it's because of armor penetration

if your armor is 567 and some creature with 50% armor penetration is wailing on you, then you effectively have 284 armor, which is waaaay low as less than 50% damage reduction

however, if you have 1000 armor, same creature attacks you, you effectively have 500 armor - still pretty decent

am i right (or is this old news...)

I wouldn't even assume that any creatures have armor pen right now.

That's how I understood it was meant ro be.

pretty sure dragons do

and bandit bosses with warhammer too

Does armor penetration even exists in the game?

yes, check the weapon perk trees

Ahmm...didn't know.

Anyway, at 524 AR & Master the game is already pretty easy for me...so I don't really understand that AR obsession.

yeah i don't craft anyway but for those that do, it's nice to know their hard work counts for something i guess

This would be a useful point, but do you know if any enemies have armor penetration?

What irritates me, is how useless maces and axes are at high levels, when you move on to high level gear, the swords only have a few less damage than the other two, but much faster swings and critical chance if you go for the perk. The bleeding effect is minimal for axes, and the maces ignore damage resist doesn't matter at high levels, bandits will have huge amounts of health, but the same [censored] fur armor.

You'd have to get to a very high level for that to matter. I guess if you are 50+ level you might run across a dragon or some crazy warhammer wielding bandit or unique NPC that could do some damage to you.......

but honestly how fun is the game once you get 1000 armor and are untouchable even to villains with 50% damage pen?

No evidence that such enemies exist in the game currently. The higher end dragons just have craploads of base damage.

go fight an ancient dragon

take a bite with 1000 armor

then swap to a full set 600 armor and take another bite

what else could it be?

I must be doing something wrong then. When I actually equip my shield, I'm over 500. And sometimes around half health, I'll have a dragon pick me up and toss me to my death like a chew toy. And I'm only playing on Adept. Around level 40/41.

490 (light) armor on Master seems more than enough for me. Of course it has a lot to do with playstyle and class. My build (assassin) is supposed to hit hard and retreat/keep a distance, so maybe that's all I need anyway.

It's called a power attack. The question really won't be answered until next month when the CK is released. Right now it's just speculation.