Why is the light armour that I forge so much better than heavy armour?

[CitizenKane]

I have only just noticed this and I'm not sure why. Perhaps I don't really understand how the smithing system works.

I have level 100 smithing and all smithing perks. I have a heavy armour skill of 83 and a light armour skill of 66.

I just forged two full sets of armour and upgraded them to their max. One is a set of DragonScale (Legendary) armour and the other is a set of Daedric (Legendary) armour.

The DragonScale set has a total armour rating of 302.

The Daedric set has a total armour rating of 264.

Can anybody explain why this is? I would understand if I had a higher light armour skill than heavy armour, but it's the other way around!

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

Dragon armour is rated higher when improved!

the rating it gets when smithing has nothing to do with the level of the skills of heavy or light armour.

it's from the perks and skilllevel of smithing!

 

[CitizenKane]

I should also say the set of Glass armour I forged also has higher rating than the Daedric armour! Is it the same situation with Glass armour? So basically if you have the highest smithing level possible and all perks, improved light armour is just better than improved heavy armour?

 

[wrighty]

do you have more perks in light armour?
Daedric has the highest armour rating, all other variables being equal then Daedric should be highest, higher than dragon plate even.

 

[Psiberzerker]

Yeah, your Armor Rating in menu reflects your Armor skills, and perks, so if you have 100 Light Armor, and 15 Heavy Armor, then most sets of light will protect you better.

 

[Whisper34]

You should check the perks that you have invested into light armor versus heavy armor. I'm betting the answer is in there.

 

[DarthSpecturm]

Yeah, your Armor Rating in menu reflects your Armor skills, and perks, so if you have 100 Light Armor, and 15 Heavy Armor, then most sets of light will protect you better.

He's heavy armor skill is higher than his light armor, which is probably the cause of his confusion. But I agree with you, he probably has invested perks in light armor, or have light armor enchantments.

 

[CitizenKane]

I haven't got any perks for either Light armour or Heavy armour...

 

[wrighty]

I haven't got any perks for either Light armour or Heavy armour...

maybe you have an enchantment that fortifies light? Otherwise it's a glitch, Daedric armour is the best in the game, nothing is better, except I think deathbrand pirate armour(light stahlrim) might beat daedric due to its +100 armour enchant when all perks are equal.

 

[DarthSpecturm]

This too have now happened to me.
All my Light Armors' rating are unreasonably high, even leather armor, unimproved, has around 100 armor ratings.
I only have 2 perks in light armor, giving the AR a increase of 45%.

 

[DarthSpecturm]

I have done some testing regarding the armor issue CitizenKane and I have been experiencing.
On my Night Blade alt, I created a set of glass armor, which, would have a base rating of 103.
The glass armor set was upgraded to legendary, giving it a 50 armor rating boost.
The formula for displayed AR is:
(worn armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * skill/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set) * (1 + Agile Defender or Juggernaut)
So technically my armor rating should be:
(103+50)*(1+0.4*40/100)*(1+0.25)*(1+0.2)
153*1.16*1.25*1.2
=266.22

However, my real rating is: 479
I am unsure why this is happening or what caused it, I would appreciate if anyone is able to shed some light on this issue, or perhaps fix it and post the mod on Skyrim Nexus.
(I chose my Night Blade Character because his Light Armor skill is exactly 40, and he already have the glass smiting perk. I will test this tomorrow again on my Paladin Character for heavy armor.)