Armor

Armor is used to increase the players Armor Rating which reduces damage from attacks. Armor can also have beneficial enchanted effects that improve character attributes. There are nine levels of armor in three subcategories Light Armor, Heavy Armor and Mage Armor.

Armor is available in five categories which identify where the Armor Item is worn on the player:

• Helms
• Gloves
• Boots
• Armor (which covers chest and leg areas of the character)
• Shields, which are carried in the left hand (sorry lefties! The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a dextrous orientation)

Armor can be gained through various means: bought from Armor Vendors, gained through quest rewards by completing quests, crafted which requires various levels of the Smithing skill depending on the item being crafted, looted from corpses or containers, temporarily made by Conjuration skills, or picked up directly from the world surroundings.

Armor Rating

The actual armor rating for any given player is calculated based on the base armor rating for each piece of armor worn (these are the numbers provided in this wiki) in combination with the quality of the armor (base value, Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic or Legendary) and any associated perks and skills.

The play testers on the UESP wiki have estimated the calculated armor rating as follows:

displayed armor rating =	(worn armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * (skill + skill effect)/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set) * (1 + Agile Defender or Juggernaut) + (shield armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * (skill + skill effect)/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set) + armor effects
hidden armor rating =	25 per piece worn
damage reduction% =	(displayed armor rating + hidden armor rating) * 0.12

Matching sets

A complete set of matching armor confers extra armor bonuses on the Dragonborn with the Matching Set perks.

• Ancient Nord Armor Set
• Ancient Shrouded Armor Set
• Armor of the Old Gods Set
• Blackguard Armor Set
• Blades Armor Set
• Bonemold Armor Set
• Chitin Armor Set
• Chitin Heavy Armor Set
• Daedric Armor Set
• Dark Brotherhood Armor Set
• Dragonplate Armor Set
• Dragonscale Armor Set
• Dwarven Armor Set
• Ebony Armor Set
• Elven Armor Set
• Falmer Armor Set
• Forsworn Armor Set
• Fur Armor Set
• Glass Armor Set
• Guild Master's Armor Set
• Hide Armor Set
• Imperial Armor Set
• Imperial Light Armor Set
• Iron Armor Set
• Jester's Armor Set
• Leather Armor Set
• Linwe's Armor Set
• Nightingale Armor Set
• Nordic Carved Armor Set
• Orcish Armor Set
• Plate Armor Set
• Scaled Armor Set
• Shrouded Armor Set
• Steel Plate Armor Set
• Thieves' Guild Armor Set
• Wolf Armor Set

See also

• Armor by material‎
• Armor by slot
• Armor by type‎