I think I've become addicted to high mana regen. It actually does have some uses now that I've tried.

If you go into a crowd, rush in as pure int, absorb (for bandit boys, the bird does a blast shot-like attack) a few blows and cast your mana shield, you can quite literally simply stay in the center and nuke away with your mana shield. It won't deplete due to the high mana regen. By the time it does, if you are a pure int, well, the mob will be dead anyways from your spells.