Haplok

Sure. Although... if you play in a party, you might as well trigger those combos with another character's companion (like Maia's Ishiza).

I think rubies can be shop bought. Maybe in Fort Deadlight? Not sure about sapphires.

Adra Ban is pretty much the only problem. All other ingredients can be shop bought (at random...). Since you can camp at shops, it's only a matter of patience /persistence.

Well, I've mostly used it on Berserkers and never had trouble racking the crits. I guess a druid might have trouble.

Hmm, I've noticed Moonwell countering several effects (on allies, effectively making aoe-all spells into aoe-enemy only). Not sure which now. Ray of Fire perhaps? Rays in general?

Hmm, use CC effects to lower enemy Deflection (for example Blind, Flank, Resolve drain) or better yet, paralyze enemies, since that adds 25% crit conversion, I think.

Megabosses aside, nuker mages are plenty strong enough with the likes of empowered high end spells and/or Deltro's Cage helmet lash. Don't need SoT/WoD/Brilliant really to clear normal encounters.

Claiming mages are weak in Deadfire... that's a very low effort trolling bait.

I think weapon damage counts. I remember leveling it up was trivial. As a Druid, you can stack the +3 PL from Voulge with +2 PL from Deltro's cage fullplate for a hefty +5 PL for lightning spells. Edit: Eh, Ninja'd by Boreorer. Again. Btw. the Voulge is a VERY cool weapon, one of my favorite style-wise, however it does suffer from enchantment capped at Superb. Meanwhile other weapons scale to Legendary or even to Mythic with end game stuff.

Arguably dual aoe hand mortars are more potent/fun then a slow rod blast. But again, that's not a wizard. Regarding Blood Mages, of course eternally extending a healing effect (to keep recovering spells via blood sacrifice) is one way to do it. But generally in most fights, particularly in a party setting - you don't need to. Vs enemy mobs Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon drain spell will keep you topped up just fine. And of course, if in a party, you can benefit from party-wide healing/regeneration effects. In a party I rarely use Wall of Draining. Usually no need/no fun.

...at level 19 with Whispers of the Wind. Before that I still think that a Blood Mage handily wins.

And yet wizard is still the strongest class in Deadfire...

Defensive spells garbage? Really? That's news to me. There is an authentic tradeoff between defensive buffs and more offensive spells. But a Blood Mage doesn't even need to choose...

Or with a Fighter. Unbending with Wall of Draining should be fun. In fact for melee with Citzal's Lance, a Fighter's Clear Out is particularly fun (aoe weapon x aoe ability).

My advice is to wear full plate when sailing. That really makes a difference survival-wise.

That's late game territory, though. In case of my Spellblade, just Blade Feast from Engoliero provides enough healing in many encounters and I rarely even use Wall of Draining. Let's not forget fantastic early game on Blood Mage, with Concelhauts Corrosive Siphon providing enough healing to keep up the spell spam.

Well, it's still a nice chunk of Deflection with no attack penalty and stronger full attacks for everyone else. With potential for even better ripostes, due to Binding Block modal +15 Accuracy when missed.

And Reflex save

Well, it does affect time to finish cast. The longer the cast, the more opportunities the enemies will have to Interrupt the cast. So, maybe not very important, but careful about dumping it too much IMO. 10 could be okay. Definitely don't raise Might much as a Blood Mage IMO.

Well, that might be. Provided that you're keen on actually finishing those last 30%. In general you don't need to do it to finish the game. And yeah, the earlier access to key abilities is important also. Kinda hate how long a MC Cipher needs to wait for Borrowed Instinct, Disintegrate, Amplified Wave for example. Edit: Also Assassinate provides +25 Accuracy bonus

By PL 8 and 9 the game is nearly over, so judging anything by that is simply wrong IMO. Well, I guess you can have some fun in the DLCs at least.

A swashbuckler with Magran's Favor axe and Tuotilo's Palm buckler (and monastic Unarmed training) works well. Wear Gipon Prudensco with Flanking immunity and Deflection & Reflex bonuses. Entonia's Ring, Deflection Cloak. Pick Overbearing Guard to enjoy massive bonuses vs enemies who'd try to disengage you (+100% damage with +15 Accuracy). You can use the Bleeding Cuts modal for axe (a lot of damage as DoT) and Binding Block modal for buckler (+15 Accuracy when missed in melee), when you don't need high attack speed (or if you play Turn Based ). You'll get a decent number of Riposte attacks anyway - if you're attacked in melee. Stack Claim & Regret Bonus for +10% damage, Sash of Judgement Belt for another 10%. My Eder with that setup deals way higher damage then I thought possible for him. Frequently crits with Crippling Strike for 100+ damage main hand, +20-30 damage 1st Bleeding & Deep Wounds tick, sometimes +40 damage Magran's Favor proc, some 30-ish damage offhand. Not uncommon to do 200 damage per Full Attack. A MC can do considerably better (defense & Riposte-wise) by picking Trickster subclass due to its massive defensive buffs. Unbroken would also be good for this.

Well, a fighter is tanky. But neither he nor the Ranger have significant damage boosts. I'd rather pick a rogue or maybe monk to combo with the ranger. Or even a Soulblade.

That is very valid. Although I greatly prefer Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon (aoe, health drain over time) to Draining Touch. In my case, there are very few fights I need Wall of Draining / want to "waste" time casting it. However I play Turn Based, and that changes the action economy quite a bit.

I prefer Blood Mage. Is much more versatile. AND sustainable. Evoker is missing many very important spells IMO. For Blood Mage Con/Per/Int, then Dex IMO. You want a good health buffer to be able to recover many spells before needing a heal AND to safely float below 50% hp as a human to have perma Fighting Spirit (+7 Accuracy and +15% damage is similar to 7 points of Per and 5 points of Might...). Personally I'd not risk playing a Helwalker Blood Mage. Helwalker's increased damage also affects Blood Sacrifice self-damage. In general I don't see a compelling reason to play a Blood Mage as a gish-type character (martial caster). A Blood Mage should never run out of spells to cast... and spells generally should be more impactful then weapon attacks. Pure would be fine, I think. For multiclassing I'm rather fond of my Blood Mage Assassin character. +25 spell Accuracy from Stealth is pretty huge. My character is critting a lot (good Accuracy and multiple conversion sources: 15% Ring of Prosperity's Fortune, 15% Merciless Gaze, 10% Dirty Fighting, 10% The Third Eye, 5-10% from Uncanny Luck - 10% with Community Patch, also access to 30% Aware from Mien of Death's Herald) and +50% spell crit damage from Stealth is nothing to sneeze at either (plus +4 Pen from Assasinate & 2x Pen on crit often leads to another +30% Overpenetration damage). Just a few times per fight but... that's usually enough. Worth noting that Assassinate also allows my char to achieve considerably higher Shock Lashes from Deltro's Cage Helmet - after my character self targets with Chain Lightning from Stealth. I've had lashes up to +130% damage, 100%+ is very common (they work with spells). And of course, the +25 Accuracy significantly reduces the risk of Grazing (still happens sometimes, then it's only like ~+30% damage) or Missing.