If I played PLD, I probably would get a shield. But I don't. Our LS had already gone through hell popping Chloris for HTH, so I decided to go for this.
The last trial is the ONLY one that staff has in common with shield. The two before it are both NMs that are ONLY used for the staff.
A DD atma setup in abyssea with Garuda using Hastega and doing 5k+ predator claws plus the high DoT that both she and you will have makes this a solid weapon. Not being able to swap an avatar attack staff is a trivial loss and is made up for by the aftermath and crits for 700-800 damage after fully restoring your own MP and curing any status effects.
Wat. The horns are probably the easiest trial in the game. Cleave up gold boxes, get 8-10 pops, have someone wildfire brew them. Can get 10 pops in one brew if you're good/don't get resists etc.