Skyrim stats out of whack?

[BGatot]

I seem to remember from the previous games in the series (Oblivion, Morrowind, and even before) that Dwarven stuff is high quality, exotic stuff, while steel is mid-range, common stuff. It certainly looks the part, gleaming mightily in yellow. But in Skyrim their stats don't seem to measure up. I found that a Flawless dwarven armor has armor rating of 84, while steel plate armor has armor ratings of 45. Now it makes sense if the steel plate was also heavier, but it does not. Dwarven armor weight 45 and steel plate is 38. Those stats seem off to me, and did not conform to the lore very well.

[Murussu]

Steel plate armor is better then dwarven armor, steel armor itself is not as good as dwarven. The weight does not really matter, because dwarven seems to be heavier then all but daedric.

[Handofbane]

If I remember correctly, in the older games there was an absolute continuity between material tiers of what armor/weapons you found, both in light and heavy (and medium for MW). That continuity isn't really there as much with Skyrim, you can see it pretty clearly when you compare Orcish/Dwarven side-by-side, as well as Elven for the weapons. Orcish armor tends to be better than Dwarven, while the Dwarven weapons hit harder, despite being 20 points lower on the skill requirement to craft/modify - additionally, Elven weapons seem on par with or better than Dwarven overall.

[macole]

What the smiths in Skyrim call dwarven armor is only a cheap imitation of the real Dwemer arms and armor. The techniques for creating Dwemer arms and armor were lost when the Dwemer disappeared.

[BGatot]

I suppose you're right, the "dwarven armor" is simply an armor made of dwarven material, but perhaps not the advanced techniques that the Dwemer would have. So do the real Dwemer armor exist in game? For that matter, do Dwarven plate armor exists?