Nov 12, 2019 Our final armor mod for Xbox One is the Valkyrie Armor Set. Unfortunately, this set is for female characters only, and included alongside it is also some weapons, which are all based on Norse Mythology. After installing this armor mod, you can find the set inside a chest at Silent Moons Camp, or forged once you have unlocked Advanced Armor. 'Truly light Elven Armor' By Letstryagain. Basically they redid the vanilla female elven armor to make it look more like an actual light armor. Far less bulky, I really like the way it looks. Perfect for sneaky or archery builds.
This tutorial shows all the main steps you need to follow to create an armour or an outfit from scratch for Skyrim. If you only want to change the textures of an existing piece of clothing or change its properties and bonus, just skip the first part of the tutorial. If you want to adapt existing armours or outfits to other bodies you will have to follow the steps explained here, except that you won't have to create the mesh (but you may probably have to adapt it to the new body), the textures or the UV maps.
Currently the tools used for modelling are not completely adapted for Skyrim, there are some steps that require some manual adjustments. This will surely change in the future months and this tutorial will be updated when required.
The main steps to create a custom armour or outfit for Skyrim are:
Skyrim has introduced a new feature for characters: the weight slider. You can set the weight of characters or NPCs from 0% (the weight slider is completely to the left) to 100% (the slider is completely to the right). The changes in the shape of the character are managed using 2 mesh files for each armour/piece of clothing (this also applies to the meshes that contain parts of the body):
An example of this is shown in picture Skyrim armour/clothing meshes and character weight.
This means that you will have to create two meshes for each of the armours/pieces of cloth instead of only one. In this tutorial we are going to create first the _0.nif armour and once it is finished we will adapt it to the _1.nif body
When creating an outfit or an armour first thing is to decide what body you want to make the clothes for. If you want to create an armour that fits several bodies (male and female, for example) you will have to create different armours for each body.
That is why the first step is to import into Blender all the parts of the body you want to work with. The nif files that contain the body meshes are in the folder DataMeshesactorscharactercharacter assets.
If you are going to create the armour for a male, you'll have to import the following body parts:
If you are going to create the armour for a female, you'll have to import the following body parts:
If you want to create a helmet, a hat or earrings, you'll have to import the head meshes that are in the folder DataMeshesactorscharactercharacter assets:
There is only one mesh for the head as it is not affected by the weight slider.
As Blender has not yet been fully adapted to Skyrim, to be able to import the nif files into it you have to change some properties in NifSkope. Do the following:
Repeat these steps for all the Skyrim meshes you need to import into Blender.
Now you can import the body parts into Blender. To do that use the menu option File -> Import -> Netimmerse/Gamebyro (.nif). If you cannot find that option it is because you haven't installed NifScripts. Follow the instructions given here: Installation of Blender to install everything you need.
Once you have all the body parts imported into Blender, delete all the skeletons you've imported with them. To do this, select each skeleton (Scene Root) as shown in picture Deleting the skeleton, press the Delete key and select OK. You have to repeat this process until you have deleted all the skeletons you've imported into Blender. Take into account that each part of the body you import will bring its own part of the skeleton.
Once you have just the body meshes, without the skeletons, it is worth you save it in a blend file you can reuse in the future (if you think you are going to create more armours or outfits). This will save you repeating this importing process each time.
From now on, work in Blender as you would do for creating a mesh for any other game.
This is the first step of the process. In this tutorial I am not going to explain how to use Blender to model 3d objects as there are already very good tutorials on the matter like this one: Blender 3d: Noob to pro. Once you have build your armour in Blender you can proceed to the next step.
When creating your armour mesh you can use some of these tips:
You can create a basic clothes mesh following this tutorial Creating basic clothes in 5 minutes using Blender and use it as a starting point for modelling your armour. The advantage of using this technique is that it allows you to create low polygon meshes, and therefore easier to work with, that already have the basic shape you need for your armour.
When creating armours or clothes you can work only with half of the meshes and apply after the Mirror modifier to make the clothes symmetrical. To use this technique:
There are some ways of giving the impression that the clothes have a volume although they are only two dimensional bended surfaces, like:
I find it useful to create the different parts of the armour as independent object and joining them in a unique object only at the end, when I am going to add weights to the armour. The advantages of working this way are:
This step is exactly the same as the one explained in the tutorial Creating a sword for Fallout because it doesn't matter the shape of the mesh you are working with: you will always add a material following the same steps.
While you are making the armour object or after finishing it you have to add a material to it. The game requires the material because all textures, UV maps and properties that define how it will be seen in game are to be associated to this material.
1. To create a material, in the Editing(F9) area press on the New button (the button encircled in the image Adding a material).
2. Next, in the Shading (F5) area press the red ball (Material buttons), and that will open the area that is shown in the picture Adding a texture. Here you can change the name of the materials on the Links and Pipeline tab, change the material properties and add a texture. The material properties can also be modified in NifSkope and it is easier to do it there, so in this screen we are only going to add a texture to the material. To do so press on the Add New button on the Texture tab.
