I honestly see nothing wrong with keep on rudcing the dufficlty of the spell each time. It is balanxed because of the sacferice you have to make. First, it takes awhile to gain a level. Then you its not really esy to gain a new skill (or new spell etc). So it would take a lot of work and time for tht to happen. And besides, ignoring skills could be bad. What if the speel caster takes a hit nd goes OOA? If he would have takem the worrior wizrd skill, he could have lived....it balances out.