Staff vs Wand + Shield for a mage build
Hey everybody! Started playing this wonderful game two months ago, already have more than 100 hours into the game and love many aspects of it.
As I love playing different combat styles I already have 4 characters that I play solo or with some friends. One of them is a fire mage, that I play with a wand (fused coronet) and a blanket shield that I upgraded with all around useful gems.
Recently, I played with a friend that is doing an ice mage and I want to help him craft some gear to improve his build. He is currently using a staff (endless winter) with good facets and he already has some runes he enjoys.
But he is missing out on the extra stats that a shield can give, so I was wondering what are the benefits of having a staff versus a wand + a shield? Given that both weapon types have access to the same runes and that their physical damage is roughly equivalent, why would a caster use a staff? Is it for the move-set and to play more battle mage oriented?