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Are the blocking skill and the unarmored, light, medium and heavy armor skills in some way connected? Do they influence eachother? I'm starting a new character and it suddenly dawned on me that I could have a pc that could have both unarmored and blocking as major (or minor) skills. Or would using a shield stand in the way of raising your unarmored skill, meaning that when you're using a shield you're not unarmored?
What if I chose light armor and was using a heavy or medium shield at the same time?
And has anybody ever used a character that used blocking as a major or minor skill while leaving the armor skills under misc.?

From what I understand the location you get hit in determines which of your armor skills are improved. In other words if you are hit in the foot and you are wearing light armor there, then your light armor skill will increase. If you are using a shield and you succesfully block an attack I would assume that you will increase your block skill as well as the armor skill that is related to the type of shield you are carrying.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

That's correct. It's the area that's hit and the armor that covers it which determines the skill which advances. Blocking is naturally applied; you only need to have a shield in hand. The game determines whether you're agile enough to raise it in time to block, assuming you're not attacking at the same time.

So successfully using a shield simultaneously raises both block and the designated armor class? Hmmm... I'm wondering if my tendency to avoid shields is a good or a bad thing...

Well if you don't use a shield then you are always getting hit, so your armor skill goes up either way. Except that if you do block sucessfuly you of course avoid all the damage that the blow might have caused had it hit you directly.

[QUOTE=dragon wench]So successfully using a shield simultaneously raises both block and the designated armor class? Hmmm... I'm wondering if my tendency to avoid shields is a good or a bad thing...[/QUOTE]

No: sorry if that wasn't clear. Successfully using a shield only raises blocking. To raise armor, you have to be hit. Or you can take lessons. Or read a book.

Are you sure about that Fable? If what you say is true and getting a hit on a shield doesn't raise your armor skill then why are shields labeled as armor(light, medium, and heavy)?

[QUOTE=fable]To raise armor, you have to be hit. Or you can take lessons. Or read a book.[/QUOTE]

So, I guess that's a good thing for me and my dual daedric katanas (Assasin Armory 7.6). But that set aside, I usually end up getting hit anyway, since my block is only at about 60

[QUOTE=Ares2382]Are you sure about that Fable? If what you say is true and getting a hit on a shield doesn't raise your armor skill then why are shields labeled as armor(light, medium, and heavy)?[/QUOTE]

That's a point. Can't say I checked to see if my armor skill went up the same time as my blocking when my shield was hit. I was checking the blocking skill, exclusively. Try it out--if I don't, first--and let us know what you discover.

Although I have no proof, my personal opinion is that you would increase your armour skills if you used a shield not just your blocking skill.

Well I did a test fighting with only a shield equiped and I found a rather interesting results.

It seems that if you block with you shield then your block skill goes up where as your armor skill stays the same. However, if you get hit while the shield is equiped(and assume the hit was on the area covered by the shield) then your armor skill goes up.

Btw, this was done with a glass shield only and I did it on 3 different enemies. All 3 came up with the same results. Please note that these are just my observations and unless someone else can varify this information I would not take it as the absolute truth.

[QUOTE=Ares2382]It seems that if you block with yout shield then your block skill goes up where as your armor skill stays the same. However, if you get hit while the shield is equiped(and assume the hit was on the area covered by the shield) then your armor skill goes up.[/QUOTE]It could be that the shield is simply classified as non-existent in armour terms, that is, it is like the shield doesn't exist when you get hit without blocking, so it would hit your armour and get your armour skill up. It is like the shield only gets hit when you block. This is merely a possibility, an unlikely one I admit, but a possibility nonetheless.

Perhaps I didn't state that clearly, for which I'm sorry. The test was performed with glass shield equiped and NO other armor on at all and I was testing to see if light armor would increase or not when I was testing.

Oh ok sorry, didn't see it.

[QUOTE=Ares2382]It seems that if you block with you shield then your block skill goes up where as your armor skill stays the same. However, if you get hit while the shield is equiped(and assume the hit was on the area covered by the shield) then your armor skill goes up.[/QUOTE]So, that means it's entirely possible to use a shield and the unarmored skill at the same time.

So then you won't see the shield's armor skill and block rise at the same time, which makes sense.

I've removed posts that have nothing to do with the questions stated at the top of this thread. If you want to start up a new discussion, please don't hijack somebody else's thread. Start your own, with a title that tells people something about your intent. That way, you'll also get more attention.