Mage-Wand or Staff

I started a hard mode mage and I was wondering whether to use a wand or a staff. I know that a staff can dish out more damage. However, wands can pushback anything slower than a wolf, on top of that, I could also use offhand items. I'm just looking for other players input on this.

I choose staff, because damage is more important than resistance for that game

It seems most players that go mage, go for the ultra high damage out-put of a staff build. Plenty of people play with the wand build, but it seems for those that want the kite-attack pattern of a mage, they go all in.

A wand mage is considered the more defensive build of a mage.
A staff mage is considered the higher damage output for a mage.

With the Skill Staff Mastery, INT will add damage to your attack. AGL will add damage to both wands and staffs as they're considered ranged weapons.

All mage builds will end up using spells, so your spell layout is also important (summoner build vs elemental wizard etc).

The game is designed that mages will have an easier / harder time depending on their build, so unless you want to re-set your character a lot, expect some areas to be tougher than you'd expect.