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Elder Scrolls
SkillHeavyarmor
For other uses, see Heavy Armor.
"Those trained to use Heavy Armor make more effective use of Iron, Steel, Dwarven, Orcish, Nordic, Ebony, Daedric, and Dragonplate armors."
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Heavy Armor is a skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Heavy Armor skill is raised by the use of certain kinds of armor that the in-game character can equip. Heavy armor typically weighs more than light armor, injuring speed and carrying capacity at the offset of added protection. Penalties to speed and carrying capacity can be countered using The Steed Stone, consuming Potions of Carry Weight, or using the Conditioning perk.

Governing Guardian Stone: The Warrior

Books and quests

These books permanently raise the Heavy Armor skill:

These quests permanently raise the Heavy Armor skill:

Advantages/Disadvantages

Main article: Armor (Skyrim)

Advantages

  • Offers a greater variety of armors available to craft.
  • Offers a greater number of Perks to choose from.
  • Offers much more protection from physical attacks.

Disadvantages

  • Makes more noise than light armor, so sneaking is harder.
  • Slows down movement much more than light armor.
  • Stamina is drained much quicker while sprinting.

Damage reduction

Armor increases the Dragonborn's armor rating, which decreases how much physical damage is dealt to them. The maximum damage reduction is capped at 80%, which is achieved:

  • When wearing 4 pieces of armor plus a shield: 542 armor rating.
  • 4 pieces of armor or less without a shield: 567 armor rating.

Perks

The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up.

Perk (Ranks) Requirements Description
Juggernaut (5) Heavy Armor 20/ 40/ 60/ 80 Increases armor rating for Heavy Armor by 20% (+20% per additional rank)
Fists of Steel Heavy Armor 30, Juggernaut Unarmed attacks with Heavy Armor gauntlets do their base armor rating in extra damage. Sneak attack bonus is two times the damage.

Khajiit and Argonians gain bonus unarmed damage from their claws, which stacks with this perk. Gloves of the Pugilist provides the Fortify Unarmed enchantment for further damage.

Well Fitted Heavy Armor 30, Juggernaut 25% armor bonus if wearing all Heavy Armor: head, chest, hands, feet
Cushioned Heavy Armor 50, Fists of Steel Half damage from falling if wearing all Heavy Armor: head, chest, hands, feet

Also reduces damage from environmental physics such as flying debris launched into the air by force shouts or other enemy attacks.

Tower of Strength Heavy Armor 50, Well Fitted 50% less stagger when wearing only Heavy Armor

Force Without Effort can provide an additional 25% stagger reduction.

Conditioning Heavy Armor 70, Cushioned Wearing Heavy armor no longer affects how much stamina is used when sprinting. Any heavy armor worn no longer counts towards the carry weight.

Of note, however, is any previously worn Heavy Armor that is unequipped will then count towards carry weight.

Matching Set Heavy Armor 70, Tower of Strength

Additional 25% armor bonus if wearing a matched set of Heavy Armor

Reflect Blows Heavy Armor 100, Matching Set 10% chance to reflect melee damage back to the enemy while wearing all Heavy Armor: head, chest, hands, feet

Perk tree

Heavy armor perk tree

Perk tree

Leveling

There are two main ways to level heavy armor, besides using trainers.

  1. "Regular wear and tear" - Just wear heavy armor while exploring and adventuring. Hits taken while wearing Heavy Armor increases skill level.
  2. "Punching Bag" – Intentionally allow strikes to land successfully over and over again to level the skill.

Skill experience is calculated based on the attack strength of the foe. For example, taking multiple attacks from a skeever or wolf levels Heavy Armor at a significantly slower rate than blows from giants or mammoths would. Being the victim of power attacks also grants more experience than a standard attack. The experience gained is based on damage before armor, not damage calculating armor. Therefore increasing armor rating does not decrease experience.

