[skalchemist]

Hi:  This is my first serious attempt at a character, so I'm interested in what you would do differently.  This character is intended to be able to shoot stuff with pistols, and also to be the magical defense (e.g. counterspell, banishing). 

I made it with Genesis (which is awesome!) so its easier to link the character sheet PDF that comes from that: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BNP22dqQTrJMKl4Y_Prw_Ot1R125t8O-/view?usp=sharing

The sheet doesn't show the priority picks, and after creation they seem to disappear, but I"m nearly certain it was: Attributes A, Skills B, Magic C, Metatype D, Resources E.

The character was made assuming two things: 1) you don't get more power points as a Mystic Adept than you original assign the adept side regardless of how high you push your magic rating, and 2) you can assign zero magic rating to the mystic side of mystic adept and still buy spells with Karma.  Because he is trying to do two things (shoot pistols, magic defense) he is probably not as good as he could be at either of those things if he focused on them.

I'm very interested in hearing what you would have done differently.  I'm sure I could optimize, and I am at sea as to which equipment is "must have"  (e.g. tranq patches?)  Any feedback is  appreciated.

[CigarSmoker]

Ok here comes an open ended list not everything is a must do

Specilisations:
i would choose spellcasting instead of counterspelling and conjuring instead of banishing.

Reason: Counterspelling is rarely used, spellcasting is used all the time. You can use summoned spirits to battle other spirits instead of banishing, and banishing is twice as draining as summoning.

Qualities:
-I would consider getting "Focused Concentration" at least Rank I for one free spell sustain. Especially since you have picked 2 sustained spells.
-Analytic Mind is so good and cheap any hermetic mage needs it ^^ but i understand if you dont want it for balancing reasons.

Powerpoints
- with sustained spells you cant walk trough "Mana Barriers" meaning when your GM secures any mid location with a Mana Barrier you walk right into it and cant even see it ... with the Charisma 1 its almost impossible to "sneak" trough it except when you use "Increase Attributes" Spells beforehand ...
So I would pick "Astral Perception" and default on Astral Skill.

Priorities
Switch Metatype D and Magic C. You gain points by doing so. Put the extra points in Edge. Edge 1 is terribly low. With 5 Edge you can summon a strong spirit easily (use Edge to force its hits to reroll)