Just looking for advice on how you guys would or have fought dragons early game with success with a similar build. (Xbox 360)

I am going to go the vampire route (Dawnguard) when available and I will mostly be one handed (dagger), Illusion, Restoration, Alchemy, Light Armor, Sneak. So a pretty good mix Vs most enemies but maybe not a dragon. I will have no follower and refuse to use a bow or Destruction, however shouts will come in handy once I find them, remember this is surviving against them while I am early game.

Thnx.

Invest in alchemy (poison related perks).
Poison works against dragons. Combine it with a Bow/Crossbow, should be sufficient. Best advise imho.

Run away?

Invest in smithing and alchemy and eventually you can two to three hit dragons with daedric and ebony daggers..at lower levels it'll be long dwarn out fights as sneaking doesn't work too well against Dragons..I also suggest getting Dagons Razor from the quest Pieces of the past.(Gives you a small chance to one hit stuff).

I know you said you don't want to use a bow, but there's not much chance of going toe to toe with a dragon with low level daggers.....

I know you don't want to use a Follower, but don't forget there's alot in Skyrim that can act as distractions for combats. Dragons will go after anything - Trolls, Giants, City Guard, etc. If you can lure a Dragon into a multi-opponent fight like that, you stand a better chance to run in and stab. I fought a Dragon last week that was too busy fighting a Frost Troll to notice that I was plugging him full of arrows - by the time the Dragon downed the Frost Troll, I only needed to hit the Dragon twice more. Then I went over and finished the Troll...

While it is possible to take down a Dragon without the use of ranged attacks, it is tedious. However, one could always run...

I implement mods to make Dragons the absolute mights of the game. Every fight is a good 30 minute process. Vanilla Dragons are way too... general for being what they are.

That said, I use the surroundings as much as possible. The first reaction when a Dragon attacks is... FIND COVER! Then a strategy can be formulated pending the current location.

- Are there populated areas near by? - Luring the Dragon to a Bandit camp or village can prove to be the life saver of the situation.