Right,

I only signed up to ask this question. I have to say the game is awesome, I love the freedom it allows and how what i DO makes my "class". However, I am confused by the armors available, and specifically the perks. I have played the game through as a thief type class, and also as a mage. And both times I just used heavy armor. It just seems a no brainer really : more protection, perks that make it weigh nothing, reduced fall damage....

I have searched about this, and the majority of the replies say things like "you should use light armor as it better fits the perception of the thief class you are roleplaying" or "wear cloth as thats what mages would wear". That is fair enough, but I am NOT role playing at an aesthetic level. I play in first person mode, and if my mage had a spacesuit on I couldnt care less as long as I didnt cheat to get it and it gave me the best stats.

I realise that certain classes of armor give better bonuses, ie cloth has magicka regen, light has better stealth, and heavy has better......well everything else......

But I would love it if someone could please provide quantiative evidence that wearing heavy armor as a mage or thief, with perks maxed out, means that despite the reduced damage you take, your casting/backstabbing/archery/whatever is affected.

Thankyou.

Phew, sick of reading posts and seeing people post crap about role playing. Don't get me wrong, I understand the genre is "Role Playing Game" but that doesn't mean I should get under powered stuff just because that's not what (for example) a thief would wear in real life.

So to the point, I'm lead to believe that you can move and fight faster in Light Armour, and although there is perks for the Heavy Armour, I think this only eliminates the extra Stamina loss from doing stuff, although I'd be happy for someone to correct me if I'm wrong.

I am curious about this as well.

One of the little tip things in the corner when the game loads says: the success rate of a theif is based on several factors. One of these factors is the weight of your armour... But then with the perk that makes it weigh nothing will cancel this out?...

HA vs. LA:

1. HA has higher base armor levels.
2. HA has higher base stagger resistance (I think, not 100% sure).
3. HA makes more noise (significantly harder to sneak with).
4. LA has a perk to increase stamina regen by 50%, and give 10% statistical dodge.
5. HA has a perk for +50% stagger resist, 10% melee damage reflect.
6. HA has a perk for unarmed bonus damage from your metal-encased fist, and reduced fall damage.
7. Sneak tree has a perk to muffle the sound of LA completely.
8. Smithing: highest tier weapons are on the same side of the tree as HA.

Edit: The "weight" is not actually what impacts Sneaking, it is the sound made by moving in heavy armor. The weight of both HA and LA can be reduced by perks in their trees -- this lets you literally move faster (or rather, take a smaller movement penalty).

Edit2: HA may still have a greater movement penalty when you compare HA vs. LA with the "lighter armor" perk for both setups. Not sure though.

Alteration at high levels is better than both of them.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alteration_(Skyrim)

Wear pajamas.

Best info I've had so far, thanks!

I'd love it if Bethesda could come out and comment on this and confirm or deny it!

I've seen that and it makes perfect sense: If you don't wear armor, your protection spells are stronger. You are a caster specialising in alteration, which is expert at casting such spells.

This does not help the light vs heavy armor question originally posed. If I am a destruction mage, with sufficient magicka resource or potions, without access to very high end cloth armor, why not wear heavy? If I am a rogue type, with maxed out heavy armor and dual-wielding, the lack of block surely means going toe-to-toe with other melee means heavy armor is better?

Oh cause as a mage you want the stupid levels of magicka regen on the pajamas, which is basically a "default enchantment", so to speak.
You can create magicka regen enchantments, but nowhere nearly as powerful as the robes have. And if you decide to wear robes then the alteration line is a much better choice than armors.

The most awsome thing about the elder scrolls games is that you have the freedom to do whatever you want, how you want. It`s like the burger king of the game industry. Look at the perks for light and heavy yourself. You will see what benefits are given. You really don`t need us to tell you how you want to play your own game for you. Play it how you like, not like everyone else.

I have the Prima Strategy Guide. It indicates in several spots that Light armor provides better movement ability in combat than wearing Heavy armor. I haven't tested this, but they mentioned it several times in the guide.

Problem is, like life, this game has rules. I am a min-maxer in life, and thus am also in my games. Thankfully, games are based on quite easily understood algorithms. If I cannot understand the possibilities and consequences in life, I will try to question someone that does. Similarly, I will also do so in games; thus the perks of Light vs Heavy make little sense unless there is an underlying disadvantage to wearing heavy beyond weight and the bonuses of high level or enchanted light.

There is no rule saying your thief type char cannot wear heavy armor . Skyrim isn`t a class based game like MW and OB was. Classes are out the window in this game. This is really your decision. Do you want to wear light or heavy? The end stats benefits will balance out when you invest enough skill points in either. You will even find caster stats on plate so if you wanna wear plate and be a battlemage you can.

So the answer is: Just go for Heavy because its perks match at least that of Light, but it provides much more melee damage mitigation. This was my suspicion after playing through and looking at the perks.

Its a shame really.....I really do feel that casters and thieves should be penalised for wearing heavy to incentivise them to wear more "role-appropriate" armor.

Ah well, can't have everything. My plate wearing destuction mage will just eat everything alive then

Also there will be artifacts and quest rewards which will tend to assume that theives use light armour and warriors use heavy. So if you want to take best advantage of faction rewards it may well be a good idea to go that way... although from what I've seen high enough enchantment makes existing enchantments ingame look lame in comparison