[Radio_Star]

Smiths definitely seem like the go-to mage. Earth and astral individually are pretty awesome paths on the field and having both is tons of fun. Battlefield buffs, blade wind/magma eruption/falling fires/gifts of heaven depending on what chaff vs. heavy ratio you're looking at, prec. 100 astral fires if that's your need and since your national buffs (use air power is perfect here) scream reverse communion, you can buff up, reverse communion rattle off some gifts then blink your way into buff melee destruction. On top of all that, you've got a nice forge bonus in some very forge-friendly paths.

Baalz's guide to Marverni has some excellent tips on the dirty tricks you can pull with E/S druids most of which applies to smiths and requires substantially less equipment.