Hi all,
I've been trying to play as a Barbarian, and it has been a nightmare so far.
My approach:
Light armor
Dual wield
Stealth
Archery
No magic
No crafting
No pots other than found or purchased
Is this build viable? I keep on getting My ass handed versus sword and shield and two handed oponents. It Is getting extremely frustrating, My health seems to drop super fast, specially against two handed. My mage companion on the other side has a blast killing My opponents, it's even embarrasing. I think dual wielding Is subpar in terms of defence against the rest of options. Even sword and heal works better for me.
Thanks for the help, it Is infuriating to have this character in mind and not being able to play it.

I actually ran into a similar problem. I came to a very simple conclusion: I svcked at melee. If you're used to Oblivion's ridiculously easy gameplay, you're gonna have issues. Dual wielding, at least early on, requires quite a bit of fancy foot work and timing to be effective. Remember that sprint can be your friend for dodging. (think side to side and not back like in Oblivion)

Just my $0.02

Thanks for the feedback. I did notice that I tend to go backwards, hence I "eat" almost all the swings of longer weapons. I'd like to know how you are playing now, or how you sorted this issue. I do fare realtively well in open space when I can just run incircles around my enemies, but in dungeons it is a huge pin in th a**..

I'd recommend to go for two-handed weapons instead of dual wield. also very barbarian and you will have some more reach

Dual wield will be the death of you.

Edit: Until you've leveled it.

Light armor.
Big swords.

Run at stuff and cleave it in twain, screaming bloody murder.

You will be able at least block some damage when with 2-handed weapons.

My big Nord barbarian brute looks like a Conan wannabe .
He just wears superior scaled light armor, carries a 2 handed dwarven greatsword and uses block to slow down incoming power attacks.
He`s quite a destroyer. Doesn`t even use archery, just a dragonrend shout for flying lizards