Games : How does Damage Reduction balance with Recovery in Armour?

It seems that Damage Reduction (DR) balances with Recovery. I've noticed that the larger the DR the more of a Recovery penalty there is.

How does the balance between these two stats work? I assume that front-line characters will need the heavier armour, so what penalties do they suffer, with -50% Recovery, for example?

It seems that because there are no feats in this game, as per the older D&D games, I could put this heavy armour on my mage character, or light on my fighter, with only the penalty to recovering being a disadvantage. So I think understanding this mechanic is important to how I outfit my team.