I've been playing my first character for approximately 15 hours, so most people would say I'm not that far "in" yet. I believe I'm about lvl 12 or so, and about 30 in the Heavy Armour, One-Handed, Destruction and Restoration skills.

I really wanted to try dual-wielding in Skyrim, but I find that the magic system intrigues me even more than slashing. So far, I've mostly been using a sword in one hand and a destruction/restoration spell in the other. The melee combat is better than Oblivion's, but it still feels a little like "click, click, click, click, dead". Also, I can't keep my hands of the bow when I see enemies far away. I'm worried that this all-round levelling will make my character weaker later on.

I know this is ultimately my own decision, and most of you will probably remind me of that, but what would you have done? I'm not that far into the game. Should I start over a pure mage character, since that is what I enjoy most? I wouldn't mind too much; starting over would make the game last longer. Any thoughts?

If you think you would enjoy that more then go for it! Maybe you could keep your current saves so that if you find it's not your thing you could go back to your current character? I have heard that pure mages become a difficult playstyle later on in the game, but I haven't played one personally so I wouldn't know.

At level 12 it doesn't really matter too much if you've leveled up some other skills like one handed weapons.

The only reason I would start over if I was you is if you spent a bunch of perks in the combat skills that could have been saved for the magic skills.

It won't make you weak.I'm level 48 with my one-handed skill at 70,archery 84.And guess what? I'm using two handed weapons (50) at the moment.Do what you want,in the end every enemy is bound to die.=D

Keep your save, and start again. Re-evaluate after 4 or 5 hours of play, and continue with the one you like best.

I'm in sort of the opposite camp. I've never played a mage before on any game and am having great difficulty. I'm up to lvl 18 and considering moving to a melee class. I seem to do reasonably okay when I have time to conjure etc but if I'm taken by surprise in the wild for example it's usually a struggle and I'm sick of being killed. It's not the game it's just I'm not experienced enough to play mage yet. So melee with a bow for ranged looks like the way to go for me.

From the sounds of it,

1) You don't want to re-roll

2) You wont enjoy the game as is if you keep playing


You can either

A) Start over so you can enjoy the game better

B ) Trade in the game because you no longer enjoy it