Respecing Skills Points - What To Do?

[Spiritualist]

Pretty obviously quesiton from the thread title, but I'm looking to respec my skill points. I currently have:

5 Heal
5 Frostbite
5 Lightning
1 Resurrect
5 Firestorm
0 Ice Storm
3 Drain Life
0 Weakness
5 Nightmare
5 Magic Shield
5 Blessing of Vitality
5 Blessing of Might

I'm wanting to know what to change them to? These are my current thoughts:

5 Heal - because healing at max is good.
0 Frostbite (reduce by 5) - because I'm thinking it's better to have these points in Ice Storm as an area skill and can be used with Firestorm to make combos.
5 Lightning - seems to be a good area spell.
1 Resurrect - I believe this only needs to be at 1.
5 Firestorm - seems to be a good area spell.
5 Ice Storm (add 5) - seems like it could be a good area spell to do with Firestorm to give combos.
3 Drain Life - not really sure why I'd need this.
5 Weakness (add 5) - as I think it would be good to get max reduction of damage from opponents.
5 Nightmare - not really sure why I'd need this at 5.
3 Magic Shield (reduce by 2) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.
3 Blessing of Vitality (reduce by 2) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.
4 Blessing of Might (reduce by 1) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.

In case it makes a difference, I'm pretty much all INT.

What do you think?

[Royce]

I'm wanting to know what to change them to? These are my current thoughts:

5 Heal - because healing at max is good.
0 Frostbite (reduce by 5) - because I'm thinking it's better to have these points in Ice Storm as an area skill and can be used with Firestorm to make combos.
5 Lightning - seems to be a good area spell.
1 Resurrect - I believe this only needs to be at 1.
5 Firestorm - seems to be a good area spell.
5 Ice Storm (add 5) - seems like it could be a good area spell to do with Firestorm to give combos.
3 Drain Life - not really sure why I'd need this.
5 Weakness (add 5) - as I think it would be good to get max reduction of damage from opponents.
5 Nightmare - not really sure why I'd need this at 5.
3 Magic Shield (reduce by 2) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.
3 Blessing of Vitality (reduce by 2) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.
4 Blessing of Might (reduce by 1) - not really sure that it's needed at 5 as I don't believe it will make any difference.

In case it makes a difference, I'm pretty much all INT.

What do you think?

I would not put 5 points in icestorm. It just doesn't do enough damage, and with 1 or 2 (which I have) it still combos just as well with firestorm. If you max icestorm, do it because you want the extended freeze time. It's not worth it for any other reason IMO.

If you PvP, max out Drain. If not, I would either still max it or just drop it. The only thing this skill has going for it for PvE IMO, is high damage, so if you use it might as well max it.

I wouldn't spend more than 1 point in Mana Shield. You get 2 points of armor buff per skill point spent after the first. You can get more spending those points elsewhere.

Definitely keep BOV maxed! Along with mana shield, and heal, this is how mages stay on their feet. You get about 6 points of armor buffage per skill point spent after the first on this skill. Definitely a crucial skill.

If you PvP, keep BOM maxed also. If you don't PvP, but consider yourself and offensive mage in any way, also keep this maxed. If you like to play the support-style mage, maybe even drop down to 1 point.

Here's what I use for my Int and Str mages if you're interested:
5, 0, 5, 1
5, 2, 5, 5
5, 1, 5, 5

But whatever works for your style of play is what you should go with. Skills are the one part of a build that you can actually have some fun with and go against the grain without crippling yourself.

[Snakespeare]

Royce, I am sure you are right (yes, you are 99% of the time right, you may quote me), but why so many into the Blessings?

Spiritualist, drain probably seems a little repugnant to you, but it is very effective. If you cast it while a boss is chasing you through empty halls, you'd be amazed. I don't think I have anything else that takes that big a bite out of a boss.

[Chickdigcookies]

this is my build...its cool.

[Chickdigcookies]

Royce, I am sure you are right (yes, you are 99% of the time right, you may quote me), but why so many into the Blessings?

Spiritualist, drain probably seems a little repugnant to you, but it is very effective. If you cast it while a boss is chasing you through empty halls, you'd be amazed. I don't think I have anything else that takes that big a bite out of a boss.

i imagine the 15-20 second self buffs...thats why i have em maxed

[Royce]

Royce, I am sure you are right (yes, you are 99% of the time right, you may quote me), but why so many into the Blessings?

Well, for one thing, you need them to to PvP as a mage. Beyond that, BOV is really an excellent self buff (in addition the team buff). 32 extra armor can save your butt when mana shield is in cooldown, and those 2 skills used at the same time make you nearly untouchable for a short time (particularly great against dex bosses who hit hard but die fast). BOM makes you an an absolute killing machine for 20 seconds. If you have some dex in your build, with maxed BOM on you will crit with the majority of your attacks.

[Spiritualist]

Cool tips so far. Certainly I doing PvP yet and generally I prefer to play as a support mage, but sometimes I do find myself with 4 other mages so sometimes - not by choise - I'm taking a tanking/attack roll.