So, am I the only one who always goes for pure magic?
"Always?" Maybe. You had to be a bit of a masochist to do that in Morrowind, and the prerequisite for doing pure magic (for long) in Oblivion was a desire to feel like a god for extended periods of time (albeit, unless you played a sorcerer-type w/ heavy armor, a god made out of paper mache').
Eventually, collecting artifact staves and playing the "zorch" game got a little old for me.
"Zorch, you're a goblin. Zorch, you've got a corrupted clone. Zorch, there's a daedra right behind you (no, really). Zorch, you're both paralyzed and literally freezing to death. Zorch, you're running amok while on fire. Oops-- you died. Zorch, you're undead."
Staves of heinousness aside, Illusion and Destruction are two schools of magic that do not belong on the same character. (How can something so right feel so wrong? Easy: they make the game a cakewalk.)
Edit:
Though there was a worse combination: Illusion and Conjuration-- especially if you had the difficulty cranked.
"Yikes! Okay, Mr. Shambles, you shrugged off my fireball with hardly a flinch. Um. Here, how about some clannfears (aka velociraptors)? Their stats got cranked right alongside yours, by the way. Have fun. I'll be over here. Just ... come on over when you're done with the infinite number I can summon, one at a time. I'll be easy to pick out; I'm the one who's invisible."
Further edit:
Add onto that the fact that conjuration spells do not cast a hell of a lot of light and consequently are
perfect for characters with high Sneak ...
... and that the aforementioned clannfears have the senses of a goddamned bloodhound ...
"Hm. A labyrinth full of necromancers, undead minions lurking in every nook. I'll just find a shady corner-- ah, there we go. Summon...." [weird magical chiming swoosh, clannfear-whistle, clickclickclick *SKLORCH!* clickclickclick *SKLORCH!* clickclick *SKLORCH!* rattle *SKLORCH!* clickclick swoosh, clannfear-dying-rattle] "... And again, summon...."
Wash, rinse, repeat, until all enemies are prostrate upon the ground and the clannfear is standing in front of you looking like it wants a doggie biscuit.... Which you will provide, if you're smart. Or else wait another ten seconds for the spell to run out. It's less troublesome to keep hidden with than freaking Illusion, which is
the school that makes you invisible.... God, I love/hate mages in Oblivion.
Even further edit:
Oh, yeah, and Mr. Replete Shambles, who I mentioned just now? Dude likely worthy of multiple clannfears (a fairly impressive feat in and of itself)?... Yeah, you can summon him, too.
