Use unarmored and restoration if you dont want the armors. I'd replace short blade with Blunt if you'd prefer staffs and bound mace.

That's mainly because I like creating artifacts though, and marksman and short blade take advantage of bound weapons easily. I usually play as the sorcerer base class, so I have heavy and medium armor, along with marksman and short blade. Minor in illusion, and your choice of other skill. Going pure mage, I'd say major in Alt, enchant/alchemy, destruction, conjuration, and mysticism. But imo, the buildup of your artifacts of power, from magic rings enchanted with a light feather effect, to a shield of god which protects you from all harm, makes it fun Alchemy gives you similar abilities, but you mainly have to use them through your own op spells. Want a staff that just knocks people out when you hit them with it? Done. Want a staff that can blow shit up? Done. Want a staff that can render foes useless with a withering bolt that destroys the very sinew of their muscles and swiftness of their feet, effectively burying them under their items weight? Done. Want a staff through which you can channel the energies of the universe through and use as a battery for your amazing spells? Done. Since youd like to use staves as well, I'd reccomend majoring in enchanting, as ebony staves are one of the best enchantable items in the game, and you can make many different artifact worthy items with them. Alteration makes a great utility school, so I'd major it, and illusion is good if you like subtlety. I'd say focus on destruction/mysticism and conjuration as your main combat magic stats, and then enchant/alchemy as your way of keeping yourself topped off and powerful.

Other handy skills: Acrobatics, Athleticism, Unarmored (remember you need at least one piece of armor for the Unarmored skill to work, yes it's weird) or Light Armor.

Buying and finding restore potions is pretty easy through the game. My pure mage uses neither skill and I don't miss 'em, but you do you. Even if you rely on summons, conjuration isn't a super necessary skill.ДЄlchemy/Enchanting: You can go this route if you just want to break the game immediately, but personally I find it kind of boring. Make one spell that heals you, one spell that restores each of your attributes by 1-5 pts (for pesky Damage Attribute effects) and that will cover you for most of the game.Д¬onjuration: Summoning is good for distracting ranged enemies or giving yourself time to get your squishy mage butt somewhere safe, but enchanted summoning items are cheap and plentiful and have no chance of failure. Restoration: Handy but you don't need to get it very high. Take total control of the battlefield without breaking a sweat. Illusion: Paralyze, Invisibility, Frenzy and Calm. You can go anywhere and are effectively immune to anything that can't shoot or fly, and have Shield spells for the things that can. Destruction spells will be reflected by a lot of late game enemies, but are cheaper than absorb health, so they can be useful in the beginning.ДЄlteration: Levitate. Mysticism: Absorb health is crazy effective because even if it gets reflected back at you, you only absorb your own health so nothing happens. If you're playing vanilla-ish, then focus on mysticism, alteration, and illusion. Magic OP, you can run a straight mage without any cheesing the alchemy/enchant exploits and still be the crushing your enemies like scribs.

Playing a mage in morrowind