Best stats for a mage helmet/cowl?

[Arthur]

Playing the game on Nightmare, got to the point where I finally have wider access to tier 4 materials (level 18), and I'm playing as a rift mage with the Blade of Tidarion because of the Energy Barrage interaction (double projectiles), and the fact that it recovers mana on hit.

Because there's only a limited amount of dragon material in the game, I wanted to make sure I'm crafting the best equipment to increase my damage output, and I'm not sure what to do with the head gear. Should I get a battlemage cowl with +10 magic and +10 willpower or a superior skirmisher hat with +10 dexterity and +10 cunning? Obviously I know a mage doesn't benefit from dexterity's damage increase, but it does increase his crit damage (and cunning increases crit chance).

For reference, I haven't crafted a body piece yet, but my Blade of Tidarion gives me 24% crit chance, so my inquisitor currently has a total of 31% crit chance (its low, but I plan to increase it with the armor, if I can). What should I do?

Also, since I'm using Flashpoint, I equipped my character with that ring that guarantees a crit if you don't attack for 2/3 seconds. Just thought I should also crit more, generally speaking, during the rest of the fight.

[Deo]

Willpower > magic.

Willpower boosts attack and magic defense, while Magic only boosts attack and useless Barrier damage (which your party just dispels anyways).
I used Willpower helmets on everyone in my Nightmare playthrough.
Magic damage is the worst on Nightmare, so you need to mitigate it as much as possible (imo).

You can boost your crit to 40% (which is softcap) with a full cunning helmet (Superior Skirmisher Hat Schematic + 10 Imbued Tusket Hide = 20 cunning). After 40% crit you preferably go for crit damage.

Enemies on Nightmare have so much hp, that team synergies matter way more than gear (to an extent, of course).

[udtojan95]

40% crit chance softcap`? But my mage got 48% crit chance.

[Deo]

Originally posted by udtojan95:

40% crit chance softcap`? But my mage got 48% crit chance.

It's just more effective to stack crit damage after 40% crit chance, mathematically. Softcap means that you don't need to go over such value - only to reach it.

[Arthur]

Originally posted by Deo:

Willpower > magic.

Willpower boosts attack and magic defense, while Magic only boosts attack and useless Barrier damage (which your party just dispels anyways).
I used Willpower helmets on everyone in my Nightmare playthrough.
Magic damage is the worst on Nightmare, so you need to mitigate it as much as possible (imo).

You can boost your crit to 40% (which is softcap) with a full cunning helmet (Superior Skirmisher Hat Schematic + 10 Imbued Tusket Hide = 20 cunning). After 40% crit you preferably go for crit damage.

Enemies on Nightmare have so much hp, that team synergies matter way more than gear (to an extent, of course).

Ah, I see. I'll go for willpower instead, then.