[Chalkarts]

Do you find it worthwhile in any situation to combine the two?

I like the challenge of blending them and am always trying to find ways to make them compliment one another.

I'm considering a full wizard with exceptional attribute Magic just so I can sink a point of essence into ware and keep magic 6.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Prototype Transhuman gives you a full essence point's worth of bioware (but only bioware) for no essence cost.  That's a no-brainer of a quality if you're combining magic and augmentations.

Beyond that: there's tons of things you can do with 1 point of essence that open up capabilities that'd otherwise be unavailable.  It's quite plausible that it'd be worth giving up 1 point of magic to get some of those capabilities.

[Chalkarts]

I'm thinking some nice eyeware, a skilljack, & datajack
Maybe an obvious arm if I want to get crazy and go down to 4 essence.

Can a burnout be effective with a low magic?  If i went completely mad and dropped to 2-3 essence would i still be able to use less splodey spells, maybe a heal spell(yes the drain will suck) some detections?  No massive kabooms but a decent amount of utility.  The cyber will handle the kabooms.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

So long as you're willing to throw reagents around like confetti, low force spells absolutely can be highly effective.

[Michael Chandra]

Or high-force spells with Reagents to set the limit on a safe value for Stun-drain.

[Chalkarts]

This is my Heavy CyberPaladin
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HDEEw_msG52unfxNKksYnGACBuk9Npgv

Only 2 magic and 4 spells, but i think can hold up in a fight due to cyberware armor and machine pistols.
Not fast(Yet) but tough.

[Beta]

It is really a matter of taste.  A Wiz with essence four is going to play a bit different than one with six, but that ware gives other benefits.  So it is kind of a matter of how easily you want to sling powerful magics without worrying much versus what other cool stuff you'd like.

[Tecumseh]

Cerebral Boosters are a good fit for magicians with Logic as their drain stat, like hermetics. Besides the ding to Essence their biggest downsides are their high cost and Availability, but if you can swing them with Transhuman Prototype then so much the better.

A magician doesn't need Magic 6 to be effective. Low force spirits are excellent skirmishers and can distract opponents, and some of their powers (like Movement, Concealment, Innate Spell) can be highly beneficial even at Force 3.

Similarly, there are a ton of spells that are useful even if they're not Force 6. Detection spells, for example, max out their utility around Force 4. Higher Force can get you a better range, but an Extended spell with a range of Magic 4 * Force 4 * 10 meters = 160 meters is still hugely helpful. Lots of Manipulation spells are great at lower Force too, like Levitate, Magic Fingers, and Fashion.

Like Beta says, a Magic 4 magician is going to play differently than a Magic 6 magician, but they're still very useful. Their emphasis might be on utility spells, rather than "I can kill you with my brain", but there's still a lot of value as a support role.

[Chalkarts]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HDEEw_msG52unfxNKksYnGACBuk9Npgv

I did some priority shifting and changed her into an Aspected mage.

[Tarislar]

The Dice Pools are too small, IMO.

I think your highest is 8?   

That just isn't going to get it done in most campaigns.

If you want to mix, I'd go Adept which feeds into Combat better.

Otherwise if you just want a couple things like Eyes, then go Transhuman as suggested above or only sacrifice a single point of Essence.

As it is now I feel like the character will be dead before she does much.

[Marcus]

This almost never a good idea, Prototype transhuman being the only real exception but even  that has very defined limits.
99 times out of 100 you would better off going straight magic or straight ware.

Now as always it's fine to build non-optimized builds. One of the Tiny percentage of the human races blessed with the power of magic, and you find it better to have some metal limbs then just wait a bit to quickening and achieve better stats all over?

The build as shown is in Crit glitch range in what appears to be it's primary pools. Being non-optimized is fine and reasonable, being in the  high percentage range for crit glitch is dead man walking.

[FST_Gemstar]

I love low essence and low magic magicians, but they don't play as magical specialists, but other roles on the team that are able to blend many kinds of bonuses together and have lots of interesting avenues for growth.

If playing a magic specialist, someone who has a job to to take care of magical threats, being a full on magician with high magic is most efficient. Magic is just such a powerful attribute and linked to all sorts of amazing things. This is why being a non-specialist is worth often just having magic 1/2. But to sling spells with ease, conjure spirits, travel the astral, wield powerful foci, protect team members for spells, etc. Maximizing magic is often good.

Again, that all being said, trading some magic for useful 'ware, can be a good trade-off for some players. Ex. Being a Magic 4 magician that has high drain resistance can often more safely and recklessly cast/summon F8 spells/spirits than a Magic 6 magician.

[Jack_Spade]

The trick is to find ware that you can't just replicate with a spell.
Quite a lot of genemods and a few select bioware equipment pieces come to mind: Daredrenaline for soaking drain and Narco for Psyche are a good choice, as are Double Elastin and platelet factories to reduce drain damage. Also a sleep regulator is pretty useful for everybody.

[Chalkarts]

The trick is to find ware that you can't just replicate with a spell.
Quite a lot of genemods and a few select bioware equipment pieces come to mind: Daredrenaline for soaking drain and Narco for Psyche are a good choice, as are Double Elastin and platelet factories to reduce drain damage. Also a sleep regulator is pretty useful for everybody.

For an Adept, would it be worth it to take the 2 essence hit for 2 Full cyberarms with maxed strength and agility, then use power points for adept increased reflexes and increased physical limit, and some other stuff?

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

The trick is to find ware that you can't just replicate with a spell.
Quite a lot of genemods and a few select bioware equipment pieces come to mind: Daredrenaline for soaking drain and Narco for Psyche are a good choice, as are Double Elastin and platelet factories to reduce drain damage. Also a sleep regulator is pretty useful for everybody.

For an Adept, would it be worth it to take the 2 essence hit for 2 Full cyberarms with maxed strength and agility, then use power points for adept increased reflexes and increased physical limit, and some other stuff?

Why 2 arms instead of 1?