Will having the 'Conditioning' perk for Heavy Armor ('Heavy Armor weighs nothing and doesn't slow you down when worn.') allow to maneuver at the same speed as a character in Light Armor with the 'Unhindered' perk (same ability)?

If not, Heavy Armor is completely pointless due to being able to hit the Armor Rating cap (around 576 I believe) while in Light Armor.

Thanks in advance.

Conditioning is a great perk, and yes it does allow you to run as fast as light armor wearers. The cap is actually 567 armor rating in the game. Heavy armor is quicker to hit the cap with and doesnt require smithing perks to do so, light armor requires the smithng perks.

Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to know.

Although, don't you need the required Smithing perk to be able to make, say Glass Armor, or can you make it without the corresponding perk?

This kinda depends on how you look at the game. Yes heavy armor is rather useless if you look at this game in a "end game" perspective. Beth games and in particular Elder Scrolls is more about the journey and less about the end game. ES games have always been about the journey. For instance, I play on master level with the PISE mod with dead is dead rules. I can tell a huge difference between light and heavy armor from level 1-30. For me the character is complete at level 40 so 3/4's of the game is played as a "UN-optomized" character.

Nope you need the perk.

To smith a type (ebony/glass etc) you must have the perk in smithing for it. The perk also allows you to enhance those items for twice as much as standard. With that you can craft and upgrade any armor type to the cap.

If you do not perk smithing you can not craft any gear beyond leather, but you can upgrade standard items to a high level.

Well, from an end game perspective then, with both types of armor being able to move at the same speed with their Conditioning and Unhindered perks, wouldn't either route be viable? If they both have the armor cap and both the same movement speed, you pretty much can base your choice off of looks.

I'm talking about playing on Adept though, I understand that with the style you play it is almost required that you use Heavy.



As of now I have Dragonplate upgraded to Legendary (I used pots to increase beyond Legendary but I see now that it was absolutely useless having 800 defense), but after reading about the Rating cap I was worried that I chose the wrong route with Heavy Armor. Now being aware that both sets run the same speed with the proper perk, I am satisfied with my choice. Dragonplate/Daedra ftw.

Thanks for the help, really appreciate it!

Im playing on master with the thief guild leather armor. Im doing just fine .

The armor cap can be hit with any armor type when perking smithing. Its really a preference as to which visual look you prefer of the armor types in that case. If you dont perk smithing, you will need to perk your armor type to get close to the cap and possibly even need at least 2 perks in smithing for the arcane smith ability (upgrade enchanted items).

Personally thats the route Ive taken. Im perking armor and have arcane smith so I can upgrade my items but without it being to excessive.

Na I personally love light armor on my settings. You are quicker, so it's easier to run away or dodge power attacks. The thing is you can get one shotted by a bandit boss if your not careful. Most likely wont happen in heavy armor though they will take a large chunk of health from you. Try this out, use the skin spells from alteration and light armor. That gives you more than enough armor to handle the melee bad guys. Another awesome and almost overpowering thing about light armor is the perk that grants 50% stamina regeneration. That is one of my top perks in the game.

I like heavy armor I almost never block, I simply attack with 2-handed axe. It's good to be built like a tank then, hehe. When I got the conditioning perk, I noticed Idid move a lot faster yes.

Well, I've already hit the Armor Cap on my main character (most likely going to attempt to bring him to 81 eventually), and I've already Perked Smithing and Heavy Armor so there's no point in changing now. My biggest concern was movement speed, but since it becomes irrelevant at level 70 I am no longer worried.

As for the Stamina Regen Perk: I'm currently looking for armor with Regen Stamina enchantments. I've seen ones for Magicka that do upwards of 75% MP Regen, I am just attempting to locate the Stamina equivelent. I will most likely enchant my gear with this so I can use Power attacks/Shield bashes/sprint more freely.

PS - Anyone know where I may find a piece of gear that I can disenchant for a stamina regen (ie. 75% faster)?

Bethesda was really uncreative with armor in this game. In the end, both types of armor offer the same protection and weight nothing. So I can absorb same amount of damage with my leather armor as with full steel plate? Right. They should've put the damage reduction cap on Light version at 70 % at most. And about Conditioning perk, come on. Sneaking around in Daedric armor like ninja? I wouldn't have added it in the first place. At least you would have some logical differences when chosing what to wear. I hope mods will do something about it.

Mods aren't needed necessarily, just don't hit the Armor Cap with your Light Armor, or if possible avoid specing into 'Unhindered' (although a mod might be needed with this).

I'm happy with what they did, you can choose your gear based off of looks and some perks (ie. Heavy offers 50% less stagger, whereas Light offers faster Stamina regen.)

I don't think they start appearing until you reach around level 12. Sounds like your way past that though. A good place to look is in Solitude at the Radiant Raiments. They usually have the stamania, magica, health regeneration jewelery.

Beth did this so if I wanted to build a leather wearing barbarian I would not be gimped. I applaud them for this, it was a great call. When you really think about it, if you decide to go heavy armor and smithing you really do not need to place perk points into heavy armor. You can spend them somewhere else. It makes the game deeper than people realize.

I'm a little passed that, I just hit level 30. I'm looking for something I can disenchant, so I can enchant all of my Dragonplate with stamina regen. specs, kind of like how the mage robes have regen. magicka 75% faster and stuff. I've seen it for stamina on my other character, but alas it is lost.

You can disenchant those jewelry from the vendors.

You actually won't hit the cap with Light Armor even with Legendary Dragonscale and all the Light Armor perks. You need to use enchanting and/or potions.

Oh I see, thanks. I can only seem to find stamina regen. 40% faster after waiting for upwards of a week (and checking every 2 days, pressing the Xbox Guide while waiting makes it go by almost 80% faster). Is there anything more? I've seen magicka regen 150%.

Magica regen on robes is unique, you will never be able to match it. And the level of the enchantment you buy to disenchant doesnt matter, only that its the correct type. As soon as you use it to enchant its value is dependent on your enchanment skill and perks.

Also, OT, Bethesda should've really expanded the "Steel Smithing" perk onto other types of armor, such as Hide, Fur, Leather and Iron and renamed it into "Mundane Smithing" or something like that. There is a mod on Skyrim Nexus which takes care of this, I really like it and recommend it.

Oh see this I did not know. I take it it's recommended to raise your Enchantment before enchanting your max gear? Or, can you go back and alter it later without destroying it?

Max your stat first for end-game gear. Once its done its done, no going back.

Dragons are easy enough to farm (wait 7 days in Whiterun, fast travel to all the dragon craters), so I'm not too worried about having to make another set, but I am worried about getting my Enchant to at least 70 (I'll remake a set, or save a Daedric set for when I'm 100 Enchant so I can dual enchant it).

Is it a rather tedious skill to level? I've heard enchanting iron daggers works wonders, any experience with this yourself?

Blackreach and all the other dwarven dungeons are a enchanters dream. I will walk out with dozens if not more gems and just have to fill them. Start collecting the random light armor drops from all the bandits ect... Don't sell them off till you have like 100 some odd light and cloth type armor. Haul them all down with your gems to a enchanter and start the grind. Also pick the mage stone before you do this grind. It will make it 20% faster. One other tip, spider caves and the shore from Winterhold to Dawnstar is a very rapid way to fill lots of petty soul gems. The reason I pick armor over weapons is that the weapons require two more clicks, which after doing that routine a 100 times makes a big difference.

When you are in Blackreach keep a sharp eye out for the geode mineral ore and mine every single one of them