http://te4.org/characters/8530/tome/816 ... 6016fc2bf9
(Yes, it's a Lovecraft reference that I found fairly appropriate)
The Oozemancer, for me, somehow makes antimagic viable when I've had precious little luck using it with other melee/ranged "spell" mix classes (Wyrmics and Mindslayers, with Summoners and Solipsists being less balanced in that regard.) I've won with both but never when taking Antimagic. Obviously Oozemancers are tailored specifically for Antimagic, but there's not much preventing Wyrmics and Mindslayers (and the other ones in those same categories as well) from being equally capable of operating under the restrictions of Antimagic except the limited category points (not an inconsiderable issue, granted, but I've even had an unused category point left over with my Psionicist winners.) To my surprise, my Oozemancer not only survived, he was actually one of my easiest wins in the final battle. I was even within a couple turns of winning while my Sun Paladin ally was still alive (I've never managed to win before said ally's death.) He was about the tankiest tank I've ever played by the time I was half-way through the East and I didn't even start playing around with the higher-level Mucus and Ooze powers (specifically, using an army of oozes to swarm enemies) until the final Pride and subsequent ascent to the top of the peak. Once I got used to using those, it just started seeming patently unfair for my enemies.
I'm not entirely certain what made Oozemancers a winner for me when all my other Antimagic characters have fallen flat. I did like the reasonable variety of powers that seemed to cross a little of Wyrmic with a little of Summoner, giving a respectable range without the complications of poring over the numerous Wyrmic skill sets and working out what ones would be best in the long run. Nature, acid, and slime + mindpower...usually one or the other would do the trick (though the vampire rares in Dreadfall could be frustratingly durable.) Mix in the resilience provided by Resolve and the Fungus tree (I found antimagic shield far too expensive and unreliable for the benefits it provided) and a focus on the Mindstars for damage other than just mind and the Oozemancer was one tough s.o.b. The instantaneous aspect of the moss and mucus trees was also quite helpful, since I could take control of the field of battle before any enemies had time to do anything.
Also, I finally stopped obsessing over all the items I would never be able to enjoy using, so that helped, attitude-wise and prevented frustration. All-in-all, it was a fun character to run even with the limitations imposed by sticking to mindstars and not being able to use arcane items. The only bad part, which I know is being fixed in the next version, was the mysteriously dropping Willpower when switching Mindstars...which meant the best ones I found, in the Far East, were useless to me unless I wanted to try winning with severely limited Willpower.
If I run another Oozemancer, I will take advantage of the slime/ooze summoning and ancillary powers much earlier. Those were far more devastating than I anticipated.
