I didn't get a mage head for my creature until I was level 16, from one of the chests in Lovis' room. I had reloaded a few times there at level 10, but was only offered a warrior head, so decided to try again later.
I actually got a Fresh Dragon Elf Head there, which I'm not using right now. Too bad the only legs I've found are Infested Goblin Legs, though!
AFAIK the ghost summon will concentrate on healing if it is safe, and possibly cast a fireball if not.
How much does it heal, anyway? Is it even enough to be worth using?
Level 19 is right (or slightly over-leveled) for doing the Battle Tower - I assume you mean Laiken's tower, not Lovis' tower in Broken Valley. Orobas Fjords is what I consider "Act III". You're playing on Nightmare mode, and you're surprised that the enemies can be a nightmare to fight? Finish the Battle Tower, it'll help a lot.
Haha, no, no, I meant Maxos Temple, right after talking to Lovis! And no, the Fjords that I can access aren't hard at all, really. Draw enemies up with fireballs and arrows, light them up with Firewall, and that's that for the level 23 opponents who show up there prior to going to Maxos Temple. I'm nearly level 22 now, with two pieces of the Aleroth Archmage set from that Depleted Ore Mine (which I mowed through like it was full of bunnies). Clearly, I am hugely overleveled for where I'm headed. The main issue is just that if I try to run up and clobber my opponents with my maces, I end up buried post-haste. Gotta keep enemies from damaging me, else I die pretty fast. I mean, the same would happen at range if they actually ever hit me -- I accidentally got hit with four green magic balls at once in the Temple of Doom once which ate all 250 of my health (and I died). In melee, though, you can't avoid getting hit, and I'm just wondering how I'm going to get past that...
I've noticed that Sosostra's chest does seem to give higher-quality creature parts.
It didn't take me very long to realize that it was a random drop and absolutely overpowered for where I was. Not that I'm complaining; hell, the game was much harder early on anyway.
The Ghost can cast a fireball spell, but it's really weak. Don't use the Ghost for the fireball spell. The Summon Undead spell has a better fireball, but probably not as good as the creature's.
Mainly just looking for ways to improve overall damage output so I can kill things fast enough that I can afford to get up close and personal.
I don't recommend mixing magic missiles and melee, you won't be getting use of half your build no matter which one you attack with.
Yeah, you don't really have the time to use Magic Missile in melee. At range, though, if you have a ton of magic damage buffs, that spell will do a whole lot of damage at a rather low mana cost. Tempting...
Also, looking up info on it, it seems to me that I should just skip the Aleroth Archmage set altogether (except maybe the belt and a ring for that huge mana regen bonus). The defense it offers is actually weaker than what I currently have equipped, with the exception of magic armor (which is somewhat superfluous due to my high intelligence stat). It also may take forever to collect -- the level requirements are actually higher than the vastly-superior Ulthring set. Should I even attempt to collect pieces of the set or just strip it and sell it off, using superior generic equipment in its place?
//EDIT: I have another question. As I understand, stats are capped at 100. If I want to use the Dragon Wizard set in FoV (which adds +20 intelligence), should I stop at 75-80 base intelligence or can I exceed the 100 cap with bonuses like that?
