If every single response says light armor and you just go with heavy, then what is the point of asking?I decided to go with heavy armor. Just because I got the krosis mask.
But archers aren't necessarily a sneaking class. I had a heavy armored archer meant for tanking targets in close range. He was health washed
Archer's are meant to be mobile during combat. Their mobility keeps enemies outside of melee distance and allows the Archer to dodge enemy ranged attacks and to work around allies for clean firing angles even with the bow drawn or notched and firing (due to the Ranger perk). Heavy armor gives a penalty to movement and a good Archer doesn't need the benefit of the higher armor rating because a good Archer shouldn't be getting hit much during combat.....But archers aren't necessarily a sneaking class....
This is an oxymoron. Archer's aren't tanks. Calling your tank an Archer just because you stick a bow in his or her hands, level up Archery skill and toss some perks in the Archery perk tree doesn't make him or her an Archer. If your character is constantly tanking at close range why even bother using a bow as your primary weapon? Are you actually going to stand there at melee range and fire arrows point blank at your target? On the other hand if you're just standing there firing arrows until enemies close range and then switching to melee weapon(s) you're not an Archer.I had a heavy armored archer meant for tanking targets in close range.
I decided to go with heavy armor. Just because I got the krosis mask.
But archers aren't necessarily a sneaking class. I had a heavy armored archer meant for tanking targets in close range. He was health washed
On the other hand if you're just standing there firing arrows until enemies close range and then switching to melee weapon(s) you're not an Archer.
Krosis is classed Light armor. So's Morokei, and Volsung, I think.I decided to go with heavy armor. Just because I got the krosis mask.
But archers aren't necessarily a sneaking class. I had a heavy armored archer meant for tanking targets in close range. He was health washed
yea I meant to say light... Scatter brained.Heavy armor on an archer really is only going to slow you down. Sneaking with archery will see your shots doing multiple times more damage than you would otherwise, you'll also have the opportunity to better pick targets and line up shots while unseen.
While without sneak, you'll simply blunder into a room and fire one shot before everything closes the gap on you and you're drawn into melee combat.
And Krosis is listed as light armor.
Krosis (Mask) - The Elder Scrolls Wiki
First, I meant literally stand there and not try to adjust distance by moving away. If he's tanking he's not really going to make the effort. Second, this isn't medieval earth, it's Tamriel. If medieval archers could stun an enemy by butting them with their bow and created enough distance to volley another arrow they would have probably done it, but they couldn't so they didn't. My Archer isn't going to emulate the actions of an archer from a reality she doesn't even know about just because those Archers couldn't do what she can do.That was more or less EXACTLY what real medieval archers were trained to do. Loose volley after volley. Try to keep distance. But if engaged in melee they were trained and equipped to fight back.
All of the crowd control techniques you mentioned are good strategies but none of them require a tank build. A tank build is only necessary if you anticipate getting hit a lot with melee damage. If you believe your playstyle is going to put you in that position frequently enough and long enough that you have to have give priority to armor rating over mobility then relying on archery as your dominant fighting method is inefficient and inferior to playing as a melee fighter. The slower attack rate of a bow compared to melee weapons means that the DPS is going to be less with the bow than with melee weapons and a dual wielding, sword and shield, or two-handed build, so while it may be distinguishable, it's also inferior to that setup for that kind of playstyle....A tank archer's...
All of the crowd control techniques you mentioned are good strategies but none of them require a tank build. A tank build is only necessary if you anticipate getting hit a lot with melee damage. If you believe your playstyle is going to put you in that position frequently enough and long enough that you have to have give priority to armor rating over mobility then relying on archery as your dominant fighting method is inefficient and inferior to playing as a melee fighter. The slower attack rate of a bow compared to melee weapons means that the DPS is going to be less with the bow than with melee weapons and a dual wielding, sword and shield, or two-handed build, so while it may be distinguishable, it's also inferior to that setup for that kind of playstyle.
When you say you can compensate with standing stones and enchantments you're completely missing the point. You would be compensating so you can have something you shouldn't even need. If you're build can control the combat distance for the duration of the engagement then using ranged combat like archery makes sense...Conversely if you can't control the combat distance for the majority of the encounter such that you need the tank build then relying heavily on archery instead of melee weapons doesn't make a lot of sense.