Magic Gameplay, does it scale well?

[Xalaron]

So I have never been interested in magic gameplay in fate before, and was curious about trying it. Can anyone with experience using it and melee compare it for me? Like is it easier as a sword and board character to kill first boss then magic, or easier as magic. Same question for 2nd boss and 3rd boss. Also am curious if the dmg of spells holds up well on the hardest difficulty, or when using a strong item passed on through retirement.

Just having bonus damage or just bonus strength on an item repeatedly passed on allows one to continue to higher and higher level enemies. I have gone as far as lvl 5000 enemies before as melee. Can magic do this with bonus all skills? Does mana regen ever get high enough to not be an issue?

Edit: Should also ask, are summons worthwhile as a caster? Are they effective tanks or do they kill enemies quickly?

Also what spells are ideal for damage. I assume theres one or two that outshine the other spells.

[Onibushi]

Fate is a game to roll Mages, lol. Mana regen is very, very quick and it scales well. Damage dealt through spells is also huge, the more Attack Magic Skill points you invest the better. The only cons: resistances and immunities. It would be ideal to learn all magic schools (fire, ice and electric) otherwise you might find troubles killing some monsters with immunities/resistances.

About summons, they kill very quick but are not as tank as your pet, it's ideal to transform it into a flaming mustang (second best pet before Scorpfeline, which is veeery rare to obtain) and raise its HP through jewelry. For summons you'll only have to boost your Charm Magic.

[Xalaron]

Well I gave magic a playthrough. I started with an heirloom with +12 allskills so that helped a little bit. Started with fishing till around 400k gold, bought gear with max amount of sockets for each slot, and put superior mana regen gems in each socket. I used staves with bonus to all 3 magic schools and made sure to keep upgrade to higher tier staves as they became available. All my stat points went in Magic stat, and skill points went in Attack Magic.

I found the best summon spell to be crystal crabs. It summons 3 units at one time. They gain levels equal to the charm skill of the player. Most other summon spells only get levels for ever 2 or 3 points in charm skill and not a 1/1 ratio. About midway through the 2nd dungeon the lvl 35 crabs i had were getting one shot but still usefull distractions since the spell summons 3 at one time. This continued till i beat the game.

Mostly used a Fire aoe spell after the first dungeon, as very few monster types in 2nd and 3rd dungeons were immune to fire. Even with all sockets possible, filled with superior mana regen gems, I still had mana issues. All my stat points were in magic. I got up to 230 magic by time i reached and killed the final story boss.

While magic mage boss killing easy, it was not as easy as ranged weapon with knockback and attack speed. It was much better boss killer then melee. Magic was really slow in killing regular monsters, I always one shot non boss monsters with magic spells, but had to constantly sit and wait for mana to regen. Melee and ranged gameplay both were superior in this aspect, killing mobs a little slower, but never having downtime and constantly moving forward.

All in all I think I enjoy magic more then ranged gameplay, but less then melee.

[Epic B]

I've mostly only experienced the first game but from my experiences there, spellcasting spells can be very powerful and viable at least as far as the final boss. I haven't played far beyond those levels. If you socket enough Sapphires in things mana regen becomes a non issue. The best starter damage dealing spell is Frost, but Meteor Strike is also quite useful once you level it up. Not sure about Fire Rain, but Dragon Fire isn't worth the high magic cost. Blizzard is also useful if you can swing the high Magic requirement. For electric damage spells, do what you want. I don't use them as much. What I do for spellcasters is to level up all three magic skills (Attack, Defense, Charm) equally and have a number of spells for each sphere. The best summons in my opinion are Wyverns and Ghost Valkyries. Instead of getting a staff to boost any of your magic skills, I'd recommend dual wielding Elven Sceptres, if the higher Strength requirement compared to a staff doesn't scare you off. For defense spells, at least get Haste, Spectral Armor and a healing spell.