An Armor Question

[xShadow Shockx]

Hey, everyone!

I'm looking to get my hands on some stealthy, cool looking armor that will work for an Assassin, yet still be able to be enchanted, as I like having custom enchantments on my armor. I love the look of the Nightingale armor set, but seeing as it can't be enchanted, I want to try to find something else.

Now, I've heard that the Worn Shrouded Armor that can be obtained from the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary in Dawnstar can be enchanted, but not improved (smithed). Does anyone know the story on that? If it can be enchanted and improved, then that may very well be what I choose to use.

My other idea is to use Dragon Scale armor, and run the Nightingale or Shrouded Armor hood with it, so that it adds a bit more of a stealth appeal, but, I'm just wondering if it's going to look stupid or not... I mean, Dragon Scale armor isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think "Assassin." Or, maybe a combination of different light armor pieces that will somewhat match and look stealthy? Lol.

I don't know what else would work, honestly. I mean, I suppose I could always use heavy armor instead of light armor, as I have the perks to make the armor silent when I move, but I want to try and stick closely to the role, and assassins would typically wear a light armor over a heavy.

So, to recap, I'm looking for a light armor that:
1) Can be improved (preferably to legendary status)
2) Can be enchanted
3) Maintains an aspect of stealth in its appearance

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Falmer19]

When I'm an assassin i usually roll fine clothes (for the inconspicuous look). But I also put many perks in alteration for ebonyflesh and illusion for quiet casting. Armor- wise, nightingale armor with dark brotherhood gloves, nightingale boots and Ancient dark brotherhood cowl.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

When I'm an assassin i usually roll fine clothes (for the inconspicuous look). But I also put many perks in alteration for ebonyflesh and illusion for quiet casting. Armor- wise, nightingale armor with dark brotherhood gloves, nightingale boots and Ancient dark brotherhood cowl.

Haha, I kind of enjoy the idea of the fine clothes to make yourself look a little less suspicious, but at the same time, I'd get my rear-end handed to me whenever I came into contact with enemies, as I don't have very much practice in the Alteration and Illusion Schools of Magic...

As far as the armor combination that you suggested, I like the idea of it, and I agree that it would suit an assassin character quite nicely, but the thing that I don't like about it is that the pieces can't be improved to legendary status, which would leave me far too unprotected, and they can't be enchanted with custom enchantments either, which is something that I would prefer to be able to do.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[Dagmar]

Now, I've heard that the Worn Shrouded Armor that can be obtained from the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary in Dawnstar can be enchanted, but not improved (smithed). Does anyone know the story on that? If it can be enchanted and improved, then that may very well be what I choose to use.

Vanilla Worn Shrouded Armor can't be tempered. You can mod it to be improvable with the Creation Kit if you have the PC version.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

Vanilla Worn Shrouded Armor can't be tempered. You can mod it to be improvable with the Creation Kit if you have the PC version.

Please excuse me if this is something I should know, but what does "Vanilla Worn Shrouded Armor" mean?

Anyways, I play on the Xbox 360, so unfortunately, that's not an option for me. However, my character has learned the Fortify Light Armor enchantment, so I could always enchant as many pieces as I can with that to boost his armor rating a little bit. Either that, or apply some Fortify Health enchantments to a few pieces and hope that does the trick.

Generally speaking, I don't take too much damage seeing as I play the role of an assassin, but when I come up against people when I'm out in the open (Bandits, Hired Thugs, Dragons, etc) it becomes somewhat of an issue, seeing as he uses bows and dual-wielded daggers...

 

[Dagmar]

Vanilla means unmodded versions of things in Skyrim.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

Vanilla means unmodded versions of things in Skyrim.

Ahh, okay. I didn't know that, so now I'll know for future reference. Thanks!

 

[Grimnir]

I think a good outfit for a female thief would be Hide Armor with Savior Hide. I think most of it can be upgraded, plus it has a good look for a female thief.

