Is there any penalty for wearing heavy armor as a mage or an archer?

[Ghostpro71]

I'm just curious because I had seen a few videos of mages going with heavy so they last a little longer when enemies get in melee range. Are there any magic penalties or archer/sneak penalties with going with heavy armor?

[MancSoulja]

Sneaking with heavy armor is pretty useless, they'll hear you comming 3 rooms away. No penalties for Archers or Mages though. But isn't that what a "Battle Mage" is?

[Hiddey]

You get a penalty to sneaking if you're in heavy armor.

[Ghostpro71]

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

Sneaking with heavy armor is pretty useless, they'll hear you comming 3 rooms away. No penalties for Archers or Mages though. But isn't that what a "Battle Mage" is?

What if I dump points into the perks in Sneak?

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by joejccva71:

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

Sneaking with heavy armor is pretty useless, they'll hear you comming 3 rooms away. No penalties for Archers or Mages though. But isn't that what a "Battle Mage" is?

What if I dump points into the perks in Sneak?

Originally posted by Spoopy Toast:

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

Sneaking with heavy armor is pretty useless, they'll hear you comming 3 rooms away. No penalties for Archers or Mages though. But isn't that what a "Battle Mage" is?

I am a stealth archer that wears heavy armor, and my sneaking works great, but that's likely because I invested a ton of skill points into it.

You're better asking this guy

[Ghostpro71]

Ok awesome thanks guys. One last question.

Can I respec my skill points? Maybe a mod that does it? Console command?

I invested points into Light but want to change to Heavy.

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by joejccva71:

Ok awesome thanks guys. One last question.

Can I respec my skill points? Maybe a mod that does it? Console command?

I invested points into Light but want to change to Heavy.

Once you reach level 100 on a skill, you can reset that skill to 0 and claim back all your skill points. You also receive a little symbol next to it, to show that skill has been maxed once already.

[ballpoint202]

A mage probably won't put much into Stamina, so the weight of heavy armor is a problem. That, plus the sneaking issue, is why I use light armor as a mage.

[Gropax]

sneaking in this game is by the weight of your armor. an unarmed guy is pretty much silent but with high end sneaking skill even a guy in full dragonbone heavy armor is silent.

Factors influencing visibility:

Line of Sight: All seeing creatures and NPCs have a defined cone of vision; if you fall within it, you are more likely to be detected.
Light: you are more visible in brighter light; this modifier carries significant effects across the entire range of light levels.
The glow of light over your hands when you have a spell equipped makes you easier to detect, but the aura given from enchantments does not.
Invisibility: being invisible is obviously a powerful aid to sneaking, but does not influence enemies' ability to hear you.

Noise Level. Factors influencing the amount of noise you make are:

Movement Speed: running is noisier than walking. Moving very slowly generally makes little noise. Extra noise from running is negated by the Silence perk.
Armor: moving in armor makes more noise, the combined weight of all equipped armor is correlated with its volume.
Muffle: A magical effect that reduces or eliminates noise.
Spells: casting a spell makes noise unless you have the Quiet Casting perk. Summon spells and most dragon shouts are particularly loud.
Weapons: swinging a weapon larger than a dagger makes noise.


so if you want to wear heavy armor and use sneak i would while leveling use a heavy armor tunic light armor boots gloves and hood all you need to do is get to 667 armor that is the cap more then 667 is worthless even base leather armor can be tempered to the point of being at 667 if you have the right skills.

[Hiddey]

Originally posted by Gropax:

so if you want to wear heavy armor and use sneak i would while leveling use a heavy armor tunic light armor boots gloves and hood all you need to do is get to 667 armor that is the cap more then 667 is worthless even base leather armor can be tempered to the point of being at 667 if you have the right skills.

I thought armor cap was 567.

[NecroMaster]

Your better off just wearing light armour if you want to be sneaky.
Yeah heavy armour gives you more defense but if your going for the sneak attack bonus it will be pretty meaningless.
and by wearing the heavy armour your risking being heard and screwing up your bonus and may wind up taking more hits than you would have had you just gone in with light armour equipped.

[Ghostpro71]

Hmmm i wonder if I uninstall Perkus Maximus, load up the game, and then reinstall it, if it will refund my skill points and let me start over basically. I'm only level 15 but would rather not start completely over, but will if i had to.

[NecroMaster]

Originally posted by Spoopy Toast:

Originally posted by Wilson the Gentleman Scientist.:

Your better off just wearing light armour if you want to be sneaky.
Yeah heavy armour gives you more defense but if your going for the sneak attack bonus it will be pretty meaningless.
and by wearing the heavy armour your risking being heard and screwing up your bonus and may wind up taking more hits than you would have had you just gone in with light armour equipped.

See my post above yours. Stealth with heavy armor is totally viable. I was even able to get right in front of enemies faces without being detected.

Also, I recommend activating the thief stone to level up your sneak skill faster. It's back near Helgen where you escaped at the beginning of the game.

http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Guardian_Stones

aight thanks im not very far in just yet.

[Elazul]

If you want to sneak in Heavy Armor and don't want to invest a bunch of skill points into perks snag The Steed stone and problem solved. It removes all movement penalties to armor, makes it weigh nothing, and increases your carry capacity by 100.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Steed_Stone

[Gropax]

yes its 542 displayed 4 pieces with a shield 567 without a shield and 667 when not wearing any armor or shield sorry been a few years since i last played here it is from the Wiki



Armor Cap

Physical damage reduction is capped at 80%. This occurs at 542 displayed armor rating when wearing all four pieces of armor and a shield, 567 without a shield, or 667 when not wearing any armor or shield at all. If you have 100 armor skill (Light or Heavy) and all relevant armor perks, this requires a tempered armor rating of about 130 (567 / (1.4 * 1.25 * 1.25 * 2)). You can increase your tempered armor rating by 1 roughly every 2 points of Smithing with the appropriate perk, or every 4 without. Therefore, at 100 Smithing you will need 80 base armor with the appropriate perk (75 with shield), which is only achievable for light armor users without a shield with Dragonscale Armor and requires at least a Steel Plate set for Heavy Armor. With Fortify Smithing enchanted apparel and Fortify Smithing potions you can boost Smithing even further, which can potentially allow any material for which a Smithing perk exists to reach the cap. At the extreme end, you will need about 116 Smithing to make Steel Armor hit the cap ((130 - 72) * 2), and about 144 Smithing for an Elven set ((130 - 58) * 2). Unfortunately, Fur, Hide, Studded, Leather, and Iron armor are not affected by any Smithing perks and so cannot be improved as much. For example Hide Armor will require about 360 Smithing to reach the cap ( [130 - (20 + 5 + 5 + 10)] * 4 ).

With the aid of enchanting (fortify smithing) and pre-made enchanting and smithing potions, and of course the appropriate armor perks, you can reach the armor cap with any style or type of armor in the game, even hide and iron armor. All without even using a shield.

Shields, spells, and the Lord Stone can reduce the base armor required to hit the cap even further, but these require more management.

[Ghostpro71]

Originally posted by Elazul:

If you want to sneak in Heavy Armor and don't want to invest a bunch of skill points into perks snag The Steed stone and problem solved. It removes all movement penalties to armor, makes it weigh nothing, and increases your carry capacity by 100.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Steed_Stone

Oh crap, seriously? :) I gotta find this.