what to look for in a savegame? (using kbscanner)

[BB Shockwave]

Hi!

Well, if you are a Mage, you will want the Pain Skull and the Ancient Amulet for SURE. Make sure you have them somewhere and you can find them early in the game.
Spells are the other key - generally, I'm a completist so I make sure all the spells can be found in the game. Generally speaking, damage spells are useful early on, but later you will require more subtle ways to win battles. Sheep, Target, Hypnotize work great, Trap can be a lifesaver, and even if you don't play no-loss, get Resurrection and Sacrifice. In Legend, summon spells are not strong, they are OK early on but get oneshotted easily late game, so don't bother with them. I found LIghtning very useful because of its stun ability, too. Armaggedon though - not worth it, causes too much loss to you, too.
You'll need to conserve mana in battles, so Magic Spring is very useful. Couple it with Target and slow to ensure that enemy only attacks that unit.
Phantom and Magic Shackles have their uses, too.


You should decide what units you want to use, too - I played through with a mage focusing on Chaos and Distortion with an Undead army, which makes certain spells useless (most Order spells don't work on them) and others very useful.

Oh and - crystals don't grow on trees. Max out your Mage-specific skill Alchemy that lets you upgrade and learn spells cheaper, and even so, think before you waste 30 crystals on say, the Phoenix upgrade.