So I've decided I want to make a sneaky mage type character, but I also want to do the main quest with said character, so being able to fight dragons (and do it well) early would be a bonus (as I want to do it fairly early). Looking through the skills, the ones that immediately stand out to me are illusion, conjuration (may even go the bound weapon route so that I can have a good weapon without smithing or lucky loot drops, and of course the atronachs are incredibly useful when the fighting starts), enchanting, sneak, light armor, and one handed.

I know from experience that illusion is useless against dragons entirely, and my early experiences with conjuration have been bad as well (the dragon seems to either evade the summon in favor of attacking me, or kills it too quickly for it to be worth summoning, if this changes at some point I'd be glad to hear about it) I prefer melee to ranged, but I know that melee with a dragon invariably means that I'll be soaking a good amount of damage, as a warrior I typically use restoration to get my health back as soon as the dragon takes off again, or chug a couple of potions, for this reason, would it be worth it to add either of those as perked skills (as my skill list is hardly small)?

In general, what tactics (besides the ubercrafting and smashing with said ubercrafted gear) prove most effective against a dragon, particularly for the type of character I have in mind?

On my mage character I raised my bow skill simply through using bound bow all the time in dungeons, so when fighting dragons I'd summon my fire or frost atronauch depending on the type of dragon, bound bow, and keep him at range with that while my magicka filled up again. Rinse, repeat when he plowed through my summons. Using a ranged weapon means I can run for my life and hide when I need to, and it allows your magic to build up again since it's so low at early levels.

Let me know if this helps

Conjuration can be very effective with a dragon in a destruction combo.

The problem is that you need to be hidden alot in those fights because I have noticed the dragons will tend to take an "Out of sight, out of mind" approach. So you have to just keep spamming Nochs' from behind something to protect you from his attacks, and then when you feel confident he is thoroughly distracted or not a threat to you (IE immediately after they shout) come out of cover and hit them with some destruction magic.

also what the lady said above me is very effective as well, but if the dragon keeps tossing your atronochs its hard to consistently keep the bow out,

Summon atronachs and the best bound weapon you have and just go for him!
Couldn't be easier! It's harder if you go only dagger though..

Here's how my Mage fights dragons:

1) Conjure two Dremora Lords.

2) Hit dragon with Dragonrend.

3) Toast dragon with Lightening Storm.

4) Collect 100 lbs of bones and scales from a tiny ash pile.

Alterations magic resistance perks is your best bet as far as perks go, the rest of it comes down to play style. Mage's are best using cover and spells from a far. Dragons are weak to destruction impact perk and so can potentially be stun locked... as long as you have magicka to use. Flame Atronach can damage ice breathing dragons (they aren't as fire resistant as you may have assumed).

Mage's just aren't melee ranged fighters, mage's fight from afar and so if you get into melee range with a dragon you're dead. Your best bet as a mage is to find cover and attack when the opportunity is good. Worst came to worse, wards can be used to absorb a dragons breath attack but a ward is unlikely to survive the entire duration of the breath and they're expensive to maintain.

Hmm... I seem to have given the impression that I wanted to play a mage here, as most people are giving me advice with destruction and mage oriented tactics, while they aren't bad, I was thinking more nightblade/assassin type of character with strong magical tendencies, if this allows for different effective tactics, please let me know, if not the general advice seems to be hug cover, summon and shoot with a bow.