Cuesticks have changed? Yeah, maybe. There have always been "fashions" and fads in pool. When I started in 2000, everyone had whippy Meuccis. THen they switched to Predator 314, then Z, then back to 314, then extensions and then carbon.
IDK about the highest level, because I've never been there. I can only speak from my own experiences, but from those, I don't think the cues make all that much difference. They do make SOME difference. Definetly there are some bad cues out there and some that are better. The difference is minimal to someone like me and players at my level. Usually, players change cues often but their games stay the same.
You want a stiff cue, try conical. Chinese 8 ball cues are very stiff, and don't have a light front end. You can get them as short as you would want. You could try carbon too, they're not for me though. Lately I've been mostly playing for fun, and have been trying some very cheap cues that people would probably say are terrible. Cues that people have left at the poolhall and never claimed because they hated them. Flexible, bad maple, shoddy balance. Do they make a big difference? Don't notice a thing as far as run out percentage is concerned. They don't feel good when I hit the ball, but somehow the balls go in the pockets and I can shoot every shot with them.
The only thing I do know is that I can't play with carbon cues. I'd even prefer you get me a Meucci straight from the 90's, sanded down like an hour glass, which some players today would say is completely unplayable instead of the state of the art carbon. Even that old whip is by far better than a stiff cue with completely dead feeling. Whenever I play with one of those carbon cues, I feel like the ball is just "shooting" off the tip on the finesse shots. If they have a soft tip on, I can get spin on the ball, but then I can't feel anything of what is happening. Trying to slow spin is a complete nightmare, especially with a hard tip on. Every shot is a poke shot with those things and certain shots I can't really get to work properly. I can play finesse shots even with a phenolic tip, as long as the shaft is maple or ash. Since I haven't really invested in a carbon cue myself, I haven't tried full cue jump shots, but I think I might be scared to shoot those shots too, with an expensive shaft like that. No thanks.