Revised Heavy Armor Perks
Many people find Heavy Armor to be inferior to Light Armor because of the lackluster perks available to Heavy Armor users. This mod aims to change that by replacing some of those perks with new and improved reasons to don that cumbersome Steel Plate set that\’s been gathering dust.
This was my very first attempt at a mod, so I decided to start with something simple. Being a fan of heavily-armored characters, I was disappointed with how pointless it seems to become in the late game. I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get my feet wet in the modding scene. I created this primarily for my own use, but I figured by sharing it here other heavy armor users could get some use out of it, and I could get some feedback and help from more experienced modders.
This is a work in progress and will likely be updated with additional perks in the future, as I think of them and/or tweak them.
UPDATE 2.2
After a few requests, I threw in a Helmetless version of the mod in the Optional Files.
Additionally, AlteredSteedStone.esm works as a standalone, so you can use it even if you don’t want to use HeavyArmorPerks.esm
As always, please let me know about any bugs you find or balance issues you think should be addressed. I appreciate any constructive comments that will help me make this mod better.
= New Perk(s) =
Insulated [30/50]: Rank 1 reduces incoming fire, frost, and shock damage by 15%, rank 2 by 30%. You MUST be wearing all Heavy Armor for the effects to be active, but a matching set is not required. Insulated seems to stack multiplicatively with the Block perk “Elemental Protection”, not additively. I’m not certain if there’s a way to get the effects to stack additively, but for now I feel this keeps it from becoming too overpowered.
Strong Back: This perk replaces the Cushioned perk, which halves falling damage while wearing Heavy Armor. I don’t know about you, but fall damage has never been that big an issue for me. This perk adds 100 to the player’s carry weight, and should stack with the both the Extra Pockets perk and the Steed Stone.
Steed Stone (Altered): This optional file removes the part of the Steed Stone’s effect that was redundant with the Conditioning and Unhindered, so now instead of removing the weight of worn armor it buffs Stamina by 50 and increases Stamina Regen by 20%. In the future I may reduce the stamina regen buff or remove one of the effects entirely; for now it requires some balance testing.
= Installation =
Place HeavyArmorPerks.esp and/or AlteredSteedStone.esp in the Data folder of your Skyrim directory, and enable via your preferred mod manager.
IMPORTANT!
Before enabling 2.0 or higher, if you have any of the perks enabled via a pre-2.0 version of this mod, or the vanilla perk “Cushioned”, it is recommended that you load your save with the previous version and remove all of them using console commands. You can find out the PerkID using the help command, but it can vary based on your load order. Version 2.0 and up use different ID numbers due to the inclusion of Fists of Steel, and could cause unexpected issues when switching to a newer version. Once the perks are removed, you can safely load up in the new version and add them back using the new ID numbers.
= Uninstallation =
1. Use the console to remove any perks you have added from this mod. You can find out the perkID with the command help “” 0, and remove the perks with player.removeperk . Make sure to use the ID number labled PERK in the console. You should remove the perks in descending order, starting with the highest level, or problems may occur.
2. Remove HeavyArmorPerksv2.0.esp from your Data folder. Your Heavy armor perks tree will return to normal. You may now re-allocate the points you removed wherever you choose via console with player.addperk
= Incompatibility Issues =
Incompatible with other mods that alter the Heavy Armor perk tree or the Steed Stone.
