Combined with an archer's rooting spells my mage does enormous amounts of damage. Far more than the bear can do. If there's no archer present I'm usually the main death dealer while the bear is a distraction. With nightmare, weaken, and lightning I almost double the effectiveness of an archer too.

Healing is almost a back seat. Really I just use it to keep the meatshields/bears alive so that my mana doesn't drain so fast.