Staff

The Staff is Heretic's basic melee weapon used in a thrusting motion. Stabbing an enemy with the staff deals 5-20 damage at short range. When using a Tome of Power, the Staff is surrounded by a blue aura that increases damage to 18-81. This weapon is useless against ghosts, even when in power mode.

Strategy
While not as powerful as the Gauntlets, the Staff has an advantage of its own: it does not restrict movement like the Gauntlets, which pull the player towards the target. In fact, it has a knockback effect that pushes lighter enemies backwards and away.

A useful strategy is to keep walking back and forward while attacking monsters, thus avoiding unnecessary damage from their melee attacks. On some source ports, the forward movement increases the momentum of the thrust (although damage is unchanged), thus pushing it farther and making the strategy usable even against mobs.

The Staff is best used against lightweight enemies without ranged attacks, such as the Gargoyle, the Golem and especially the Sabreclaw, which is not a suitable target for the Gauntlets. A skilled player can dispatch these enemies quickly and with impunity, even in sizable groups. It can be also used, with care, on more versatile enemies such as the Undead Warrior, although some quick footwork will be necessary to avoid incoming projectiles.

Trivia
The puff made by the Staff without the Tome of Power when hitting a wall or Sabreclaw is the same as the standard bullet puff in the classic Doom games.