Hey!

I started a Breton warrior today, and he's gonna be, as the topic describes, a 1H + shield warrior.

My question is, should I ditch magic (restoration) and just rely on potion-making, for heals? Then I can put more points in Stamina/Health.

(For the record, I'm also gonna go up the alteration tree for the +25% spell resistance, then I will have 50% resistance against those mages/dragons breath)

I'm currently playing a Breton warrior who focused on shields and heavy armor and I'm having a blast. I haven't pursued magic, although I do occasionally use the introductory healing spell between scraqes. I've avoided alchemy since I did a lot of that with my previous character, but I suspect you'd find this is more useful than leveling up alchemy (and magicka). I've found shield bashing to be a lot of fun and it takes a fair chunk of stamina, and if you're trying to raise your health and stamina having to level magicka as well really slows things down.

I find that I use potions while fighting and Resto magic during downtime. So, IMO, I'd concentrate on alchemy.

And I agree, shield bashing is great fun

Focus on potions. High skill in alchemy means you can make powerful healing potions as well as poisons, which will become VERY helpful against dragons and other enemies.

Dont bother with magic if you're sword n boarding, you'll want your shield up the whole time, switching to having a heal in your offhand is a bad idea when you're facing a boss with a twohander, he will chunk you to death before you've healed enough to absorb it. Go with pots, you get to heal while the game is paused.

Btw if you wanna rely as little as possible on heals, go with maxed health. Dont bother putting points into magicka or endurance, endurance is totally moot because of vegetable soup basically, infinite shield bashes or power attacks.

High health pool means faster health regeneration, since you regenerate a percentage. Add a health regen amulet, and maybe a ring too if you need it and you're golden, you will absorb a ton of damage and regenerate it quickly, less time jumping into menus to heal yourself with pots.

Restoration would need investment in magicka like you said, which could be useful for conjuration, you could use bound weapons and summons to help you/sponge damage. Restoration is also good for healing other people, and healing your stamina.

Potions are instant and don't have requirements, and the potions you make using alchemy are such an easy way to make money. You can also fortify skills like block, heavy armor and one handed which would be useful for you.

You are playing the most defensive playstyle though, if you play right you shouldn't need to heal that often (I presume you are using heavy armor). I wouldn't waste perks in the alteration tree, you can get +15 magic resist from a temple of mara (riften) quest, and the lord stone gives you +50 armor rating and +25% magic resist. That is 65% there, then you can just use potions if you go with alchemy or enchanting for the other 20% (the cap is 85%).

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Very nice, thank you for that good info.

And yes, I'm using heavy armor

Well, Restoration Spells have a pretty early perk which makes them regenerate stamina when using healing spells.
Just a hint, as far your questions is concerned, that is a matter of taste really.
If you go into alchemy you have more options and are better in combat but have to collect lots of stuff to make it so,
with restoration you dont have to collect anything but its weaker and you have to retreat in fights to heal yourself.

Neither. Restoration is worthless in battle as it doesn't 'STOP TIME' like drinking potions does (you are often dying as fast as you are healing), and you can find so many potions in the game that you really never need to make one ... ever.

I'm a level 34 Imperial sword+shield. I have not put any points into Magicka, but I still use Restoration primarily for healing (using some perks). For in-battle healing - when I can't retreat or the incoming damge is too heavy - I do rely on potions, but only store-bought or loot ones. This character just isn't a flower-picker.

I'm going to add my two cents. Well, my sword and board warrior uses restoration pretty often, only spent 6 levels worth of magic on him (Level 57 btw) but you will need to use some perks on restoration to make it useful, fast healing spell+respite perk is perfect for a quick recoup, and people saying dropping your shield for 5 seconds means death is kinda crazy unless you are using the first teir healing spell. You also should use your left hand for the restoration spell you want to cast, I find I can quickly switch between fast healing and my shield in a quick few seconds and the stamina and healing boost is perfect for me. Carrying around enough potions to put down a mammoth is not fun at all although as people say it is quicker. its all based on how much you can carry/where you want your perks.

Do bear in mind that leveling alchemy means having to haul around tons of ingredients most of the times. At least, that's how I approach Alchemy.

I have an Imperial warrior, one-handed swords, light armor, shield, alchemy and restoration and smithing so I could get upgraded glass armor. I tend to rely on Restoration for healing, but Alchemy can also be quite useful. Whenever I need a moment to heal, I just Fus Ro Dah my enemies out of my way, which usually grants me just enough time to heal up. Restoration + Respite (which heals Stamina as well as Health) is an amazing combination.

Alchemy has its uses though. You can make a lot of nice potions in this game; resistance potions can really turn the tide in a tough battle, and poisons can also be quite useful. It all boils down to whatever floats your boat the most. Do you want flexibity and do you not mind hauling around loads of flasks and ingredients? Go Alchemy. Want to be able to heal, without being dependent on items? Go Restoration. Want maximum safety? Go Alchemy + Restoration.

I am using a similar style build and I chose to keep restoration for the passives (Respite & Recovery). I don't have much use for mana, but it is great to swap sword for spell, heal in 2 seconds and have 100 HP + Stam instantly. You can eventually get Avoid Death too, if you're serious about it. That said, in heated battles I use potions for healing. Giant and dragon slaying you have time to swap and heal. It is good to have options.

Allright, thank you for the answers peeeeople.

I think that the respite spell sounds quite nice, gotta think about if I want to use magic or not. To get respite I got to use a couple of perk-points to get it (obv.)

I dont know if I want to use any magic or not, but I can see the point one of you is making over here, that your char is not a flower picker^^ NTL (newer the less), you can find a lot of potions laying around.

I guess I just have to see if I really need any healing (sometimes I guess I need to heal some) but since i will max blocking with my shield and heavy armor, +75% magic resistance-ish, I guess I will withstand a lot of damage?