Ok so I'm rebuilding my Mage character due to the fact that I didn't level up the way that I wanted to. My first Mage was built around destruction which got a bit tedious because I ran into battles casting flame. I'm thinking that I don't want to use destruction as my main skill, but I don't want to use blade either. So I looking to do a build that relies on using other magic skills.

Conjuration comes to mind as if I'm not using destruction or blades then I need some sort of offensive spell, but the problem I'm foreseeing is that in time I'll be faces with the same problem. I'll get board of just conjuring the same spells and I'll be back to square one. Now I'm no expert on magic, (give me a bow and sneak skill any day of the week) but I was thinking of using Illusion, Restoration and Alteration as my main offensive skills. Calm and fear will come in handy while dealing with bandits and animals, and turning the undead will come in handy when in dungeons.

But on this playthough I want to acquire all Dragon Priest masks (not done it before, so please no spoilers) and have fought them before and they we difficult. So with no destruction or blade I see a problem when dealing with them. Wards and barriers will protect me and I assume that they will to powerful for Illusion. Could the use of good staff be helpful? I've really never used them in any TES game.

EDIT: I obviously can't spell Rebuilding either. Is there any hope?

if you dont like your chacter then rerolling is the only way to make a more suitable character for your style if your trying to go for a more mage style chacter a controller type is always fun and can be rather overpowed come end game

using illusion, conjuration, restoration, sneak and enchanting maybe alittle destruction for rune master and augments.