There may be a different explanation for this. I have a Daedric Bow that has a rating of 143 and the moment I start wearing my "Fortify Archery Helmet", the rating rises to 205. The helmet increases the damage done with a bow with 43% and if I multiply 143 with 1.43 it turns out to be 204.49. My Daedric Sword has a rating of 106 and when I start wearing my "Fortify One-Handed Gauntlets" the rating is increased to 152. The gauntlets enhance one-handed with 43% as well and 106 times 1.43 is 151.58. Armor ratings seems to work in a similar fashion after the latest patch. I have the "Well fitted" perk which increases the rating for heavy armor with 25% if you wear armor, helmet, gauntlets and boots of the "heavy armor type" at the same time. If I drop one of those, let's say the helmet, the armor rating of the items I'm still wearing decrease with 25%. Curiously enough the armor rating of the shield decreases with 25% as well. - Armor 473 ---> 378 - Helmet 233 ---> 186 - Gauntlets 215 --> 172 - Boots 215 ---> 172 - Shield 138 ---> 110 If you do the math, you'll see that the drop in ratings is 25%. My guess is that they started to incorporate the effects of additional enhancements in the actual rating number for weapons and armor. Bioy