Well, Dominate is extremely powerful, particularly levels 2/3. You don't need much more than that [admittedly 5 is shiny], leaving plenty of points for Thaum or whatever.
There were some pretty nice rituals. Ward against X, anyone?Thaum was a huge point-sink, rarely more useful than a hand-gun, and while people didn't generally scream 'It's a trap!' back in those days, it really was.