Since recent changes I feel light armor (even medium) to be useless. The combat system is definitely very simplified (and boring), you basically trade blows so wearing the most damage reduction is usually better. There is no parrying, dodge is essentially the same in light/medium/heavy, the only difference is climbing which effects nothing the combat.
Its even more drastic if you are mounted, your efficiency is just the same in light, medium or heavy, there is absolute no reason using light armor over heavy, your mobility is not changed, there is no dodging (the only real difference between armors) and you dont even spend stamina swinging a weapon… am I missing something? Why would anyone actually use light armor, specially riding horses?
With the last update, it now uses way less stamina when rolling. Meaning you can dodge more than a heavy. Medium is between the 2. And side note, light armor allows for a quicker attack out of roll vs Heavy. And Agility speeds it up even more. So basically light is for stick and move fighting style, not tanking. Heavy is for tanking.
Ive seen a video about that, the person shows how much dodge improves with agility, even with the highest agility values the dodge gain is minimum, definitely not proportional to the damage reduction loss and invested points.
Well that is interesting, I didnt know that, glad to hear it! That is useful on foot, but as I also mentioned when you ride a horse there will be no gain, there is no dodge and the movement is exactly the same between armors. I believe the stamina spend while sprinting is based in the saddle, not the player armor.
Being you are on a horse, the only thing armor should affect is possibly the horses stamina bar. Maybe use it slower (farther between stam outs) if you are wearing light?
Lowers the weight carried. If you can keep encumberance in the green while still carrying tools, weapons and supplies it really helps your stamina. If you don’t want to fight something/someone you can run like the wind if your encumberance is in the green. If you fight, you will most likely have a stamina advantage.
Yeah, I always keep below 50% encumbrance for this reason, but its now possible keep most everything in the companions, specially now we can have a follower and a horse.
Horses have 10 inventory slots, if you have a animal companion like I do, thats another 10 slots. Its a lot space players can drop their supplies, tools even extra gear and keep encumbrance low.
Yep, weight is always a factor. I find it surprising how many people don’t seem to care about it, but I guess they just play the game in a different way than I.
Also, with Epic Flawless light armor and maxed Agility I can already reach ~65 % damage reduction, which isn’t that much worse than the ~80 % you’d get with Epic Flawless Heavy and mediocre Agility. And I’m that much faster with dodge recovery.
Mounted combat is a different matter, and I admit I have very little experience with it. But it would make sense that you could wear heavier armor on horseback with fewer drawbacks.
It’s a matter of play style, but I wear the vanilla light armor (never the exceptional/flawless) more often than any other armor. I spend most of my time gathering resources. The vanilla light armor weighs the least, adds bonus to my encumbrance, and I can easily repair it by finding something to kill and harvesting the hide. I like the convenience of being able to collect more resources before having to turn around and give things to my follower.
If I am exploring or taking a mission to somewhere far away, I often use a medium armor. I want the compromise between staying light weight but also having some armor protection in case I get myself in an unexpected combat.If I know in advance that I will see heavy combat, I want the heavy armors for maximum damage reduction.
Because the way I play, the armor I wear while riding my horse is irrelevant. I can easily fight or flee depending on the type of enemy. When I am riding a horse, I don’t care what my armor is. I only care that I am not encumbered so my horse can run at full speed.
Yes, that is one of my points, when riding a Horse the armor is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is how much damage reduction your character has and if you are overnecumbred. Nothing else matters, and heavy armor has all advantage with no drawbacks.
But that is one of the points I was trying to make. If I have a horse, I don’t care what my damage reduction is, because I can run away. So I usually want the light armor because it weighs less.
Nice to hear that someone else has this mentality, too. Easy maintenance and the Enc bonus were the biggest reasons why I stuck with the vanilla light armor for so long. I found it hard to convince myself to “upgrade” to a stronger armor that required processed materials to repair.
Goes to show that people have different playstyles, meaning there’s no one “best” set of equipment for everyone.
Yup that’s how I feel. Fashionista Exile here. My character uses a set shirt, inn keeper pants, turan scout writs and boots, and gold earrings. So I basically don’t even use armor.
I understand, but when you ride it doesnt matter if you have 99% or 0% encumbrance, the stamina cost wont change, its 100% based in the saddle you choose, not player weight/armor. So unless you have 100%+ encumbrance your performance will be -exactly- the same with light or heavy armor, the only difference will be the damage reduction.
I always use light, since I started playing, but that is a situation where your armor of choice simply has no advantage over heavier and more resillient armors, it becomes a matter of look, not a matter of performance. If the game threats all 3 armor styles the same then something is wrong. Everything you do is affected by armor type or weight, climbing, dodging, sprint, etc… why does mounted combat ignores all that? Do you find it correct?
Dont get me wrong, I -love- mounted combat, but they have to address some weird situations, like this armor types not affecting performance, also why ranged damage goes 100% to the horse HP/stamina, while the player takes full melee damage (why?), still impossible to dye saddles, give saddles armor a real meaning (horses dont even engage combat), etc…
Mouneted combat is great, one of the best implementations so far, but there are some details that need to be focused.
I think I see where our misunderstanding is now. You want the best armor for mounted combat. I want the best armor for harvesting stone/wood, etc. I play singleplayer. You choose your armor based on what you do while on the horse. I choose my armor based on what I do while NOT riding my horse. If I am in a difficult area (sabretooth, mammoth, etc) that light armor will kill me, so I get on my horse and ride away from them as fast as I can.
