New Red Mage Questions

[TreegreatesT]

Looking to roll a mage on Red. Couple questions is anyone can help me out would very much appreciate it:

1. starting stats - was thinking to go 25 int 5 stamina so that I can free up more slots for +MR gear. Alternatively, do mages go 25 sta 5 int if they are min/maxing an endgame character? (to me it doesn't seem worth going stamina on a caster)

2. Deity - Does it matter in Classic EQ? I Am rolling gnome looks like my options are Brell and Bertoxx and agnostic. I'm assuming agnostic is the best bet, but are there any items associated with the deities available to mages that are particularly useful during classic era?

3. Also forgot to ask... Which specialization Conjuration or Evocation?