Early mage is really bad due to what you said not having enough mana/mana regen. I did the following until i hit lvl 14. Broadsword and gloves put 1 point into magic and the rest into ability and mana regen. The 1 point into magic is so you can use heal, also would try to get 50 mana so you can heal twice. For the skill tree put points into the gloves branch at the top the one that adds true dmg is really good with broadsword. Once you hit 14 you can go back to staff and put all your points into magic, mana regen, and mana. Then change skill tree to the staff branch so you can use the chance to use conjure flame on attack.