Just use the armor you want to use. I don't see any reason why heavy armor would not be viable.

It gives the most armor, some spell resistance, some bonus damage, some blocing boost. I don't see any problem here.

Heavy armor is for tanks, imho. The bonuses heavy armor offers refer to blocking and stuff, which is far from great in pvp.

You want medium armor as a melee fighter because it boosts stamina regen as well as stealth (if you're stealthy), which are very important for melee and archers.

You want light armor as a caster because it boost mana regen and stuff.

I don't know... if I do a melee DPS, I'm going for heavy armor... but maybe I svck at this... I'm fine with it though

And I disagree: I think blocking is very good in PVP

Heavy offers a small boost to melee damage, but also provides overall tankiness, including magical resistances.

Also the pts guys, I doubt they got to do large battles in cyrodill, so of course a more damage oriented build (medium armor) will work far far better since there aren't as many damage sources as in a large fight.

But of course if you want to pick off targets, medium armor offers crit and stamina regen, invaluable to any fighter (including 2handers, no matter the class).

Still, I think mixing it up may yeild better results, but you won't be crippling yourself for not doing so, the mixing thing falls into the min-max category as long as you know your role.

You can wear heavy armor, just dont expect to be a main healer or something.

No one knows right now what will be optimal. You have to give it at least 6 months and then some for people to find the right builds. Even then, with the way this game is there might not be anything that really could be FOTM.

Heavy armor does give some melee damage bonus too . 7% power with melee attacks with 7 pieces equipped.

If you find yourself stuck going hybrid but want to preserve the look of one armor class, just be creative where you place the pieces. For example if heavy armor is your thing wear heavy in spots wear it stands out like the chest, while placing your light/medium hybrid parts in less apparent spots like the boots/gloves (both are often hard to tell weight class), or if your hiding helmet your head slot. The legs and shoulder slots could also be used to downplay hybrid armor if you find some racial designs that blend in well.

EDIT: For another example one of my more experimental builds I plan on making is a mage tank. If I have to slip some medium/heavy armor in I'll be putting in the head slot (hidden by helmet), legs (hidden under light armor robes), and either arms or feet (using a nice bracer or war sandal racial design).

As a long time PTS tester I have to let the community in on something.

If you hear that a certain combo is OP, or maybe less powerful in PvP.... ignore it for now. The PTS is *extremely* unbalanced as far as factions go, and there's not really much pvp going on... it's very barren. Once the floodgates open we'll have better players, worse players, and everything in between in PvP... and we'll find out that what we thought was weak before, or what didn't work out in the very small testing group has changed dramatically when there's 2,000 people around you.

There's going to be so many different ways to play Cyrodiil. Right now, it's pretty much Aldmeri zerging around turning the land yellow.... but soon you'll have stealth wars, small man, 8 man roaming groups, group vs group competitive setups... zerg busting setups, keep defense setups...

Too many possibilities. Every combo will find itself strong against someone, and weak against another.

tldr; Use what you like. Evolve over time.

I'd like to agree with you there... But stuff like the passives from light armor skill line is just too good to pass over.

I wanted to make a healer, but I really hate robes and light armor, so I tried a heavy armor healer in the beta, and it didn't turn out so well. I was never penalized in previous Elder Scrolls games for being a mage wearing heavy armor, but now I am. Oh well.

Too bad, I give up on making a healer and I'll just make a melee DPS in heavy armor or a ranged DPS in medium armor, because waving a stick or fighting in robes that you couldn't even run with turns me off.

I agree in some cases. The light armor passives are a bit too strong, especially in regards to healers. Making a WoW-Style Holy Pally is pretty much out of the question. The closest you could get would be maybe using 5 light/2heavy... just make the chest and shoulders heavy so you *look* more heavy

But can you answer from your experience if what x_busa said about 5m/2h armor combination being OP is true?

heavy armor should have the most defensive capabilities.

No other armor should compare to Heavy Armor when it comes to defense.

If i'm wearing plate, I expect to be almost fully defended against arrows.

Yes yes, to Drexill you listen.

err.. well you're almost correct on the arrows part, they tickle people at the moment..

But how is it fair that you, in plate armor, should be fully protected from arrows yet be free to make a 28m leap, which is almost more than the range of a bow...?

Obviously that can't happen lol, neither can bows have a realistic range, for balance reasons, but at the moment, you can close the gap on bowmen, have a ranged melee attack, and arrows do tickle damage on medium-heavy armor, so half your wish is acomplished, although I suspect it will change .

Which skill makes you able to do a 28M Leap besides a Morphed Ultimate?
Noticed most gap closers have like 22m (Some need to be morphed) Vs 28 from Ranged Skills!