Heavy or light armor for an archer class?

[Redguard Illusionist]

Well, now I wouldn't say the best for every class. In fact, Light is the best for an Archer, if only for the Wind Walker Perk. Once you reach the Armor Cap (If you're smithing that far) Light Armor has exactly the same protective value as heavy, only lighter, with less perks to max it out, and Stamina recovery instead of half off falling damage, and stagger. I was never saying that heavy Armor is the best, or even ideal for Archers, just how it could be made to work.

Woah, blast from the past, man. Far out!

If you want to use smithing to get light armor to the cap, there's no practical reason to really ever use heavy over light, as light's stamina recovery trumps all of the heavy bonuses as you mentioned. However, if you're not planning on smithing much or hitting the armor cap, heavy obviously provides much better protection.
The rest depends on play style.
I prefer heavy armor with an archer because I actually use less stamina as an Archer than I do as say, a 2 Handed Warrior. I don't use power attacks and I don't find the bow zooming particularly useful in combat. I also don't sprint often enough in combat where the stamina recovery of light armor would be more important than the extra protection from heavy armor. Sprinting is more of just a convenience thing than a combat mechanic for me haha. So like I said, play style. Finally, with the Steed Stone, (it takes me forever to the get the heavy armor high enough for the Conditioning perk so I don't rely on it) there's no reason for me to use light armor over heavy.
I'm not arguing with anything you're saying cause I've agreed with what you've said in this thread so far, just wanted to add my two cents on why I prefer heavy.
I can see why most people would want to use light, but I don't think it's such an obvious decision like most are making it sound in this thread....unless you're going to hit the cap in light.

 

[TheLonelyWolve]

It really doesnt matter which type of armor, as long as your bow has good damage.
Warriors can still use a bow. With skyrim I dont really see any difference with agility in heavy or light unlike oblivion.

 

[blik9]

• Advantages:
  • Heavy armor is more protective than light armor.
  • You can deal more unarmed damage with the Fists of Steel perk. This can be combined with the Fortify Unarmed enchantment to provide a viable damage-dealing means.
  • More enemies may be engaged at once, providing more confidence to the player.
  • Reflect Blows grants more offensive possibilities, allowing for more damage in the same amount of time.
  Disadvantages:
  • Heavy armor causes you to move more slowly than when wearing light armor (this may be negated by The Steed Stone or the Conditioning perk).
  • Sprinting in heavy armor uses more stamina than sprinting in light armor or clothing (may also be nulled by The Steed Stone or the Conditioning perk).
  • Heavy armor weighs more than light armor, which increases the chance of being detected while moving in stealth mode and leaves you unable to add as much to your inventory before your carry weight is exceeded (again, negated by The Steed Stone or the Conditioning perk).

considering the pros and cons, heavy armor is the best if you have enough perk for the conditioning perk, yes, windwalker perk of light armor can generate stamina faster but this can be done by enchanting the boots. I don't understand what do you mean by same protective value because heavy armor obviously has higher rating and it is hard to reach the cap with light armor. when you play skyrim at master lv you really would find light armor useless in dungeon with strong enemies or against dragons unless you have tonnes of potion.I love soloing without followers

 

[Psiberzerker]

The main reason why Light Armor is better than Heavy for an Archer is Fortify Archery. There's 4 scripted items in the game with that enchantment, Linwe's Hood, Krosis, Ancient/Shrouded Cowl, and the Gauntlets of the Old Gods. All of these are Light Armor. You may also find other items to Disenchant, and re-enchant for the effect, but I don't depend on found Loot in my build strategy, because it's not reliable enough. As soon as you find it, go ahead, disenchant, and make yourself some nice stuff, but until then, you have to depend on the stuff that's all ready in the Game (Which unfortunately can't be disenchanted. Ok, Linwe's Hood can, but then there's nothing you can put it on...)
Again, I'm not saying don't wear heavy Armor, any more than I was saying it's the "Best Thing" for an Archer before. I've done it all 3 ways (Light, Heavy, and Unarmored) and Light is the easiest. If you're a Heavy Warrior with a bow, by all means, don't switch armor with your weapons, but if you're playing an Archer (I.E. your primary or only weapon is the Bow) Light Armor is the best fit for all the reasons above.
1) It's lighter, and doesn't slow you down as much, so you can evade that guy with the Warhammer and shoot him before he can mash you flat. With Heavy Armor, you can compensate with the Steed Stone or Conditioned, but you have to. With Light, you can leave that Slot open for something like the Lord, or Atronach.
2) Stamina: I hear you don't use it much, and bully for you, but it's there, you can use it, or ignore it. Most players are not going to use your exact style, and for the ones who don't, the vast majority of them will use Stamina. Most people in this thread use Light armor with Archers, some of them on Master, so the consensus disagrees with your calling Light Armor "Useless." Useless to you, maybe, but have you tried actually playing like an Archer? You speak only of the End Game, but with that attitude, you likely never stuck with it long enough to be successful. About the only time that Heavy is so vastly superior to Light that it threatens your Survival is at the very beginning, which can be fixed as soon as you get to Riverwood.

3) You can Sneak. Ok, with Conditioned, and Silence, or the Ebony Mail, you can Sneak too, but for the rest of the game (I don't build just for the endgame) it would be kind of nice to not have all those deer see you, and run away. As an Archer, it's a good idea to avoid Surprises, and have the capability of taking them out with 1 Shot, because you're going to get killed surrounded by meleers, even with Fists of Steel. The best way to avoid this scenario is to avoid this situation, which means being more mobile than them. An Archer's main advantage is Range, which the enemy knows, which is why they start running to close the gap at the first arrow. Now, you can stand there shooting, then depend on your Armor, or you can evade, and pick your position/target order to win the melee before it starts.
A bow is a Strategic weapon, Heavy Armor is a Tactical Advantage. While they Can work together, and I spoke at length about how months ago, the game is designed around lightly armored Archers.

 

[blik9]

all I am saying is from my experience from playing master level with bow and arrow with sneak only(I never switch to melee weapon and I don't carry any) with heavy armor, you only have to use 8 perks for essential because fist of steel and cushioned are useless, with 100 sneak, your armor will not alert enemy easily. after having condition perk there is no way that a light armor could match a heavy armor unless you reach the armor cap and you could evade anyway because it weighs nothing when conditioned. I can enchant fortify archery on armor. the most important of all to me is that heavy armor are easier to forge and earns you tonnes of money which contribute to your housing and stuffs.