I haven't lost a battle since level 25. I just hit 52 yesterday.
My battle with bonuses is 95+, my morale is in the 40's, my cunning is 25+, and my manas are all at 20.
I have some awesome godlike crafted items that do things like +7 dmg with 3 or more dmg and 40% chance to poison, and another crafted godlike that does +4 dmg to enemy when you recieve 6+ damage.
I used to have a bunch of healing spells and spells related to my healing combo but I traded them all in because I never lose health faster than the enemy anymore.
I use thrust and stun to line up four of a kinds and I've been playing so much lately that I can usually see 2 moves ahead and sometimes 3. I amaze myself glancing over the board and seeing possibilities. The key is to play defensively. Never do anything that'll create a 4 of a kind or dmg play for your enemy. If his spells need red mana, never allow him to match red mana etc.
I've been playing PC games all my life and I've never played a game with such depth and complexity to its strategy and planning than Puzzle Quest.
"Hmm four of a kind, drops these blue, stun, thrust, thrust, creates another four of a kind, allows a skull connection with a +5..."
Talking to myself makes it easier.