Skyrim:Steel

Steel weapons and heavy armor are low-quality items that are made using steel, an alloy of iron and corundum.

A pile of Steel Ingots

Several higher quality items are also crafted out of steel, including scaled armor, steel plate armor, ancient Nord armor, Nord hero, and Skyforge steel weapons. These higher quality items are not unlocked by the Steel Smithing perk; details on how to craft them are provided on their separate pages.

Overview

	Name	ID	Weight	Value
	Steel Ingot	0005ace5	1	20

1 steel ingot is obtained by smelting one corundum ore and one iron ore.
Steel Smithing is a Smithing perk that can be unlocked from the start of the game.
Steel Armor is level 6 heavy armor, made from steel ingots, iron ingots, and leather strips.
Steel weapons are level 2 weapons, made from steel ingots, iron ingots, and leather strips

Mineral Sources

In addition to the following guaranteed sources, the best random locations are:

Steel ingots may be sold by all blacksmith and general goods merchants starting at level 7.

There are a total of 44 steel ingots available in game, mostly at blacksmith shops. Only locations containing multiple steel ingots are included in the following list. Although most of these are owned, befriending the blacksmith may make it possible to freely take the ingots. The ore types necessary to make steel are is also very common, with hundreds of ore veins for each; vein locations are detailed on the separate pages for iron ore and corundum ore.

Region	Location	Ingots	Details
Solitude	Solitude Blacksmith	5
Whiterun Hold	Riverwood	5	At Alvor's work area
Riften	Blacksmith	4
Solitude	Red Wave	4
Markarth		3	At Ghorza's work area
Windhelm		3	At Oengul's work area
Winterhold	Driftshade Sanctuary	3
The Reach	Druadach Redoubt	3
Haafingar	Solitude Stables	3
The Pale	Yorgrim Overlook	3
The Pale	Forsaken Cave	2
The Pale	Weynon Stones	2

Steel Smithing

Steel Smithing is the first perk in the Smithing skill's perk tree, and can be unlocked at the start of the game. It enables the crafting of two types of heavy armor, Imperial armor and steel armor, as well as steel weapons.

The Steel Smithing perk also causes tempering of steel weapons and armor to be twice as effective. This perk applies to both unenchanted steel gear and enchanted gear (generic armor, generic weapons, or custom), as long as the Arcane Blacksmith perk has been unlocked. Tempering of several other items is also improved by Steel Smithing, namely:

Angi's Bow	Hunting Bow (including all enchanted versions)
Balgruuf's Greatsword	Imperial Sword (including all enchanted versions)
Blade of Woe	Ironhand Gauntlets
Blades Sword	Queen Freydis's Sword
Bloodthorn	Rundi's Dagger
Bolar's Oathblade	Scimitar
Bow of the Hunt	Skyforge Steel Battleaxe, Greatsword, Sword and War Axe
Briarheart Geis	Targe of the Blooded
Dragonbane	Trollsbane
Dravin's Bow	Valdr's Lucky Dagger
Falmer Armor set (only with Dawnguard and without patch 1.9)^{[verification needed — exact details required]}	Vokun
Forsworn Axe, Bow, and Sword	Windshear
Helm of Winterhold	Wolf Armor, Boots, Gauntlets, and Helmet
Hrolfdir's Shield

Imperial Light Armor

As of Patch Version 1.9, it is possible to craft Imperial light armor. The armor's rating is identical to fur armor. Imperial light armor does not appear in standard armor leveled lists, but is commonly used by soldiers. Tempering, however, requires one leather and it does not benefit from the Steel Smithing perk.

The studded Imperial armor has a higher value and differs slightly in appearance, but cannot be crafted or tempered. It also lacks the ArmorMaterialImperialLight keyword, which means you can't benefit from the Matching Set perk.
- PC Only This issue has been addressed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch; it can now be tempered with leather and benefits from the Matching Set perk. One of the official patches^(?) adds the material keyword, but you still cannot temper it without the unofficial patch.

