I think blizzard is as overpowered as fireball.

Yeah, an ice shard attack would be nice. 

Water & Earth both seem to suck as far as I can see. In terms of power id rate them as:

1. Death with Death Worship
2. Fire
3. Death without Death Worship
4. Life
5. Air
6. Water
7. Earth

I agree that chaos and pandemonium suck and should be swapped for something better.  But I'm not in favor of adding in a water low-level direct strike spell.  One of the problems with the original Elemental design was that the magic all ended up being the same.  IIRC each type of magic had a direct attack spell, these were essentially the same with a different color animation.  This lead to a boring magic system where the magic types were poorly differentiated.

I think the fact that Water magic is different is a good thing, and I don't think each type of magic needs a level 1 or level 2 direct attack spell.  If you want a low-level direct attack spell roll up a fire mage.

As far as Blizzard vs. Fireball goes, Fireball also takes two rounds to cast and can be interrupted just like Blizzard.  According to the Hiergamenon they both do the exact same amount of damage (6 +3/shard) and have the same casting cost (30 mana) but Blizzard has a much bigger radius.  Blizzard is a level IV spell though, whereas Fireball is level III.

Ditch chaos and pandemonium for something more interesting and water would be ok. Most schools have a low level utility spell, either damage, buff, or debuff that's worth using - water does not.

Oooh, I really like your Downpour idea Edwin!  I wonder if the game engine can handle it though.  AFAICT there is nothing in tactical combat that has a notion of a limited range.

That's a really nifty idea though if they can pull it off.

I still say all magic schools should have 1 damaging spell for early game survival of a pure caster sovereign.  An ice shard (hell, even a hard-packed snowball!) or earthen rock/stone would help diversify what people are using in the game.

LOL Procipinee is the second most powerful Sov once you get her some enchantments. She is fine with just a few spearmen. I guess not everyone plays the same though. 

Water should have good low level buffs. It should also be able to wreck armor by freezing it. Flood is a very cool idea. I think it is actually possible with the current xml too. As are ranged spells. Bows have a limited range, you just need to go really far back. 

I suggest a Drown spell, where dmg is is done to the opponent over several turns. It could also reduce initiative. It would be a nice break away from Ice this and Freeze that...

It's worth mentioning that the Earth Elemental is the toughest of the three summons, an earth mage can create fertile land, there's Giant Form.. and there's earthquake. You can even paralyze an army with uh.. Tremor. You know what, if Fracture couldn't be resisted.. or an apprentice couldnt flatten your mountains, I might put earth in the top 3.

Water doesn't have much going for it apart from the mantle. A lot of it's most useful spells are cross-path, like Stinking Mud, Gentle Rain, Calm... There's still a lot of potential in Chaos and Pandemonium, chaos is usually awesome. I'd hope for a chance of random summons, ally or enemy, or random buffs/debuffs for the entire battlefield, or something chaotic. Something you lean on when you're about to lose. A monkey wrench. That would help.