Started a new character this morning. Female Imperial. I intend to focus on Block and Destruction as a general strategy. I know Imperials start with a small bonus to heavy armor, but I feel like light armor would be better for a class like this, so I'm not sure. Suggestions?

Also, which standing stone do you think would be best for a warrior/mage combo?

EDIT: Typo.

As long as you can block efficiently Light Armor will do you wonders. I used it on my Nord Warrior playthough, and I was barely taking Damage by the time I was done with that one. Have Fun

Sure light armor can protect you as well as heavy armor ! But it depends on the difficulty youre playing and also youre tastes!! because there are more heavy armor than light armor in the game so make your choice!
Even in master difficulty 320 armor is enough to survive to deathlord one shoters, so you dont need those crazy 1450 daedric armor

If you are going to rely on blocking be sure to put a lot of points into Stamina. But it is a lot of fun to bash things.

How is spellcasting with a shield though? I guess you won't be doing any double handed casting, which is too bad.

Depends what kind of character you want to RP.

On my last character I opted for light armor, as it was a ranger/assassin type. The 50% stamina regeneration boost is nice, especially if you're planning to become a vampire and not relying on enchants. It would also allow you to block more.

I've only played one character with heavy armour, and that's my Nord. She doesn't use any magic. I fight with an axe and mace with her. Problem is unless you get the perk "heavy armour weighs nothing and doesn't slow you down" (she's not high enough yet) you're really slow! I much prefer light armour to make stealthy characters.

As for your character, I'd say either could work!
Light - you can carry more stuff, you move faster and because you're going to invest a lot into the block skill, you'll absorb most of the damage with your shield anyway but bear in mind this reply is coming from a player who predominantly uses sneak and archery.
Heavy - take much more damage! (haven't played heavy enough to comment much - sorry!)

It's been surprisingly effective. If your magic is low, you can block with the shield to hold enemies at bay while it recharges. You can also use conjuration to bring out a sword if you need to. You don't have to worry about carrying weapons that way. But using destruction with a shield lets you block a significant portion of incoming damage while also being able to hurt enemies at range. I enjoy it quite a bit.

But yeah, I'll probably go with light armor.

i agree but i mean have to tried to block the briarheart double axe power attack? Instant kill if you have no enchant for block

Honestly? Just wear whatever armor you like the look of. My current character(Imperial) is wearing both light and heavy armor because I want to be able to get the Ebony Mail. And since I've got The Steed Stone, I don't really need any points in Heavy Armor, other then its basic defensive boosts, same for light armor, and I can still sneak effectively with it.

Get the Steed stone, it completely negates Heavy Armor's weight and makes that perk obsolete. The Steed removes the moevemnt penalty from armor, so you get the speed and stamina regen of somebody wearing nothing. It also adds 100 pounds to your carry weight and makes your armor literally weigh nothing, So that 80 pounds of Daedric you're wearing doesn't get added to your carry weight.

Oh wow! Thanks for the tip! As I say I'm usually light armour/stealth, I just decided I should try heavy to see what it would be like and I used that character for the Stormcloak questline. I will definitely head over to the Steed Stone next time I play as her!

No problem, that stone makes a heavy armor assassin/thief completely viable too, which is what I'm doing now.

I think the stamina regeneration is invaluble, it's stated to be +50% but it seems a lot more. Comparing my stamina regeneration with the perk to my magicka with +50% the stamina regenerates faster, so I'm not sure.

IMO nothing in the heavy armor tree is as useful as the stamina regeneration. You have to waste 4 perks to get the reflect damage perk, the light armor perk tree is much less wasteful.

I'd rather put the perk in to make heavy weigh nothing and take the Lord Stone for extra magic and damage resistance. Let the heavy armor take as many hits as you can early on and it will level up fast.