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HelloMyNameIsEd

He-Who-Killed-Ulfric-Stormcloak-With-A-Broom
It's the classic debate. Skyrim allows one to become a walking tank of pure steel, absorbing all damage like a death-bringing sponge, a swift and fleet-footed fighter who always dances around their opponent, frustratingly out of reach, and anything in between. What is your armor or armor-style of choice (If you really want to, go ahead and choose a mod armor)?

I personally think the heavy armors look freakin' awesome, but they make it hard to sneak by those fights you don't want to get into.
 

The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass

Sahrot Vahlok Spaan. Bahnahgaar. Minion #88!
Staff member
Light Armour early game, Heavy armour late game. Don't be afraid to intermingle the two.
 

The Laoch

He is the Prince of Order. Or was it biscuits?
I'm always a light armor guy. I once made a heavy armor nord ,but I much prefer my light armor bretons and nords. I play as a stealth character 90% of the time so it is a habit to use it I guess.
 

RY14NCE

Dragonborn
Light armour is better suited to a wider range of situations. With smithing and relevant perks, it can offer a decent amount of damage protection, almost as good as heavy armour in some cases, like Dragonscale. It also still allows you to sneak pretty effectively, and doesnt slow you down too much.

However, if you put the time and effort in, there is no real reason you cant sneak in heavy armour or run in like a tank in light armour. Personally, I try to level them both as I like some from each set.

Dragonscale, Fur, Iron, Nordic Carved and Wolf are some of my favourites.
 

HelloMyNameIsEd

He-Who-Killed-Ulfric-Stormcloak-With-A-Broom
However, if you put the time and effort in, there is no real reason you cant sneak in heavy armour or run in like a tank in light armour.

Dragonscale, Fur, Iron, Nordic Carved and Wolf are some of my favourites.

I'd have to agree with you on that first part. I sometimes sneak around in heavy armor with the muffled perk just for the fun of it, and it really works, though to a lesser extent than in Light armor.

Nice choice of armor, btw. I prefer my Scout Armor (mod armor)
 

RY14NCE

Dragonborn
I always find that heavy armour + muffle works well if I try to sneak past people or use a bow. But if I try to get close for a backstab, they notice me and I hear the dreaded "is anyone there?" . I think this is because I don't have the perk where heavy armour doesn't slow you down. But it might be because my sneaking skill isnt exactly high and light armour is more forgiving.

Anyway...I always get angry because i have been robbed of the killcam, this normally results in me teabagging them out of said anger. So I find it easier to just stick with light if I plan on sneaking.
 

The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass

Sahrot Vahlok Spaan. Bahnahgaar. Minion #88!
Staff member
I use light the majority of the time becuase it weighs less and doesn't slow me down. My principal is never to get hit, and stamina is extremely valueable. ESPECIALLY early game. Not to mention, the restoration loop makes anything possible...
 
If you really raise your smithing you can hit the cap in light armor. I don't like to do that, so I still prefer heavy armor for the added protection. The steed stone gets rid of the negatives like weighing you down or draining your stamina faster. The conditioning perk does basically everything the Steed Stone does, but you need a heavy armor skill of 70+ so I use the Steed Stone for the majority of the game. The only thing heavy armor doesn't have compared to light when I use the steed stone is the stamina regen that light does (Windwalker). But for most builds I prefer the added protection over the stamina regen.

I actually think most light armors look better than most heavy armors though besides for the glass armor (ew). Haha no offense though, it looks like it looks pretty good on Argonians like in your avatar, but I never play as them. I'm a sucker for the minimalist look and too many of the heavy armors are way over the top.
Haha Hey Bethesda: Not everyone who wants to wear heavy armor wants to walk around Skyrim looking like a Gwar reject
 

Saozig

Hippy
I tend to really hate the slight but noticeable (for me at least) difference in your speed when you're in heavy vs light armor, so I prefer either all light armor or a mix. My current characters are wearing:

Breton Battlemage -- full Dragonscale, self-enchanted, including shield; she has alternative sets of full Daedric and Dragonplate armor too, but now she's maxed out of Haevy Armor I never use them with her

Breton Rogue -- leather armor & boots, Elven Bracers of Major Deft Hands or Leather Bracers of Major Archery, Circlet of Major Conjuration, Elven Shield of Dwindling Magic

Bosmer Adventurer -- steel armor, Elven bracers and boots, Circlet of Major Archery, Elven Shield of Waning Frost; not too long ago she had Elven Boots of Brawn, but they mysteriously disappeared from her game, along with her previous bracers, helmet and shield, after that last Xbox update. :mad: )
 

The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass

Sahrot Vahlok Spaan. Bahnahgaar. Minion #88!
Staff member
If you really raise your smithing you can hit the cap in light armor. I don't like to do that, so I still prefer heavy armor for the added protection. The steed stone gets rid of the negatives like weighing you down, draining your stamina faster, or making you easier to detect. The conditioning perk does basically everything the Steed Stone does, but you need a heavy armor skill of 70+ so I use the Steed Stone for the majority of the game. The only thing heavy armor doesn't have compared to light when I use the steed stone is the stamina regen that light does (Windwalker). But for most builds I prefer the added protection over the stamina regen.

I actually think most light armors look better than most heavy armors though besides for the glass armor (ew). Haha no offense though, it looks like it looks pretty good on Argonians like in your avatar, but I never play as them. I'm a sucker for the minimalist look and too many of the heavy armors are way over the top.
The steed stone does not make you harder to detect.
 
I more often than not run around with Heavy Armor, but Robes to assist my Spellcasting. Light doesn't have quite enough on it's own without the body, but you don't suffer the speed, and stamina losses likeat. A shield really helps here, and I love the Heavy Dragon Priest masks for this playstyle. Otherwise, it's light all the way. Wind Walker really helps my Spellswords (Stacked with the Lady Stone) switching back, and forth between bolting from afar, and Critical Charging through the melee, preferably with a Cloak spell up. Of course, I also run completely unarmored characters. It really depends on the character, and their fighting style.
 

Zyphur

Member
Heavy armor! I usually like to be up close and personal, and plus I look more like an intimidating badass in Daedric Armor than a Nightingale catsuit.

I have no problems stealthing in heavy armor. I used to until I got that perk that makes your armor quiet. (I have 100 stealth)
 

Thorn

In the Hist we trust
What makes me think is the fact that there are many more unique light-armor sets than there are heavy-armor

But generally I would go for light, just because elven and scaled...not a big fan of glass or dragon
 

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