Recently my level 41 pure mage bit it, and I'm a little undecided on where to go with my next character. Does anyone have any recommendations on good builds I could try?

Keep in mind I'll be playing legendary, DiD, no potions, no followers(summons are ok) - so I'll probably want to have some kind of defense in either the form of armor or alteration.

Play as an honest wood cutter, travelling from town to town. Only accept miscellaneous city jobs that won't get you killed.

Playing as a crossbowman is interesting. Light armor and crossbow nothing else, not even a melee weapon (you don't need one because whne forced in close combat you can bash with the crossbow and once you have block skill high enough and deadly bash perk you can bash hard enough to kill wolves with one hit).

Sounds like you might want a stealth character of some sort, it makes sneaking through bandit camps much more exciting. Also, I think you have a better chance at survival when you can outrun your enemy rather than trying to deflect damage with heavy armour, especially at earlier levels.

Are you interested in RP builds or only archtype builds like : warrior, thief, assassin, mage?

Well RP is important too, but obviously I'll be concerned about the skill mechanics due to the difficulty and restrictions. I should note that I'm not a huge fan of stealth(characters that rely on stealth are a pain to navigate outside with). In terms of armor I've used it all and any can be viable on legendary with the right build, I was just trying to avoid the whole: "play as such and such that doesn't use armor or alteration, level health, etc, etc", but I think I still got one of those.....lol

No potions?

I tried a Bosmer once that due to the Green Pac would not drink potions since he didn't know if they were made with plants or not. I soon realized that BY DESIGN you can not survive any prolonged melee combat in this game without svcking down potions. I hate that you can TIME STOP and svck down 20 potions in this game and that the game all but requires it BY DESIGN.

A mage is different obviously, but I just don't see how you can play anyone that gets involved with melee combat without potion use. (Would love to know how you do it).

That being the case, if you want to do something other than mage I would focus a lot on archery and running and hiding. Maybe Illusion would be helpful.

I do not use potions, HUD or magic (except mage characters) and still I found it enjoying and possible to play melee characters and survive in combat. (I play on expert difficulty.) All kind of melee characters can do well but the most powerful is to use shield, one handed and light armor. Right timed blocks and bashes, quick strikes and mobility of light armor which allows you easily to avoid spells, arrows and hits are the reasons making it one of the most powerful ways to play in combat.