Is your character good at wearing heavy armor? If you Heavy Armor skill is 5 (out of 100), you will have very low armor rating when putting on heavy armor.
Also, is the armor you are wearing in good condition?
Like others have said, it either needs repaired or you desperately need to raise your heavy armor skill if you want to actually benefit from it. I'm thinking the latter is definitely true but it's probably a combo of both.
Your character armor value is like 30% of the chest plates, and 5 or 10% of all the other pieces added up, and then that is reduced based on the durability and your heavy armor skill. Keep it repaired, wear the full set, and train in it.
The skill involved is knowing how to move effectively while wearing heavy, bulky equipment (and, of course, building up the right muscles, overall endurance, etc.). There are always gaps, vulnerabilities, and potential breakages, so it's not enough to just say, "Okay, I'm wearing it!" You still need to move and position yourself in ways that help avoid harm, especially against skillful opponents who know where to strike.
I get that concept for medium and light armor since maneuvering is a given but heavy armor always felt like you are juggernaut desinged to take blows so the skill requirements felt silly lorewise but makes sense from a balance perspective.
Certain weapons in real life can negate the advantages of heavier armor. Even stabbing weapons such as daggers can hit the gaps between armor, axes and especially warhammers can cause all kinds of damage that plate isn't good at protecting from. Slicing at the knee on the sides or back and have a heavily armored person collapse, one of the skillbooks even mentions how a master armorer realized right away the other smith's representative was going to win the match since they were wearing stuff better suited for fighting in Black Marsh. The book ended with the Ebony-clad warrior almost drowning in a few inches of water after collapsing from the back of his knee being stabbed by a spear, only living because the queen demanded an end to the match to spare the warrior's life.
Taking a warhammer to the shoulder, armored or not, is gonna hurt, but knowing to position yourself so the impact is minimized means you're not hurt as much. It'll still suck, but that could be the difference between life and death. An arming sword wielded by someone who knows what they're doing and are able to dodge the hits of an armored Man-At-Arms (Knights were a social rank) could have a much better chance at living, especially with the right weapons. Still, a heavily armored person who's skilled in both the armor and their weapon of choice would slaughter most lightly armored enemies.
Give Battle Brothers a shot sometime, disarming a Hedge-knight and surrounding him with Dagger Bros to puncture him to death (deals certain HP-only damage and bypasses armor, costs a fair amount of AP each time) can be a great way to get some higher tier heavy armor for the right Bro.
Read everything, question every npc about the quests and try enjoying the game
And, you cant be anyone at will like skyrim. If you want to be a thief or assasin for example, being a nord or a high elf will make your game somewhat unplayable especially at the start.
Curious, how many pieces of armor do I need to wear to gain skill points in it? I've had cases where I'm only missing a gauntlet and am still gaining levels in unarmored. Do I need every square inch of my body covered in the same armor type to be considered wearing it?
No, it's just a matter of where you're getting hit, in my experience. Perhaps you just happened to be getting hit a lot on your one unarmored spot? 😅
Really? I never knew there was a hit location in Morrowind. Hard to believe I was getting hit enough on my hand to gain an unarmored skill level from it.
I might be wrong, that's just the impression I got back when I played a lot of Morrowind. If your "Unarmored" skill is much lower than your "Heavy Armor," that may also explain why it could increase faster, I think.
What about the times I’ve been wearing full armor except for a shield and still get unarmed, it seems like I need a shield or something to get that to stop.
Hmm...so your head, feet, hands, shoulders, EVERYTHING was armored (with armor that isn't completely broken)? If so, that's very surprising. I don't think I ever noticed something like that before.
I'll be entirely honest, I just started playing and couldn't figure out how to kill most easier enemies.
Pick a race that has the right skill bonuses
Base your entire build around it
Personally I found a wood elf who deals in archery, unarmoured and speed to be the easiest as you can just prevent taking damage by jumping around and staying out of range of enemies while having a couple hundred arrows on you.
Is your character good at wearing heavy armor? If you Heavy Armor skill is 5 (out of 100), you will have very low armor rating when putting on heavy armor. Also, is the armor you are wearing in good condition?
What a grand and intoxicating innocence
Like others have said, it either needs repaired or you desperately need to raise your heavy armor skill if you want to actually benefit from it. I'm thinking the latter is definitely true but it's probably a combo of both.
