Ok so I have a lvl 35 single player character that I have been trying to use as a mage. At lower lvls he seemed pretty effective, but now I find that despite having my intellect at 3x my str, vit, and dex, and having fire and water skills maxed he is becoming useless as a offensive mage. I deal damage faster and without mana using an old ax I made around lvl 20.
The problems that I have notice are as follows,
5th tier attack spells (meteor etc.) offer such poor damage/mana that I go though many potions for a standard combat. They also have a long wind-up that allows me to get swarmed.
4th tier Summoned minions were powerful initially, but are slow to gain lvls (finding addtional magic cards/boots is slow).
Summoned minions don't act as meat shields, as soon as I deal any damage to a creature, it targets me and wont fight the summon anymore. Since I have to keep moving due to lower health/armor, the enemy also keeps moving and the summon keeps missing it. Even the spirit archer spends so much time repositioning its self that it often only fires a few arrows while I have to do most of the damage.
The mana bonus from staffs is nice but not that big a deal, I have 5k mana and it only adds 1k. As a weapon the Archmage staff isn't that great and the loss of a shield makes me much more vulnerable to archers. Melee/Bow weapons upgraded with crystals and other weapons are far more powerful than a staff.
I have found that the most effective attack (among air and fire) is Fireball since it has decent damage, good damage/mana, has splash damage, and can push back and pause enemies. Currently I have 7 copies and a few boosts on it. Its the best I have found, but is not good enough, (Destroy Undead works well, but only for undead obviously.)
I think that If I respec my charecter to melee or archery and build a good weapon with my spirit crystals, It will be far more effective than a mage at the same lvl.
Does anyone disagree and have advice for making a mage more effective and damaging?