The mage class is lacking

I'm playing mage class for the first time, and I've noticed some issues.
Issues with weapons:
I used the Sun Caller for most of my playthrough, starting from just post titans all the way to the Void Lord. It is undoubtedly the best mage weapon, with the +mana upon explosions perk from the "Explosions" skill tree. But way before that, finding a weapon was difficult because they didn't drop all the time from bosses. The player could think that some bosses don't have mage drops, while that might not be the case. Many bosses don't have mage drops, so grinding every boss hoping for a mage drop might not be the best decision.

Issues with armour:
While you can use a summoner-mage hybrid set, you won't get the set bonus from either sets. With a hybrid set out of the question, there really are not that many armour sets a mage can use. There are plenty early game, with tons dropping upon enemy kill and fishing. But as you progress, only very specific enemies drop mage armour. I remember still wearing Lily Pad armour while fighting to get the Sorcerer armour set. Same with the Sorcerer set. I used it for a long time, way until I got the Arcane Monk set. In the meantime I keep getting melee/ranger drops which always makes me kind of jealous because of how much armour they're getting. I used an armour set from two areas ago to defeat the Void Lord, which is pretty insane to me. Seeing a more balanced and streamlined progression in mage would be nice.

I used the feathers in my off hand for my whole playthrough, so I can't say much about off-hand items. The necklaces and rings were fine enough though.

Conclusion:
The mage class pales when compared to the gear of melee/ranger. Seeing more gear would be nice, perhaps even adding possible crafted weapons from the ores you find. For every piece of mage gear, there are two or even three pieces of melee/ranger gear.
However, mage is undoubtedly very fun. These are just suggestions to improve the experience of a new player.