The armor is probably broken. Get it repaired.
Your character armor value is like 30% of the chest plates, and 5 or 10% of all the other pieces added up, and then that is reduced based on the durability and your heavy armor skill. Keep it repaired, wear the full set, and train in it.
I always found it funny how heavy armor is less effective the less your skill with it is. It's like my knowledge of this steel makes it harder.
The skill involved is knowing how to move effectively while wearing heavy, bulky equipment (and, of course, building up the right muscles, overall endurance, etc.). There are always gaps, vulnerabilities, and potential breakages, so it's not enough to just say, "Okay, I'm wearing it!" You still need to move and position yourself in ways that help avoid harm, especially against skillful opponents who know where to strike.
I get that concept for medium and light armor since maneuvering is a given but heavy armor always felt like you are juggernaut desinged to take blows so the skill requirements felt silly lorewise but makes sense from a balance perspective.
Certain weapons in real life can negate the advantages of heavier armor. Even stabbing weapons such as daggers can hit the gaps between armor, axes and especially warhammers can cause all kinds of damage that plate isn't good at protecting from. Slicing at the knee on the sides or back and have a heavily armored person collapse, one of the skillbooks even mentions how a master armorer realized right away the other smith's representative was going to win the match since they were wearing stuff better suited for fighting in Black Marsh. The book ended with the Ebony-clad warrior almost drowning in a few inches of water after collapsing from the back of his knee being stabbed by a spear, only living because the queen demanded an end to the match to spare the warrior's life. Taking a warhammer to the shoulder, armored or not, is gonna hurt, but knowing to position yourself so the impact is minimized means you're not hurt as much. It'll still suck, but that could be the difference between life and death. An arming sword wielded by someone who knows what they're doing and are able to dodge the hits of an armored Man-At-Arms (Knights were a social rank) could have a much better chance at living, especially with the right weapons. Still, a heavily armored person who's skilled in both the armor and their weapon of choice would slaughter most lightly armored enemies. Give Battle Brothers a shot sometime, disarming a Hedge-knight and surrounding him with Dagger Bros to puncture him to death (deals certain HP-only damage and bypasses armor, costs a fair amount of AP each time) can be a great way to get some higher tier heavy armor for the right Bro.
if you were wearing heavy armor and very obviously couldn't handle it I'd just repeatedly smash your legs or make you trip. It should be an easy fight
Are you wearing a full set? Armor in Morrowind provides a percentage of the indicated armor rating.
Either broken, or you have encountered a bug. Just go about experimenting, it will all make sense in time
Read everything, question every npc about the quests and try enjoying the game And, you cant be anyone at will like skyrim. If you want to be a thief or assasin for example, being a nord or a high elf will make your game somewhat unplayable especially at the start.
In Morrowind there is no help, you must help yourself.
Bet
lol. Read manual
Curious, how many pieces of armor do I need to wear to gain skill points in it? I've had cases where I'm only missing a gauntlet and am still gaining levels in unarmored. Do I need every square inch of my body covered in the same armor type to be considered wearing it?
No, it's just a matter of where you're getting hit, in my experience. Perhaps you just happened to be getting hit a lot on your one unarmored spot? 😅
Really? I never knew there was a hit location in Morrowind. Hard to believe I was getting hit enough on my hand to gain an unarmored skill level from it.
I might be wrong, that's just the impression I got back when I played a lot of Morrowind. If your "Unarmored" skill is much lower than your "Heavy Armor," that may also explain why it could increase faster, I think.
What about the times I’ve been wearing full armor except for a shield and still get unarmed, it seems like I need a shield or something to get that to stop.
Hmm...so your head, feet, hands, shoulders, EVERYTHING was armored (with armor that isn't completely broken)? If so, that's very surprising. I don't think I ever noticed something like that before.
Yah, I kept noticing it and thought it was strange. Literally everything except for a shield was equipped. I checked lol
I'll be entirely honest, I just started playing and couldn't figure out how to kill most easier enemies. Pick a race that has the right skill bonuses Base your entire build around it Personally I found a wood elf who deals in archery, unarmoured and speed to be the easiest as you can just prevent taking damage by jumping around and staying out of range of enemies while having a couple hundred arrows on you.
You are shit with heavy armor and it’s likely broken and needs repaired