Khondraa the Thalmor Rebel

Race: Altmer
Level: 25 (almost 26)
Gender: Female
Weapon/Armor: Elven Shield and Armor, no weapon
Health/Magicka/Stamina: 230/220/140
Skills:

Destruction 58 - Novice, Apprentice, Augmented Flames/Shock
Restoration 37 - Novice, Apprentice, Recovery
Alteration 55 - Novice, Apprentice, Magic Resistance 1/3
Enchantment 65 - Enchanter 4/5, Insightful Enchanter
Smithing 42 - Steel, Elven Smithing
Block 36 - Shield Wall 1/5, Quick Reflexes, Power Bash
Light Armor 47 - Agile Defender 1/5, Custom Fit
Alchemy 39 - Alchemist 1/5, Physician

Getting this far I do have to say, I have to tke back what I said about Destruction leveling. The first few levels it is quite slow, but with the mage stone and getting out of the first 10 levels, it goes up fairly well. But I do still believe that Destruction is underpowered. My next perk for sure is going to be Adept Destruction because at this level, using the Apprentice level damage spells on some enemies can be downright frustrating (Dwarven Sphere/Spiders in particular). At midgame I can see how some people get frustrated with the Destruction line. Also, for the damage they do, Runes should be way cheaper to cast. First time I've messed with them, but they are a lot of fun.

Restoration does level too slowly however. I've been turning undead every chance I get and sometimes even being a little foolhardy in combat so I can heal myself more, and its still only at 37. That svcks.

I also got my Enchantment to 65 without any powerleveling whatsoever. By powerleveling I mean using a soul trap weapon, going into a barrow or anything with a lot of petty/lesser souls, and filling a ton of soul gems. I've either found them, or used the stupid amount of money I've obtained to buy Grand Soul Gems for my armor enchants. On the other hand, I've done quite a bit of mining and holding onto gemstones and using Transmutate to make expensive Gold and Silver jewelry to level up Smithing. Smithing is exactly how it should be now. Enchanting should be like smithing.

Strategy wise, being basically a "reverse-spellsword", the shield itself works as a weapon, not only doing damage, but setting them up for me to hit them with another spell after they've closed the distance. I kind of take a "opposite tactic" approach: if I'm fighting a spellcaster after getting them to step on a shock rune I close in and shield bash and cast. If they are tough melee fighters, I bash them to stun and try to keep my distance and wear them down as much as possible. I had started with the idea of making weakness to fire/shock poisons but having to draw a sword, apply poison, and then go back to spells I found too unwieldy. But then again I find myself needing magicka and stamina potions a LOT, so through perk choice I was able to ensure its usefulness.

Overall, its a fun build thats not done to death (I'm looking at you, Daedric Armor Spellsword) but I can see some of the frustrations a little more clearly playing a build that relies solely (well, 95%+) on magic.