4Game

There have been a lot of folks on here who suggest 'skipping' the bronze armor set since Troll armor is easier to get, provides nearly as much protection, doesn't slow you down, and allows you to be sneakier. After having played through the game once and now on my second playthrough, I agree that the bronze set is nearly obsolete, which makes me sad. The bronze set is cool looking, makes sense in terms of game progression, and deserves a functional place in the game. Here are my ideas on how to fix this and improve on armor choices in general.

1.) Firstly, I don't think Troll and Bronze armor should be thought of as separate tiers. Rather, one is a black forest sneaky set and the other is a black forest tanky set. I think the game should lean into this distinction and expand it. This should be done by
A: Making the difference in armor class greater between the sneaky and tanky sets, and
B: Adding a sneaky and tanky set option to a later biome as well. For example change wolf armor into the sneaky mountain set that serves as an upgrade to Troll armor and add a silver armor set which would be the tanky mountain set. Having a later game replacement to Troll armor would also allow for a reduction in Troll armor AC, making bronze more useful.

2.) Currently you get the sneaky armor by killing trolls, which, aside from the option of opening with a sneak attack, is a decidedly un-sneaky activity. Conversely you get the tanky bronze armor by doing the more peaceful activity of mining. I think getting the sneaky armor should require some sneaking and getting the tanky armor should require some tanking. In addition, there's nothing currently stopping you from getting the Troll armor prior to killing Eikthyr, which undermines the idea of treating Troll and Bronze as two divergent paths to take once you enter the black forest. Two changes would fix this.
A: In addition to Troll hide, there should be a component to Troll armor that can only be obtained by sneaking up on the Troll and pickpocketting it. Maybe 'Troll hair' or something. The mountain version of this would be sneaking up on a wolf to nab some wolf hair.
B: Troll armor should require a small quantity of bronze and bronze armor should require a small quantity of Troll hide. This ensures that both sets become available at the same time. The mountain version of this would be that wolf armor still requires just a bit of silver and the silver set requires a little wolf hide.

Just some idle thoughts.