Skyrim is a massive game involving a multitude of things you can do in the game. For example, you can use Transmute spell to make extra gold in the game or venture into the unknown to find the mystical Bound Bow. Moreover, if you are looking for a challenge, you can always go and fight Dragon Priests to get unique masks or go through the pain of farming Quarried Stone.
Read: Skyrim Best Armor
Key Takeaways
Three main armor types with unique variants:
- Light Armors:
- Elven, Forsworn, Fur, Glass, and more.
- Guide available for optimizing damage mitigation.
- Heavy Armors:
- Obtain Ancient Nord, Blades, Dragonplate, Dwarven, Ebony, and others.
- Acquired via quests, looting, or leveling up.
- Unique Armors:
- High-quality armor requires extra effort.
- Thieves Guild, Ancient Falmer, Ahzidal’s, Nightingale, Armor of the Old Gods.
- Armor Cap Insight:
- A higher armor rating increases damage resistance.
- Damage reduction is capped at 80%, achieved through specific armor combinations.
Light Armor
| Name of Armor | How/Where to Find |
| Elven Armor | Players can find a complete armor set of Elven Armor in loot at Northwatch Keep, Thalmor Embassy, during the “Diplomatic Immunity” quest. It can also be found inside random loot chests. |
| Forsworn Armor | Players can obtain it easily by looting the corpses of Forsworn enemies. It can also be obtained by following the “Forsworn Conspiracy” quest. |
| Fur Armor | The armor pieces can be obtained by killing and looting Bandits and Hold Guards. Mzinchaleft ruins also contain the complete armor set. |
| Glass Armor | Players can get armor pieces by looting Thalmor enemies. During the “Missing in Action” quest, you can easily find many glass armor-wearing Thalmor enemies. |
| Dragonscale Armor | Whenever a player is around level 50 in Skyrim, Dragonscale armor pieces start to appear rarely in random loot chests. |
| Hide Armor | Bandits wear Hide armor, so looting set pieces will get you the armor. Arvel the Swift wears the complete armor set except for the shield. |
| Imperial Light Armor | Imperial soldiers wear the armor. In the “Unbound” quest, you can loot the dead soldiers in Helgen for armor set pieces. |
| Leather Armor | Blacksmiths and General Goods Merchants sell armor set pieces. Bandits also wear leather armor at times. You may also come across chests and containers keeping leather armor or its pieces. |
| Penitus Oculatus Armor | The armor set pieces can be obtained easily by looting Penitus Oculatus soldiers during the “Civil War” questline. |
| Scaled Armor | Bandits with level 20 or higher often wear scaled armor. Looting their corpses will yield set pieces. Killing Fultheim the Fearless is an easy method to obtain complete armor early on in the game. |
| Shrouded Armor | If you join the Dark Brotherhood, Astrid gives you the armor whenever you reach the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. Another way to obtain the armor is by looting it from dead enemies of the Dark Brotherhood. |
| Stormcloak Armor | It can be obtained by looting from dead Stormcloak soldiers. Mostly, low-level enemies wear this armor, so finding them should not be a problem. |
| Stormcloak Officer Armor | The quickest way to obtain the complete set is to complete “The Battle for Fort Snowhawk” quest. Ulfric Stormcloak rewards you with the full Stormcloak Officer armor after completing the said quest. |
| Chitin Armor | You can find the armor set pieces on the island of Solstheim. Glover Mallory also sells set pieces located at Raven Rock. |
| Dawnguard Armor | A few set pieces of the armor can be found at Fort Dawnguard. Gunmar sells the complete Dawnguard armor. He also gives away the armor for free if you complete the “A New Order” quest. |
| Morag Tong Armor | A complete Morag Tong armor set can be found in the sleeping quarters of Ashfallow Citadel. |
| Skaal Armor | The only way to obtain Skaal armor is to visit Skaal Village and loot it from members of the village. It is because no merchant sells the armor, nor does it drop from loot chests. |
| Stalhrim Light Armor | In Skaal Village, Baldor Iron-Shaper sells the armor set pieces. Glover Mallory from Raven Rock also sells a few set pieces. A few boss types also wear this armor, so looting their corpse may give you Stalhrim light armor. |
Heavy Armor
| Name of Armor | How/Where to Find |
| Ancient Nord Armor | While playing the “Siege on the Dragon Cult” quest, armor set pieces can be looted from dragon cultist enemies. |
| Blades Armor | If the player marries Aela the Huntress, all armor pieces can be purchased from her by trading high-end armor. |
| Daedric Armor | After reaching level 50 or above, the complete armor may drop from a boss loot chest. Dremora Merchant also sells the enchanted and un-enchanted variations of the armor. Statistically, most players equip this armor to reach the Skyrim armor cap. |
| Dragonplate Armor | After reaching level 39 or above, players can find Dragonplate armor set pieces rarely from containers and loot chests. |
| Dwarven Armor | General Goods merchants and Blacksmiths sell the set pieces. The armor pieces can also drop from random loot chests after crossing level 15. |
| Ebony Armor | Once you reach level 33 or above, Ebony armor pieces will start dropping from random chests. You can also purchase them from Blacksmiths and General Goods Merchants. |
