But does armor rating only affect mitigation to physical blows, or can it reduce magic and breath attacks from dragons?
Its all physical only, unless you get enchants with -ele magic % resistance etc on it or perks/buffs.
The only advantage of heavy armor are the different perks you get and the extra defense that you get from it(ie you can take more of a beating).
Im also at a crossroads with investing my perk points for light or heavy. Most of the gear that fights my class look is sadly in heavy.
The class Im going with is a Samurai-pseudo class(yes I know its a bit out of context but its my RPG)
Thus Im bound to use only Bows,katanas,h2h and any GS that resembles a katana shaped sword(Orcish GS and Ebony). Only magic Im using is curative magic. I dont use destruct/shields/conjure etc.
My perk outline is going to be in bow, either 1h or 2h, light or heavy, and enchantment, what my sam lacks in destructive magic it will make up with enchanted weapons/armor.(had started out using magic and a shield at one point thinking there wasnt any sam-orientated weapons in the game,talking level 5 til megan told me she had found a katana in the game and I immediately went back to my original plans for it)
Even the armor that I pick has to be somewhat a samurai look(whenever possible I guess, cant expect too much from this kinda theme).
Its been pretty tedious so far but still fun(esp playing it on master).