For a male, I will be one of the elves and wear light elven armor, looks cool and can be upgraded

 

[Streets]

You should look into the Stormcloak Officer Gloves, they look kind of good for an assassin, they are light armor, can be improved, and can also be enchanted. Or wear the 2x backstab DB gloves. I also like the Penitus Oculatus boots, they are black, light armor, can be improved and enchanted.

The Helmet and the Chest armor are the tricky parts. I think you could still go with the Nightingale Armor because it's enchantments are 50% resist frost and +40 Stamina, not bad (if you get it at level 32+). If you really want something that can be enchanted, you might have to go with dragonscale, or leather I guess. There aren't any good looking armor pieces for an assassin that you can also enchant and improve. The top part of the Penitus Oculatus armor is skintight and dark gray, but the bottom part is a flowy red skirt, not great.

If you use any kind of magic, you can wear an Apprentice Hood, it's the black version with +40 Magicka. Or I suppose you could Enchant the Worn Shrouded Hood with a better Magicka addition or Bow damage, and at least it has an armor rating, even though it can't be improved.

 

[Aquillus]

being an obsessive Assassin's Creed fan, I made my assassin look like an AC assassin, while still fitting the time period. My outfit consists of:

Linwe's Hood,
Dawrnguard gray light armor (the one with the paudron),
dawnguard gauntlets,
dawnguard boots,
the bone hawk amulet found in harkon's castle,
and a random ring for extra enchantments.

with various enchants and armor upgrades, i have a solid 765 armor rating (pretty decent for not having a matching set imo.)

and the bone hawk amulet shows over my armor which really gives my character an Assassin's Creed feel.

 

[Nuitari]

If you have the dawnguard expansion the vampire armour might work better than others because it's a light armour and all of it can be enchanted unless you want to use the royal vampire armour which gives you %125 magicka regeneration rate.

 

[Squirrel_killer-]

Hey, everyone!

I'm looking to get my hands on some stealthy, cool looking armor that will work for an Assassin, yet still be able to be enchanted, as I like having custom enchantments on my armor. I love the look of the Nightingale armor set, but seeing as it can't be enchanted, I want to try to find something else.

Now, I've heard that the Worn Shrouded Armor that can be obtained from the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary in Dawnstar can be enchanted, but not improved (smithed). Does anyone know the story on that? If it can be enchanted and improved, then that may very well be what I choose to use.

My other idea is to use Dragon Scale armor, and run the Nightingale or Shrouded Armor hood with it, so that it adds a bit more of a stealth appeal, but, I'm just wondering if it's going to look stupid or not... I mean, Dragon Scale armor isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think "Assassin." Or, maybe a combination of different light armor pieces that will somewhat match and look stealthy? Lol.

I don't know what else would work, honestly. I mean, I suppose I could always use heavy armor instead of light armor, as I have the perks to make the armor silent when I move, but I want to try and stick closely to the role, and assassins would typically wear a light armor over a heavy.

So, to recap, I'm looking for a light armor that:
1) Can be improved (preferably to legendary status)
2) Can be enchanted
3) Maintains an aspect of stealth in its appearance

Thanks, everyone!

As an assassin/thief I know what you mean. It is so hard to get an armor that fits an assassin. I personally use Krosis, a dragon priest mask because unless I actually take the time to work on enchanting I always end making good use of its archery boost. I know a lot of thieves and assassins rely on potions and poisons but I barely touch them. Some times I make up some health potions for the quick heal but I'm not a big potion user. I don't use enchanting very much either so I don't notice if it is possible to enchant most items.

 

[ShadowGambit]

You can get a normal cowl or a Mage Hood (sold by Colette in the college). they don't have armor rating though, but you can get 2 enchantment on them.And you can wear a Dragon Priest Mask light armor with it (I would choose Krosis, for an archer). It will be counted as Light Armor for the Custom Fit perk, when if you wear only the cowl/hood, Custom Fit doesn't apply

Other than that, the Ancient Shrouded Cowl.

