Originally Posted by
The_Jackal
I'll concede that Dwarven Metal is ludicrously common, but it's also a pain to fish out of dungeons in bulk, especially if, like me, you don't want to bother with a caddy, I mean follower. However, that's a rotten reason to take heavy armour over light in any case. You're going to skill up on cheap stuff: Iron, Leather, maybe steel, if you're rich. You actually only need a handful of moonstone to upgrade your gear, since the easiest way to find elven armor is to STAB AN ELF. And in the quantities needed for forging, just buy them off one of the three blacksmiths in Whiterun.