Magician Help.

Well if you want an offensive magic user, then pretty much you just get to choose between different sets of the four elemental spells. You get to mix and match them depending on the "level" of the spell, not the element type. So for one level you can have different elements, then other elements at the next. You should check the gamefaqs guide for now. You get all of the Zan spells I think regardless. The first level you get all four types. But by the next round you have to make choices. Also there are Excel skills which make your spells a little better one at a time. Make sure you choose Excel skills for the spell you actually have or they are useless. Basically technique are motor skills, and knowledge are trade/minor skills.

There are some magic related chain skills recently added. The attack magic variety requires you know something of the curse type magic as well.

There isn't anything about these chainskills in english on the internet yet afaik. I'm about to write up a translation of them sometime soon though on this page, including descriptions:

http://dbdb.digitaldevildb.com/wiki/index.php/Meta:Skills_Repertoire

Will be in the "Banishment" section.

There is also the "Magic Fist" chain skill that combines magic with fighting, you can read about on gamefaqs. Everyone with magic seems to want to use it since it was introduce. Doesn't seem like a very creative character path these days. The Banishment skill is much newer and probably more interesting. The Fist skill just amounts to four elemental "rush" attacks, but they're quite harrowing granted they seem to combine magic and attack power for some of the highest damage dealing potential in the game.

If you wanna learn the Banishment skillset, I'll try to explain the requisites, as they're not completely documented atm.

editted: Also I noticed the other day that skills are divided into two sets called Technique and Knowledge. This could very well be a new development. Its possible though I just overlooked the distinction until now. It would greatly balance the skill system to make this division and separate the skill point caps thusly. If that decision was made, the players with all their skillpts in techniques would stand the most to loose. As a game designer myself, I just can't see how the system could go on the way it is, but it would be a trick to reorganize the system at this point without pissing some players off. The Knowledge skills start after the Summoning skill in the skill list. If you hover over the skill bars, the first set of kana in the upper left is either technique or knowledge.