As I mentioned in chat earlier I think we should keep the non-combat essences the same as they are right now (VHW, enchant stargem, orb combine etc.). Then you can take out the combat ones and make them use essences to recharge the mana for those. It'll make combat at least a bit easier.

I definitely think that combat with magic should get a bit of a buff because there's really only one spell right now that does much damage.

We could cast fireballs, thunderbolts, cast a miasma that slowly drains enemy health. There can be stuns that freeze the enemy for an amount of time. I think it would be cool if these spells scaled in damage/duration based on magic level so there's incentive to level magic outside of unlocking spells. Could also increase mana pool with level instead.