Plans: Staff of Herding

Assuming you have already beaten Diablo III Nightmare, Hell or Inferno already, you might already have looted the Plans: Staff of Herding from Izual in Act IV. This item is the hardest to find, so make sure to follow these steps.

Go to the Blacksmith Haedrig Eamon. Under the weapons tab, scroll down to the Staves.

Check out if the Staff of Herding is already there. It will mention the material requirements:

The screenshot below shows all 5 materials at the Blacksmith Haedrig Eamon’s weapon recipes UI.

If the Staff of Herding isn’t within the Blacksmith’s recipes, prepare for a lot of runs in Act IV Normal Difficulty. It took me approximately 20-30 Izual kills to loot the Plans: Staff of Herding.

The end result when building the Staff of Herding. Equip it. Be careful where you place your weapons in case you accidentally sell or –worse case scenario — disenchant.

The Staff of Herding cannot be sold. It’s not consumed either. You can use it once and again, and again by selecting the Shattered Crown quest in Act I, and starting a new game. Learn more at the Cow Level: Wimsyshire section.

Farming Izual (Normal Difficulty)

At the character screen, click Change Quest.

Make sure Normal Difficulty is selected at the bottom-left corner. Under ACT IV Chapter 4: Prime Evil, select Begin Quest. Click Select Game.

Your character will spawn at the Bastion’s Keep Stronghold. Go to the waypoint, and under Silver Spire, select The Crystal Colonnade.

At your level, Normal Difficulty demons don’t even tickle. Ignore them and run through toward Izual.

You might have to run for about three minutes going through the Crystal Colonnade, Gateway to the Silver Spire, and The Silver Spire Level 1 — searching for the Great Span portal.

You will find Izual at the Great Span. Kill him. There’s a low random chance for the Plans: Staff of Herding to drop from Izual (Normal difficulty).