New to the game, mage advice?

Hello good people of wynncraft.
I have played this game a long time ago but after returning to it last week I noticed I know almost nothing about it. I started playing with a couple of my friends, me and one of them having played the game before while the other two are completely new to it.
I want to go with mage, as that is my go to class wherever it is available, we LOVE casting spells n pondering the orb. If you have any advice I'll gladly take it, but for now I have one main question - what powders do I use? I am aware of how they work and stuff, but I can't figure out which one to focus on.
I am going for the riftwalker archetype tho am considering trying out Arcanist coz I like big bursts of damage, and I'm around combat 26 so right past unlocking the first real archetype features.
I use ice snake a lot since it's easier to hit stuff with it compared to meteor, so that would mean water powder.
However, riftwalker uses air from what I've seen.
And then it leaves meteor, which I use on bosses and harder to kill/slower enemies, which also uses earth powder.
Is there a single "best" choice, or is this a matter of "play around and find out"?
Do I invest all ability points into riftwalker, or do I spread them out for the earlygame, investing in a little bit of everything?

 

Realistically, the best powder is either the one that complements your build the most or the one that gives the best powder special (that complements your build the most). You can use any element with any archetype with no real issues; some may be better in some cases but none are unusable. I think the single most popular build I've seen since Fruma came out is fire riftwalker. I'd personally use whatever powders either get the largest damage bonus from your build or whichever ones deal the same damage type as your weapon.

 

Aight then. I shall go for water and thunder, since my Psychorium does these two types of damage and ice snake uses water anyway. Tbh the rest of my gear as of right now is whatever gives me the most combat xp and health.

 

I don't think it's worth worrying about what powders you're using before level 80. In the early and midgame levels, you're changing gear often enough that it's an unnecessary amount of investment. You should be changing out all gear that's 10 levels below your current combat level, ideally faster than that; I prefer to use only legendaries, since they're rare and strong and therefore I don't have to think about them often.

I think Lightbender is probably the best Mage archetype for leveling, and it works well even in the endgame; you can completely ignore health potions as well as all combat challenges because you outheal almost all damage that can be thrown at you. Sustain builds are very easy to run.