Don't forget that mages have to deal with NPC elemental resistance as well, on top of cutting through magical armor. Physical don't have to do that since there's no armor rating on gear anymore. You cant become 90% resistance to physical damage.
More often then not you're trying to kill someone who's 20% or 30% immune to all but 1 element, while they also have a 110% resistance to one, so you end up healing them unintentionally since it's a huge waste of points to have more than 2 elements. you spread yourself too thin.
