This page summarizes the base armor in Daggerfall. Armor provides protection from incoming melee attacks. Each area of your body can only be protected by one armor piece at a time, but your Armor Rating is comprised of the sum of their defensive bonuses.
Armor Rating is a number representing how difficult it is for someone to hit you. A high Agility gives you an ability to avoid strikes. That, coupled with an abundance of armor (so you might not feel someone striking you), are ways to increase your Armor Rating. There are seven types of armor, and twelve kinds of material from which this armor may be wrought.
Note: regardless of material type, Armor Ratings for shields will always be +1 for bucklers, +2 for round shields, +3 for kite shields, and +4 for tower shields.
You may have one of each of the following armor pieces equipped at a time:
Boots: protective footwear that covers the feet and lower legs. Boots come in pairs.
Cuirass: body armor. Comes in padded leather, chain mail, or metal plate.
Gauntlets: hand coverings. These also come in pairs.
Greaves: armor for the upper legs and waist.
Helm: head armor.
Left Pauldron: shoulder and arm covering for the left arm.
Right Pauldron: shoulder and arm covering for the right arm.
There are also four types of shields:
Buckler: a small shield that straps to the arm.
Round Shield: more protective than a buckler.
Kite Shield: a large shield that tapers to a point.
Tower Shield: the largest and most protective type of shield.
Aside from looks, there is no difference between cuirasses, greaves, helms, or pauldrons made of similar material.
Note: leather, chain, silver, and elven helms and shields all appear alike. These must be inspected to determine their protective capabilities and other statistics.
The following table lists the materials used to create armor and shields, and their effects on the item's Armor Rating and weight:
Material
Armor Rating*
Weight Modifier†
Leather
+3
x1
Chain
+6
x2
Iron
+7
x2
Steel
+9
x2.5
Silver
+9
x2
Elven
+11
x2
Dwarven
+13
x1.5
Mithril
+15
x2
Adamantium
+15
x2
Ebony
+17
x1
Orcish
+19
x2
Daedric
+21
x2.5
*Armor Ratings for shields are static, and independent of their material type.
†Modified weights are rounded down to the nearest 0.25kg, and therefore will not always precisely reflect the multiplier figure.
See the material modifiers below to see how protection varies depending on what the item is made out of. For unique examples of armor, see the artifacts page.