You're on a roll at the moment and here is yet another Paul England build I feel compelled to play. You've already got the honour of being the builder whose creations I've played the most so you might as well open up a fan club for me to join at this stage

I haven't played a pure mage for so long, especially not one dedicated to Destruction and this build is the one I'll definitely follow when I decide to do so again.

Easy +1

At what stage did you get a follower? Did you roll with Lydia at all? I just got my and Lydia s asses kicked by the frosttroll on the path to high hrothgar. Level 5 atm. Im heading to the college for the free ward then getting the horn i think

Good questions.  My first follower was Vorstag.  I picked him up maybe around... level 18?  It was after I'd gotten Adept-level Destruction spells.  I thought having him around would help lighten the load, but of course I spent most of the time using Apprentice-level spells and trying not to kill him, so we ended up parting ways as soon as I unloaded those cogs to Arniel Gane (actually, Vorstag was more of a pack mule than anything else in my character's opinion). 

After level 30 or so (and after I acquired Companion's Insight!), I picked up the Dunmer merc in Raven Rock and went with him for awhile.  He bugged me a little, though; he's a spellsword, so he ends up using a lot of magic himself.  Occasionally I'd aggro his atronachs.  But the real issue was that he was stealing my schtick.  

Since then I've been going with Vorstag again - a good, solid warrior type.  (He's also a man of few words, whereas Teldryn couldn't shut up!)  

So no, I never got Lydia.  I actually avoid her 99% of the time as I find her annoying.  

You went up High Hrothgar sooner than I did with this character.  I went to Whiterun and opened the dragons probably around lvl 5, but avoided visiting Hrothgar itself until after I had picked up some more words and killed more dragons (I RP'd it like my character needed to find out for himself just how powerful Shouts were before he wanted to spend time with hermits on a mountaintop).  

But that troll is easily killable with just Flames - just takes a good deal of dodging!  

Thanks Phil - I know this one isn't really lore-focused, but it's a really fun, fast, twitchy playstyle that actually isn't lore unfriendly given the tendency for Dunmer mages to get a little... carried away :)

I hope you enjoy when you give it a shot!

No worried, I knew you were joking!  

As for Restoration, you're right about the slowness.  In the comments section of one of James's articles, he mentioned having no trouble leveling Restoration; I imagine he was using it a lot more frequently than I was, and using the higher-level spells too (which give more xp per cast).  I didn't get a single Turn Undead spell until I was given one as part of the Wolf Queen questline, and those are really where you can get some Restoration experience.  

For this particular build, though, I was fine to leave Restoration until later, since I wanted Destruction really high really fast.  

Thanks for the reply. My reasons for having Lydia is she calls you thane all the time, and my character is flattered. I left her outside sarthaal though and attempted solo run. I must say that big draugr before the boss there is more trouble. Whats funny is i spotted a safe ledge i wirlwind sprinted to but endel up going through the wall flying down to the boss.
Anyway, plan is to park Lydia at a manor when i get it. But might leave her in the college for now

Heh, that's true, she does act grudgingly subservient!  

Good call going it alone for awhile, I think.  It's very satisfying to blast your way through enemies without the distraction of companions.  Although, if you're playing a higher difficulty than I do, the help could be worth it. 

I'm playing it on adept. I thought i would stick it out some on adept and rather have a paralell on master or something to compare it. I love blasting away with destruction spells, especially runes have become a favorite. I do have some novice spells from other schools i can whip out in an emergency if it becomes too much, like conjure familiar and turn undead. The hardest part for me yet though is managing magicka, so i usually end up 1-hand flaming most i fight against for now. (although alot of the draugr i can manage with rune trap plus firebolt)

This is also my first playthrough since i got the dragonborn dlc, and i must say i love the look of those cultist robes. Wearing cultist robes (75 mackica regen) cultist boots and gloves and novice hood for now. But i do like that look. I might make a profile for him later.

Magicka management is the name of the game for pure Destruction mages.  Those spells are costly, so you have to cast them carefully.  

I think you're doing well to keep using Flames - it's a very efficient spell, and I kept it hotkeyed for quite a while.  When you've got an enemy down to a sliver of health, finishing him off with a dualcast Firebolt is a waste - just send a short burst of Flames, then switch back to higher damage spells for remaining foes. 

And I can't over-stress how important it is to cast Flames in bursts.  Just pressing down the mouse button is going to be noticeably more costly than cast, pause, cast, pause, cast.  

As for spells from other schools, that's where a staff or scroll can really help you out.  Casting Familiar from a staff prevents your Conjuration increasing, and as you recharge the staff you'll work up your Enchant a little bit.  Plus you're not actually using your own Magicka.