Making a class that might use them, depending if they're worth it. And by worth it, I mean is it worth the 3 perks for Adept Destruction so they only cost half as much magicka.

I've been playing as a sort of... bizarre melee mage using Bound Sword and let me tell you, if I know I have to get right up into people's faces, I'm doing it while on fire.

Haha that's good. I'm not using any sort of ranged attacks so I'm definitely going to be people's faces a lot.

That sounds a bit like what I was going for, and I handicapped myself further by always wearing a pair of steel gauntlets and boots so the Mage Armor perk was useless to me, causing my battles to be very strategic, very quick, and well thought out because the alternative was being torn to ribbons.

Who needs ranged attacks when you can tank for a duo of Flame Atronachs?

Exactly, but I'm not using Conjuration. This build is going to a Redguard nightblade of sorts.

There are cloak spells on Skyrim? Goddang I need to play a mage...

I use them with my mystic monk (hand to hand and magic), and they can be very effective in a long battle.

Welp, I'll use them. Why not? If I don't like them, I'll just be a redguard spellsword. Thanks for the input

The corresponding augmentation perks boost the power of the cloak. They can be pretty powerful.

Another thing, slightly on-topic: How should I ratio my Magicka, Health, and Stamina (Think they're called attributes)? I need the Magicka for Alteration, Restoration, and the Cloak spells. I need the Health because I'll be playing on Expert and be in some pretty hairy situations when my sneak attacks fail, plus I won't be wearing any armor and relying on the Flesh spells. I'll need the Stamina because I'm dual-wielding, which pretty much means I'll be relying on power attacks. I was thinking a 1:1:1 ratio going Stamina, Magicka, then Health.

I can't decide yet if I want Restoration though, since I'm using Alchemy. So that might affect how much Magicka I need.

Magicka can be lower if you're just using it for healing, to put up your cloak, and I assume an armor spell in Alteration. As long as you can cast the armor spell and the cloak in a single magicka bar, it'll be back by the time you need a heal.

So something like 2:2:1, Stamina, Health, Magicka would be best? The biggest reason I'm asking is I don't want to wear rings and necklaces that boost the attributes because I picked them wrong :s

Yes they are very affective if you are using a character that gets up close and personal. They are great for killing the enemies with large health faster.

LoL make a juggernaut with heavy armor and just stand there on fire and let the world burn around you

I find them somewhat useful on melee based characters. They aren't the most powerful spells, but the Shock based one is quite useful. As long as enemy mages are within its reach it stops magica regen. The Frost version does the same with stamina, but many enemies are resistant to it.