Why doesn't the Blizzard Stick get more respect and worth more?

[AnRK]

Friends don't let friends use blizz sticks.

Love that and this thread! Been slowly soloing my way up thru the 40s with my dex mage and I'm constantly on the lookout for the best wand/staff until I hit 50. Lots to think about. Saw the stats on a dropped blizz stick and wasn't impressed so sold it and have stuck with my pink bony pin or seer's rod for now until something better drops. Have a burning wand in stash until I hit 50, alas that will still take a while. Have been sticking with ao2 as alien snipers in ao3 take me down too quickly. Logically it makes sense to use a staff instead of wand for the higher damage on spells. My question concerns the sacrifice in armour when moving from wand to staff - is it worth it to lose that extra protection or does it really matter? Especially when considering soloing. Just wondering.

[Tamino]

My question concerns the sacrifice in armour when moving from wand to staff - is it worth it to lose that extra protection or does it really matter? Especially when considering soloing. Just wondering.

It depends, a good idea is to have both so you can switch at need. Wands are better not only because of bigger armor, but also because you can achieve improvements in other stat (crit%, M/s...) you get from the two items (the wand and the bracer) instead of only one.

I usually play with wand/bracer in mob clearing and switch to staff at boss, but I use staff also when the enemy level/damage is low.