Isn't blood mage unlocked by
I recently made a City Elf DW warrior... I guess maxing out all three DW lines, buffing dexterity as high as possible and strength/constitution to reasonable levels is the way to go.
Wearing light/medium armour should be enough since Shale is so good at tanking anyway.
Cone of Cold should still own Ogres. I've only seen Ogre Alphas resist it on occasion.
Heh, Cone of Cold just owns everything after a Vulnerability Hex, even dragons. I recently neutralized that insidious pack of 20 wolves outside Lothering that jumps at the party with one well-aimed Cone... on my first playthrough as a warrior things weren't so comfortable.