Board Thread:Dark Souls III/@comment-28661852-20160730180356/@comment-91.96.204.150-20160731171932

For PvE, yes, all the way. It saves estus and might save your live once or twice per playthrough. Heavy hitters will still kill you in two blows, though. And you could get to <30% equip load with lighter armor for a faster roll. That's up to your preference, but heavy armor definitely has a place in PvE.

For PvP, NO! You take almost exactly the same amount of damage as with lighter armor thanks to pretty obscure scaling maths. Poise is not given, of course. The investment in stats is just so much better spent on useful stuff like dex, strength and vigor. Especially if you want to stay at low level, like 120-140 meta, there is just no reason to don heavy armor.