The problem is that it's still held by a lousy fighter (+10 to weapon skill notwithstanding) with shit HP, limited mobility and no armour.
Everyone is like that at the beginning, so every little bit helps.
Everyone? No.
You can have some combination of skills at 50, 60HP, good mobility and workable weapon and armour before you wander out of Seyda Neen for the first time - at level one, without engaging in tedious or dubious practices.
Early on you need all the combat skills you can get because fucking Fargoth can kick your ass.
Which is the whole point. If you want to poke people with daggers and little else, first and foremost you take a Dunmer, stealth specialization, Dagger in majors.
It gives you 45 starting skill with short blades, compared to Altmer/Breton mage's 15.
If you want, you can major in conjuration too which gives you bound dagger spell with it's 10 point bonus and nice damage on top of that, and if you're determined to first and foremost stab people in the face rather than sneak or do whatever else, you can take Warrior, Thief or Lover sign for +10% to hit, +10% to dodge or effective +5% to both respectively.
Better yet, if you wanted cliched ol' warrior with a sword, you'd take Redguard, combat specialization and long blades as major, giving you 50 skill with long blades off the boat, along with considerably buffed strength and endurance, meaning more oomph and more HPs, and since there is no sign giving you more oomph, you can top it off with Warrior, or Lady if you're more interested in having as much HPs as possible. Unfortunately you'll have to get your Bound Sword spell on your own, although enchanting your own weapon with on strike version of it would probably be preferable to just casting it and realistic even on lvl1 if you major in enchant as well.
Want to trololol everyone without taking damage? Do most of the above, except take Argonian, Steed, combat specialization, speed in favoured attributes, Spear, Athletics, Acrobatics and Enchant in majors, obtain a chitin spear, Bound Spear spell, and a few rat or cliffracer souls in gems, and enchant chitin spear as detailed above. Stay light, with little or no armour or pointless junk weighting you down. Congratulations, you've pretty much won the game at level 1.
Why the fuck would you want to stab shit with a fucking mage unless it's your last resort, finishing off incapacitated enemies or you don't want to waste magicka on rats or mudcrabs?
Mage is about creative uses and combinations of spell effects and even low level mage can be fucking scary after getting their hands on some effects and person providing spellmaking service. Mage generally doesn't engage in combat - combat isn't something you want to do when you're a frail dude wearing bathrobe - he makes shit die, ignore him, help him, drop down incapacitated, or kill itself in largely non-negotiable manner in addition to utilitarian shit like walking on water and flying around when he damn pleases - see the mysterious synchronous heart attack of 3E 427 killing all Balmora Council Club patrons.
I can experiment with levitation and water walking later, gimme some way to cause damage so I don't feel disgusted with my own character for being an useless little bitch that is weaker than the malnourished peasants I'm trying to help.[/quote]
The enchantment and potion systems are kind of daunting me too. I can see how they could be cool in theory, but the sheer number of combinations and permutations is too much for my brain.
Regardless, I am not touching Daggerfall with a 12 foot pole.
You, sir, are a cretin.
mage.