Armor: the standard Leather armor is looks alright in my point of view. Armor rating a little low though.

 

[Admiral Snackbar]

Other than that, the Ancient Shrouded Cowl.

Armor: the standard Leather armor is looks alright in my point of view. Armor rating a little low though.

This is pretty much what I was thinking. Standard leather armor, improved and enchanted to your liking, with the ancient shrouded cowl. Personally, I'm wearing Thieves Guild armor (improved) with ancient shrouded boots and cowl. I haven't leveled up in enchanting yet, so this works very well for me at the moment.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

Thanks for all of the replies, everyone!

I've been doing a lot of browsing on-line, and I think I've come up with what I'm going to go with.

Nightingale Hood
Leather Armor - Fortify Health and Fortify Light Armor
Thalmor Gloves - Fortify Archery and Fortify One-Handed
Penitus Oculatus Boots - Fortify Sneak and Muffle
Ring - Fortify Health and Fortify Light Armor
Necklace - Some two enchantments that I haven't decided yet

It's either going to be that, or something else that I come up with. I suppose that in all reality, it doesn't matter too much what it all looks like when it's put together, as Skyrim is far from being a fashion show, and I feel like an Assassin would care more about effectiveness than he / she would style. Seeing as I prefer to be well-protected in the event of having to get into a fight with multiple enemies, maybe I'll go with a combination of Dragon Scale Armor, and some sort of hood (I don't like the Dragon Scale Helm).

Again, thanks for all the input, and keep the ideas coming!

 

[ShadowGambit]

I prefer the leather boots to the Penitus boots.

The Leather boots looks lighter. The Penitus/imperial boots are too bulky for me. I also somehow like the stormcloak officer boots (Bulky, but with spikes!!!), but there is a glitch with them: they are classified as Light Armor but are affected by heavy armor perks and skills .

Also, Leather boots have a base AR of 7, when Penitus have a base AR of 6. Not much will you say, but multiply by about 13, that is still 13 AR pts at the end.

Just for you to know: with the Thalmor Gloves you won't benefit from the Custom Fit perk because clothes are not considered Light Armor. I like the Storm Cloak Officer bracers though, they look cool with the claws. They hare called bracers, but the design is bracers + gloves (covering the fingers). They also have the same AR as the Leather Bracers.

If you go 100 smithing (no perks, no need for the armor), 100 alchemy (Alchemist 5/5, benefactor), 100 Enchanting (Enchanter 5/5, Corpus) then you can get to the armor cap, if you take the Leather Bracers.

For that you will need 4 pieces of +29% smithing and +147% smithing potion.
You also need to take Agile Defender 4/5 and Custom Fit.

Nightingale Hood legendary : 129 AR​

Leather Armor Legendary : 236 AR​

Stormcloak Officer Bracers Legendary : 103 AR​

Leather Boots Legendary : 103 AR​

Total: 571 AR (armor cap +4)​

​

Note: The fortify Light Armor enchantment are not necessary then.​

Now, with your armor set up, you will need Agile Defender 5/5 because you won't benefit from Custom fit.
Even so, here are the numbers:

Nightingale Hood Legendary: 114 AR​

Leather Armor Legendary: 210 AR​

Thalmor Gloves: 0 AR​

Penitus Oculatus Boots: 89 AR​

Total: 413 AR (armor cap -154)​

​

Your call though... look over efficiency if you like

Note on enchantments: fortify Sneak is not really necessary, mostly if you have 100 sneak already. Put Stamina Regen on your boots, it will be more useful. I would also max out fortify archery OR fortify one-handed, depending if you are an Archer assassin of a Dagger assassin.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

Spoiler

I prefer the leather boots to the Penitus boots.

The Leather boots looks lighter. The Penitus/imperial boots are too bulky for me. I also somehow like the stormcloak officer boots (Bulky, but with spikes!!!), but there is a glitch with them: they are classified as Light Armor but are affected by heavy armor perks and skills .

