I just started the Elder Scrolls franchise maybe a week ago....I played Oblivion within so i could get a feel for the world and story before Skyrim so i now have Skyrim and I have magic in one hand and a sword in the other and i wear leather armor...i have enjoyed so far and up to level 10 but i find myself losing alot of health when i start fighting just regular people , the potions i use don't seem to help much wither, and I hide and shoot arrows at dragons but still quickly die...i have tried a few times using my magic and sword combo but it doesn't seem to do enough damage...is there any pointers anyone could give me to give my resistance and damage a boost???

Have you been choosing to raise your Health when you level up? I kept choosing Magicka and then right around your level, I kept dying a lot so I took Health a few times in a row and it helped a lot. That's one thing that should help.

And welcome.

:tes:

I have chosen it a couple time in a row the last times i leveled up..

I just save whenever a dragon comes, and I re-load whenever I die. Eventually you will kill it. :rock:

hmm...how do you do the combined spell in both hands???? and do you know where to go to get more powerful versions of like fire and shock spells??

Use the heal in your left hand and the sword in your right. That will help you big time, I dont even use a shield my heal spell is my shield, just hold down the heal button and you can heal while you swing your sword.

when you are not using heal in your left hand use the fire spell.

i have actually tried that but it doesn't heal me faster than they can damage me enough to kill me

Did you get the perk to make that heal more? You also play defense right and move back when you get to 50% or lower health right?

Also dont try to aggro more than 2 mobs at one time or you will get destoryed.

i actually dont think i have put any perks in my restoration yet but i have in my armor and destruction and one handed weapons

That is why its not working well. Use your next few percks on restoration, also go find the person that can train you, its 5 points (you pay for of course)
When ever your health is not at 100% use teh healing spell. It will help level up that stat

alright..any suggestions on where to find more powerrful spells and/or better swords??

You can purchase spell books from wizards; usually each Jarl has a wizard hanging around nearby and you can buy them at the College of Winterhold as well! I find that these wizards have a variety of spells from every school, so you are bound to find something you can use; and usually the more expensive a spell is, the more mana it will take to cast Good luck with the game and have fun!



*Edit* - And about swords; I just found higher level swords while doing quests as usual. Whether in chests, on monsters, or at the end of some crazy dungeon, weapons are found everywhere! It beats buying them

The mage college you can get some really good spells. As for swords, the best IMO are the ones that are looted.
There is one quest sword you can get that will always level to your highest sword, if you just keep it instead of finishing the quest.

But IMO that is not fun to have a super sword the whole game, I like getting new ones.

But you should def head to the magic college. Also look for books, and read all of them, you get spells and bonus's.

Thanks for the advice guys

This is the one great and endless choices of a TES game.

You are what you play.

Now my question to you is, do you have a plan on what type of character you want to be?

Seems you favor using a mixture of magic and a blade. Some might call that a Spellsword.

I would focus on Light armor, Elven, Scale, ect. And take the perks along with it too. IE Agile Defender. This will help you a lot to soak up any melee damage.

Then focus your skills in your combat. I usually favored the Alteration and Restoration perks.

Mainly used: (^ notes are most important perks (* notes are optional and user preference (- notes are more of a drawback due to other skills, or just not necessary for this build.

Alteration-
^ Novice Alteration and through Expert Alteration perks - as you deem fit for the mana cost cutbacks.
^ Magic Resistance - Well, for the nice bonus of 10-30% in incoming magic reduction damage, stacks with the Breton's racial ability of 25% Magic reduction.
^ Stability - Hey, gives your Alteration spells a 50% longer duration, great for any encounter.
* Atronach * - Chose this if you wish. I did, its nice to see little bumps being put into your mana pool while getting hit with a Ice Spear.
* Dual Casting Perk * Optional, take this if you do not wish to plan to take advantage of the Stability perk mentioned above. Otherwise save the perk point for Stability, as I would only need to cast a "flesh" spell in one hand for a battle.
- Mage Armor - I did not use this, as I always seemed to have worn light armor past level 14 with Magicka enchantments. Worthless ability to spend points on unless you deem to only use cloth clothing.

