Pylons: I think it's more about the meme than the mechanic. Wizards are very hit-and-run in nature; forcing them to guard a position is bad.
Guess I'll go through some current spells and give opinions because people love opinions:
Staff of Cthulu: I don't really have the numbers on this.
Blink/Warp: Meh. Can save your life. Can also get you killed. Is there a way to combine the two into one spell? Maybe target yourself to blink, and target another to warp?
Teleport: Good where it is. I only use teleport as a GTFO spell, so the scroll is good enough for me.
Knock: Only useful if you want to raid the armory when you don't have an HoS. Does it work like an emag on depowered/welded doors? If so then the utility might be there. I half-way think it should just act like an emag applied to all things within a radius. Cooldown would need adjusting though. That'd screw up it's function with borgs, but why would you get this spell for that function anyways?
Empower: OldTK+Hulk... why does this go so underused? Does the effect diminish each time you use it or something? I forget. I've enjoyed it, anyways.
Animate Dead: Same skeletons right? Good way to be spooky and impotent at the same time. Gibs the bodies, but this is less useful with cloning being so simple to take out. The long cooldown doesn't help things. Buff them and/or give them the lich ai or something.
Golems: Can be the mightiest of spells if you're a decent chemist... and by decent chemist I mean being able to throw together chems like fluorosulfuric acid, clf3, phlogiston, neurotoxin, LDM, and black powder. Heck, even radium/mercury/fluorine/bo jacks golems can be mean.
Forcewall: Good utility. Good cooldown.
Spell Shield: Is this still bugged? If not, it could technically make you practically invulnerable a third of the round. Not sure how it works against chem grenades or thrown glasses. Still, being able to tank tasers sounds amazing if you can manage the time.
Doppelganger: One of my favorites. With this, Shift, and your scroll for emergencies you can effectively become untouchable if you're intelligent and not unlucky.
Ice Burst: A good spell. Just kind of boring.
Blind: Very useful. Especially with the quick cooldown. Now you, too, can be JOHN CENA. (I take no responsibility for any wizard gimmick that pops up from that statement)
Bull's Charge: Very neat spell! Also quite useless. Needs something done to it. I get the feeling this is a neat idea from a coding perspective that just doesn't pan out well in game.
Rathen's Secret: It's fine. Maybe the delimbing is too much. Needs the stun and smoke, though. Collecting butts is great fun.
Cluwne's Revenge: Evil. It also lays all of their possessions in a neat little pile, which I think is generally overshadowed. Still, 2min cooldown. Cluwnes aren't even killed on sight anymore. I've even seen people ARM them. Considering a wizard could have just fireballed them to death I think people are getting a little too salty about this spell. Which, I think, was the point all along.
Pandemonium: Decent cooldown. Decent effects. Great spell for the cool wizman.
Fireball: Deadly. Fast cooldown for the effect. If you're afraid of chem and don't want lasers then this is your best choice of damage spells, really.
Shocking Grasp: Boring. Destroys useful items. Ashing people isn't really as useful as it was on, say, donut. Not sure how to 'fix' it. I think it will just hold it's niche.
Spells I'd like to see:
Chain Lightning: Or basically any Voltagen-like effect. Multiple targets. Medium damage, low stun or low damage, medium stun. Mitigated with gloves.
Animate Item: Self-explanatory.
Color Spray: "A vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from your hand, causing creatures to become stunned, perhaps also blinded, and possibly knocking them unconscious." Basically a spray of colorful and glitter that can cause those effects or just give them an LSD trip. Another spell for the ballsy, rando-wiz.
Reduce Person: Shrink ray. Not sure how to balance it, but a station filled with tiny people sounds amazing. Especially if their screams are pitched.
I like powerful wizards. I really just wish they were more varied.
Goonhub
Needs something done to it. I get the feeling this is a neat idea from a coding perspective that just doesn't pan out well in game.