Advice for a Mage

I used this character build for my most recent mage character. It's been a blast to play because it doesn't require a lot of grinding to reach a goal. It uses mostly low level spells, so the focus is on being a tricky wizard instead of an overpowered one. If that isn't to your liking, there are a ton of equally good character builds on that site to give you inspiration.

Mages tend to start out pretty slowly. At the beginning, you're limited to fairly weak spells that aren't very flashy. They can also eat your mana in a flash at the very start, leaving you with nothing. Not like you were very tanky anyway.

This is why your priority at first is to find a way to fight more 'indirectly.' Conjuration and Illusion will provide you with this. Instead of charging into a large group, do either one of two things. Conjure yourself an Atronach or Familiar, which will be capable of soaking up damage and providing a distraction. This provides you somewhat of a safety net and a bit of time, allowing you to support with Destruction spells. Or, cast Fury from a relatively secure position. Make them fight eachother.

This leads me to my next point - the actual playstyle of a mage. You cannot charge into a room with Flames and Healing and expect to be very successful. You must size up a situation and plan a bit beforehand. Being a mage allows you adapt to many situations without putting yourself in harm's way. To do this, you must use almost every spell at your disposal. Put any useful spells in your favorites menu. You're going to be switching a lot.

Head to the College of Winterhold as soon as possible. This will give you access to far superior equipment and skills than you can normally find in the early game, especially after you College of Winterhold Spoiler

After a bit of leveling done on Destruction from the strategy mentioned beforehand, you can move onto much more effective spells, in terms of damage. At this point, you might want to begin thinking about the elements. Fire is good all-around, as it provides good damage over time. If you're smart, this can save you mana. Frost is especially useful for taking on heavier-melee units. If they've got a two-hander, it's best to stop them in their tracks before they can reach you. Shock has another purpose altogether. Shock is hitscan. There is no travel time. This means it can be used at range without the requirement for leading. Useful for dragons or ranged units, or even other mages.

You're moving to dual casting at this point when utilizing Destruction. Why? The Destruction Dual Casting perk provides you much needed DPS, and the Impact perk allows you to stagger-lock even dragons. Insanely useful for controlling your engagements.

Replace Flames/Sparks/Frostbite with skills like Firebolt and Lightning Bolt. This gives you more range, and thus more safety, while increasing your damage output.

Spec into Alteration and Restoration as well, as they can provide you absurd amounts of defense.

If you want the ability to control your engagements, fight from nearly any range, and create distractions, the Mage is for you.