Restoration-
^ Novice Restoration through Expert Restoration perks - as you deem fit for mana cost cutbacks
^ Recovery - This is a MUST for anyone who decides to use magic regularly. 25% faster magicka regen for the first tier and 50% faster magicka regen for the second tier. Crucially useful for Spellswords, and casters alike.
^ Regeneration - Extremely useful for you, and your companions. A whopping 50% bonus to all healing spells with the same mana cost. Extremely useful, even for a single handed healing spell. This would push Dual casting out of your needs.
* Dual casting * - As mentioned above, not really needed unless your terribly hurt. But if you keep your defenses up with Alteration spells and a companion with you, you'll hardly even get into a critical status. Optional.
* Respite * - A give or take perk. If you find yourself using a lot of power attacks, or run a lot. Take this. Otherwise, save your perk point.
* Ward Absorb * Another give or take. Useful untill you get the Atronach ability in Alteration. Must have a ward up to absorb spells magicka, and your also dispensing magicka in the process of doing so.
* Necromage * Well, if you cant fight anything else besides skeletons and Dragurs, this will boost your overall magic damage to them by 25%, and Turn undead duration by 50%. Good bump, but personal choice. Only works on Undead.
* Avoid Death * As it states, give you a health pump if your health gets critically low. Restores 250 points of HP if you fall below 10%. Again, you'll rarely be in danger with armor buffs and a companion, but its nice to have. Optional.

Destruction- (This is currently weaker at higher levels, I did not spend many points here. I am sure Bethesda will bump damage up in a patch)
^ Novice Destruction through Expert - As you deem fit for mana cost cutbacks.
^ Augmented Shock, Frost, Flames- I generally took one path of the three. Whatever you'd like to use more. No need to spend many more points in the same skill area as of this time. Still helps out till post level 30+ (Pre-patch)
^ Deep freeze, Intense flames, Disintegrate - As mentioned above, if you follow one line of the destruction Augmented path, it'll lead you to one of these. All entertaining in their own rights.
- Impact and Dual casting - Kind of a minus here, since you'll be keeping a sword in one hand. And Impact perk only works when dual casting a Destruction spell. Rather use my one handed weapon...

Conjuration- (Optional skills you can use, but very helpful.)
^ Novice to Expert Conj - As per mana cost cutbacks.
^ Dual casting - Very useful if you plan to keep a summoned ally around for a lengthy amount of time, usually used best if done before a big battle (IE a Dragon fight) And keeps undead around longer too.
^/* Twin Souls - It is a must if you want to have the most ally's fighting for you at one time. This perk lets you have two summons at once. I would consider this if you really want to delve deep into Conjuration.
^/* Elemental Potency and Atromancy - Take this if you love to summon Atronachs, makes each one 50% stronger in their own right. Massive improvement. And coupled with Atromancy, it gives you a longer duration of summons.
^/* Necromancy and Dark Souls perk - Take these if you love popping your enemies ally's back to life to fight for you. Both give you a longer duration (Necromancy) and a 100 extra HP to your raised zombie (Dark Souls).
* Mystic Binding, Soul Stealer, Oblivion Binding perks *
These are entirely optional. Bound weapons offer unique look to your summoned sword, which when used with the Soul Stealer perk can tag your foe for a soul capture for enchanting items.
With the Mystic binding perk, your summoned sword will do 50% more damage. A very noticeable bump. And it can stack with the Armsman perk that gives you 100% more with 5 tiers, in all you can obtain 150% more damage with your one summoned sword.
The down side is you cannot enchant your sword. But this short fall can be made up if you decide to enchant your other gear to make up for the loss.
I would not consider taking the Binding perks for summoned weapons unless you want to fill soul gems easily for heavy enchanting later. And Enchanted gear will make your life a lot easier.

Illusion - For this section, I did not dabble into this skill tree. Seems it can be useful, if you want to torment your enemies from afar. But I stayed out of the tree.

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This is highly recommended if you decide to use light armors. Enchantments can make up for mana regen enchantments, in which can make your life easier.

