[Poruku]

Currently, gem staves with the Deploy skill and Aquaphobia with Frozen Fear are considered the go-to for spellcasting when possible.

Let us consider these weapons without the deploy skill
1: They have very solid scaling, plus each of their scaling is adapted to the element
2: Two-hand gives them an easy +10 damage
3: +5 elemental atk is a nice bonus (aquaphobia at +12 kinda compensates for lack of two-hand)

Staves are melee weapons, meaning they can be parried in melee, which is pretty minor considering most mages want to put distance between them and the enemy.

Considering these factors, they can be considered overall solid weapons, a good general option. 
Then, consider the Deploy skill

Deploy effectively increases the range of certain spells by 5. Five. Deathtouch goes from 2 range to 7. Now, I don't really want to get into a deep exploration of range in this game, but... I will.


In every tactical RPG game, range is an essential factor. Ranged units are made weaker, melee units are stronger. Units with very long range are generally quite vulnerable when directly engaged. There is a reason for this: range is an inherent advantage. When you have higher range than an enemy, the enemy is FORCED to approach closer, which in this game, generally costs 3 momentum. Thus, by using a talis or frozen fear, you start every match with a significant advantage. You generally have the ability to pressure the opponent from round 1, without needing to move. This has a few implications.

In PvE:
Not needing to move means you can simply safely win most battles while grinding, since monsters move quite slowly. You might never need to even take damage, aside from grindylows. Bosses are also often susceptible to kiting, meaning that a staff build usually trivialises PvE content.
In Events:
Being able to stand behind your tankier friends and be effective from a distance makes it very easy to maintain a "formation" in a PvE event fight. Backline casters become very safe, and effective every single round without needing to move. A priest with diamond staff in the backline is a surefire way to trivialize any event battle (speaking from experience).
In 1v1 PvP:
Having higher range forces the enemy to keep engaging on you. This essentially grants you a 3 momentum advantage at the beginning of combat since the enemy needs to close the gap, not even mentioning they might need to use something else like charge or hanging to finish closing in. In addition, abilities such as dancing water which can immobilize the enemy can automatically win a match if the enemy is stuck outside of effective range and has no immobilize-ignoring skill like blink to escape. In fact, dancing water is one of the main reasons Aquaphobia Aquamancer is good in 1v1 pvp. I won't say op, but it's good, because it can simply automatically win many matchups. In addition, you can use blink with it, meaning you are able to rapidly get out of range from a melee combatant with 4 momentum, and immediately create an advantageous situation against certain matchups (anyone weak to kiting, i.e. slow). Of course higher range also makes you nearly immune to kiting from forest walking rangers and other such niche builds that rely on range.
In team PvP:
Basically combines the advantages you get in events, plus the 1v1 pvp advantages. Team pvp is the place where range matters most: overextend, and you can be easily focused, meaning you must be extremely careful about closing the gap. If you outrange the enemy team, suddenly they all need to engage because they are at a disadvantage, while your team can stay where they are and prepare. Hell, a team of staff users can easily pick a target to focus while remaining spread out, which not only means they can rapidly switch targets, but they can also avoids AoEs. AoEs are one of the most important parts of team pvp. Bonus range is thus a crushing advantage if used well, for many reasons.


In conclusion

Every spell is balanced with a specific range in mind. Throw that out the window, and suddenly the ramifications are endless, despite the skill seeming innocuous. In short, it's op.

Proposed solution

1: Make it cost 3 momentum
2: Reduce the range from 5 to 2


I think both of those changes on their own would make these weapons still the best option possible in almost all cases, which speaks volumes on their effectiveness currently. The momentum one would force you to be tactical about your placement, instead of just being a "well, I wanna attack over there so I'll place it there". Making it 2 range would make it a way to be more versatile with targeting and extend your range a bit, allowing you to play in the back lines more easily but still need to consider your positioning. In both cases, it would drastically increase the value of leaving the talis somewhere and moving afterwards. I also think it just makes more sense with how it works in my mind. You're placing down the equivalent of all your spellcasting power in a spot, it can't be a trivial task.

Final word

With how widespread the use of these weapons is, I think they certainly need to be addressed. I hope we can spark more discussion on this and reach a good solution.