You can program all of the combos and spells on your keyboard or gamepad, but I found that trying to navigate the keyboard was difficult. I opted to use an 8-button sidewinder gamepad, which proved to be the right tool for the job. Nevertheless, even with those 8 buttons I eventually ran out of options. As a result, some of my commands involved quickly jabbing at the keyboard with my index finger. Magic spells are built using talismans and are cast by pressing the appropriate button.
Spells range from fireballs and lightning to healing and protection.
The variety of spells is good, but most of the higher level spells are really just beefed up versions of the low level ones. One quirky thing about the spells is the visual effect that a few of them have. While they are, for the most part, colorful and cool, some of the spells create a distracting glow around your character. While I won't knock the benefits a stoneskin spell, having a glowing yellow aura follow Locke overhead creates an unnecessary distraction. The fireballs and lightning effects are top notch though, and some offensive spells really go for broke with their animations and lighting.