If you think mage Lona can drop 15 points into SCU and not be too weak for shit, it's clear you're way overleveled for content. Balance isn't just about what they can do when shit is completely maxed, especially in a game like this that doesn't have enemies scaled up to a maxed out Lona yet. You need to compare builds at a similar level, the game isn't balanced well for max Lona or even super high level Lona. If mage Lona can kill shit easily, so can pretty much any other build at that point is the problem. Actually most builds will beat mage Lona at similar levels by far. The issue often isn't just raw kill potential, it's how practical it is.
1: The issue with the fire staff isn't its damage or it's charge time alone, it's that it only shoots fireballs. The bow has the charge up, the normal attack, and the arrow rain. The normal attack makes up for the charge up's long cast time and gives it versatility. There's no offhand magic attack out of the buyable trio that makes up for not having a quick attack like the bow's normal attack, leaving the fire staff weak to quick enemies.
You use frost staff, it's quick, but the damage is too low against some enemies. You use fire, the cast time is too long to use against anything but zombies outside of the initial ambush or if you get lucky enough to stun medium speed enemies. Quick enemies will still wreck you. Lightning is obviously difficult to use against medium/fast speed enemies. Even swapping around staffs and spellbooks doesn't cover the holes magic currently has (not to mention the weight restriction for a mage makes that really suck).
2: Yeah, you're really overleveled if you think the water book is a free get out of jail card. There are enemies that it only does 1 damage to at appropriate levels and the stun doesn't last long enough to deal with any quick enemies. It's actually a guarantee you'll get hit when using it against some enemies because of how long it takes to finish the animation before you can move after casting it. The frost book fell off pretty hard with the addition of some enemies.
3: Lightning is really strong damage wise like fire, the issue with lightning isn't damage, it's that it's not all that practical. It's incredibly strong for ambushes but can get you killed in live combat with how easily it can also hit Lona. This one would be difficult to balance well, but I do really enjoy trying to use it since it has the most potential for destruction. It either feels useless or broken/OP atm. I'm not sure how to fix it without changing it pretty drastically.
4: It's a chance at stun, not guaranteed. Though yeah, the fire spellbook stun is one of the better spells now. It's better than the frost aoe now in my opinion.
5: As I've already mentioned, building into stealth or a ranged or melee build or something gives you access to a wide variety of weapons that all work well. Mage has to build for only magic damage until you're far overleveled for what's currently available in game. That means magic needs to be able to deal with about everything on its own. Frost is the quickest attack, fire is the most straight forward damage wise, and lightning is a bit of a complex mess, though it's fun, but they all have weaknesses that the offhands don't cover completely. Mainly the offhands are support spells and not really meant to deal straight up damage to quick enemies, unlike the bow that has multiple attack speed options built in.
6: Overall I feel like stealth is the strongest build, though I haven't tried sword and board since the changes (It seems a lot better now that it stuns enemies on a successful block. ). Stealth has a built in mechanic to avoid being swarmed like other builds that helps it tremendously. Play well and you should almost never have to deal with more than one enemy at a time. No other build really gets that in the same way. You can negate the range advantage enemies over you, you can negate the numbers advantage they have over you. Stealth is incredibly well rounded and rewarding to play. It makes the other combat styles seem super incomplete.
TLDR: Magic has holes in it that the other builds don't have. The issue often isn't pure kill potential (we all know fireballs are strong) it's filling those gaps in what it can do with various setups. I'd love to see people saying magic is fine post a video of them using it in battles, then try a non magic build in the same situation. The issue with a lot of magic spells isn't numbers, it's mechanics (and usually dealing with quick enemies that jump around). Though the frost mainhand is an exception, it could probably use a numbers boost.
People keep pointing out how strong magic can be, and don't point out how weak it can be. You can cherry pick strengths of any build and make it seem OP. Your list of weaknesses magic has is far too short. Not to mention skipping over "collateral damage" like it's a minor thing, when using certain magic in escort missions and shit can be an auto failure, forcing you to use frost mainhand and try not to hit who you're supposed to be saving.
Yep...over leveled. People really need to mention their levels when talking about how OP something is, lol.
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