Also, Leather boots have a base AR of 7, when Penitus have a base AR of 6. Not much will you say, but multiply by about 13, that is still 13 AR pts at the end.

Just for you to know: with the Thalmor Gloves you won't benefit from the Custom Fit perk because clothes are not considered Light Armor. I like the Storm Cloak Officer bracers though, they look cool with the claws. They hare called bracers, but the design is bracers + gloves (covering the fingers). They also have the same AR as the Leather Bracers.

If you go 100 smithing (no perks, no need for the armor), 100 alchemy (Alchemist 5/5, benefactor), 100 Enchanting (Enchanter 5/5, Corpus) then you can get to the armor cap, if you take the Leather Bracers.

For that you will need 4 pieces of +29% smithing and +147% smithing potion.
You also need to take Agile Defender 4/5 and Custom Fit.

Nightingale Hood legendary : 129 AR​

Leather Armor Legendary : 236 AR​

Stormcloak Officer Bracers Legendary : 103 AR​

Leather Boots Legendary : 103 AR​

Total: 571 AR (armor cap +4)​

​

Note: The fortify Light Armor enchantment are not necessary then.​

Now, with your armor set up, you will need Agile Defender 5/5 because you won't benefit from Custom fit.
Even so, here are the numbers:

Nightingale Hood Legendary: 114 AR​

Leather Armor Legendary: 210 AR​

Thalmor Gloves: 0 AR​

Penitus Oculatus Boots: 89 AR​

Total: 413 AR (armor cap -154)​

​

Your call though... look over efficiency if you like

Note on enchantments: fortify Sneak is not really necessary, mostly if you have 100 sneak already. Put Stamina Regen on your boots, it will be more useful. I would also max out fortify archery OR fortify one-handed, depending if you are an Archer assassin of a Dagger assassin.

Wow! Thanks for the great reply, Gambit!

I definitely agree with you that efficiency should come before looks, so whatever pieces I choose to go with will be chosen with the ideal of reaching the armor cap in mind, which will also save me from having to use the Fortify Light Armor enchantment on any of my gear, when I could be using something else that's likely to be more useful. I also agree with you that seeing as I already have 100 in Sneak, it doesn't make much sense to use a Fortify Sneak enchantment when I could be using something more sensible, such as a boost to stamina.

Regarding how to reach the armor cap, that's pretty much exactly what I planned on doing to reach it, but thanks for suggesting it in case I wasn't already aware of it. As for Fortify Archery and / or Fortify One-handed, I prefer to fortify both, as I use both a bow and daggers, as well as a sword when fighting much tougher enemies (Dragons, Giants, Draugr Death Overlords, etc). So, fortifying both helps my character out immensely. Everything else I agree with though.

Thanks again for you input!

 

[ShadowGambit]

Thanks for the rep.

Be Careful, Fortify One-handed enchantment doesn't work for Daggers though.

If you intend to use a sword, so yes it is interesting to have. But if you use only Bow and Dagger, then Fortify One-Handed is not needed.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

If you intend to use a sword, so yes it is interesting to have. But if you use only Bow and Dagger, then Fortify One-Handed is not needed.

I use a bow and dual daggers when I'm sneaking, but when things get heated and I'm facing multiple enemies, or one large, powerful enemy (a dragon, for example), I will break out my sword.

 

[xShadow Shockx]

Here's what I ended up going with:

Dragon Scale Armor: Legendary, w/ Fortify Health and Fortify Stamina
Dragon Scale Boots: Legendary, w/ Fortify Stamina and Muffle
Dragon Scale Gauntlets: Legendary, w/ Fortify Archery and Fortify One-Handed
Rhagot (Dragon Priest Mask): Legendary (comes enchanted with +70 to Stamina)
Ebony Bow
Ebony Dagger (x2)
Ebony Sword

Having used 4 pieces of 29% Fortify Smithing equipment and a 147% Fortify Smithing potion, I was able to upgrade my armor to just over the 567 cap, and I must say, I still look pretty sneaky, especially with the Dragon Priest mask / hood combination.