Patches won't fix it. It's the basic stuff that's broken, like magic.
Can you tell me what's so botched up about it?
What isn't?
The fundamental error of Elemental's magic system is that you can't control how your spellcasting develops. You gain new spells at levelups, when you pick advance in a magic school by picking a perk (you were lvl 1 in fire, now you're level 2 and gain lvl 2 spells). But it's random - you might not always get a magic perk in the school you want to develop, or even you might not get a magic perk at all. Then there's the problem of magic power. A spell is static - even if you're a grandmaster of all schools, a burning hand still does 4-8 damage. The only way to change it is to find a fire node and build an altar on it. But there might not be a fire node anywhere near you. So you have a fire magic expert whose fire magic is weak. That's a great mechanic.
There isn't a lot of spells too. About 3 per level, so each magic school has a grand total of 15-16 or so spells - so under a hundred overall. What's more, they are completely imbalanced, so half of them is useless, a quarter situational, and the rest is OP and should be cast whenever you can. City enchantments, for example, are completely overpowered. How about a lvl 1 (or 2 - it's often available from the start) spell that improves your starting city's production by about a half? And has no upkeep too? On the other hand, summoning doesn't exist. There theoretically are a few such spells, but they are costly and weak. Better forget about it.
I also don't like the fact that overland spells are instant, and you can cast as many of them in a turn as you want.
