One of my first builds in Skyrim was a mage, but I think the approach I took to progressing it was flawed. Because I tended dabble in a lot of the other schools, plus a bit of Archery and Sneak, I got myself into a situation where I leveled fast and was facing powerful enemies without having taken key perks in Destruction. I started to feel like I was gimped, and ended up morphing into more of a stealthy thief/mage. Anyway, I've been thinking about having another go at this, and wondered if anyone had any tips for using Destruction in conjunction with other skills? Is it better to specialize in one element like Shock, which is resisted by few enemies? Or is Destruction simply better as a skill that augments combat?

Thanks!

Destruction is most fun when used wisely in conjuction with other schools of magic. Conjuration and Illusion, specifically, I've found.

Or used with a weapon. Use destruction at first, then put up a shield and go melee.

Just get destruction up and eventually you can dual wield fire bolts that will stagger then the game becomes super easy mode. Destruction, Restoration and Enchanting are all you should invest in

Destruction may be the only skill that can be effective entirely on its own. With archery or melee, you need support skills like smithing or sneak or block - whatever. With Destruction, however, you can control the pace of the game so that the levels don't get away from you. For example, if you really limit yourself to Destruction, you'll stop leveling at around level 20 and with 100 Destruction at level 20 you will dominate any situation. Summoning help like Atronachs can be done with staves to avoid extra leveling. If you start to get bored you can then branch out into Illusion (which also helps increase fire damage) or Conjuration. If you take the Destruction approach there's no need to specialize in fact you'll want a full range of options available.
I'm playing a character like this now and it's very satisfying. I was able to clear Forelhorst at level 6 with 40 Destruction. It helps to be a Breton with Atronach sign for the magic immunity.

That's interesting...I'd never thought of that. In subsequent builds I was careful not to fast-level easy skills just to gain the perks, since it only starts throwing new enemies at you. I'll give that a try and see how it goes. Like you say, there's always room to branch out later.

what kill skill wouldnt dominate if you only focused on it and nother else, capping at level 20? that doesnt make it powerful on its on

Something else I wondered about was the importance of keeping your progress slow so that you can open more chests, and get a better collection of loot to augment your skills (rather than power leveling, and not getting much money or random loot). Might be better to take something like the Steed Stone, to keep this in check, and also give you more room to carry goods. Make for an interesting character. No possessions except for a few potions and fireballs in his/her palm.

That's the point. There doesn't have to be a "later on". If you want to, you can spend another 100 hours and do just about everything in the game and you still won't get past level 22 or so ever. You just stop leveling except for a few points in Speech which you can't really avoid. You don't have to do that but you can. It's an interesting option.

You're definitely getting it. By the time you get to level 20 you'll have a selection of fortify Destruction items so you won't need Enchanting and a pile of Staves for conjuring friends and dishing out damage without using magicka.