I don't really understand the leveling mechanism in Skyrim (I'm too new at it). I understand you no longer have to sleep to level. Is there a way to pull up a leveling page?
The / and ? key will pull up your skill perk page and ask if you want to raise magicka, health, or stamina each time you gain a level.
As far as I can tell, as a strictly a magic user, you (anyone) really want to focus using your one or two main area of damage dealing. For me, it's destruction magic. For others it will be their bows, one-handed, two-handed, conjuration magic, or whatever you like to use that takes down enemies. I initially wanted to master several schools of magic, but lately I've found that I only needed 2 schools of magic and have wasted perk points in things I don't need, because I was spreading myself too thin on the offensive side of things.
Also, if you look at the perks page, you'll see that alchemy, smithing, and enchanting fall under a specific area of skill (warrior/thief/mage). They're also adjacent to one of the areas that can lend strengths to that area. For instance, enchanting falls under the mage perks/signs. Both smithing and alchemy are adjacent to the mage skill areas. I've focused on enchanting, but I also use a bit of alchemy to brew health and mana potions. I highly recommend each class use their crafting skill associated with what they're character is trying to be, your archetype. It will make a big difference in your effectiveness. Thieves/assassins should be using a lot of poisons. Warriors should be improving their weapons and armor.
If you're spending too much time raising the skill level of other skills you don't use often, just to gain levels, you're doing more harm than good. Also, don't sit on perks unless you've got a good plan for them. Spend the perk points on what you use. I read somewhere that you can skill up your sneak to 100, but if you buy "all" of the perk points in sneak, your effective sneak can be 200. I don't know what they meant by all of the perks in sneak, but I doubt it means literally all of them.
For me, I use lightning bolt alot, even though I'm level 35 and have access to chain lightning, wall of sparks, frost atronarchs, and whatnot. My gauge is that I can take out thugs in 5-7 or so hits with just lightning bolt (I haven't given Jordis enough magic/spark resistence yet to not risk killing her with chain lightning). That seems fair to me and I think if you're taking longer to take out these common foes, then you need to work on your damage output.
I think my point is that you have the potential to conquer just about anything if you focus your skills with a plan. A jack of all trades with decent everything can help in any situation, but a master maceman with exceptional gear and a bunch of crappy potions or crappy heal spells can win in any situation. Role-play your character to an extent. What is it that your character has been training all of their Skyrim life to be good at? "Everything," shouldn't be an answer, because that's as ineffective in the game as it is in our lives.
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't try a fighter/mage/thief. I'm saying you're creating challenges for yourself that are additional to what the game presents you. Have a plan and stick to it. When you get bored, that's when you should branch out and test the waters with trying something new or just create a new character that fits your style.
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