Why light armour is way better than heavy!

[High King of Skyrim]

I've been talking with some mates recently about which armour is better to use in Skyrim. I've been maintaining that light armour is in fact superior to heavy. Let me tell you why. For starters it weighs less and therefore doesn't restrict your movements as much in the heat of battle. This fact is bolstered by the effect on your stamina bar. Running in light armour will drain less stamina than covering the same distance in heavy. This may even decide the outcome of certain battles, I know it has for me. Now of coarse, the Steed stone can nullify this problem with heavy armour, at least until the Conditioning perk is available. I however, feel that this stone is simply a waste compared to all the other stones, especially early game. There are far more useful stones that can help you shape your character initially and even stones to help bolster a weaker type character early on. If you look at the light armour tree compared to the heavy tree you'll notice that the light armour tree has two less perks. All of these 6 perks however are extremely useful. In fact, one may argue the only tree in the game where every perk is useful is the light armour perk tree. Now in my opinion, the same cannot be said of heavy armour. Let's face it, the first two perks up the left side of the heavy tree, Fists Of Steel and Cushioned are plops and yet they must be taken to reach what I believe is the best perk in Conditioning. A fact that always frustrates me when building a character that uses heavy. Now most people I speak to all say that heavy protects you better than light and I'd have to agree. However, I feel that this is only a factor early game as light armour is capable of reaching the armour cap rendering this advantage null and void. Which armour looks better is simply a matter of opinion, although I personally like the look of most armours in the game. Two very popular quest lines, Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood even promote the use of light armour in that their respective guild armours are both light. Now I'm not saying one can't complete these quests in heavy armour but to me it just doesn't suit the climate of them. What kind of assassin creeps up on a victim to knife them in the back in full plate mail? Sneaking around somebodies house also seems silly wearing heavy clunking metal armour, but that's simply my opinion. Also, the last master perk in light armour, Deft Movement seems far superior to it's heavy counterpart Reflect Blows. Deft Movement allows you to completely avoid damage altogether. Reflect Blows means that yes, your enemy suffers damage but so do you. For me, it's a no brainer, light armour is superior! Am I on my own or are you with me?

 

[Riften Guard]

In reality, it depends on play style and roleplaying or not. Both armor selections can reach the cap. It depends on what class your playing. If your a zerker you would want heavy armor, purely because it looks better. If your an assassin, you would want light, for obvious reasons. Plus, whichever perks you prefer is what you would want to take.


I prefer light armor as half the heavy armor skills are useless.

 

[ShangTsung]

well... considering you can just enchant your way around stamina limitations this argument only holds up if you're one of those legit obsessed players who refuse to do anything fun in the game out of fear of being called a "cheater" but what do i know.. i never use armor anyway, robes look much cooler.

 

[Gearuvagen]

I've made a Heavy Armored 2h assassin who simply walked up and beheaded people publically Morag Tong style. (Just sayin I don't like Archetypes )

and as Riften Guard said it's all in your personal choice, yes Light Armor can reach the cap, but it takes a lot of work. Yes there's 2 guilds that promote light armor but there's also the Companions who specialize in both really though primarily Heavy.

Besides the best armor is none, pure mages who with flesh spells don't need armor. IMO

 

[orca45]

I do prefer light armor for all of the reasons of the above. I switch between robes, the Nittingale, dragonscale, white falmer and my favor is the Arch-Mage from Savos Aren.

 

[The Wanderer]

I Have few character's who use Heavy. I like the light perks a lot better, plus most of my toons are either stealth or Light weight warriors.​

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

Perks? I don't need no steenkin' perks. I very rarely make it that far up when I invest in an armor tree anyway. I have never maxed out either of the armor trees and haven't suffered. I do tend to favor light armor because I play a lot of sneaky characters.

I would never take the Steed Stone in the early game. I prefer one of the Guardian Stones which favors whatever skill set I'm working on.

Heavy armor is good at what it's designed for and has it's place. By the time light armor surpasses it you're a badass anyway. Also, people wearing heavy armor are generally warriors and are taking Stamina boosts periodically as they level up so the stamina drain isn't that bad. Add magical effects that raise stamina and it's barely an issue. And it actually makes all those stamina potions you find everywhere useful for more than a few extra Septims. I won't argue that it's as good as light because I mostly agree with you but I wouldn't say light is WAY better.

 

[Nakatsu_Hime]

When you get past level 20-ish, and you have a decent weapon, I really don't care. The only preference is how sexy I look in it.

 

[beastoking]

Light.
What can I say, speed and stealth is my preferal combat. And with all the combat enhancing mods I installed, archery is even more challenging.