| Falmer Armor | If you visit Mzinchaleft Depths, Dwemer Ruin, the complete armor pieces can be found on a table behind Dwemer’s gate. |
| Imperial Armor | It can be obtained easily after looting Imperial soldiers during the “Unbound” quest. The complete armor set can also be acquired in the New Gnisis Cornerclub tavern located at Windhelm. |
| Iron Armor | Usually, Blacksmiths and General Good Merchants sell the set pieces very early in the game. Bandits also wear armor, so loot them whenever you see them. |
| Orcish Armor | After reaching level 25 or above, players can encounter the enchanted and un-enchanted variants of Orcish armor from random loot chests or can be bought from General Goods Merchants or Blacksmiths. Killing Chief Yamarz during the “Cursed Tribe” quest will easily reward players with full armor. |
| Steel Armor | The armor set pieces can be bought very early in the game from Blacksmiths and General Goods Merchants. Bandit chiefs also wear them. |
| Steel Plate Armor | After reaching level 20 or above, the armor set pieces will drop from random loot chests. Bandit chiefs wear the full armor, so looting their corpse may get you complete armor. |
| Wolf Armor | Players can obtain the Wolf armor after completing the “Proving Honor” quest. Once you finish the quest, Eorlund Gray-Mane, a Nord Blacksmith, will sell the complete set to you. |
| Bonemold Armor | The Island of Solstheim is the place players should venture while looking for Bonemold armor. Glover Mallory, Breton blacksmith, sells the complete set in Raven Rock. Enemies from the Reavers faction also wear the armor. |
| Chitin Heavy Armor | While playing “Served Cold” quest, Vendil Severin wears the complete Chitin heavy armor. If you loot his corpse, you can get the full set. |
| Dawnguard Heavy Armor | Players can find a couple of Dawnguard heavy armor set pieces scattered around the Fort Dawnguard. You can also buy the full set from Gunmar. |
| Falmer Heavy Armor | Falmer Shadowmasters and Falmer Warmongers wear the complete set. |
| Falmer Hardened Armor | Falmer Shadowmasters, warmongers, Skulkers, and Gloomlurkers can be seen wearing the full armor set. |
| Nordic Carved Armor | After reaching level 27 or above, players will encounter enchanted and un-enchanted versions of Nordic Carved armor from random loot chests. |
| Stalhrim Armor | Players will find Stalhrim armor from loot chests in Solstheim after reaching level 35 or above. Baldor Iron-Shaper of Skaal Village sells the armor pieces. Glover Mallory of Raven Rock also sells it. |
Unique Armor
| Name of Armor | How/Where to Find |
| Deathbrand Armor | Only the ancient chests contain all the Deathbrand armor set pieces. Players can easily find all chests during the “Deathbrand” quest. Statistically, most players go for this unique armor to achieve the Skyrim armor cap. |
| Armor of the Old Gods | Madanach, The King in Rags, gives the full armor set if you complete the “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine” quest. |
| Guild Master’s Armor Set | Tonilia awards the full armor set after you finish “Under New Management” quest. |
| Linwe’s Armor Set | Players can pickpocket or kill and loot the complete armor set from Linwe during “Summerset Shadows” quest. |
| Nightingale Armor | Karliah, a Dunmer thief, gives you the complete Nightingale armor set before commencing the ritual in “Trinity Restored” quest. |
| Thieves Guild Armor | Tonilia awards the complete armor set at the very start of the “Loud and Clear” quest. |
| Worn Shrouded Armor | After joining the Brotherhood faction, players can find the full armor set in Dawnstar Sanctuary. |
| Ancient Falmer Armor | To obtain the full set, players need to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur during the “Touching the Sky” quest. There is no other way to get the complete armor set in Skyrim. |
| Ahzidal’s Armor | Players can obtain Ahzidal’s armor while in the process of completing the “Unearthed” quest. |
| Blackguard’s Armor | After completing the quest “Paid in Full”, players can obtain the complete armor set by entering into the basement of Glover Mallory’s house. |
| Ancient Shrouded Armor | To acquire the armor, players must complete the “Locate the Assassin of Old” quest. |
My Thoughts On The Skyrim Armor Caps
Let me explain the basic understanding of the Skyrim armor cap now that you know about all armor types and how to get them. Each armor upgrade increases the overall rating of the armor that you equip in the game. It allows you to take much less physical damage so that you can have a higher survivability rate.
However, the damage reduction scaling goes as high as 80% in Skyrim. What does this mean? It means that you cannot achieve an armor rating above the mentioned value. The developers capped the armor at 80%, balancing the game by not allowing a 100% damage reduction.
That is pretty much everything you should know about the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim armor cap. We suppose our guide offers a big help when it comes to finding different types of armor sets and clears the confusion regarding the armor cap as well. If you think we missed something, let us know about it in the comments section below.
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