What is Skyrim, when you get right to it?
No, the answer is not “a miserable little pile of secrets.” Instead, it’s a spreadsheet where players are constantly trying to get the right stats for the right quest. You just can’t always see the spreadsheet because of the dragons and other enemies.
When it comes to the right items for the right quest, certain kinds of armor are better than others. When you need light armor, you shouldn’t settle for just anything: instead, you should seek out the best!
What, then, is the best light armor in Skyrim? Keep reading to discover the answer.
Who Needs Light Armor?
Before we dive into which light armor is the very best, we need to cover something a bit more fundamental. Who, exactly, needs to use light armor in the first place?
As you might expect, this type of armor is perfect for archers. When you specialize in dealing out long-distance death, you want the kind of armor that keeps you light and nimble.
Fancy yourself a stealthy player? Skyrim doesn’t have Solid Snake’s sneaking suit (at least, not without the right mods), but light armor is the next best thing.
Finally, light armor is great if you like to fight with both sword and shield (or “sword and board” in the parlance of Dungeons and Dragons players).
These cover most of the game-related reasons you might want light armor. Sometimes, though, you may just want to change things up for aesthetic reasons.
Whether you’re serving death or just serving looks, we’ve got the breakdown of the best light armor in Skyrim below.
Deathbrand Armor
What is the best light armor in Skyrim? The objective answer is the Deathbrand armor. It offers wild stat boosts (including +100 armor and a waterbreathing helmet) all while boosting your stamina and carrying capacity. What’s not to love?
Well, one thing you may not love is the difficulty of obtaining this armor. You’ll need to complete the Deathbrand quest to get the full set. It may take you a lot of time and effort to get it all, but this is time well spent.
Ancient Shrouded Armor
If we’re being honest, the Ancient Shrouded Armor is a big step down from Deathbrand. Then again, it has its own set of special stats and benefits that you may find useful.
While the +25 armor boost is nice, archers will love the +35% bow damage. The poison immunity helps keep you alive if you get caught, and the Muffle ability will help you sneak around.
Want to play the game as an assassin? This armor doubles the sneak attack damage from one-handed weapons, allowing you to deal some serious damage when you’re not blending into the shadows.
Dragonscale Armor
There is no wrong way to play Skyrim. For example, some players may just want simple armor with a high defense instead of juggling all these different stat boosts. If that sounds like you, the Dragonscale Armor may be your best bet.
This is some of the best looking light armor Skyrim. As the light version of the iconic Dragonplate armor, this is the look many people imagine when they think about Skyrim.
While it’s heavier than other light armor on this list, Dragonscale brings your defense to a serious 82. Throw in a shield and you can get that number all the way to 111. With stats like that, hacking and slashing has never been easier!
Guild Master’s Armor
Playing Skyrim as a thief? In that case, your priorities are pretty simple. You want to be able to easily break into different areas and then make off with as many valuables as possible.
If you’re a thief, then the best choice is the Guild Master’s armor worn by the Thieves’ Guild leader. With it, you get +35% to your lockpicking and +35% to your pickpocketing. To make that even sweeter, you get a +50 boost to your overall carrying capacity.
Still not enough for you? When you wear this armor, everything you buy will be 20% cheaper. Not only is this some of the best light armor in Skyrim, but it more than pays for itself the longer you play.
Nightingale Armor
Are you affiliated with the Nightingale? Or maybe you just want to jack their style? Either way, you should take a long look at the Nightingale armor.
This is definitely some of the best looking light armor Skyrim. It also has some pretty killer stat boosts, including +25 to armor and +15 to stamina. If you’re going up against magic users, you’ll probably also dig the +15% frost resistance.
Beyond that, this armor offers a virtual buffet of cool boosts. Your boots are muffled, your lockpicking is +15% better, and your one-handed damage goes up by +15%. Finally, your illusion spell cost is reduced by 12% when you rock this armor.
Honorable Mentions
The armor sets above are the definitive sets of best light armor in Skyrim. However, we have a few honorable mentions to throw out there.
First up is the Ancient Falmer armor. It’s basically a lighter set of glass armor that makes you look really cool. If you want something a little different from your armor aesthetic, this is a great choice.
Next up is Linwe’s armor set. While it doesn’t bring the numbers of some of our top armors, it offers general boosts to bow damage, sneaking, and one-handed attack damage. In addition to making you look like Robin Hood, this armor also boosts your defense by 69 (nice).
Finally, those with the Dragonborn DLC can get themselves some freaky-looking Chitin armor. The low weight and high protection (85 points) are pretty nice, but the real draw is making your character look like he escaped from a David Cronenberg movie.
Best Light Armor In Skyrim: Continuing Your Adventure
Now you know what the best light armor in Skyrim really is. Do you know where to get even more info on your favorite games of swords and sorcery?
Stay tuned to SideGamer for more info on games full of adventure, treasure, and yes, the occasional really scary dragon.
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