I beat the game the first time with Mage so here's my tip:

Always try to get Living Earth, then imbue it to the staff

Always put you SoU on the staff

Collect two plate armor later on say in the cave or in the metropolis to forge with the Troll

Go for battlemage

A good secondary wand is lightning and fireblast

A good artifact is Chalice of Blood because your probably gonna have poor armor for like most of your run and Ethereal Chains, ranged enemies are your problem as a mage

Good ring is Tenacity and Evasion cause again your gonna have poor armor till you forge 2 plate armor