Skyrim:Armor
This article is about the type of apparel. For the magic effect, see Armor (effect). For the spells, see Armor (spells).
|
Armor is a type of apparel that is worn on the body to reduce damage from attacks. Armor comes in two varieties, corresponding to the two different skills governing armor usage: Heavy Armor and Light Armor. In addition, there are shields which provide an additional passive increase to armor rating (active blocking is governed by the Block skill).
Armor comes in several pieces which can be equipped independently of each other, these pieces are:
- Armor: covers your legs, chest and shoulders
- Boots: covers your feet and ankles
- Gauntlets: covers your hands up to your elbow
- Helmet: covers your head
- Shield: protect and block attacks
In addition to standard pieces of armor, two necklaces in the game provide an armor bonus: the Locket of Saint JiubDG, and the Amulet of Articulation.
[edit] Armor Materials
Armor appears in several different materials and styles, which determine the quality of the armor. Higher quality armor provides better protection (but is generally heavier). Which quality armor you will find is generally determined based on your character's level.
The following table describes the base level at which an armor type begins to show up randomly for the player. Lower level armor will also randomly appear, but so will higher level armors in certain situations: potentially up to at least 12 levels "early". Enchanted versions of each armor type will begin to appear one level later; see Generic Magic Apparel for more information. See Leveled Lists for details on how these lists are used to determine the probabilities of individual items appearing. Although dragonscale, dragonplate, and daedric armor can all be found in random loot once your level is high enough, the chances of finding any of these armor types is 20 times smaller than other armor types.
Most armor from the list below can be created at Forges, by using the Smithing skill. The ability to make armor is not dependent upon your character's level, but is instead dependent upon which Smithing perks you have unlocked. All standard armor can also be tempered at Workbenches, if you have the necessary auxiliary item. Tempering is twice as effective if you have unlocked the perk necessary to forge that armor. Tempering an enchanted version of the armor (whether custom-enchanted, or generic) is similar to tempering the base version – it requires the same auxiliary item, and is twice as effective if you have unlocked the forging perk – but also requires the Arcane Blacksmith perk to be unlocked.
| Level | Light Armor | Perk to Forge | Item for Tempering |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fur | Cannot be forged | Leather |
| Hide | No perk required | Leather | |
| Studded | No perk required | Iron Ingot | |
| 8 | Leather | No perk required | Leather |
| 12 | Elven | Elven Smithing | Refined Moonstone |
| 19 | Scaled | Advanced Armors | Corundum Ingot |
| 27 | Elven Gilded | Elven Smithing | Quicksilver Ingot |
| 36 | Glass | Glass Smithing | Refined Malachite |
| 46 | Dragonscale | Dragon Armor | Dragon Scales |
| Level | Heavy Armor | Perk to Forge | Item for Tempering |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iron | No perk required | Iron Ingot |
| Banded Iron | No perk required | Corundum Ingot | |
| 6 | Steel | Steel Smithing | Steel Ingot |
| 12 | Dwarven | Dwarven Smithing | Dwarven Metal Ingot |
| 18 | Steel Plate | Advanced Armors | Corundum Ingot |
| 25 | Orcish | Orcish Smithing | Orichalcum Ingot |
| 32 | Ebony | Ebony Smithing | Ebony Ingot |
| 40 | Dragonplate | Dragon Armor | Dragon Scales or Dragon Bone† |
| 48 | Daedric | Daedric Smithing‡ | Ebony Ingot |
†Dragonplate Cuirasses and Shields are tempered using Dragon Bone; all other Dragonplate armor is improved using Dragon Scales.
‡All Daedric armor (except the boots, which are bugged) can also be made at the Atronach Forge, in which case the Daedric Smithing perk is not needed, but instead the Sigil Stone must be obtained. Tempering armor created at the Atronach Forge is still augmented by the Daedric Smithing perk.
[edit] Armor Rating
For all of the armor listed on this site, the provided armor ratings are the base armor ratings. The actual protection your character will receive from the armor is dependent upon your skill in that armor type and any relevant perks that you have unlocked. The rating can also be improved by using smithing to change the armor's quality to "Fine", "Superior", "Exquisite", "Flawless", "Epic", or "Legendary".
The armor rating only reduces physical damage, not magical damage.
Approximate formulas:
- Armor rating = (base armor rating + item quality) × (1 + 0.4 × (skill + skill effect)/100) × (1 + unison perk† + Matching Set) × (1 + armor perk‡)
- Shield rating = (base shield rating + item quality) × (1 + 0.4 × (skill + skill effect)/100) × (1 + unison perk† + Matching Set)
- Displayed armor rating = armor rating + shield rating + armor effects
- Hidden armor rating = 25 per piece worn
- Damage reduction percentage = (displayed armor rating + hidden armor rating) × 0.12
† Custom Fit for light armor or Well Fitted for heavy armor
‡ Agile Defender for light armor or Juggernaut for heavy armor
Clothing and robes do not benefit from the hidden armor rating bonus.