The key to leveling Heavy Armor is to find foes that will not kill the trainer, but allows a large volume of attacks to be performed. An example of this would be: having level 65 Heavy Armor and taking strikes from a Giant Club. Two or three attacks can be sustained at this level. Allow the attacks to land successfully, cast Restoration spells, drinking healing potions, or eating food to regain health and repeat the process. Regeneration potions allow such training without the hassle of constantly attending the game.

Remember that wearing multiple articles of Heavy Armor increases the speed at which experience is gained.

Trainers

Armor types

The following is heavy armor sets that benefit from this skill:

Craftable armor

The Armors listed here are Heavy Armors that are able to be crafted by the Dragonborn given the appropriate perk.

  • Chitin DB - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Iron - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Ancient Nord - Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Imperial - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Bracers, Boots
  • Steel - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Steel Plate  - Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Dwarven - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Bonemold DB - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Orcish - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Nordic Carved DB - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Ebony - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Stalhrim DB - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Daedric - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots
  • Dragonplate - Shield, Helmet, Armor, Gauntlets, Boots

Non-craftable armor

The following Armors are Heavy Armors that are either given to the Dragonborn as a quest reward, bought, or found randomly throughout the world; they cannot be crafted. Some are unique items, others are non-craftable sets.

Armor sets

Main article: Armor Sets (Skyrim)

An armor set is defined as a complete set of armor that includes one matching armor piece for the head, chest, hands and feet.

There are several different armor sets available in Skyrim, both in heavy and light variants. Certain armor sets can provide special bonuses if the full set is worn. See the main article for a full list.

Headgear

Name ArmorIcon WeightIcon Gold Upgrade <acronym title="The Smithing perk that doubles the improvement when tempering" style="border-bottom:1px dotted #ffffff;cursor:help;">Perk</acronym> Item ID
Ancient Helmet of the Unburned 15 4 841 Iron Ingot Daedric 000F494E
Ancient Nord Helmet 15 4 60 Iron Ingot Daedric 00056A9E
Blades Helmet 18 12 200 Steel Ingot None 0004B28F
Daedric Helmet 23 15 1600 Ebony Ingot Daedric 0001396D
Dawnguard Full Helmet DG 18 10 220 Steel Ingot Advanced xx0050d0
Dragonplate Helmet 22 8 1050 Dragon Scales Dragon 00013969
Dwarven Helmet 18 12 200 Dwarven Metal Ingot Dwarven 0001394F
Ebony Helmet 21 10 750 Ebony Ingot Ebony 00013963
Falmer Hardened Helm DG 18 10 150 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx00e8e0
Falmer Heavy Helm DG 21 8 600 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx0023eb
Falmer Helmet 10 5 25 Chaurus Chitin Steel or Advanced DG 0004C3CB
Helm of Yngol 21 8 565 Steel Ingot Advanced 000295F3
Helm of Winterhold 17 5 125 Steel Ingot Steel 000940D5
Hevnoraak 23 9 891 Iron Ingot Daedric 00061CC1
Imperial Helmet 15 5 50 Steel Ingot Steel 00013EDC
Imperial Helmet (Closed) 18 5 30 Steel Ingot Steel 0009610D
Imperial Officer's Helmet 17 4 30 Steel Ingot Steel 000136CF
Iron Helmet 15 5 60 Iron Ingot None 00012E4D
Konahrik 24 7 3200 Gold Ingot Daedric 00061CD6
Masque of Clavicus Vile 23 7 1277 N/A - 000D2846
Nahkriin 23 9 2173 Ebony Ingot Daedric 00061CA5
Orcish Helmet 20 8 500 Orichalcum Ingot Orcish 00013959
Otar 23 9 1521 Refined Malachite Daedric 00061CC2
Rahgot 23 9 962 Orichalcum Ingot Daedric 00061CC0
Shellbug Helmet DG 22 6 600 Shellbug Chitin Advanced xx012e8a
Steel Helmet 17 5 125 Steel Ingot Steel 00013954
Steel Horned Helmet 17 5 125 Steel Ingot Steel 000F6F24
Steel Plate Helmet 19 6 300 Corundum Ingot Advanced 0001395E
The Jagged Crown 23 9 5000 N/A - 000DA750
Vokun 23 9 2182 Steel Ingot Daedric 00061CC9
Wolf Helmet 17 4 125 Steel Ingot Steel 0004C3D0

