming him on Normal for the origin.

 

Thanks.

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So you can't even do this until you beat Normal is that correct?

Is there a quest notification?

 

Technically, you can make it before completing normal. You just need to kill Izual enough for him to drop the plans for you and farm the other pieces and make the staff.

 

I, however, do not know if the staff will interact with the area you take it to if you have it in your inventory. That is still unconfirmed. I'll change the main post when its confirmed.

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I am 99.38763786% confidence level that only Izual drops it so farming Diablo may be a waste of time?

 

I did not even know you had to farm him as he dropped the plan first time for me (lucky, I guess).

Better change that percentage. Diablo dropped a set of plans on my inferno run :D. Still farming for the gem though.

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