Originally Posted by
Triaxx
Light Armor vs. Heavy Armor:
Light armor is, in Skyrim, very advantageous, in most situations. Particularly fighting large foes like dragons, and giants. The big reason being that when you have to run from them, their breath attacks and the big clubs, speed is the key. When you need to move, you need to do it NOW. Most one handed weapons have a short enough range that if you duck back in light armor you'll move quick enough to get clear of the strike and not get hit. It has one massive disadvantage, in that it does not seem to do as much when you're being hit from multiple angles.
Heavy Armor is advantageous in the two most dangerous situations you'll face. One is under attack from two handed weapon users. Heavy armor does much better much earlier to keep those attacks from turning you into paste. The second is under attack from multiple foes. When you're being hit by several enemies at once, the much faster rise in protection from heavy armor means you have precious seconds to crush enemies to slow the incoming damage. The other half of it is that it's heavy, and thus will slow you down. You'll find that your charge is more like a glacier than a rabbit, but that you're also hard to stop.
Both of them equalize at around level 15 or so. On the other hand, Heavy Armor provides stronger weaponry. (Dawnguard Dragon Weapons not withstanding.)
That said, I found myself using a shield more with light armor than I did with Heavy. Mostly to block the blows from the two handed weapons I could neither dodge nor absorb.