.

That's exactly my point, it would get incredibly tiresome wearing plate armor when sprinting, of which my character will do a lot. It's far more practical for him to wear hide type light armor, giving him more mobility, agility and speed. I honestly can't see this Orc wearing elven or malachite armor, it just wouldn't look right, the thalmor ruin elven armor for my anyway.

Also remember the significance of the shield, blocking attacks away from your body, this combined with lighter armor is more practical for your average foot soldier.

I know I'm not getting ample protection from heavy blows, but this is Skyrim remember, I will also be relying on alteration for flesh armor. Something which cannot be compared to real life ha.

Nope. As I said, this business of "plate armor is unwieldy and unpleasantly heavy" is a complete and utter myth, with basically no basis in fact. The only suits of plate armor that were perhaps impractical for battle were some suits specifically made for jousting, not the battlefield, and some experimental attempts to produce completely bulletproof armor, which were abandoned. Even full plate was among the least cumbersome and best-balanced armor you could wear. Knights in heavy cavalry units were able to mount horses with no problem while wearing plate.

Wearing a mail shirt would wear you out more quickly than would full plate, because of the horrible distribution of the weight.



The sheer distance you run in this game is unrealistic, period. Heavy armor has nothing to do with it.




Again, this is simply factually incorrect. I recommend you read up on it. Lighter armor was worn by many foot soldiers, yes, in medieval Europe, but this was because the majority of foot soldiers were commoners, and the nobles that equipped them tried to economize by equipping them with less expensive armors like mail shirts. Some knights operated as heavy infantry, however, and wore basically suits of full plate, or perhaps almost full plate; I think sometimes they would forgo the heavier shin-guards if they were mostly infantry.

The Swiss had heavy infantry wielding pole-arms that were most definitely wearing heavy armor.

In ancient times, the Greeks were wearing heavy Bronze armor, consisting of a bronze helmet, greaves (I think) and bronze shin-guards, and most definitely a heavy bronze briastplate, along with a large shield, heavy thrusting spear and a sword. The Romans wore a form of heavy plate armor suited for infantry, with overlapping plates I think called "brigandine", although I need to look that up. They didn't wear the super-heavy solid briastplate for the most part, although such things existed, but I believe normally the briastplate was formed of segmented, overlapping plates of armor. While lighter for sure than the preceding Greek-style armor of the hoplites, and lighter than subsequent medieval European mail shirts and full plate, it was heavy armor meant for melee soldiers in the thick of battle.

Light armor as you're thinking of it was not used by melee troops, not in the heavy infantry and cavalry warfare of ancient and medieval Europe.



That's because the ones you're thinking of are usually either (1) bandits who obviously don't have access to full suits of plate armor, or (2) living in one of those orc forts that are relatively primitive.

Maybe a burlap sack with eye holes cut out of it.

You can't go wrong with that, considering I find the current set you have going hideous. Sorry!

Glass and Ellen look absolutely terrible IMO, scaled armor looks okay, the bracers and boots I will use. Are you honestly saying that you would be combat efficient in heavy armor?! Think of the strain of movement, running or swinging a blade, you would tire so quickly. The sheer distance you run in this game makes full heavy armor a stupid choice for realism.


That for me isn't realism, did I say I wanted to make a perfect lore Orc? No I said I wanted a realistic approach to the game, no matter what you say wearing full heavy armor isn't practical for battle. Look at the battles that were fought, foot soldiers would have worn lighter armor to practicality. On horseback you can use heavy plate armor for protection as you aren't moving, that's not how I will play though. I think you miss my point about realism.

I've also seem plenty of orcs in game using light armor, fur for example.

I'm a Bosmer so it feels fitting to use Fur, i use the one with the arms, fur bracelets and hide boots, and usually don't wear a helmet so i can't really suggest one, I think they all look rather [censored]e to be honest :/

Running huge distances is entirely plausible given the right state of fitness, and not being weighed down to much.

I do see your point about heavy armor examples in real life, but my above comment describes how I want my character to be, agile and quick, capable of running long distances.

I'm talking more about the Skyrim battles I've experienced, in which most of the soldiers wear light armor and shields for battle. You've given me a lot of real life examples which wasn't really my point. My point was how in the world of Skyrim my character will be doing some serious long distance running, which is entirely plausible. Can you honestly preach to me wearing heavy armor is more practical for my character?

I completely agree, they look terrible IMO. But without it I will struggle with armor rating, which is a must on master for a warrior. Dual wielding is also the most offensive battle style, leaving little room for defence.

I don't think the stormcloak officers hat will look to bad with fur armor, you also can get it without doing the civil war quests.

I completely agree, they look terrible IMO. But without it I will struggle with armor rating, which is a must on master for a warrior. Dual wielding is also the most offensive battle style, leaving little room for defence.

I don't think the stormcloak officers hat will look to bad with fur armor, you also can get it without doing the civil war quests.

If you're gonna go with light armor, then you're going to have to do something else to supplement it defense-wise. Giving up the Big Three non-magical defenses - smithing, heavy armor, and block - doesn't sound like a winning combination to me. You either need at least one of them (I'm using all three) or else some magical defenses.

i like studded imperial leather. Looks sixy on a female elf. Glass looked not bad either. But i still like heavy armor looks more. As for mobility in heavy armor, bobjim123 watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aqRkxTjV1c

Ahh didn't think you cared for the rating, in all honesty though unless you have the perk? to get the bonus, the extra from the helmet isn't all that much greater, i can get away with it though because im a ranger and very rarely the enemy/enemy's get in range to deal melee, and if they do it only takes a duel attack with my daggers to finish them off.

The game realistically handles the difference between Light and Heavy armor in terms of sprinting and moving over long distances - You don't need to arbitrarily limit yourself when the game puts the limitation on for yourself.

'Realistically', the sheer amount of distance you are able to sprint in heavy armor isn't remotely realistic. You can take a perk to make heavy armor weightless, having the same effect on stamina and speed than if you were naked. Not remotely realistic, but we are talking magic so some realism arguments can be moot ha.

Prior to that perk though (The point at which you wear your armor as easily as you wear your skin), it is realistic. The "unrealistic" part of Skyrim's armor system is across the board. The distance you can sprint in Light Armor and Naked is equally "unrealistic" in Skyrim, so switching to Light armor isn't going to fix that.

Mind you, I still say Glass is the best looking "Warrior-type" light armor. I'm not sure what people have against it.

That's the problem, they all look ridiculous. The steel plate helmet isn't to bad, when worn with the full set, but in terms of light armor I can't find any decent looking helmets.

Tempted to use the diadem of the savant, as it counts as light armor. So the perks still work and you still get the +100 hidden armor bonus.