My new character is a dark elf Mage. Currently at level 3(having previously had a warrior to lvl 43) I wanted her to just use spells, but I find that I often run out of magika early in a fight, and have to resort to swords and maces to finish 'em off. This seems to ruin the immersion for me, as I just wanted her to be a Mage. Any ideas?

Regards
Kilominium

Level magicka. Wear magicka-fortifying gear. Whatever it takes to get magicka up. Oh, and don't use JUST destruction. Throw in some conjuration, alteration, illusion, and restoration somewhere in there.

You can carry a lot of mana pots early on in the game to make up for running out of magicka or you can use the sword until you can start killing off enemies without the need for the sword. In the end I would say that using the sword at the beginning of the game is a good idea as it will level 1H early allowing you to level farther up later in the game when you decide to just switch to spells.

I currently have a level 23 dunmer mage, i use a combo of destruction/conjuration/restoration (no alchemy or enchantment exploits). Playing on expert most enemies give me no problem, except for bosses and spellcasters (i havent faced dragons yet). Its usually a matter of balancing and not wasting magicka, dont expect to huff 'n puff into a room full of enemies and kill them all before your magicka depletes. Use your minions, place runes and use your spells acordingly.

If you're like me and refuse to abuse enchants in order to get "free" spells, you'll probably find it impossible to be a truly pure mage unless you mix in some conjuration, and rely on summoned creatures to deal some portion of your damage. It's simply too easy to run out of magicka before your enemies run out of hit points when using Destruction for your damage dealing. I suppose you could also use Illusion for fear spells, and stand around waiting on magicka regeneration while your target is feared, but that might not be too dungeon friendly.

Personally, as a level 41 mage who has been using the Mage Stone since the beginning of the game, I have a Destruction skill of maybe ~65, and a 1-handed skill of 51 or 52 (though I find that I've actually been able to rely on magic a lot more lately than I could at first).

Being a mage means controlling the combat situation some. Don't expect to charge into a fort with 8 enemies running around and have enough magicka to flamebolt them all to death. There are also staffs and scrolls that can aid in those situations where you are dramatically outnumbered.

Hi, sorry, what's the Mage stone?

Regards
Kilominium

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mage_Stone

I recommend it.

fighting just with magic is tough in skyrim and oblivion.

however depending on your charecter you can incorporate other elements (my enchantress charecter carries a dagger and it isn't just an accessory)

mages should also practice sneak.

positioning in comabt is also important - keep a study table between you and the baddies - stand on a barrel - attack from the upper landing

and don't forget - you can often run away if all else fails.

Yeah, it is very easy to play a 2h mage in Skyrim. My first playthrough was 2H destruction mage and as others have said above, spec into Magicka, and wear gear that reduces mana cost. Mana will be expensive all the way up to expert/master level spells so be prepared to drink lots of potions. Also, try to stack fortify spell enchantments on your gear, that will significantly help with mana cost reduction.

Also, one of the most important destruction skills is "impact" this perk lets you stagger enemies with a 2h attack, which is great for crowd control.

good luck have fun!

Can you / have you just used spells

Could you would you hidden in some ruins?
Could you would you against Alduin?
Could you would you fighting Thalmor?
Could you would you burning Falmer?

Not in some ruins. Not against Alduin.
Not fighting Thalmor. Not burning Falmer.
Oh No! I do not like dual casting spells.

I am right now.

Dark Elf Necromancer, Conjuration/Destruction only.

Only "Weapons" I use is Bound Swords, and I barely use them if at all (One-handed is at like 19?)

I'm level I Believe 12 last night...lol

Leveling, Sneak, Speech, Enchanting, Alchemy, Conjuration, And Destruction. Very little Restoration/Alteration. Haven't used Any weapons except a bow...ONE Time early on to get a feel for things.

So far DUAL Flames and Dual Lightning (JOIN THE DARK SIDE! SITH LORD SCORPIOUS FOR THE VICTORY!) are my favorites..I hate not having a conjure skeleton warrior..I miss those buggers. At the moment, just use Flame Atronach.

Step One:
1. Dual Cast Flame Atronach for longer conjured time and let her "Kite" people (She speeds away and tosses fireballs mostly)
2. While she pulls their attention, Survey the Area. I see Nords? put up frost spells. I see Dunmer? Put up Flame spells. Break out Sparks/Lightning Bolt. do I see Altmer? LOL FLAMES/SPARKS OWNED.
3. I sneak up behind/Flank, hit everything with AOE/Spray/Cone moves, bosses, run, dual cast Bolts/Spikes and bosses usually cant' stand up to my Ice Spikes/Lightning Bolts
4. Profit.

