Both are nice, but as you pointed out earth is melee and fire is ranged. With mind you can play at range, so the mind/fire might be good. Mind locks down well enough that you can go anywhere.
I like the Ice APP so much more then I do the Fire APP. It is such a beautiful thing. Mind/Fire/Ice would be my choice.
Edit:The only thing is that Embrace of Fire works very well for Fire attacks. That would be the ONLY reason I would take fire. Yes, it does more damage, but I like Sleet and Frozen Armor. I don't always take Ice Storm but it is very nice.
Ice storm is a beautiful power. I took Aid-Self to not take Hoarfrost on my Fire/Earth just so I could pick up Ice Storm.
Recently began leveling a mind/fire but I keep thinking back to mind/earth and fissure. I was just wondering if people had experience with either/both of these combos? Would the damage from /earth/ice be considerably less than /fire/fire ?
My main impetus for this second-guessing is the fact that I like to be in melee range and /fire is somewhat lacking on mitigation for such tactics.
Anyone?