Expedition: general discussions.

Magic is useless. It's impossible to combine high damage and decent defense in magic builds, as you either have protective spells or dual-wielded fireballs. And without enchanted robes, mana runs out too quickly, and these robes offer no protection either.

In Skyrim, the easiest way is to create a cumulative build with melee combat + alchemy + smithing + enchanting, preferably with two one-handed weapons, and you can choose either light or heavy armor (in the endgame, you won't really feel that heavy armor consumes a lot of stamina). But this is, of course, a boring approach; you just go around and mow down everything that's alive.