The real problem is that weapons increase the damage of all physical attacks on top of what they get from Warfare, Scoundrel, Huntsman and Weapon Masteries. Mages do not scale with weapons and on top of that have to deal with a bunch of resists throughout the game. Physical doesn't have anything comparable to worry about.
Keep in mind that Mage spells scale to your character level where physical skills don't - but instead scale based on weapon damage (which is scaled to your level). So in a sense they theoretically scale in the same way. However; If we aren't factoring in that Mage spells don't have an additional focus ability that physical weapon based users
do have (e.g; INT+Pyro as opposed to a phys build with STR||FIN +
Weapon Specialization + Warfare) then I'd be in disagreement with you here. But since it's almost mandatory to specialize in a weapon for
min/maxed damage on a physical build, Magi can't do that, so for this particular argument I agree with you which also brings up my next point...
...The comparison between 2H
Melee Phys and a Mage who specializes primarily in only one spell school (plus some scattered abilities for buffs etc.) is like comparing apples to oranges anyway. They are both viable fruits (characters) but have completely different tastes and textures (play styles and itemization requirements).
That's not to say that you can't build a
very effective Mage though.
Huntsman has nothing to do with the argument at all either. It's useful, and some don't realize that it affects spells, but then many do know, and it doesn't change how weak elemental damage is aside from a few late game and source hungry spells. The more damaging skills are too AP hungry too, and Elemental Affinity isn't the answer.
Elemental Affinity is never the complete answer, though at times can be helpful. What many people
don't realize and thus don't utilize, which makes Magi super powerful, are Green Teas and the Level 5 Polymorph skill Apotheosis which, when used in-tandem, allows you to spam almost every tier 3 Source spell on the books at a cost of 1AP and 0SP per cast. Add in the ability to pop Skin Graft next turn with the addition of utilizing Adrenaline Rush and Sacrifice (if you're an Elf) and you can pretty much obliterate everything in single turn with a Mage, even a hybrid Mage, unless they are highly resistant or immune to your damage (which
is a thing).
Another skill with a bonus not mentioned on the tooltip, and also a relatively misguiding tooltip thereof since it specifically mentions it works with ranged attacks and ranged weapon abilities, even though it works with melee attacks and abilities as well, is Elemental Arrows. Yes, this ability will add x amount of damage type to your
melee based attacks and skills. So on a Rogue or STR based Melee, pop it on a puddle of Blood and see what happens to your outputted physical damage. It's hilarious!
Park a Ranger and a Mage with the same Huntsman rank on a ledge after level 17. The Ranger will be auto attacking up to 3000+ non crit (My level 21 non crit auto attacks for 1900 on the ground). That's not even counting Ballistic Shot which can crit for close to 8K near the end of the game. Meanwhile, a Mage might be wanding for 150 - 200 unless they are launching higher AP costing, and longer cooldown spells that will crit for up to 3K on a nice day.
AoE isn't a valid arguement either when most enemies only come in pairs.
Totally disagree with you there. I don't think I've ever wasted AP on a wand toss, other than extremely early game where available memorized spells are limited. Rangers, whilst having plenty of multi-target abilities (Ricochet, Arrow Storm, Pierce, Arrow Spray), are otherwise almost exclusively used as a single target damage character with the bulk of AP spent on basic attacks where Mage skills are focused on AOE and can do so very effectively if you position yourself properly and use skills like teleport and Netherswap to preface the bulk of your turn to group enemies together. On the opposing side of the same token though, as far as "balance" is concerned, AOE skills should never be doing anywhere close to the same damage per target as a single target focused ability that you explained like Ballistic Shot, however, those figures you stated (8k Ballistic Shot crit) are VERY situational based on high ground and the *substantially* increased range gained as a result.
I have doubts.
Cause warfare increases all physical damage done, and that's huge.
There is nothing that can increase magic damage in the same way.
+ you need to waste trait on Savage Sortilege.
Warfare is just OP.
Two handed weapon STR build obliterates everything in D:OS 2.
The funny thing is too, people just love to parrot how OP Two-Handed builds are when they are the third strongest of the physical builds until Act 4. Being able to land a huge hit every now and then doesn't matter over the course of a fight compared to what Rogues and especially Rangers are doing.
2H melee is quite powerful but not the end-all-be-all. The comparison as far as numbers go is very similar, but it really will come down to your preferred playstyle.
Savage Sortilege isn't exactly a wasted talent either. Most of the time, your Mage isn't going to land the finishing blow on an enemy (Usually it's you Melee or Ranger(s) that will do that) so you don't need Executioner, and you don't need to take Pawn either because in most fights your Mage is usually perched somewhere and remains somewhat stationary for the duration of most battles as long as you have LOS. Otherwise usually maneuvering with Wings, Phoenix Strike, Cloak and Dagger, Retreat, your Cat summon etc, etc. This leaves an open talent for none other than Savage Sortilege.
Personally I prefer STR Melee builds though, but non specialized where my damage takes a small hit overall in favor of pumping Necromancer for insane survivability (Can heal to full in 1 turn from half VIT just by leeching). This also allows me to go 2H, DW, or SS as STR Melee without any repercussions for one in favor over the other, and I can itemize that character on a per-battle basis. I can also scale more damage upward with Scoundrel since my crit chance is usually around 80%, which is almost as effective as 5% damage from a weapon specialization (Except for 2h) and also gives me insane movement buff. If I want to be tanky as hell in a certain fight, I equip a really nice 1H + An Maflin. If I just want to deal a lot of damage, I go 2H. If I want to CC without relying as much on skills to do so, I Dual Wield 1-handers each with 3x 20% chance debuffs. My go-to is usually any combination of 20% chance to Stun, Petrify, Knock Down, Set Atrophy, Blind, and Silence. Unfortunately mathematics and statistics don't make a guaranteed 120% chance to debuff, as a 20% chance to proc each of 6 debuffs can all fail. The chances of them all failing is incredibly slim though, and many time will result in multiple debuffs being applied to an enemy per attack.
Anyway just some food for thought toward this, what seems to be at this point, age old debate about Magi vs. Phys. "Which is better".
And yeah, OP you didn't exactly specify
how a Mage can outdo 2H melee. I gave plenty of examples and reasons and situations and experiences of mine that prove that you can make them extremely viable and useful, but I've yet to see or experience them
outperforming or outdoing phys builds as the thread title suggests.
