I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't mind us looking at your sheet then? (I try to avoid that normally out of respect, and also because it can be fun learning these things IC instead.)

The first thing I noticed is that your concept seems to feel more like a Mystic Adept rather than a Magician, if not a flat-out Adept. Have you considered toying around with those instead? I mean, most of your spells seem focused on bolstering your body or mind, and you're clearly concentrating on being a melee bad ass. I know for a fact that Seth is open to new ideas and reinterpretations of existing rules to make them fit your concept better, so maybe you can ask him about changing a few adept powers around. For instance, making Elemental Strike so that it works with Improved Blades so that you can give your spear that mystical vibe, and/or tapping into previous editions and allowing Elemental Strike to work with Distance Strike so that you can use it to attack people at range, too. This would then let you focus on honing your physical side, trim down your skills, and otherwise give you a bit more focus as well as a unique feel that makes you stand out amongst the other immortals.

Heck, there used to be an adept power created by one of the original designers of the game (who's name slips my mind right now) that gave adepts access to a spell. If you could find that on the Internet and try to convert it to 4th Edition's rules, that'd be another way you can do the above while retaining some of the concepts you have in mind, such as casting illusions and whatnot.

This is all based on the first impression I got strictly from the rules you posted. I haven't read over your concept and don't know what your history is like, so maybe a Magician makes a lot more sense. If so, here's a few other things I noticed and suggest looking into a bit more critically:

Quickening. The two spells you're using it with can be just as functional inside a Sustaining Focus, and going that route actually makes you a little more versatile as those foci (which are limited to spell categories rather than specific spells) can be used for other things if you need to. This is especially true with the Health one, as you have a number of sustainable spells in that category. On a related not, I'm unsure of the shorthand you're using with your current foci. Do you have two, with one being a Force 3 Weapon/Force 5 Sustaining stacked one, and the other being a Force 8 Weapon Focus? Or are they one in the same? I'm assuming its just one, but if you have two like that you may wanna rethink it. Also, how do you go about transporting a scythe like that? I imagine we're still going to have to worry about security checkpoints and the like, at the very least in the Sixth World era. Just something to consider.

You do have a few Active Skills that seem weird. For example, why is Cybertechnology so high? You don't seem to have any abilities or skills to compliment it. And why are so many of your magical skills so low? But I guess that's more a consequence of 4th Edition's Attribute dice = Skill dice mechanics. Still seems odd to me for a dedicated magician.

Other than that, I don't know. Your numbers don't seem to be in excess of 450 to me, but I'm pretty terrible with math. Your Attributes and Active Skills only come to 337 Build Points, meaning you have a hefty 113 left to blow (which even with your spell list leaves you with a good 400,000+ nuyen). Coupled with all the freebies, including wealth and contact points... well I dunno. Seems off somehow.

My stats are out there for everyone to see. Please, feel free to pick things apart. God knows what I've done wrong.

I'm not explaining myself well, sorry. Sephiroth, the thing I am getting at is that the Increase [Attribute] spells will disappear the moment you project astrally, because they are Physical spells, and only Mana spells will work on the astral. Quickening them is expensive and will also disappear with the spells the fist time you project.

Cybertechnology I made that high so that I could get rating 4 muscle toner and still be able to use my Restricted Gear qualities elsewhere, like the foci. And it is one stacked Force 8 focus, by the way. Sorry for the lack of clarity. The low magical skills have been victims of my trying to keep the BP balance in check thus far.

Ol' Scratch's question gave me another related nifty idea that would need clarification from Seth and you all.

You are a free spirit, and by the rules of spirits (putting aside for the moment that FSPC's do not completely follow the NPC Spirit rules), they get all their skills equal to their Force. Now, I am not espousing that this apply to your active skills or anything like that, but it has gotten me thinking: You can raise your Logic all the way up to your Force of 9, and your General History knowledge skill is also equal to your Logic according to Seth. So, if you could permissibly raise your Logic above the 6 or 7 cap typical of skills, and still have it apply to your General History, I feel like that would be a very important advantage to have in a game with as much emphasis on history as this one. Thoughts?

I dunno, man. 24 Build Points just for that is not only a massive waste (I'd rather just have lower Toner and upgrade later in the game -- there is a medical professional in the group you know ), but kinda cheesy to boot. I mean, is there an actual reason that he's nearly a world-level expert on the subject?

Quickening them is expensive and will also disappear with the spells the fist time you project.

I imagine General History is being treated with its own special rules. I dunno though.

Also, Seph, any spirit can sustain a spell for you up to its Force. The spell just has to be from the same category that the spirit is linked to (which is why they're listed that way in each tradition's description). Spirits of Man are used for casting spells and, for some reason, only spells you already know. So it doesn't really matter in that regard.

Yeah, that's really confusing and sounds kind of crazy to boot. Getting rid of overcasting seems to be make a lot more sense if that's your issue. I mean, what if you don't actually want to completely obliterate your target, and how can other forms of attack keep up? And more importantly, how can people defend against things like that?

Also, did you still want to know what Alacia has to "convince" us to help her with this mission?

Seth, are Knowledge Skills exempt from the limitation of rating 6 and 5 skills? It's always been a bit hazy to me in the default rules

@Ol'scratch: Maybe she has one of your 2 missing foci

Yes, that's what I was considering; I had already written up a nice description of it just in case. I just wasn't sure if you still wanted us to offer up ideas in that regard. I'm thinking about using the weapon focus, which used to be his Heartblade back in the Fourth World, but whose threading has slowly unwoven over the Fifth World to its current state. Does that work for you?

Aztechnology pyramid, blood magic to reduce Drain (Can you say, "Acatlozin Ahexotl", anyone?)... there could be some nasty barriers here. Like around that room 27A.

And I bet Camaxtli Cenyaotl (Hmm... Cenayotl sounds more Nahuatl to me.) is in there just for Mandala, huh

@Ol Scratch: You were asking about knowledge skills. It looked a good list. Perhaps "4th age remnants" could be added.

As for the watcher thing, I kinda like being able to use watchers as crappy astral attack dogs.

My personal goal would be to focus on finding those signatures the datafiles

Wait, why am I talking myself out of this?

It's best to get all the wrinkles out at the start, rather than having to retcon.

This does sound interesting. Maybe Mandala can get 1 level in Ritual Spellcasting. Or he could be the one who gives 9 dice in Aid Sorcery. Hmmm. can each spellcaster in the ritual who can Bind have his own spirit for Aiding?

I would get it anyway: you can use it for astral tracking. I suspect you will be aiding the primary caster, otherwise its 4500nuyen and a potentially deadly load of drain. The spell casters IIRC can bind their own spirits, and use their own foci and edge.

You can be certain that the bad guys will be using ritual sorcery, as will many of the other 4th age remnants. Its a slow but powerful tool.

Cripes, I'm feeling more and more useless. "It's okay guys, I can help protect us from this massive incoming ritual spell that we have no idea is being cast; I have Counterspelling 3!" <dies three seconds later>

Any build tips in advance of that would be much appreciated!!!!!