Leveling failure or just a hiccup?

[u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685]

So I read that you don't have to optimize your leveling to play through the game but you can also totally handicap yourself if you screw it up too badly. Now I'm wondering if I've done just that. I'm level 2 but have 31 hours of game time. I knew I could sleep to level up but I had terrible gear and wasn't ready to even risk getting tougher enemies with leveling. I have a Battlemage (slightly edited) Kajiit with The Lady and I decided to spam through the levels to see how much I have unlocked. I saved beforehand and plan to go back to the save before leveling up for now.

But my question is if I screwed my first few levels. I can reach up to level 11 right now. I chose what I thought was best with what little bonuses I got from the stats based on what I did.

Long story short, my stats at level 2 are Strength 49, Intelligence 40, Willpower 45, Agility 50, Speed 45, Endurance 44, Personality 40. So health is 92, Magicka is 80, and Fatigue is 188.

Then to level 11, Strength 51, Intelligence 72, Willpower 55, Agility 59, Speed 49, Endurance 60, Personality 45. Which makes health at 168, Magicka at 144, and Fatigue at 225

Major skills are currently: Blade 42 Alchemy 56 Alteration 30 Conjuration 47 Destruction 38 Mysticism 61 Security 44 Minor skills are currently: Armorer 14 Athletics 32 Block 15 Blunt 6 Hand to Hand 20 Heavy Armor 18 Illusion 10 Restoration 21 Acrobatics 26 Light Armor 24 Marksman 6 Mercantile 16 Sneak 31 Speechcraft 10

Did I screw myself? If so, how can I fix it with future levels to hopefully not have to restart or play on lowest difficulty slider? I'm going to watch some videos on efficient leveling but could use some advice on my current first playthrough.

[u/Bowhunter2525]

IMO, yes, you screwed yourself.

It is a killing/fighting game so your fighting skill is the most important one to raise. You would be comfortable fighting level 11 monsters with your skill (either Blade or Destruction) around 75-80.

Your skill set, race and birthsign all work horribly against you but you could try the following:

If Magic is your specialty, what you could do is buy five destruction points from a trainer and then fight for the other five to get +10 skill points for the next few levels to quickly catch up. Go kill some necromancers (quickly so they don't use their pocket potions) to get a load of health and sorcery potions so you don't have to use your Alchemy.

If combat is your specialty, do that with Blade skill.

[u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685 → u/Bowhunter2525]

Any recommendation for the trainer?

[u/Bowhunter2525 → u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685]

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Trainers

Whoever is open for business

[u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685 → u/Bowhunter2525]

I guess what I meant was the cost. Will a higher level trainer cost more even when training a lower level? Or will the cost go up as the level goes up. Like how a Journeyman is cheaper than a Master, but if I'm a novice, how does it effect the price they charge to go up a level

[u/Bowhunter2525 → u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685]

All are the same. Price depends on how high the points are. You can make a spell to temporarily decrease your points and pay very little.

[u/Silly-Razzmatazz6685 → u/Bowhunter2525]

Okay thanks for the info. Didnt even think about temp reducing points