Light crossbow is a poor metric to measure a weapon investment by.
If your PC uses martial weapons, there are better options.*
If they're not using martial weapons, investment in weapon feats won't provide much benefit (and it's unlikely they'll invest enough in the weapon for the damage difference to become significant).
*possible exception if you have a whole build centered around this, but then you'd be asking a different question I'd think. And ultimately that would only give flavor, not power.
The Sling Staff is excellent on a
low level caster, if you don't have a built in third action. At higher levels, casters tend to use their hands for other things, but it's still valid, even if expensive as you need to fully rune it to stay competitive.
So, a niche weapon, in my opinion, but a nice one.
Ok, so a Halfling Investigator MC into Wizard the answer is "Probably Not Worth It" then?
Correct, probably not though there are some exceptions.
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Halfling Sling Staff is definitely better than a light crossbow, but it's it enough better to justify spending a feat for it, especial when that means passing on halfling luck?
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Ok, so a Halfling Investigator MC into Wizard the answer is "Probably Not Worth It" then?
Not really. Investigator action economy is fairly tight, and the difference in load time compared to a shortbow will really add up. The damage die isn't quite as relevant for you either, because a large chunk of it comes from strategic strike.
Imagine you're fighting a monster you haven't got fingered as a Subject so you don't get free action Devise Stratagem. Happens fairly often with mooks in in-between fights. On your turn you need 1 action to Devise, 1 to Strike so you have 1 left. With a bow, you can spend it to keep moving, because combat is rarely static. You might want to move to a safer spot, or move around something that provides enemies with cover. With the staff though, you have to spend that action to reload.
It also doesn't play well with the MC. If you are fighting the subject of an investigation, you can Devise as a free action. So then you can Devise, Strike, and toss an Electric Arc afterwards. But not if you need to reload.
I'm hoping that the gunslinger will change this up a bit if it becomes "the reload class" and makes reload weapons in general more interesting. But I don't think it's gonna help investigators very much.
Ok, so a Halfling Investigator MC into Wizard the answer is "Probably Not Worth It" then?
My point of view differs from the other's.
As an Investigator, you attack once per round, as your second attack doesn't benefit from your Int to attack and extra damage. As it's a ranged attack, you don't need to move. So, every turn, you can Devise, Strike, Reload.As you start with your weapon loaded, you have one move available to position yourself, which is all you need during most fights.
One should check the damage on Citricking's tool, but you should be on par with a shortbow build.
Running Reload can help if you're willing to take the archer archetype.