need smithing/armour advice

[elias]

Hey guys, I'm back with another (probably noobish) question.

So I'm at around level 14 on my newest account, which is pretty much a warrior build. However, I havent spent many perk points yet so I can still go in any direction I want.

My problem is that I'm getting my ass kicked. I don't fast travel anywhere, and I'm playing on expert. Early in the game, I found myself dying to spiders!

What kind of armour do you all recommend? And how can I quickly level up my smithing?

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

You may want to favor heavy armor. Generally speaking, the more an item is worth, the more XP it gives. If you have Perks invested in Smithing, the highest rank you've obtained will get you the most. Dwarven is easiest to get raw materials for. Dwemer dungeons are loaded with scrap that can be melted down for dwarven ingots. If you have the Transmute spell, you can convert iron ore into silver or gold and not only increase XP but make lots of gold in the process.

 

[elias]

Just curious, why do you recommend heavy armour as opposed to light?

 

[ColleenG]

Well, we all get our asses kicked in the beginning! But if you take just a couple of perks in armor on the first star of the perk tree it will improve. You should choose heavy or light, and stick with it. There's no difference in the two, practically speaking, but heavy weighs more. Getting the Steed Stone makes your armor weightless if you choose heavy and want more carrying room.

From the beginning, you can make leather armor from the animals you kill. Improve your armor at a smithing table to achieve a higher armor rating. As you go through the levels, better armor will be made available to you, or you can smith your way to better armor. Just keep trading up.

I like light armor, but I smith my way through the heavy armor side of the perk tree, because I like the heavy armor weapons better. I don't stick with any armor until I get to dragonbone/dragonscale in smithing. You can also enchant your armor to get a better armor rating, as well as jewelry. I work on the highest rating I can get. Believe me, it gets better! My current armor rating is 1047! I just flick the bears off as a minor annoyance.

 

[JoeReese]

I agree with a lot of the points made here, though my general preference is to stick with light armor. I find, that way, I get great protection from the Elven aspect, with nearly 1/10 the weight of heavy armor, and that's just more loot I can carry. If you choose heavy, though, then you can start right out with steel and the only perk you really need to spend is Arcane.

The steed stone, as Colleen mentioned, does increase your carry weight to help with the armor, but then you don't get the benefit of other stones, which is one reason I choose light armor. In the early levels, when I can be killed by butterflies, I get myself to the Lord stone as soon as possible, which gives me both additional damage resistance and magic resistance. This helps greatly, believe me. Later, when my armor rating can stand on its own, I usually switch to the Lover, for quicker skill leveling, but that 50 points and 25% magic resist really saves my bacon.

My recommendation would be to stay light, hit the elven perk and smith, smith, smith. Loot everything and sell it all for moonstone ore and a little quicksilver, and and you'll have a good, solid armor base with light weight, in no time. Don't forget to put perks in your armor tree, be it light or heavy. The initial 1-5 make the most impact, though some of the others come in handy, like bonuses for wearing all one type.

For money, if you find yourself with an extra perk, you can drop it into Dwarven and make bows, but you can make just as much (or more) by making high-dollar potions. Google a list of potions/values, and collect every ingredient you can. Crank them out and sell them for more ingredients, etc.

The quickest way I've found for smithing, lately, is jewelry, but some of the higher dollar armors can raise the bar a little bit. Remember to sleep first, so you're well rested and your levels will respond accordingly.

 

[Twiffle]

My current armor rating is 1047! I just flick the bears off as a minor annoyance.

Sorry to disagree but your armor rating is 567.

 

[DdraigGwyn]

After a while the difference between heavy and light is purely what you like. In both the max value is 567 (as Twiffle points out, above) and in both you can use a perk to eliminate their weight. So, use the one you like the look of, or which is appropriate for your character.

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

Just curious, why do you recommend heavy armour as opposed to light?

I was going by your statement of playing on Expert and dying to spiders. I don't know how much experience you have playing Skyrim or warrior builds so my advice was geared toward someone new who can use all the help they can get. Heavy armor, without Perks or Smithing, is better at soaking up punishment than light armor. Yes, it's heavier and slows you down more but you're a tank while wearing it.