I slaughter lackeys, boss fights usually they ignore me for the flame atronach, and when they do hit me...using potions is key.
You can't be Rambo unless you level up Alteration with Stoneflesh/Oakflesh early on...and I barely think about using it...

Biggest threat so far is: Knosis, Dragon Priest guy near Shearpoint...Thanks to being a Dunmer, I have 50% Fire Resist...so he doesn't one hit quit me...I have to Wall-Dance with him...he is worse then my Flame Atronach, and tries to kite me all over. But he's beatable...just save before going into fight...

Get your enchantment level up. My mage was doing constant thunderbolt with no magicka cost. At low levels though focus on Conjuration and use atronachs in battle.

This works pretty well at or around level twelve, and I thought the magicka management needed at that level was spot on. But firebolt doesn't offer much of a damage increase over flames, and it'll be a long time before you can purchase Incinerate/Thunderbolt, so you'll be suffering from progressively more pathetic damage relative to your enemies until about level 40. Conjuration does help, but imo destruction should really be able to stand on its own as well as archery, one handed or two handed - after all, there isn't much stopping an archer or dual wielder from casting a few conjuration or alteration spells (their magicka pools won't be as high as a pure destruction mage, but they also don't need to worry about keeping any magicka in reserve for dealing damage throughout the fight.)

This.

Mages aren't all powerful until you gear/level the [censored] up, but the beauty of them is...its not hard to gear them each time. AS you level, you'll go from Novice, Apprentice, to Adept, Adept has so far held me down on my higher level characters who...had barely any magicka.

Lowering Percentage to Cost of spells = best route for even peeps. My Orc was all around character, I had conjuration.

Early on you need to use Scrolls/Staves. Although I've not needed to just because I know how to Kite melee users and LOS ranged...

Its not hard...people, get a Novice Robe of Destruction or Conjuration, Get a Ring of Magicka, Get an Amulet of Magicka or Magicka Regen, Apprentice/Adept/Novice Hood...and don't put stuff in Stamina/ Health until later...

You're ------------- DONE.

I don't get it...put Flames/Sparks/Frostbite in two hands and dual cast that [censored]. you DESTROY everything. I even kill Nords with Frostbite/Ice Spikes.
Mages = Alchemy/Enchanting, use them to your advantage. Enchanting = Blacksmith for Mages.
Alchemy = Magicka Potions, CHUG IT DOWN SON! ITS GOODNESS IN A BOTTLE!
"but Dear Brother..I don't has potions!" <---BUY THEM THEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE UM!
"But Dear Brother, I don't has moneys!"< ---Then you svck, go back to COD where everything is handed to you.

Everyone should practice sneak. Unless you are role playing an idiot, you should try to sneak. Seriously you are exploring a dangerous ruin filled with monsters why would you not try to sneak and get the drop on the monsters instead of them getting the drop on you.

As for the OP, get used to running a lot and waiting for your mana to regen, that is the life of a mage at many levels.

My level 39 Orc Jack of All Trades, I evened out Stamina/Health/Magicka level ups (I had around 220 in each spot). Did spells just fine. Heavy Armored/Two-Handers mostly, but had Sneak/Archery almost maxed.

I did conjuration spells and destruction spells. I couldn't cast awesome spells like Ice Spear, but Lightning Bolt dropped a lot of bandits before hand. Had I put any PERKS in these trees, I'd dominate things with out having to take my weapon out of its holster. I literally had ONE point in Destruction and Conjuration which was the first tier /Novice is cut in half...

Explain to me, why a Mage, with perks can't do this with Enchanting?

"BUT I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO RELY ON ENCHANTING!"

So my Orc shouldn't have to rely on blacksmithing for physical feats? I should be able to tackle Blood Dragons at level 30 with an Iron Greatsword, dressed in fur? LOL EXPECTING TOO MUCH THERE GUY.

Every game has its niches, It always boils down to Skill-Tactics/Player and Talent Levels, and Talent Points-Perk Points, but the kicker is always gear. Now you know why people barely ever got to level 20 in Dungeons n Dragons early on. lol

I seriously doubt you could take down a forsworn briarheart at around level 35 using single or even double cast flames, on master difficulty. It does 8 damage per second base, can be perked up to 12 per second, dual casted for about 25 or 26. A one hand warrior at about that level, with an orcish sword smithed up to flawless, with a couple of +one handed damage perks and a couple of low level +damage enchants can output something more like 50 per swing, and have enough stamina to do power attacks that are completely unavailable to mages. By level 35 though they could easily be smithing much more powerful weapons, have twice as many one handed damage increasing perks, and four times as many one handed damage increasing enchantments. Plus elemental damage enchantments. All of those are completely unavailable to mages.