Wands/Staffs for Mages: what do they do?

Are wands/staffs worth having for a mage build? I used a staff once, but it immediately fired a ranged (and very weak) fireball at anything I targeted, and didn't allow me to sneak up. On the other hand, all the fireballs look nice when fighting. I picked up a wand somewhere (from an NPC? I can't remember) that did very little short-range damage, so I have switched back to the trusty free cutlass that is lootable from the Blacksmith shop in Owl's Head. I can't tell if the wand is better than the cutlass or vice versa. Does a wand/staff increase the power of all spells somehow?

 

Wands and staffs are auto-attack weapons for magic users. They are low-power by design. In addition, they may carry stat bonuses.

 

It is also worth noting that the projectiles from a wand or staff can interrupt the casting of a spell by an opponent which is especially useful in pvp combat.

 

It is also worth noting that it consumes your focus so as you use staffs and wands you will have less normal spells to cast. And turning off auto-target/attack doesn't stay off (next spell to hit an enemy will turn it back on).

Until they resolve this, or make the attack much better, I'd stick with a melee weapon for when the mobs get close.

 

And by useful you should read completely overpowered.