Moldy Pearl Barley

Sometimes you have to take out your sword and fight, which isn't very mage-like.

When I was playing as a mage, after getting the first fire arrow rune, I forgot about melee weapons. You just need to pump up your mana. And have more mana potions and don't forget to assign them to a hotkey. And that's it. I rarely used my staff, just to swat away flies.