Cuirasses

Name ArmorIcon WeightIcon Gold Upgrade <acronym title="The Smithing perk that doubles the improvement when tempering" style="border-bottom:1px dotted #ffffff;cursor:help;">Perk</acronym> Item ID
Ancient Nord Armor 25 28 125 Iron Ingot Daedric 00018388
Banded Iron Armor 28 35 200 Corundum Ingot None 00013948
Blades Armor 44 45 400 Steel Ingot None 0004B28B
Daedric Armor 49 50 3200 Ebony Ingot Daedric 0001396B
Dawnguard Heavy Armor DG 34 42 425 Steel Ingot Advanced Brown: xx00f3f7
Gray: xx00f3fa
Dragonplate Armor 46 40 2125 Dragon Bone Dragon 00013966
Dwarven Armor 34 45 400 Dwarven Metal Ingot Dwarven 0001394D
Ebony Armor 43 38 1500 Ebony Ingot Ebony 00013961
Ebony Mail 45 28 5000 Ebony Ingot Ebony 00052794
Falmer Hardened Armor DG 34 40 250 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx00e8de
Falmer Heavy Armor DG 43 35 1200 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx0023e9
Falmer Armor 31 20 275 Chaurus Chitin Steel or Advanced DG 000B83CB
General Tullius' Armor 31 18 65 Steel Ingot None 0005CBFE
Imperial Armor 28 35 100 Steel Ingot Steel 000136D5
Iron Armor 25 30 125 Iron Ingot None 00013957
Orcish Armor 40 35 1000 Orichalcum Ingot Orcish 00013957
Steel Armor 31 35 275 Steel Ingot Steel 00013952
000F6F22
Steel Plate Armor 40 38 625 Corundum Ingot Advanced 0001395C
Wolf Armor 31 20 55 Steel Ingot Steel 000CAE15

Boots

Name ArmorIcon WeightIcon Gold Upgrade <acronym title="The Smithing perk that doubles the improvement when tempering" style="border-bottom:1px dotted #ffffff;cursor:help;">Perk</acronym> Item ID
Ancient Nord Boots 10 5 25 Iron Ingot Daedric 00056A9D
Blades Boots 13 10 85 Steel Ingot None 0004B288
Daedric Boots 18 10 625 Ebony Ingot Daedric 0001396A
Dawnguard Heavy Boots DG 13 9 85 Steel Ingot Advanced xx014757
Dragonplate Boots 17 8 425 Dragon Bone Dragon 00013965
Dwarven Boots 13 10 85 Dwarven Metal Ingot Dwarven 0001394C
Ebony Boots 16 7 275 Ebony Ingot Ebony 00013960
Falmer Boots 12 4 55 Chaurus Chitin Steel or Advanced DG 000B83CD
Falmer Hardened Boots DG 13 8 50 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx00e8dd
Falmer Heavy Boots DG 16 6 225 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx0023ef
Falmer Boots 12 4 55 Chaurus Chitin None 000B83CD
Imperial Boots 11 8 20 Steel Ingot None 000136D6
Iron Boots 10 6 25 Iron Ingot None 00012E4B
Orcish Boots 15 7 200 Orichalcum Ingot Orcish 00013956
Steel Shin Boots 12 8 55 Steel Ingot Steel 000F6F21
Steel Cuffed Boots 12 8 55 Steel Ingot Steel 00013951
Steel Plate Boots 14 9 125 Corundum Ingot Advanced 0001395B
Wolf Boots 12 4 11 Steel Ingot Steel 000CEE7C

