Yeah, resting whenever the stamina bar hits half is generally what I do lol. The Mages Guild definitely throws you to the wolves with that quest, when I did it I failed the speech check and had to fight her.
I’ve never tried a conjuration build, but I definitely remember falling back on my dagger regularly when I played a Dunmer mage. The Mages Guild has an item chest with magika potions you can use freely.
You can also enchant a ring or amulet to conjure, so even if your magic/Intelligence is low you can consistently summon minions if you can afford the cost of the enchantment. A big difference from Skyrim is that enchanted items recharge automatically when you rest.
This makes a build where you carry around summoning rings/amulets to use before every fight not only possible, but incredibly strong from what I’ve heard.