I'm currently - for the first time - playing probably the most overdone build in Skyrim or TES history: the Battlemage.

Seems everybody loves a playstyle that involves magic, weapons, and armor. I am too, but I'm running into some mild hitches and wanted to see about others' experiences.

Most of the time, I play specialists. Pure archers with no melee or armor; cloth-wearing mages focused on one or two schools of magic; two-handed kick-in-the-door juggernauts.

A battlemage is a different sort of beast, or at least how I'm playing it. Here's the basics:

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Race: Imperial. (I know this is generally considered sub-par, but I like the skills and the lore. Voice of the Emperor is nice, too. Maybe I'll actually remember to use it one day...)

Stone: Mage

Current Level: 14, almost 15

Perked Skills:

-Destruction - just hit 40. Perked into dualcasting (no Impact yet), Augmented Flames, Augmented Shock, and Apprentice Destruction.

-Restoration - low 40s. Perks include Regeneration, Apprentice Restoration, Recovery (1/2).

-Heavy Armor - low 30s. Perks just include Juggernaut (2/5).

-One Handed - low or mid 30s. Perks include Armsman (1/5) and Fighting Stance.

Unperked Skills (I intend to put some points here in the future, especially enchanting):

-Enchanting - low 30s.

-Archery - low or mid 30s.

Other Skills:

-Alchemy - undecided on whether I want to get into this.

-Smithing - hate to grab all 3 crafting skills, but this might be nice down the road...

Stat Allocation:

I'm aiming for something like 3:2:1 Magicka:Health:Stamina. Currently, Magicka is around 200 (with a Novice Hood), Health is around 140, Stamina 110.

Future Plans:

-Work up Restoration to grab things like Ward Absorb, Necromage, Avoid Death, and nice high-tier Resto spells.

-Work up Destruction to get Cloak spells and AoE spells, then eventually the higher-level stuff.

-Aim for the armor cap with Heavy Armor (mostly via Juggernaut and maybe a couple right-side perks in the HA tree. Perhaps up to Tower of Strength).

-Work up Enchanting to get magic resistance and Magicka regeneration gear.

-Keep Magicka ahead of Health, relying on armor and enchantments/Wards to stay alive.

-Aim for a nicely-integrated playstyle involving switching between spells, melee weapons and bows as the situations warrant.

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So, the point:

I think I'm just now (lvl 14) entering that awkward phase that is the bane of hybrid classes. Starting to see Bandit Highwaymen, Thugs, and Plunderers that give me some trouble. Mistwatch Bandits are really rough.

With my 'pure' mages, I would have no trouble kiting away from trouble, downing potions as needed, and ducking behind cover. But those tactics don't seem quite fitting for a battlemage. I want to be able to blast foes from a distance (after shooting some poisoned arrows, perhaps), then tank some hits with my armor before finishing them off with dualcast spells or an enchanted war axe.

So, any advice? Does the above plan look sound? Do I just need to get through a few more levels of awkwardness before the real power starts to follow?

Craig 1405 would be the one to ask. He knows a lot about being a battlemage, for that is what he plays.

I think you might need to build up your one handed and armor skills a bit more as they seem to be falling behind a bit. The name of the game for a battlemage is the right tool for the job, elemental damage for specific enemies and melee to soften them up. Overall yes though does seem like a decent build, hybrids always have the weird middle ground problem. But you may get better and more specific advice from others as I have only played a few battlemages before.

As a battlemage the Alteration perk for Magic Resist is very nice....just sayin'

Forgot to mention Alteration - yes, I did use that a little bit in the early going, but tbh I'm not sure I want to go that route. I've done Alteration quite a bit in the past, and if I add that into the mix I'm looking at a lvl 60+ character - and I've never gotten to 50 before.

I would ask, "What's in a level?"

Rather focus on "the play" ignoring what level your studies of the arcane take you too and simply realizing that you've studied long on hard and as a result developed an inherent resistance to magic attacks. In other words I doubt the beings of Skyrim go around thinking to themselves, "I don't think I'll learn that because I'll get to such and such a level". For myself I set out on what kind of character I want to be and then I work toward that end and purposely ignore the "game mechanic" of level.

Hope that makes sense and that what I'm driving at is freedom of play is greater than focusing on level imo.

Cheers!