StaffCrafting

Crafting a magical staff is a bit of a process, but the result is quite powerful.

First, you need to make the blank Mage Staff. Build it like a shovel, but with a Spell Gem on the tip. The Mage Staff is an effective weapon (roughly as good as a wooden sword), but it's not meant for attacking (it can be enchanted as a sword, if you want).

Then, you will need to get another Spell Gem along with Crafting one of the Basic Spells (there is one other spell that works, but I'll leave finding that as an exercise for the reader).

Once you have collected all of those items, you can craft a magic staff following the pictured pattern on a Spell Table. The resulting staff can be used to cast that spell, but weakened. Using it results in the staff becoming drained; to recharge a drained staff, put it in the crafting grid alone (recharging is free, so you can cast the spell as much as you want).

Do be aware that a staff with a spell in it is no longer effective as a weapon; the magic is too delicate for that.

Battle Staves
There is one other type of staff mages need to keep in mind: the Battle Staff. By using a Spell Table to add a Spell Gem on top of two Mage Staves, you get a Battle Staff. Battle Staves are highly effective weapons, being roughly as good and durable as an Iron Sword (and can be enchanted like a sword).