Okay I've started a new character, a Dunmer. I'm specialising as an assassin-mage with focus on Conjuration, Restoration, Destruction, Sneak and Archery. I play on Master level. I'm not having any trouble against enemies who are alone or with 1-2 partners. But whenever there is many enemies or against a Master level creature, I'm dead. Can anyone suggest a better way to fend them off?


PS: No comments saying Skyrim's f****** easy on Master etc.. Try playing it on PS3 without console codes, then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Invest in Illusion for Quiet Casting.
Hunting in the Wilderness for anything that can be killed through Archery, while Sneaking. I use this method for my Warrior characters to get extra Perks for other Skills.
My Conjuration users will (almost) always have a Bound Weapon, or a Summon when travelling.

Take up enchanting so you can reduce costs for your schools and have a bigger magic pool to use. Don't make costs zero for a school the game because it becomes less fun.

Besides what's noted above, have you considered Alteration?
(Are you a cloth mage?)
This playthrough, almost without trying, I leveled Alteration before any other school, probably from using the flesh spells so much.
Sounds like Paralyze would help you out quite a bit, as well.

If you take up alchemy, you can craft "fortify" potions that extend the duration of your spells (like bound weapons, or flesh spells).
A "fortify" enchantment will just decrease the cost, so it's good to have both the apparel and the potions.