i do think mages should be buffed, but i primarily play main character mages and i never feel useless
it's kind of bad that staves are basically useless on higher difficulties since wand + shield is practically a necessity
Blatantly untrue.
can you elaborate? like how is this a useful response, ever, aside from posturing
CC your enemies. Kill your enemies. Don't be in line of sight of your enemies. Be invisible to your enemies. Play dead. Make it nearly impossible for the enemy to reach you. Let your mage die, ressurect at the near end of the round as a ghetto Skin Graft.
You have a lot of tools and resources at your disposal to ensure that your experience isn't hampered.
like, this is all useless information for people who play on classical difficulty and above. are you assuming everyone who has an issue with mages right now is just incompetent?