Once you get to the higher tiered armors and spend some Perk points in Heavy Armor or Light Armor, it doesn't matter as much which type you use. As others have said, both can reach the armor cap.

Also, don't overlook Alchemy. Either buy or brew potions and poisons to help you in combat. In particular, Fortify Health, Fortify Block, Fortify One Handed or Two Handed, Fortify Marksmanship and even Fortify Light or Heavy Armor skill can all benefit you and might make the difference between winning or losing a battle.

 

[Twiffle]

thnx for the rep AS88, , you are right it is ''ish''

 

[Gigapact]

Like the others said, both have pros and cons.

Light Armor: Less armor rating, but quicker on your feet, use less stamina, etc.
Heavy Armor: Higher armor rating, but use up more stamina, run slower, etc.

Good news is that they can both reach the armor cap of 567, allowing you to resist 80% of damage. At this moment right now, heavy armor would help because you'll have a higher armor rating, but it will slow you down. Good news about heavy armor though is that once you reach heavy armor skill 70, you can get the perk that takes away the negative parts of heavy armor, like it slowing you down. So really it's a preference.

Quickest way to level up smithing? Here's what I've found: First, do the quest and get the Aetherial Crown (if you have the right DLC). This crown allows you to have a second standing stone, and you will put the "Lovers Stone" bonus on there, which allows you to increase all skills 15% faster. Your regular stone will be the Warrior Stone (20% increase to all warrior skills). Now, go rent a room at Whiterun, and sleep WITHOUT the crown on, and you will get the well rested bonus (another 10%) as long as you are not a werewolf. Now put the crown on, and you will have a total of 45% faster increase in learning smithing! You can see this under magic menu and "active effects." BEFORE you do all this, go through a few Dwarven ruins and collect all Dwarven stuff you can (make sure you have the Dwarven smithing perk). Then, go to Whiterun, do the sleeping ritual to get your 45% bonus, then smelt down all those dwarven scraps into ingots, and start busting out Dwarven bows like there is no tomorrow. You will get to 100 smithing in no time and make some good money.

Regardless of whether you pick light or heavy armor, I think the Dwarven perk is worth spending for it. Or if you have the Dragonborn DLC, you can just get the perk back anyhow later.

 

[raido KASAI]

Time for my obligatory "Have you tried Ragged Trousers?"

 

[JoeReese]

Time for my obligatory "Have you tried Ragged Trousers?"

I've never known comfort like this.

 

[raido KASAI]

Time for my obligatory "Have you tried Ragged Trousers?"

I've never known comfort like this.

Not everyone can.

 

[LotusEater]

Personally, I always go heavy armor. I do the Aetherium quest ASAP so I can put Steed Stone on it, thus leaving room for another Stone (usually Lord or Atronach). I've seen it pointed out that Steed Stone increases your carry weight, which is true, but it also renders the armor you are wearing weightless which not only adds even more weight to be carried, but also improves your running speed in heavy armor, which is extremely useful imo.

Lord Stone alone can make you a lot tougher. 25% Magic Resistance and +50 armor rating goes a long way with any armor choice, especially early-mid game.

 

[trenzalore]

I ca n honestly say that I use light armor without fail every single time. Right now I'm wearing guild duelist (potentially a mod) for a more, rogue type look (trousers and corset top. No hood.)

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note III on Tapatalk

 

[Dovahkiir]

Knock down your difficulty level a notch or two? The game gets noticeably easier as you level up, on adept at the start I was getting my arse handed to me all the time, now at level 56 I play on Master and even then its not hard.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Nordic Carved all the way. Start with Steel and go from there. Alternatively, if you want to do the Aetherium Wars quest (Lost to the Ages), dwarven is a good option too, especially if you combine it with the Unfathomable Depths quest you get in Riften. Either way, you don't need your smithing too high to get good stuff, especially if you can get/find potions and enhancing items for smithing.