A female Imperial wearing Imperial light armor

A male Nord wearing Imperial Light Armor

	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Raw Materials			Delta		Ratio
	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Steel	Leather	Strips	Weight	Value	Weight	Value
	Imperial Light Armor (00013ed9)	6	75	23	2	2	3	-0.3	6	0.95	1.09
	Studded Imperial Armor (00013ed8)	6	125	23	N/A			N/A
	Imperial Light Boots (00013ed7)	2	15	6	1	1	2	-1.2	-21	0.63	0.42
	Imperial Light Bracers (00013eda)	1	15	6	1	1	2	-2.2	-21	0.31	0.42
	Imperial Light Helmet (00013edb)	2	35	11	1	1	1	-1.1	2	0.65	1.06
	Imperial Light Shield (00013ab2)	4	40	19	2	0	2	1.8	-6	1.92	0.97
Totals (for craftable items, with shield):		15	180	65	7	5	10
Totals (for craftable items, without shield):		11	140	46	5	5	8

Imperial Armor

Imperial armor is the lowest-quality heavy armor in the game, with the armor rating of iron armor, but with the weight of steel, and only 80% of the base value of iron armor. Prior to Patch Version 1.9, only this version of Imperial armor could be crafted. Imperial armor does not appear in standard armor leveled lists, but is commonly used by soldiers.

The Imperial helmet that can be crafted is tagged with the ArmorMaterialImperialStudded keyword instead of the ArmorMaterialImperialHeavy keyword used by the other pieces. This means that the Steel Smithing perk has no effect when tempering it, and that it's impossible to get the Matching Set bonus while wearing it. This helmet is also mis-tagged with the ArmorLight keyword, meaning that it is controlled by Light Armor skill perks instead of Heavy Armor skill perks.
- PC Only This issue has been addressed by version 1.2 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch; the official patch 1.9 fixes the material keyword, but it will still not be governed by the Heavy Armor skill perks without the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
A second (full-face) version of the Imperial helmet and the Imperial Officer's helmet are both considered part of the Imperial heavy armor set, and can be worn to get the Matching Set bonus. However, neither of these helmets can be crafted at forges.

All items (including the non-craftable Imperial helmets) can be tempered using one steel ingot, and having the Steel Smithing perk doubles the quality improvement.

A female Imperial wearing Imperial armor

A male Nord wearing Imperial armor

	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Raw Materials			Delta		Ratio
	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Steel	Leather	Strips	Weight	Value	Weight	Value
	Imperial Armor (000136d5)	35	100	25	4	2	3	26.7	-9	4.22	0.92
	Imperial Boots (000136d6)	8	20	10	2	1	2	3.8	-36	1.90	0.36
	Imperial Bracers (000136d4)	4	15	10	2	1	2	-0.2	-41	0.95	0.27
	Imperial Helmet (craftable) (00013edc)	5	50	15	2	1	1	0.9	-3	1.22	0.94
	Imperial Helmet (full-face) (0009610d)	5	30	18	N/A			N/A
	Imperial Officer's Helmet (000136cf)	4	30	17	N/A			N/A
	Imperial Shield (000135ba)	12	50	20	4	0	2	7.8	-36	2.86	0.58
Totals (for craftable items, with shield):		64	235	80	14	5	10
Totals (for craftable items, without shield):		52	185	60	10	5	8

Steel Armor

A male Nord wearing steel armor

A male Nord wearing steel armor (alternate)

A female Imperial wearing steel armor

A female Imperial wearing steel armor (alternate)

Steel armor is another low-quality armor, but it is one notch better than iron armor and Imperial armor.

Each of the cuirass, boots, gauntlets, and helmet comes in two variants that have identical statistics, but differ in stylistic details.
Any combination of these items can be used interchangeably to create a set of armor that qualifies for the Matching Set bonus.

All items can be tempered using one steel ingot, and having the Steel Smithing perk doubles the quality improvement.

