As far as magic has come, I have found it has become less and less useful. However in Avernum 6, all the spells wind up becoming more balanced out, granted I am spending about 5,000-10,000 coins in a sitting on spells. The Fire spells in Avernum 6 winded up being useless in major points of the game because Sliths are resistant to fire.
I liked the magic in the Exile series more. The narrative always talks about these men of great magical power, thrashing about their enemies with the flick of a wrist. Yet you never can learn past Arcane Blow, even though one of my PC's is a mage. While the magic engine is finer tuned now, there's nothing like hasting your WHOLE party or quickfireing and enemy town, or even stopping quickfire with a magic barrier. The priest spells were much more useful too, but I ain't no crazy Anama.
In the earlier Avernum series, you could target multiple targets, not just put down a fiery hell in one circle. If one thing should be brought back, it should be the spells from Exile.
Other things include old items like maces, flails, bardiches, and other charms etc.
Ni.