Daedric armor and weapons have been a part of the Elder Scrolls series since Daggerfall. However, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is the first game in which players have the opportunity to craft their own Daedric gear. In fact, crafting is just about the only way most players will ever get a full set of Daedric equipment.
The reason players should bother with Daedric armor is that it's the best heavy armor in all of Skyrim. Only Madness armor is better, and players can only get Madness armor through the Creation Club. For weapons, only dragonbone is better, and dragonbone is only available if players have a game version with Dawnguard content. However, in exchange for being so good, Daedric gear needs some relatively rare materials.
The Smithing Requirement
Daedric gear has a certain amount of magic to it, but players only need a high Smithing skill to craft it. In the Smithing perk tree, players will find the Daedric Smithing perk along the right side, the same as the rest of the heavy armor perks. To get this perk, players will need to spend a total of five perks on the Smithing tree and reach 90 skill points.
Getting Smithing that high can take some time, but there are ways to speed things up:
- Players can craft jewelry at any skill level, and Smithing experience comes from the value of the item created. This means the best way to quickly gain Smithing points is to collect gold and silver ingots and combine them with gems to create expensive jewelry.
- To get more gold and silver ingots, the spell Transmute can convert iron ore into silver ore, and silver ore into gold ore.
- Of the weapon lists, bows have the best value to raw material ratio.
- Eorlund Gray-Mane, the blacksmith of the Sky Forge, is a master trainer of Smithing.
The Raw Materials
The raw materials needed to craft Daedric armor and weapons are identical to those needed for ebony armor and weapons. However, there's one very important difference: each Daedric item also requires one Daedra Heart to craft.
Ebony ingots are relatively easy to come by. Once players reach a high enough level, every blacksmith merchant in Skyrim will start stocking ebony ingots, sometimes up to a dozen or more. Ebony Ingots are expensive, but considering what players can make with them the price is worth it.
Skyrim is also home to several ebony mines where players can get the raw ore straight from the stone. The Gloombound Mine sits just past the orc stronghold of Narzulbur, and players can enter it freely even if they haven't yet befriended the orcs of Skyrim. Redbelly Mine is in the settlement of Shor's Stone, which is north-northwest of Riften. Finally, players with the Dragonborn expansion can access a large ebony mine near Raven Rock.
Daedra Hearts are much harder to find. Players can always get Daedra Hearts by killing Daedra, but these otherworldly monsters aren't nearly as easy to find in Skyrim as they were in Oblivion. Instead, players should look for Daedra Hearts in the inventory section of apothecaries. Every day, each apothecary has a small but consistent chance to have several Daedra Hearts.
A more guaranteed source of hearts is Enthir, a member of the College of Winterhold. Enthir always has two Daedra Hearts for sale whenever his inventory restocks. Players can also create Daedra Hearts by combining a black soul stone with a human heart on the upgraded Atronach Forge, but black soul gems are just as rare and expensive as Daedra Hearts.
Fortunately, players only need one Daedra Heart for each piece of armor and weapon. Reinforcing these items uses ebony ingots, just like regular ebony equipment. So while players should plan out exactly what they want to make with each heart, they have a lot more wiggle room when it comes to improving and enchanting daedric items.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.