I created a mod to improve magical combat that addresses a couple of the issues mentioned here. If you're primarily using magic to deal damage, it is a bit awkward to pause the action, switch spells, cast a protection spell, switch again, and then get back to the fight. For that reason, my mod doubles the duration of protection spells (like Stoneflesh), and with the Stability perk, the duration increases by 150% so that the spell lasts 300 seconds (should be long enough for just about any single encounter). I reduced the armor the spells provide, but increased the multiplier for unarmored mages - this makes the protection spells a little weaker for armored players, and a little more powerful for clothies. Additionally, destruction magic scales so that it becomes more viable as primary magical damage. Please take a look, I'd love to hear what you think or if you have suggestions for improvement. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2275