Ego Draconis: Can't stay alive, can't find potions

[Mister Bean]

I just picked up Ego Draconis, and I did fine until about level six. Now I'm level ten, and I drink about one potion for every enemy I kill. Naturally, that's unsustainable, and I'm spending all my gold and then some on potions.

I figured I'd play as a mage, so I dropped a few skill points here and a few there to try out all the spells. I have L3 Magic Missile, a super-wimpy Summon, and L1 Magic Burst. The rest of my spells, I don't really use.

I have 10 Vit, 10 Spi, 6 Str, 11 Int. I started buffing INT to increase my mana regen before I did the math and realized Spirit will boost that faster. What else can a L10 guy do to boost mana regen?

I have the feeling that I built an incorrigibly bad mage, and that I need to restart. Is it possible to make a character who fights only with ranged magic attacks and is not a total potion addict? What should a L10 mage look like?

Thanks for your help.

[GawainBS]

[url="http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=412768&fpart=1"]This[/url]thread has helped me a lot.

[Mister Bean]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I restarted, and built a mage who is very focused on Magic Missile and Magic Blast. I'm mowing my way through mobs, and I'm already back to the Guggenheim, drinking potions at about a quarter the rate of my first playthrough.

It seems like mages are a bit less powerful than the other builds, and I have to make sure I wring every last XP out of the lower-level dungeons before I move on to the higher level ones.

Once I meet the level requirements, I'll drop two skill points on the ability to replenish myself fully between battles: doing Life Tap to convert my health into Mana, and summoning a healer Ghost to replenish my health.

[GawainBS]

IIRC, the mana regen & manatap skills were also very good.