	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Raw Materials			Delta		Ratio
	Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Rating	Steel	Iron	Strips	Weight	Value	Weight	Value
	Steel Armor (00013952)	35	275	31	4	1	3	29.7	179	6.60	2.86
	Steel Armor (000f6f22)	35	275	31	4	1	3	29.7	179	6.60	2.86
	Steel Shin Boots (000f6f21)	8	55	12	3	1	2	3.8	-18	1.90	0.75
	Steel Cuffed Boots (00013951)	8	55	12	3	1	2	3.8	-18	1.90	0.75
	Steel Imperial Gauntlets (000f6f23)	4	55	12	2	1	2	0.8	2	1.25	1.04
	Steel Nordic Gauntlets (00013953)	4	55	12	2	1	2	0.8	2	1.25	1.04
	Steel Helmet (00013954)	5	125	17	2	1	2	1.8	72	1.56	2.36
	Steel Horned Helmet (000f6f24)	5	125	17	2	1	2	1.8	72	1.56	2.36
	Steel Shield (00013955)	12	150	24	3	1	1	7.9	80	2.93	2.14
Totals (any one set, with shield):		64	660	96	14	5	10
Totals (any one set, without shield):		52	510	72	11	4	9

Steel Weapons

Steel weapons are low-quality weapons, better than only iron. They appear in leveled lists starting at level 2 (enchanted varieties at level 3). All items except ammunition can be tempered using one steel ingot, and having the Steel Smithing perk doubles the quality improvement. Ammunition can only be smithed if the Dawnguard add-on has been installed.

There is no "steel bow", only steel arrows. The bow found at similar levels is the hunting bow. Although the hunting bow cannot be crafted, it is generally treated as a steel weapon but it isn't tempered by steel ingots—instead, it is tempered with leather strips and its tempering is enhanced by the Steel Smithing perk.

The Dawnguard add-on adds a crossbow and an enhanced crossbow which are both treated as steel weapons. They can be smithed if you have the Steel Smithing perk, and tempering them is enhanced by the Steel Smithing perk.

Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Damage	Crit. Critical Damage	Speed	Reach	Raw Materials				Delta		Ratio
Name (ID)	Weight	Value	Damage	Crit. Critical Damage	Speed	Reach	Steel	Iron	Strips	Other	Weight	Value	Weight	Value
Steel Dagger (00013986)	2.5	18	5	2	1.3	0.7	1	1	1		0.4	-12	1.19	0.60
Steel Sword (00013989)	10	45	8	4	1	1	2	1	1		6.9	-5	3.23	0.90
Steel War Axe (00013983)	12	55	9	4	0.9	1	2	1	2		8.8	2	3.75	1.04
Steel Mace (00013988)	14	65	10	5	0.8	1	3	1	1		9.9	-5	3.41	0.93
Steel Greatsword (00013987)	17	90	17	8	0.7	1.3	4	2	3		10.7	-13	2.70	0.87
Steel Battleaxe (00013984)	21	100	18	8	0.7	1.3	4	1	2		15.8	7	4.04	1.08
Steel Warhammer (0001398a)	25	110	20	10	0.6	1.3	4	1	3		19.7	14	4.72	1.15
Steel Arrow (0001397f)	0	2	10	N/A			1			1 Firewood Makes 24 arrows^DG	-6	23	0.00	1.92
Crossbow^DG ^† (xx000801)	14	120	19	9	1	1	3			3 Firewood	-4	45	0.78	1.60
Enhanced Crossbow^DG ^† ^‡ (xx00f19e)	15	200	19	9	1	1				1 Crossbow + 2 Corundum	-1	0	0.94	1.00
Steel Bolt^DG ^† (xx000bb3)	0	1	10	N/A			1			1 Firewood Makes 10 bolts^DG	-6	-15	0.00	0.40

†	Crafting crossbows and exploding bolts is only possible at Gunmar's forge in Fort Dawnguard, which does not appear until after A New Order (must side with the Dawnguard). Normal bolts can be crafted at any forge.

‡	The enhanced crossbow has an additional property: Attacks with this crossbow ignore 50% of armor. It can only be acquired by siding with the Dawnguard (see Ancient Technology for details).

Notes

All of the generic enchanted steel gauntlets in the game are modeled on the steel Nordic gauntlets; there are no generic enchanted steel Imperial gauntlets.
All of the generic enchanted steel helmets in the game are modeled on the steel helmet; there are no generic enchanted steel horned helmets.
Imperial boots and Imperial gauntlets are identical in appearance to steel shin boots and steel Imperial gauntlets.
Keep in mind that one corundum ore costs the same as one steel ingot. When smelting for steel, you will also have to buy one iron ore and so buying ore will not save you money when creating steel ingots, as it will for other materials.

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