How about giving channellers greater mana, elec and fire prot but no mastery,
making a channeller/new mage more viable? Channeller+mage base+inner circle
would be the same number of levels as a mage base+fire/elec/mana+inner circle
new mage build with less damage but with the channeller utility.

At least previously, channellers could make a midbie protter, but now there's
not much point in trying and midbies should just take new mage instead. Let's
entice them back to channeller!

-Nu

Just link essence skills to channeller blasts.
Atleast to me the biggest issue of why not to use channublasts is the lack of
gaining "rep".