Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-201.68.123.221-20131218134843/@comment-7311597-20150125140949

Consider for purposes of discussion that either class only gets 3 trees to spec into.

The concept of a spellsword makes sense to me in game balance terms.

Skills: Light Armor, One-Handed and pick your magic school based on your play style and preferences. Destruction for an excellent utility ranged guy, Resto for a front line support guy, etc. One hand magic, one hand weapon at all times.

Disadvantage: You pay for your manueverability and versatile array of offensive and defensive skills with less armor, as well as not being able to use a shield or a two-handed weapon, basically meaning you're a 2nd line utility fighter who is "Johnny on the spot" to support the melee tanks in the front line and keep any penetrators off the robed mages in the 3rd line.

A battlemage, however, feels badly OP.

Skills: Heavy Armor, Two-Handed Weapons and Destruction Magic

Disadvantage: None. If you take the Steed Stone, you have no real tradeoffs in ranged/melee attack or defense and can basically do anything equally well, including tank. Your sole disadvantage is less mana regen (which is mostly moot in the front lines, exactly where Heavy Armor is intended to be used), and slightly cheaper Destruction spells (slightly...). Beyond that, you are without fundamental flaw, and that is OP. Sorry.

It's worth noting that almost everybody's Dovahkiin seems to become a terrifying, virtually unstoppable Sauron-esque Battlemage strutting around in full Dragonbone/Ebony and Molag Bal's Mace once they get enough perk points. Once you invest fully in Heavy, Two-Handed and Destruction...there's very little motivation to screw with Light Armor when they're both equally bad for spellcasting but you can negate literally all Heavy's disadvantages with perks. There's too many easily available aids to mobility to go Light or robes and mana regen is highly situational at best.

Only way to fix it would be to retcon in some restrictions on battlemagi, like not being able to wear gloves or helms, just the chest pieces, jewelry and boots. "Strongest and most physically robust of the magi, highly lethal at both ranged and melee strikes... but still not armored enough for tank duty, since they need their hands and minds free and unencumbered to properly form and project their deadly magicks."