I'm level 16, and started off using two-handed weapons, but switched to shields. I play solo to explore on my own, and I usually don't use shields in games, but I like it so far. I have been doing okay so far, but I know early game is a cake-walk.
One thing I'm experiencing is not being able to decide on what skills to use. I know I have to build towards self-sufficiency, since I'm solo, so I had most of my skill points in Earthen Heart and Ardent Flame and a few points in Draconic Power, and no points in one-handed/shield weapon skills. That worked for a while, but I barely made survived a fight where I was out-numbered because of the high Magicka cost of casting Molten Armaments, while keeping Volcanic Ward up and also using attacks that are Magicka dependent (Volcanic Whip and Dark Talons).
I decided to respec my skills again and got rid of Dark Talons, and the rest of the skills in Draconic power. I kept Molten Whip because I like it, and I put points into Low Slash for my one-handed weapon skill. I am thinking about maybe adding Core of Flame because I think it aligns with the survivability aspect of solo play, but I see that the Magicka cost to run Ward, Moltne Armaments and CoF is too high to be efficient. I don't want to dump all points into Magicka (currently 13 points in Magicka, 1 poin in Health and 6 in Stamina). My armor is also a mix of Heavy and Medium, and I finally managed to find pieces of armor that were better than the 3 pieces of Sithis set I got at level 12. I'm not sure where I need to go to farm for full sets, or even if it's worth the effort this early into the game.
I'm looking for some sort of guidance so I can put together a cohesive build for my character.