I used to be more of an archer, wearing mail, 2 quivers of arrows, or 1 quiver and a shield if I would need a shield, a two-handed weapon and a bow, but lately I've gone to a plate wearing melee character, having plate (duh), a two handed weapon and a shield. Then I mostly get athletics and speed so I don't move around like a snail, while killing most things in 1 or 2 hits. Works great against sea raiders as they rarely do more than 4-5 damage against your armor. With some friends with you it's easy killing 20-30 sea raiders like that.
If you really wanna step it up, get 16 companions with you and gear them with heavy armor and a big two hander, they'll cut through everything. I've had 16 companions around level 20 wearing heavy mail and axes killing 60 nords.