Honestly, the problem isn't stealth archer itself—it's that nothing else in Skyrim's leveling system scales to match it. Once you hit that damage threshold, yeah, everything else feels slow. But there are a few builds that actually stay engaging if you commit to them.
Melee magic hybrid is probably your best bet. Not "cast a spell then swing a sword"—I mean something like a frost mage who uses that perk that staggers enemies on frost hits, stacks it with a mace or hammer that has a stagger effect, and just controls the battlefield instead of nuking it. You're managing positioning, spell timing, and crowd control instead of just... standing invisible. Gets way harder against groups and dragons actually threaten you through midgame.
Alternatively, pure destruction with that perk tree that boosts spell damage and reduces casting cost. Spec into the trees that let you dual-cast for impact, grab the perks that let you stagger with spells, and suddenly you're not just blasting—you're managing mana, positioning, and LOS like a real mage. It's clunky at first but by level 25-30 it clicks and feels completely different from stealth archer cheese.
If you want to stay melee, heavy armor + two-hander with the perks that give you stamina management and power attacks actually works, but you need to accept you're going to take hits. It's slower, yeah, but it forces you to use shouts, positioning, and actual tactics instead of just deleting stuff from 50 feet away.
The real trick is picking something that requires you to engage with the mechanics instead of bypass them. Stealth archer bypasses everything. Pick something that doesn't.
