Next game I 2 tap the enemy rogue DaD

I land 8 or 9 mace swings in a row on my cleric vs a rogue who misses everything. Die to the barb 3 secs later. Rogue has 50% health Dark And Darker Gold.

Next game I 2 tap the enemy rogue.
Next game I 1 shot a rogue as a ranger via the 5 shot arrow shotgun at point blank.
Next game I 5 shot chest shot a warrior, into a head shot, into a sword stab. He finishes at 40%.

Checking the damage numbers I take, vs what other people take in basic gear, something is OFF.

And yes. Magic missiles IS the only PVE spell that is worth using vs mobs (fireball is mediocre at best).

The problem with mages is ironmace balanced them around FLAT damage bonuses occurring MULTIPLE times per spell cast.

Fireball hits for IMPACT damage + SPREAD damage+ X BURN damage ticks. Each procing the flat damage mods.

Magic missiles fires like 10 or 12 for 10 or 12 damage, each procs the damage bonuses.

For example, if it fires 10 instances of 12 damage, then 4 flat damage would add 40 flat + your magic damage % modifier and another modifier for critical head shots(or reductions for limbs). That can get to the point EACH missile hits for like 50 or 60. That is incredibly powerful.

But for your point. Mages are the ANTI-Boss, and ANTI-ranged class. They kill boss mobs like the ogre, knight, wraith etc very quickly and easily. They take down archers safely, and they take down mages safely. They can blow up bugs with fireballs(might take more than 1 early). They have no bullet drop for range, but the game has very small sight lines and TERRIBLE render range baseline. Overall, mages theoretically would be FINE if they started with the crystal sword cheap Dark And Darker Gold, or dagger+orb. They start staff, which yields 0 magic damage per spell, and TERRIBLE physical damage.