Well, I have always been partial to melee and combat magic.
I've spent a good amount of time with the combat mage in DS2 Multiplayer, and I have focused my specialties tabs towards fire damage.
I did this because of "Detonation" and "Flame Nexus". They are both deadly hero powers capable of dealing massive amounts of damage when you cast them. I tinkered around with Death Magic on my single player character, but preferred fire damage since there were more powers to support it.
If you're looking to be a fire casting combat mage, I suggest leveling your "Devastation" and "Searing Flames" as much as possible until you get to level 24. Once you hit 24, level in "Ignite". By 24 you should have both hero powers mentioned above, and you will dish out a lot more fire damage if your specialties tabs are "pure".
The only disadvantage to this is when you fight a monster that is strong against what you're pure in; in my case fire spells. In this instance you'll either want to use a curse spell that weakens them to fire, or change spells entirely.
One good strategy for any mage is to use spells one level down from what you can use.
For instance....
If you're level 50 combat mage and you have a level 49 and 50 combat spell, use the level 49 spell until you reach 50....etc. This way you will save many mana potions.
In some cases, I use spells 5 levels lower than my possible spell because there aren't always low mana, high damage spells availible.
Just make sure you take into account the "damage per" and "attack speed".
Some spells like "Plasma Globes" have a higher mana cost but a slow cast rate. Other spells with faster cast rates and lower mana costs might actually drain your mana faster because they cast 2x-3x faster than other spells. Just experiment with it and you'll see what I mean.
The only other bit of advice I have to offer is for solo-ists. If you are a mage travelling solo, you have 2 choices.
1. Load up on armor and be more protected than the average mage, but do less damage.
2. Collect high hp, mp, magic damage items that are (usually) low on armor.
In most cases you will find that the higher level armors don't have as many magical properties.
For instance...
A magical mage robe might look like this:
Mage Robe
+15 to armor
+10 to intelligence
+10% to combat magic damage
A more protective leather mage armor:
Leather Mage Armor
+30 to armor
+5 to intelligence
This is not always the case, but I find that it happens quite frequently. Every once in a while you'll find a really nice piece of armor that is good in all aspects, but this is usually a set item or a rare item.
If you do choose to go solo mage, you'll be doing a lot of hit-and-run tactics.
Death and Lightning mages are especially good at this because their spells can go through walls and other barriers. Fire damage is more powerful, but you give up accuracy for strength.
I find myself summoning creatures a lot to keep my enemies distracted while I blast fireballs from a distance. If you don't like summons, try running in circles and casting spells. This works well until you fight ranger or mage monsters; they hit right through your "magical cloth" at a distance, and usually take half your hp or more in one shot.
Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment. Anyone else want to add on?
UKI Unknown
[This message has been edited by uki unknown (edited 09-06-2005 @ 11:10 PM).]