Ahhhh... now I see some of the confusion....you are reporting adjusted skill after merits/gear. WHM natural cap for staff at 99 is 378, club is 404. The numbers combined with my blondeness and I was jumping straight to what sounded more like the proper weapon type for the different numbers I was seeing (the WHM's I know worry more about clubs than staff, and it didn't dawn on me that 291 might be a typo).

So yeah...if your Natural skill on staff is at 372 on WHM, than you are in the last tier to 99 caps already (371 is 98 cap), so you will probably want at least a high-end DC or higher for any kind of decent skillup rate to happen.