Can someone explain weapons and armor in Skyrim to me?

[UnEvEn_DoZeN]

These might be really stupid questions but I would really appreciate some pointers. Weapons and armor in Skyrim are one of the less clear items in the game for noobs like me.

How do you know if weapons and/or armor are appropriate for your level and the level of the people you are trying to whack on? This is probably my biggest source of confusion. I have NO idea if the axes I am using are "good". I seem to kill things ok but I was just fighting a boss in one cave and I was getting slaughtered over and over. After being a WoW player for years its odd to me that theres no item levels or required character levels.

Can you update weapons and armor be upgraded indefinitely so that an axe I have at level 12 is an effective weapon when I'm at level (insert max level here)?

Thanks

[Improvised Demise]

ok deadric best rest is crap XD simple enough

[Improvised Demise]

you can ugrade your weapons with a grinstone and armor with a workbench but i would reccomend getting deadric as soon as possible if u use melee as its the best heavy armor ( mod armor not included) in the game not to mention IT LOOKS COOL!

[Sam the beast]

early on, use the highest valued weapons (damage dealt) and armour (its armour ratiing).
Later on, begin to (investing perks in smithing is a good idea) find and improve weapons and armour that increasing get better. The order (i think) is:
-iron
-steel
-elven
-orcish
-ebony
-dragon
-deadric

Just do what you want or how cool you want to look (:

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

Sorry Sam, I was writing this before you posted :)

Your weapons and the toughness of your enemies increase respectively as you advance in level. A sword that used to be damage 9 will become damage 20 by the time you level up a few times....

Weapon strengths go by material really..as [ninja'd] Sam and Anarchy touched upon, Daedric is high end material and will become available later on...don't worry..

Leather, fur and Iron is the starter, then Steel (Nordic or imperial stuff) then the specific race related weapon materials;..Dwemer, Elven, Glass and ebony, Daedric and Dragon Bone...

Another pointer Anarchy mentioned above is the Forge..look out for a furnace where you can smithe metal..this is where you can make and improve your weapons and Armour...Anarchy mentioned the Grinding wheel, this will increase damage and value of your weapons, depending on if you have the necessary perk (look in your level up perk tree under smithing to see what skill level you need to reach to unlock the relevant perks for smithing...

Actual act of smithing increases your smithing skills..The workbench, improves Armour (and it's value) and this, again, requires relevant skills, for example Steel smithing needs to be selected and earned in your smithing perk tree before you can smithe and temper steel equipment...

This kind of doctrine goes for all the skills and perks of all the abilities. performing the act ups the skill, upping the skill allows perks to be unlocked. Perks are earned by levelling up....it's all a progress thing....

INTERESTING FACT:
This isn't mentioned clearly in the game, but each smithing perk you unlock in SMITHING (each star you ignite) allows a further incremental level of tempering of your gear...doesn't matter what perk it is...each time you unlock a perk, you can go temper some more to increase damage, strength and value to your gear!

Just play! :D

[Sentient_Toaster]

Base type doesn't matter quite as much as tempering (multiplicative bonus) and your weapon skill (multiplicative bonus) and sneak attack bonuses (again, these stack multiplicatively).

[UnEvEn_DoZeN]

Thank you for all the replies. They really helped. One last question... When looking through a vendor's inventory (or anyone really - dead mob, my own, etc) and you select a weapon, it shows stats on the bottom of the screen. It will say "Damage 26 (+3)". I assume the +/- number is how your damage will change by equipping that item, but I'm still a bit confused. I am currently showing damage 26. The sword I was just looking at says its damage is 23. So how would I gain +3 damage by equipping it??

Thank you again!

[Arcamean]

I don't think it's wrong to over emphasise the importance of weapon skill and weapon skill boost enchantments. Aka a ring that boosts one handed weapons by 50% will make a MUCH bigger impact than a 50% smithed weapon alone.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

The +/- thing is any other effects you yourself possess, be it from certain apparel or from other influences. This can be manipulated by how you are playing and what you are wearing..or even if you are suffering from any ailments...

[Gropax]

just remember this number for armor 567 thats the max armor rating to get 80% damage reduction any armor can hit this number if you invest in the right perks and or potion and enchants. doesn't matter what the armor is heavy or light use what you like the best.

this is taken from the Wiki


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.

[avii]

If just starting off, steal some fur armor from bandits. It is strong enough to help you up to level 10, then move on to iron or leather. Here are some armor examples for levels...
1-10 Fur, hide, Imperial Light
10-20 Iron, Leather
20-25 Steel
25-35 Dwarvern, Elven
35-50 Orcish
50-60 Glass, Dragonhide, Dragonplate
60+ Daedric, Special, Enchanted

[Hayley]

I don't use daedric armour because it is hideous. I am using fully enchanted dragonscale armour at level 81.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

You know what..I agree with that..the Daedric looked cool at first but not anymore, It does look quite messy. I'm not really keen on any except the Blades, and even that has awful components to it. The boots are a little wrong and the material around the waist is a mess. Gonna get to grips with blender and get making some kickass stuff asap

[Hayley]

KL Master Dan.님이 먼저 게시:

You know what..I agree with that..the Daedric looked cool at first but not anymore, It does look quite messy. I'm not really keen on any except the Blades, and even that has awful components to it. The boots are a little wrong and the material around the waist is a mess. Gonna get to grips with blender and get making some kickass stuff asap

That would be so amazing if you could do that :3

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

I'm workin on it!...I like Knight's stuff, Black Knight/ White Knight...Medievil stuff but with added Armour plating fancy plates etc...There are some models already out there on the nexus...and I want to bring more to the game. :)

<-- I just have to Launch all Nukes first }:3

[Hayley]

Anything would be better than the hideous daedric armour we have now :D good luck :-)