So, I got back into it and...mages>all and then some. The way I went with mine, sort of naturally aka without much preplanning was that I have Mind Blast(Aoe stun seemed like a no-brainer), all the way down to Inferno, Chain Lightning(honestly, I use the storm part and barely ever CL, so if I do it again I prob won't take CL)
Sleep and Horror for more CC and the fact that Horror can affect almost anything but the big bosses that I've seen so far, the first two heal spells(heal and the regen thing) all of the Spirit Healer skills(Spirit healer, for the record, beats the living shit out of the other three specs imo) and the very first skill that has arcane bolt and ends in a normal attack and spellpower boost.
For almost any circumstance I've been in this all works extremely well, being able to CC pretty much any number of ranged groups with Sleep, Fireball, and Nightmare if I need to, and inferno/lightning storming most things to hell. Use those, Crushing prison on the biggest baddie and pewpew away with the regulars(Arcane bolt, the lightning version as well when it's up, and life drain if you like) and you're Jesus, and if you somehow get aggro from Shale(Alistair is nowhere near as good in my experience), you have Force Field.
Add that to being able to heal like a champ and Dark Sustenence+Life Drain or w/e and you have a formidable mana pool on top of any pots you feel like downing. All in all, very badass and I don't see how either of the other two classes can hope to compete when I come back through.
My preferred party is Shale, Myself, Wynne for backup heals and revive, and either Sten or Lilliana if I don't feel like coming back for the chests later, but generally Sten with Starfang
Sleep and Horror for more CC and the fact that Horror can affect almost anything but the big bosses that I've seen so far, the first two heal spells(heal and the regen thing) all of the Spirit Healer skills(Spirit healer, for the record, beats the living shit out of the other three specs imo) and the very first skill that has arcane bolt and ends in a normal attack and spellpower boost.
For almost any circumstance I've been in this all works extremely well, being able to CC pretty much any number of ranged groups with Sleep, Fireball, and Nightmare if I need to, and inferno/lightning storming most things to hell. Use those, Crushing prison on the biggest baddie and pewpew away with the regulars(Arcane bolt, the lightning version as well when it's up, and life drain if you like) and you're Jesus, and if you somehow get aggro from Shale(Alistair is nowhere near as good in my experience), you have Force Field.
Add that to being able to heal like a champ and Dark Sustenence+Life Drain or w/e and you have a formidable mana pool on top of any pots you feel like downing. All in all, very badass and I don't see how either of the other two classes can hope to compete when I come back through.
My preferred party is Shale, Myself, Wynne for backup heals and revive, and either Sten or Lilliana if I don't feel like coming back for the chests later, but generally Sten with Starfang