Restoration gets a bad rap, but honestly it's because most people treat it like a healing potion slot. You're right to feel like it's just... there.
The thing is, on Switch you're locked out of the exploits and mods that make Restoration "viable" in the broken sense, so you actually have to think about it differently. The perks that matter are the ones that let you use Restoration defensively in combat - the perk that boosts your resistances, the one that makes your wards cost less, stuff like that. You stack those and suddenly you're not chugging healing spells because you're just... tanking hits better.
Wards are the real play. They're not flashy, but if you're standing in front of a dragon or a tough melee enemy, casting a ward and watching their damage bounce off feels way better than spamming heal. Pair that with Mage Armor perks (heavy Alteration investment) and you start feeling like an actual battlemage instead of a cleric.
The other angle: Restoration + Alteration hybrid. You're not pure Restoration then - you're a mage who uses both to control the fight. Paralyze from Alteration, ward yourself, let enemies kill themselves on your wards while you're just... standing there. It's less "healing build" and more "tank mage build that happens to have healing as a backup."
Honestly? On a second playthrough at level 18, if Restoration doesn't feel necessary, it probably isn't - not yet. By late game when you're facing Legendary dragons or running Legendary difficulty, having actual defensive magic starts mattering way more than a potion slot. But yeah, the perk tree needs investment to feel good. Vanilla Restoration is genuinely boring if you're just healing.