Enchanting- (Optional)
^ Enchanter perks rank 1-5 - A 20% boost to all stats of your enchantments across the board per tier. Extremely useful.
^ Extra Effect - As simple as having two enchantments on one item, doubling up one effect, or spreading out to others. Ideally, this will make your high end gear extremely powerful.
^ Corpus Enchanter - A 25% bump to your health, stamina, and magicka enchantments. Stacks with the Enchanter perk as listed above. Can get a max of 125% effectiveness from one enchantment.
^/* Insightful Enchanter - Take this if you wish to extend your skills onto pieces of gear. Gives a boost of 25% to all skill enchantments.
^/* Fire, Storm, Frost Enchanter - Take this if you decide not to use Summoned weapons. Boosts overall elemental damage put onto weapons by 25%.
*/- Soul Siphon - Take this only if you use regular weapons. Otherwise if you use Summoned weapons more, this perk is of no use to you. Drains 5% of enchantment points back into weapons, if only used on beasts. (Cannot be used on humans)

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Light Armor- Again, this is only if you decide to go down the path of using light armors.
^ Agile Defender - 20% boost to all light armor pieces per tier. There are 5 tiers for a total of 100%. Its supplemental cover, why not take it? Plus, light armor and "flesh" spells work wonders for damage mitigation.
^ Custom Fit / Matching set - ONLY useful if you have a matching set of armor (Matching set), if you follow Matching set, Custom fit should come into play as well, as you need all pieces to be Light armor (IE you need to have on a Helmet, chest, feet and gloves for it to work). Gives another boost of 25% of armor bonus per perks. Coupled with Agile Defender later on for a total of 125-150%
^/* Deft Movement - This is a optional perk. While wearing all light armor (See Matching set above) You have about a 10% for an attack to simply miss you. Magic or Melee. Noticeable, but this perk is pure luck. May save your life.
* Unhindered * - Optional. Your armor weighs nothing (weared). You could use the Steed Stone Ability, which gives you the same free movement as this perk, plus an extra 100 lbs of carry weight for free. (Thats around taking 20 Stamina perks for the extra carry weight for free)
* Wind Walker * - Give or take. 50% stamina regen in all light armor. Useful if you need to sprint a lot or use a lot of power attacks in combat.

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One-handed- This goes great if you like to use a sword in the main hand. And this perk tree does affect your Bound Sword spell. NOT the bound battle axe spell or Bow. As they have their own trees respectively.
(Affects all one handed weapons)
^ Armsman - 20% bonus to damage for melee weapons per tier. 5 tiers for a max of 100% damage. Get this when you can. A 20% jump is very noticeable.
^ Fighting Stance - cuts Stamina costs down by 25% per power attack you do for a one handed weapon. Noticeable in combat.
^ Bone Breaker, Bladesman, Hack and Slash - All great by their own right. Focus on a type of weapon you want to use.
^ Bladesman (Sword, Applies to Bound Sword spell) - 10-30% of critical chance damage per tier. 3 Tiers. Noticeable bump.
^ Bone Breaker (Mace) - Attacks ignore 25-75% of foes armor rating. 3 Tiers, 25% per. Great for heavily armored enemies (IE Many Bosses wear clad armor).
^ Hack And Slash (Axe) - Each tier will inflict bleeding damage. 3 Tiers. Bleeding damage is roughly 1-3 points of damage for each second for 3-6 seconds. Can get up to around 3-9 extra damage per second will all three tiers. (Acts like poison.)
^/* Savage Strike - Take this if you want to see some heads roll occasionally. Fun to watch. Plus it gives a 25% damage bonus to standing power attacks. (Cannot be moving when preforming a power attack)
^/* Critical Charge - Take this if you sprint towards your enemies a lot with your weapon raised. Will cause double critical damage when it hits. Need to do a critical hit in the first place though to receive the double damage.
^/* Paralyzing strike - Take this perk if you backwards power attack. A lot. Otherwise just leave it. Has a 25% chance to paralyze a enemy from behind when struck.
- Dual flurry and Dual Savagery - I wouldnt even consider these perks since you will never dual wield weapons since you will always have a trusty spell in your opposite hand.

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In all, I hope this helps you as a guide. Now I mainly took this for what you have described that you liked doing.
This does not mean you have to follow this to a T. Experiment, or follow this directly. Either way, have fun.

:tes:

Oh, and welcome to the Elder Scrolls series. Hope your having as much fun with it as I am. :celebration:

ummm ...wow thank you lol