I decided to play from book 1 to book 2 and then get book3.

But as a mage at eschalon book1 i cannot get any first level offensive spel. How to play? I cannot run pass mobs skipping content and running from one city to another just to find first spell.

At start all i get is rusty sword which is terrible for a mage.

It turns out the tree stomp in the yard hided most important starter item along with fire dart spell.
Problem solved.

Yet after reading some guides i made my mage to have 40perception + 20meditation yet it get 1MANA every 3rd turn.

Why mana regen is so slow?

im playing a mage in my first playthru (about 3.5 hours in), so i decided to look up your question about mana regen. am also starting with Book 1 and moving on thru..

"For non-Druids, the number of turns to regenerate 1 MP is determined by 41 minus the sum of Perception and Meditaion, minimum 3. As a result, 38 is the highest useful combined score."

"Druids above ground also max out at 38, which lets them recover 1 MP per turn. Each point in Meditation adds one point to resistance scores for Elements and Magick."