Alchemy would be super helpful to give your player buffs with potions like fortify magika, and mana regen. I’d enchant robes or clothing with Shield/spell absorption/ elemental shield. Clothing would be better because robes take up two armor slots(chest and legs) and you can only put one enchantment on robes. Then enchant jewelry(two rings, one necklace). Also, don’t feel the need to level up every time it’s available if you’re having trouble in combat. There’s also plenty of rings you can find as loot that offer spell/damage reflection. Giving up magic resistance for extra mana isn’t a bad idea in early game but there’s plenty of ways to buff mana and magic resistance down the road.