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Mage Armor?


pirodaggar

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Is there a point in only sticking to light armor as a caster-based class, besides the weight restrictions? Granted, I am quite new at the game, but I was messing around with some ideas, and I didn't see much of a downside in heavy armor vs. light armor, minus the lack of space avaible before you're over enumbered.
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Casting ability is reduced when wearing heavy armour and speed is reduced (so you can't dodge as well). Once you reach level 100 in either light or heavy there's no practical difference. Light armour is better for casters as they move up the ranks though.
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Once you reach Expert-level in Heavy Armor, the weight of all pieces your character actually wears is reduced in half. At Master-level, the weight of worn armor disappears.

 

Your spellcasting ability is degraded when wearing armor you have a low level of skill in— if your Heavy Armor skill is high (compared to your current character level) then your spell effectiveness remains high. For example, a mage character skilled in Heavy Armor but has paid no attention to Light Armor will be able to run a good 95% Spell Effectiveness when wearing Heavy Armor, but 80% or so when wearing Light Armor!

 

There are two key differences, weight (early on) and stealthiness. Until you reach a skill level of 75 with Heavy Armor, all those pieces will cut into your ability to carry anything else. And a mage character who has paid little attention to strength will have to resort to a lot of Feather in order to carry a good amount of loot.

 

Heavy Armor is noisier than Light Armor, at least until you reach 50 in your Sneak skill. Once you get a hig enough Sneak skill, it doesn't mater how heavy your armor is: you'll move silently nonetheless.

 

So, it really is a matter of patience. If you need a lot of inventory space and silent sneaking right away, you're best off with Light Armor. But if you have the patience to tough it out and work at your skills, the Heavy Armor will offer you superior protection all the way up to a skill level of 99.

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Actually, Oblivion was made with casters in mind. Sadly in this, 100 Armor Rating means 100% damage reduction (though your armor still takes damage). With that kind of a system, if you have multiple items that all end up giving you 100% shield, it will have the same effect as say wearing a full suit of daedricm but without needing to repair anything. Not only is there the regular shield spell, but also frost shield and fire shield. Through a combination of the three (and the Armor Rating max changed) a pure mage with no armor skills can have the same or higher armor rating then a fullout warrior.
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Once you reach Expert-level in Heavy Armor, the weight of all pieces your character actually wears is reduced in half. At Master-level, the weight of worn armor disappears.

 

Your spellcasting ability is degraded when wearing armor you have a low level of skill in— if your Heavy Armor skill is high (compared to your current character level) then your spell effectiveness remains high. For example, a mage character skilled in Heavy Armor but has paid no attention to Light Armor will be able to run a good 95% Spell Effectiveness when wearing Heavy Armor, but 80% or so when wearing Light Armor!

 

There are two key differences, weight (early on) and stealthiness. Until you reach a skill level of 75 with Heavy Armor, all those pieces will cut into your ability to carry anything else. And a mage character who has paid little attention to strength will have to resort to a lot of Feather in order to carry a good amount of loot.

 

Heavy Armor is noisier than Light Armor, at least until you reach 50 in your Sneak skill. Once you get a hig enough Sneak skill, it doesn't mater how heavy your armor is: you'll move silently nonetheless.

 

So, it really is a matter of patience. If you need a lot of inventory space and silent sneaking right away, you're best off with Light Armor. But if you have the patience to tough it out and work at your skills, the Heavy Armor will offer you superior protection all the way up to a skill level of 99.

As an argument for heavy armor, all the bound armor spells in Oblivion (unlike in Morrowind) appear to count as heavy armor and their effectiveness is based on your heavy armor skill. I think the armor reduction in spell effectiveness is purely based on your skill level rather than heavy armor being worse than light. So a low level mage might well be better off wearing a few pieces of heavy armor (which generally have a better armor rating for a given skill level) than a full set of light armor. In particular, I've found that using an iron shield (heavy armor) seems to work well at low level and be much more durable than a light shield for not too much more weight.

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Actually, Oblivion was made with casters in mind. Sadly in this, 100 Armor Rating means 100% damage reduction (though your armor still takes damage). With that kind of a system, if you have multiple items that all end up giving you 100% shield, it will have the same effect as say wearing a full suit of daedricm but without needing to repair anything. Not only is there the regular shield spell, but also frost shield and fire shield. Through a combination of the three (and the Armor Rating max changed) a pure mage with no armor skills can have the same or higher armor rating then a fullout warrior.

 

 

 

 

 

You can't get a 100 armor rating, you can only get 85. However, to answer the question, all you really need is a robe, hood, shoes, gauntlets, four grand soul gems, empty or filled w/ a grand soul, a summon lich spell/scroll for however many empty grand soul gems you have, a soul trap spell, something to kill the lich with, and an Alter of Enchanting (suggest you get Frostcrag Spire if you don't already have it) and start enchanting everything with a shield enchantment. That is 40 armor rating points already, plus however many the gauntlets add.

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So what I'm gathering is that it's actually better to wear heavy armor, although it makes your life a bit tougher at first, but in the end it doesnt' matter much? Interesting.

 

It doesn't look right to me when I'm looking like a knight yet running backwards and casting in all my battles but oh well. I guess at the end of the game I can go work on light armor skill and make things a bit more visually fun.

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... That is 40 armor rating points already, plus however many the gauntlets add.

The wrist irons your character starts out with in the Imperial Prison count as clothing, bear no weight, and are worn on the hands. Much better than trying on armor gauntlets that have durability issues and will impact your spell effectiveness.

 

...It doesn't look right to me when I'm looking like a knight yet running backwards and casting in all my battles but oh well. I guess at the end of the game I can go work on light armor skill and make things a bit more visually fun.

The beauty of the armored mage is that you don't have to run away. You'll be able to stand toe to toe, shield in hand, and use offensive spells that are cast on Touch instead of cast on Target.

 

A spell at Touch range will have lower Magicka cost than a comparable spell that is cast on Target, meaning you can ramp up the carnage just a little bit.

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... That is 40 armor rating points already, plus however many the gauntlets add.

The wrist irons your character starts out with in the Imperial Prison count as clothing, bear no weight, and are worn on the hands. Much better than trying on armor gauntlets that have durability issues and will impact your spell effectiveness.

 

 

 

 

 

Ummm... Where did I mention using the Wrist Irons? However, you are correct. If they did use the wrist irons... yeah...

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Ummm... Where did I mention using the Wrist Irons? ...

:glare: You didn't mention the Wrist Irons. That was the problem. You listed clothing for the body, head, and feet, but neglected to mention the one 'clothing' type item you can wear on your hands instead of armor pieces (gauntlets or bracers).

 

I forgot: rings and amulets can be enchanted to convey shield effects, too. Eight individual slots available. A bit of overkill, in truth.

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