How do you cope?

I have a hard time investing in both Restoration and Alchemy for my sword & board warrior. It just doesn't seem to fit: Even though I don't RP too hard, I only give my guy one profession to work at, which is Smithing. As such he has no time to collect herbs and brew potions. Using magic also doesn't feel right on my pure warrior.

So far I've managed with the Health potions I find in dungeons and food (He has an interest in cooking alright!), but as I progress, It's getting harder and harder to keep myself healed throughout the tougher fights, both on Expert and on Master.

Should I drop this folly and invest in Restoration, or persevere and collect more apples? I suppose I could also spend my coins on potions others make, but right now I'm not really swimming in it.

The population of Tamriel has an innate ability to heal themselves, so I wouldn't worry about using restoration.

I play on master with a sword and Board, never "ever" used a single healing potion! lv29 atm with my 3rd playthrough solely relying on my equipment for healing w/c i was fortunate to find a Ebony Armor of Mending + Ring of Mending = 50% faster regeneration. Invest in the Block Perk and use Block alot you'l hardly get damaged unless surrounded. I do use restoration magic but only after fights to heal faster and won't be investing any perks in it.

Concentrate on being a warrior and forget restoration and alchemy.I always play on master and did very well with a sword and shield without chugging potions.Master level teaches you to be cautious and pick your battles.

A pure warrior has a lot going for him.The shield is a very potent tool.Make sure you invest heavily in stamina as well as health because your shield bashes and power attacks etc are critical to your success.

Also,try and pick the ground you fight on.In dungeons draw mages/archers etc into corner sections in corridors where their ranged combat is nullified and interupt their casts with the shield while hacking away with your sword.
Trust in your shield rather than trying to run around opponents.In melee keep your shield up always when not attacking.It's easy to get caught with heavy blows,especially against two handed opponents,when trying to be too offensive.
Invest in magical and elemental protection as soon as possible.This makes closing on mages a lot easier and once you are close you can begin interupting their spells with your shield while hacking them down with your sword.

The Lady stone (+health and stamina regen) and the lord (+25 mag res and 50 armour class) are good for warriors classes.

All in all its important to focus your perks in your sword,shield and armour,especially early on to be effective.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head but you definetly dont need a mass of potions or restoration to be effective on master level.

IMO the healing value of food is inversely proportional to your level. The higher my character got, the less useful I found food to be for their healing properties. OTOH, there've been a few fights where only by gulping down copious healing potions I managed to survive.

What do you consider more important, shield perks or armor perks? I know you will end up usually spliting up your perks depending on skill requirements. But if you had a perk to spend in either tree which would it be? What's more effective?

I'm trying a sword & board guy now on Master (first time on master) and got killed in the tutorial by the spiders as I rushed in and got surrounded and didn't wait for Ralof, lol. Was a bit more careful after reloading and took them out just fine.

Try playing a Cleric-- one I modeled after Baldur's Gate. The Cleric uses sword'n'board (mace 'n board to be specific), heavy armor, and makes perfect sense casting Restoration and mixing beneficial potions.

A little more info:

• prioritizes quests at temples
  
• avoids fights when feasible, unless it's an "abomination" (i.e. undead, witches, vampires, etc)
  
• prioritizes all perks, enchants, and abilities that give +damage to undead
  
• will complete all and any quests offered by deities, regardless of alignment
  
• does not craft poisons, accidental poisons will be immediately destroyed

As a warrior you want perks in both but you will usually find the shield skill levelling faster.As for effectiveness they are both as important.

I would'nt put anything into smithing until about lvl 10-11.Concentrate on your sword,shield and armour perks first - usually in that order as armour seems to level slower.I think the earlier perks in shield are a lot better than the heavy armour ones.Deflect arrows and power bash are much more useful than fists of steel etc.Elemental protection is also a must at skill 50.

It's sounds obvious but you will level faster using your skills.What i mean is as a bloke in heavy armour expect to get hit often.Go toe to toe without running around like a fairy.Strike,block and take the hits when they come if you cant block.

An Anomen-type would be fun for another playthrough, right now I'm the xenophobic Nord who only trusts his sword and his shield.

Thanks for the advice guys.