I've been working on my first Skyrim character right now (lvl 20 paladin) and have a good idea of how I want my build to be at level 50.

My plan right now is full Heavy Armor, full Block except the disarm perk, there are some perks in restoration I'm disappointed in grabbing already but oh well. I'll go up to adept restoration. And everything below that except Ward Absorb and only 1 point in recovery. Full Alteration except Magic Resistence and Mage Armor. One-handed is giving me a bit of trouble because I'm not fully aware of how the Paralyzing Strike is. Kinda fuzzy on the whole foward/backward power attacks. Won't grab critical charge because chances are I'll be rushing in my my shield instead. I'm holding off on the axe, sword and mace perks until I know what I really want to use later on.

At this point in the game I feel pretty unstoppable. Yes, some battles can be long and drawn out but it feels really rewarding using my shield, quickly healing myself, going back to blocking, timing my attacks perfectly, bashing the [censored] out of thing...ya know.

So any suggestions for me would be great. Haven't played an TESs game since Morrowind and that was ages ago so I am ignorant to many aspects of this game!

I know many of you are going to come here and say I should be going into smithing or enchanting or something, but that's just not really for me. Plus I read that it makes the game trivial.

So if you have other builds, playstyle suggestions, ect discuss here!

Dont go alteration as the armor enchant spells mainly is for mages with NO armor.
The armor values from alteration spell is very low compared to your armor.

Your main skills should be:

Heavy armor
Shield
Restoration
One handed

Also, stay away from enchanting and smithing. These are two very powerful secondary professions that will make you a tad too powerful.
If you want to pick one, then go for some smithing.
Some in smithing dont hurt, just dont overdoe it.
Stay at 60 max, pick the iron and increase magic armor/weapon perk and leave it there. Now atleast you can upgrade all the pickup gear you get, including magic, but only by around 30%. Which is not too much.

In restoratin you need: cure (heals for 50% more), Respite (ALL heals also restore as much stamina. This works even when you are not damaged, so you can perma sprint). Get to apprentice for fast healing and stop there, maybe get the +25% magic energy recovery and your set.

Thats it as a base to be honest.

Well I went Alteration for a few reason. First of all the extra armor doesn't hurt. But I also did it for the paralyze spells and especially Dragonhide (reduces all physical damage by 80% for 30s...bomb ass [censored]).

Another thing I was wondering about it what would be best to go into, magicka, health or stam. Right now Health and magicka are both around 200, haven't touched stam but plan on evening things out a bit.

My Paladin build:

Heavy Armor - Of course

Two handed hammer - Normally I would go sword and shield but I love sending guys flying with my hammer

Block - Just those that affect two handed weapons

Restoration - Pretty much everything in the perk tree is Paladin-ish, from turning undead to healing to protection

Destruction lightning only - I like being able to "Smite" people as a Paladin and I think lightning fills that role just fine, especially once i get Disintegrate. Also, I figure a lot of evil in the game comes from evil mages so lightning, with its mana drain, makes sense to a Paladin

Thats pretty much my build. I have a little bit of smithing, just enough to improve my Dwemer armor, the only armor I will be using (I really can't see a Paladin using Ebony or Deadric, too evil looking, Dwemer is nice and golden)

I'm using sign of the Atronach, since I don't put all that much into magicka (just up to 200, 250 with the sign) and the spell absorb is really nice. Magicka regen does not fit my play style, I just give a few blasts of lightning then rush in with my hammer. Overall, I think its a fun build. I like going from mage mode, with either dual lightning or ward and lightning, to just pure warrior when I pull out the hammer. And both my magic and hammer send guys flying when killed

I'd say Maces or Swords.