I want heavy armor because it has the best bow, and the best armor with Daedric. But I want light armor so I can use stealth easier. So can you still use stealth effectively with heavy armor? or do i have to go light armor if I want to be a stealthy assassin/archer?

Heavy armor has a perk that makes it weightless and doesn't slow you down. So you can sneak with it. So really Heavy is better. I only use light armor cause I think it looks better in some cases.

So does light armor. Light will also let you run more in combat with the +50% stamina regeneration perk.

I think heavy armor is better because of the conditioned perk.

The defense way outdoes the Stamina regen. +50% regen isn't that much.

Edit : An archer also wants tons of defense considering close-up they are pretty vulnerable.

Sigh.

I'm not arguing against Heavy armor. Just informing him about some benefits relevant to an archer character.

In the late stages of the game, you'll be happy for the most part in your heavy armor, although you'd also get great use out of the +50% stamina regen perk from light armor. If you only want to go up one side of the smithing tree and craft/improve Daedric bows... then yeah, heavy armor.

Myself, I think going up both sides of the tree is worth it for my light armor preference.

If you're any good at archery playstyle, you won't get hit a lot, so higher defense is of lesser value. You'll also achieve getting hit less by sprinting around from time to time.

Lastly, in the EARLY stages of the game, it will be almost impossible for you to sneak effectively OR move around quickly. You'll essentially be a close-combat bowman (good thing you'll be in heavy armor).

Light Armor is better for Stealth Characters then Heavy Armor, you shouldn't need the extra defense when your sneak attacking with your bow or dagger. The only reason I would use Heavy Armor with a Stealth Character is Dragons, I find them to be Stealth Characters biggest weakness because it's a straight up 1 on 1 fight.

It depends on if you are making an Archer or a Ranged Assassin. If you are going archer then go with heavy. While you will try to kite the best you can, the enemy will eventually get in your face and you will need the extra defense. If you are going ranged assassin, I'd go with light. For starters, the perk that makes armor no long encumber you while worn doesn't equate to lighter boots making less noise. It was a different set of equations in Oblivion and I'd imagine it is a different set of equations for Skyrim. The point is that the good gear you will get or find that will benefit a stealthy character will be enchanted light armor.

Light armour is almost always better, especially for a stealth character. The +50% stamina regeneration perk is excellent and makes up for anything in the heavy armour tree. Skyrim has a relatively low armour cap and you can reach it with light armour, even if you use smithing sensibly. Unless it's for RP or aesthetic reasons, or you play an unarmed character, light armour is pretty much the way to go.

Right now with my first "experimental" character I'm trying to decide on light vs heavy.

I really would like Light with this character, but that silly "conditioned" perk seems to way unbalance things in favor of Heavy. I'm still trying to decide though, but I've shifted my leaning towards heavy. Arguments for Light Armor are very welcome.

Roleplay it just seems add to be sneaking around in Heavy. My character is really more of a warrior than stealth, I've found that there are some times when stealth is important.

me personaly use ancient nord armour ( ) with muffle on boots to compensate for extra noise in heavy armour so i can still sneak silently and wear great heavy armour ( note ancient is in same catagory as deadric so you may need to get deadric smithing to first be able to smith it . and you need to finish companions quest line to actually forge it )

Well, the arguments for light armour are that you can cap the armour rating with both types of armour anyway, and that the Wind Walker perk that gives you +50% stamina regeneration, which translates to more power attacks and thus more damage.

I use light armour on my warrior-assassin type, and it's absolutely fine (he's using 1H+shield and dual wield). Playing on expert. You can dodge/avoid many power attacks from opponents (by moving, strafing, dancing), and you won't be sluggish for numerous levels before you get the heavy armour perks that address this.

Like I said, I see little use for heavy armour for pretty much any build (except monks) unless it is for visual or RP reasons. Or differently put, I don't feel that it's a game changing choice.

You don't need to take any perks from light or heavy. (maybe just a few) ENCHANTING. Enough, said. Master Enchanting and you can wear whatever the hell you feel like wearing.

Neither, I just use whatever armor has the best archery/sneak bonuses that I find since I don't really do smithing/enchanting. Hell, my light armor skill is still in the low 40's because I don't get hit often.

Defense maxes out at 80% damage reduction anyway, which I'm pretty sure you can get to with light armour.

Heavy armour = higher armour rating for the beginning middle sections of the game, less stamina, takes longer to get weightless perks.
Light armour = takes longer to get to 80% armour rating, more stamina, gets weightless perk earlier.

....Or you can learn enchanting and make a necklace and armor that gives you a lot more than 50% regeneration. Honestly, most of the armor perks are unnessary. Enchanting gives you the freedom of turning anything into something amazing and the freedom of wearing whatever you feel like wearing.

Yeah, but some people, like me, have never really found enchanting or alchemy to be all that much fun.

Not to mention that as an archer, you probably won't even get the required levels to get those perks. Unless you train them via a trainer.

Heavy Armor = Steed Stone + Enchanting.

Light Armor = Enchanting shield defense, fire, shock, frost + The Lover Stone

No need for any armor perks. Plus your weapons are much better in the process.

In combat regen.... Yea... about that.

It's not useful. It's only useful for out of combat regen.

If you're out of stamina in combat, you will still get that 1 stamina needed for powerattacks back 50% faster.

It's still boring. I'd rather find my weapons in the world, than sit at a menu for 15 minutes. I find it hard enough to tolerate smithing.

The problem with that, is there are far more useful enchantments than you can possibly fit onto your equipment - skill enhancements, resistances, regen, etc. You can pile your favorites on every possible piece and still wish you had more of some, and also still have skipped half a dozen "useful" enchantments. Those are the effects you want to pick up from perks if possible. For many character types, +stamina regen is one of those.

Edit:


For an archer? It's definitely useful. There are many times in combat where you can go without using stamina for maybe fifteen to twenty seconds, just long enough to regenerate your stamina if you have some bonus regen.