Best Mage Archetype?

Hi, I'm an older player and was wondering what the best build is for mage. I'm playing with a friend but would also be able to do some damage and survive alone lol, I had a look at the different paths and arcanist looked interesting but does the skill arcane transfer prevent you from casting healing permanently?

Sorry, it's been a long time since I last played

 

Arcane transfer does prevent healing with the heal spell. If you want damage and heals, going with a riftwalker or riftwalker/lightbender combo is rather good.

 

Riftwalker gives you a lot of damage over time, making it an excellent boss killer. Typically you won't be stacking Winded up fully and Riftwalker does struggle with Mana Sustain, but overall it has the highest damage potential compared to the other two archetypes.

Lightbender has a lot of survivability but poor damage, forcing you to combine it with Riftwalker to get damage. This combo is extremely powerful, but if you choose to stick with Ophanim orbs instead of Meteor, your AoE damage is non-existent and it will make grinding a little sluggish since Ophanim makes you single target damage

Arcanist is excellent for spell spam and grinding, boasting the most AoE damage. The lack of a heal spell can make Arcanist feel a little squishy for a mage, but you won't struggle with Mana Sustain, being able to constantly cast spells. It can struggle against bosses however.