I was wondering if I’m trying a viable build for my character. I thought it better to ask than to find out halfway that it’s not.

Basically I’m trying a mage/warrior, battle mage or what ever you would call it. I use a one handed weapon in one hand and a magic spell in the other. I also frequently use a bow. I also wear heavy armor cause most fights get real up close and personal and I already tend to die quite often (esp. with a mage and some two-hander wielding fellow). I’m level 10 now, but haven’t spent all of my perks. Perks I took are the destruction starter (cheaper spells), heavy armor (2) and one handed (4). Before spending the rest I would like to know if it is a good idea to continue down this road or that I would be better of choosing a more specialist approach (dual wielding weapons or spells / one handed shield). And if this build is viable what are tips and or tricks to perform better?

I have played rpgs before, but never TES.

Lastly can you shortcut combinations of weapons/spells? Like switching from mace/shield to sword/spell? I’m doing fine when changing from bow to sword/spell (via shortcutting the sword), but it seems to falter when changing combo’s.

As for build, I suggest getting into some form of crafting. Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy are all very useful, and profitable, and can make life a bit easier. Smithing gives you access to weapons and armor that can be hard to get at times and allows for upgrades to armor and weapons, enchanting makes all of your stuff much more powerful if not enchanted, and alchemy has both good offenses and defenses that make your character further versatile.

Dungeon crawling alone can be good business, but if you want business to boom you will be better off with at least one craft skill. Business being both money and playthrough wise.

I tried battle mage for 10 levels, light armor instead of heavy and it was ok for the most part. But for my playstyle it's not as effective as sword&shield&resto. Shield helps you against any melee, especially the nasty 2h and mutants like the frost troll , resto helps you against mages and dragon breath and overall basically in any fight.