Gauntlets

Name ArmorIcon WeightIcon Gold Upgrade <acronym title="The Smithing perk that doubles the improvement when tempering" style="border-bottom:1px dotted #ffffff;cursor:help;">Perk</acronym> Item ID
Ancient Nord Gauntlets 10 4 25 Iron Ingot Daedric 00056B17
Blades Gauntlets 13 8 85 Steel Ingot None 0004b28d
Daedric Gauntlets 18 6 625 Ebony Ingot Daedric 0001396C
Dawnguard Heavy Gauntlets DG 13 7 85 Steel Ingot Advanced xx014758
Dragonplate Gauntlets 17 8 425 Dragon Bone Dragon 00013967
Dwarven Gauntlets 13 8 85 Dwarven Metal Ingot Dwarven 0001394E
Ebony Gauntlets 16 7 225 Ebony Ingot Ebony 00013962
Falmer Gauntlets 12 4 55 Chaurus Chitin Steel or Advanced DG 000B83CF
Falmer Hardened Gauntlets DG 13 7 60 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx00e8df
Falmer Heavy Gauntlets DG 16 6 225 Chaurus Chitin Advanced xx0023ed
Falmer Gauntlets 12 4 55 Chaurus Chitin None 000B83CF
Imperial Bracers 11 4 15 Steel Ingot None 000136D4
Iron Gauntlets 11 5 25 Iron Ingot None 00012E46
Ironhand Gauntlets 12 4 444 Iron Ingot None 000E1643
Orcish Gauntlets 15 7 200 Orichalcum Ingot Orcish 00013958
Steel Imperial Gauntlets 12 4 55 Steel Ingot Steel 000F6F23
Steel Nordic Gauntlets 12 4 55 Steel Ingot Steel 00013953
Steel Plate Gauntlets 14 6 125 Steel Ingot Advanced 0001395D
The Forgemaster's Fingers 11 5 394 Iron Ingot None 000C3CE6
Wolf Gauntlets 12 4 11 Steel Ingot Steel 000CEE7E

Shields

Main article: Shields (Skyrim)
Name ArmorIcon WeightIcon Gold Upgrade Perk ID
Banded Iron Shield 22 12 100 Corundum Ingot None 0001394b
Blades Ebony Shield 34 14.00 750 Ebony ingot Ebony Smithing xx000804
Blades Shield 26 12 225 Steel Ingot None 0004F912
Bonemold Shield DR 21 8 95 Bone Meal Steel Smithing xx026234
Daedric Shield 36 15 1600 Ebony Ingot Daedric Smithing 0001396E
Dawnguard Shield DG 26 10 240 Steel Ingot Advanced Armors xx0150b8
Dented Iron Shield DR 15 12 30 N/A None xx03399c
Dragonplate Shield 34 8 1050 Dragon Bone Dragon Armor 00013968
Dwarven Shield 26 12 225 Dwarven Metal Ingot Dwarven Smithing 00013950
Ebony Shield 32 14 750 Ebony Ingot Ebony Smithing 00013964
Falmer Shield 28 15 10 Chaurus Chitin Steel Smithing or Advanced Armors 0005C06C
Golden Saint Shield 26 12 375 Gold Ingot Daedric Smithing xx000800
Hrolfdir's Shield 24 12 60 N/A None 00064b71
Imperial Dragon Shield [?] [?] [?] Steel Ingot [?]
Imperial Shield 20 12 50 Steel Ingot Steel Smithing 000135ba
Improved Bonemold Shield DR 26 11 95 Bone Meal Steel Smithing xx03ab24
Iron Shield 20 12 60 Iron Ingot None 00012EB6
Madness Shield 38 16.00 1,800 Madness Ingot Ebony Smithing xx000bc5
Nordic Shield DR 26.5 10 335 Quicksilver Ingot Advanced Armors xx026236
Orcish Shield 30 14 500 Orichalcum Ingot Orcish Smithing 00013946
Roggi's Ancestral Shield 25 12 60 Iron Ingot 0006901D
Skull-Sabre Shield [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
Steel Shield 24 12 150 Steel Ingot Steel Smithing 00013955

See also

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