Loot

hmm don't know. the "green" goodie huts are supposed to drop rather common items, they'll probably be mostly useless if you already have something rare or better. the blue and red treasure chests and higher level monster lairs seem to drop decent stuff rather often. 

also, what's wrong with 4 attack on a staff? those things aren't really meant as melee wepons - it's all about the spell stats they may provide (mastery/spelldamage/free spells/spell unlocks)

I don't think I've ever seen a red chest in the game. 

Because it's two handed which means no shield, which means it needs to be decent.  I rarely even consider a staff simply because I'd either rather have a sword and shield or a ranged weapon.

in the scenario, there are several red chests near some of the more powerful "boss" monsters. don't know if there are any in the sandbox game.

i also tend to use a fast (high init) weapon on mages if i can't find a good staff, but if you find something with +10 spell mastery or +10% spell damage, that's usually better than a little init. losing the shield isn't such a big issue IMO. shields are a huge bonus when you're in def stance, but mages rarely are, since they have to cast spells to be useful. the few points of armor the shield provides passively isn't such a big deal, really (well, in my opinion)