Nerfing Staff

[Shostak]

With the powerful mana reservoir capability now in the higher staff spells, I've found some of their other powers to make staves too potent, and have adopted some standard house rules to nerf them:

1. Staves must be held as a ready item in order to be used for any purpose.
2. Staff II+ are no longer immune to Drop Weapon, Break Weapon, or critical failures. If you want immunity to Drop and/or Break Weapon spells, add them as enchantments.
3. Staff III+ occult attacks to targets out of the wizard’s field of view are at a -6DX, consistent with attacking an invisible foe.
4. Staff IV+ like Staff III but occult attack does 1d+1 damage. No free occult attack action.
5. Staff V merely adds extra mana capacity and does not break when “exploding.”

How do you weaken the staff spells (if at all) in your games?