For NPCs the skill coefficient is 1.5 instead of 0.4.
Note the difference between skill effects (e.g. Fortify Light/Heavy Armor equipment, Ancient Knowledge) and armor effects (e.g. Oakflesh, The Lord Stone).
Your durability against physical attacks (i.e. the amount of raw damage you can sustain) is proportional to 100/(100 − damage reduction percentage). This results in hyperbolic growth in your physical durability, up to the cap of 80% damage reduction giving a ×5 multiplier to your physical durability. Thus, the more armor rating you have, the more each additional point of armor rating is worth. The graph displayed shows the multiplier to your physical durability relative to no armor based on the displayed armor rating, assuming you are wearing all four pieces of armor (+100 hidden armor rating) and have no other effects.
[edit] Armor Cap
Physical damage reduction is capped at 80%. This occurs at 567 displayed armor rating when wearing all four pieces of armor or 667 when not wearing any pieces of armor. If you have 100 armor skill (Light or Heavy) and all relevant armor perks, this requires a tempered armor rating of about 135. You can increase your tempered armor rating by 1 roughly every 2 points of Smithing with the appropriate perk, or every 4 without. Therefore, at 100 Smithing you will need 85 base armor with the appropriate perk, which is not achievable without a shield with Light Armor (though Dragonscale comes close at 82 for the set) and requires at least a Steel Plate set for Heavy Armor. With Fortify Smithing enchanted apparel and Fortify Smithing potions you can boost Smithing even further, which can potentially allow any material for which a Smithing perk exists to reach the cap. At the extreme end, you will need about 126 Smithing to make Steel Armor hit the cap, and about 154 Smithing for an Elven set. Unfortunately, Fur, Hide, Studded, Leather, and Iron armor are not affected by any Smithing perks and so cannot be improved as much.
With the aid of enchanting (fortify smithing) and pre-made enchanting and smithing potions, and of course the appropriate armor perks, you can reach the armor cap with any style or type of armor in the game, even hide and iron armor. All without even using a shield.
Shields, spells, and the Lord Stone can reduce the base armor required to hit the cap even further, but these require more management.
[edit] Notes
- Clothes such as robes and other apparel do not count as armor, and as such do not benefit from the hidden armor rating bonus.
- Custom Fit, Well Fitted, and Matching Set perks are applied to shields if the four pieces of worn armor (armor, helmet, gloves, boots) match appropriately. The shield does not have to be of the same set, or even the same skill.
- Shields do not benefit from the 5*20% initial perks in heavy/light armor skills.
- Armor rating/damage reduction does not affect the speed at which the skill is trained.
- Occasionally, if you drop a piece of armor, usually the main piece in a crowded area, an NPC will run up to you and ask you if you are throwing it away, and if they can have it. Other NPCs may comment on how you are littering, but this usually only happens with Miscellaneous items. Other times they will simply just give it back.
- Guards may comment on what kind of armor you're wearing, depending on what faction they belong to and what you're wearing at the time.
[edit] Light Armor
[edit] Armor
† Scaled Horn Armor cannot be tempered, because it was completely left out of the appropriate list.
|
[edit] Boots
‡ Fur Boots and Fur Gauntlets count as Stormcloak/guard equipment, and therefore do not give the Matching Set bonus if worn with other fur equipment. |
[edit] Gauntlets
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Helmets
|
[edit] Shields
|
[edit] Heavy Armor
[edit] Armor
|
[edit] Boots
|
[edit] Gauntlets
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Helmets
|
[edit] Shields
|
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
[edit] Light Armor Images
- These images show a male Nord in different types of light armor.
-
Fur Armor
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Hide Armor
-
Studded Armor (with hide shield)
-
Leather Armor (with hide shield)
-
Elven Armor
-
Scaled Armor
-
Glass Armor
-
Dragonscale Armor
- These images show a female Imperial in different types of light armor.
-
Fur Armor
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Fur Armor (alternate)
-
Hide Armor
-
Studded Armor (with hide shield)
-
Leather Armor (with hide shield)
-
Elven Armor
-
Scaled Armor
-
Glass Armor
-
Dragonscale Armor
[edit] Heavy Armor Images
- These images show a male Nord in different types of heavy armor.
-
Iron Armor
-
Banded Iron Armor
-
Steel Armor
-
Steel Armor (alternate)
-
Dwarven Armor
-
Steel Plate Armor
-
Orcish Armor
-
Ebony Armor
-
Dragonplate Armor
-
Daedric Armor
- These images show a female Imperial in different types of heavy armor.
-
Iron Armor
-
Banded Iron Armor
-
Steel Armor
-
Steel Armor (alternate)
-
Dwarven Armor
-
Steel Plate Armor
-
Orcish Armor
-
Ebony Armor
-
Dragonplate Armor
-
Daedric Armor
![[Content is available under Attribution-ShareAlike]](http://www.uesp.net/w/images/4/4d/Somerights.png)