3. Once you've added the texture two new tabs will appear: Map Input and Map To. Go to the Map Input tab and select UV as shown in the Map Input: UV picture. This is important so that the mesh interprets that the texture will follow the positions of the vertices of the UV map.
4. The last step is to associate the texture you've just created to a texture image. Right now you can associate any texture to it, it doesn't have to be the right one as this will be done later in NifSkope. To associate the texture image press the Texture buttons (F6) as shown in the Associating an image to the texture picture, and in the Texture type drop down list select Image. A window will pop up where you can select the texture dds image and, as I've explained before at this moment you can associate any dds file you have as we will associate the right one in NifSkope later.
Once your armour has the shape yo want and at least you've added one material, you have to colour it or it will be seen as transparent in game.
To do this the first step is to create the UV maps. The UV maps are projections in 2 dimensions of the mesh that is a 3 dimensional object. With the UV maps you are telling the mesh what part of the texture (that is a 2 dimensional image) has to be painted on each of the faces of the mesh.
To create the UV map:
In armours or clothes shapes are usually complex and to paint them it is better to create UV maps of parts of each piece of cloth. Imagine this process as the cuts you'll make to a real shirt to extend the cloth completely on a table to paint it.
To subdivide the object into parts, you have to create a series of cuts or seams in the object (like the seams in real clothes). To mark these seams:
Once you have generated all the UV maps for your armour save a file with the UV map image. You will use this file you are saving as a pattern to paint the armour textures later. To save this UV map image on the right screen select the menu option UVs -> Scripts -> Save UV Face Layout and press OK. Select the folder and enter the name of the file where you want to save your UV map on the pop up window.
This step is exactly the same than the one explained in the tutorial Creating a sword for Fallout because it doesn't matter the mesh you are working with: you will create the textures and normal maps following the same steps.
Next step is to paint the textures: to do this you can use a program like GIMP. You can immport the UV map image file you saved earlier into GIMP and use it as a pattern to paint the textures: this way you will know at any time what part of the sword you are painting.
Once you've painted the armour textures save them as dds as this is the image format that the game requires. If the images don't have transparent parts you can save them with DTX1 compression. If they have transparency, saved them as DTX3 or DTX5. Make sure that the Generate mipmaps flag is marked when you save the textures.
Once you've painted the textures you'll have to create the normal maps that are the image files that will give your sword a sense of volume. You can create the normal map from the texture you've just painted, to do it this way just follow these steps:
If you are like me it is likely that the armour you've build until now has a big amount of polygins, what translates into a big nif file and worse performance in game.
You can reduce the number of polygons using the Decimate modifier but that will destroy any UV map you've generated, so the best thing is to use the Poly Reducer script:
You can apply the Poly reducer script as many times as you want to your mesh, but usually after 2 or 3 applications the mesh looses its original shape and looks bad.
This is a very important step and is what differentiates creating armours and outfits of creating any other object for the game, as only the pieces of clothing require being weighted. The weights you are going to add to the meshes is what makes that clothes in game move with the body of the character.
Each part of the armour has weights relative to the bones of the skeleton of the character. In general terms, the weight will be bigger for close bones and zero for bones that are far from that part of the armour. For example, a skirt or a pair of trousers will have zero weight with respect to the bones of the arms or hands, but will have bigger weights with respect to the bones of the legs.
These are the three main methods of assigning weights to armours, from the easiest to the most complex one:
This is the easiest way of adding weights to an armour and luckily, in most cases, it works well and there is no need to use any other method. The steps to follow are:
Sometimes you will need to copy the weights from a source only to part of your armour. If, for example, you try your armour in game and see that part of it moves odd you can try fixing it by modifying the weights of that part of the armour unsing this method. To use it follow these steps:
This is the most difficult and arduous method for assigning weights to an object and usually it is only required to give the finishing touches to the armour, and only when none of the two previous methods have worked completely.
To paint weights by hand (see picture Painting weights by hand):
Note: Growlf has released this utility: Growlfs TES5 Blender Animation Chain that contains some of the vanilla animations and a full skeleton. This utility makes it faster to paint the weights by hand, to refine them, as you can see the results of changing the weights immediately in Blender without having to export the mesh and test it in game. I absolutely recommend it.
Right now Blender cannot copy the dismemberment data correctly for Skyrim meshes, so you'll have to do that part manually, but it is not too difficult.
Skyrim armour meshes use three body parts:
To work with these body parts look at the Vertex groups your armour has after you've assigned all the weights to it, as shown in picture Vertex groups. You will probably have already a BP_TORSO vertex group, but it will contain all the vertices of your mesh. If you want to assign some of the vertices to other dismemberment part:
If you need to create the BP_LEFTLEG or the BP_RIGHTARM vertex groups:
Then, to assign some vertices to those newly created Vertex groups:
Go to Creating an armour for Skyrim. Part 2
Armor. The main defensive means of any warrior.
Regardless of the quality of your shield, having a decent set of armor can be the decisive factor between life and death.
As good as some base game armors come, there are some things which could be added and improved.
The Skyrim modding community has been developing some incredibly well-made armor mods for years. And since the release of Skyrim for PC the number of mods has only grown larger.
Right now the number of extra armor mods you can download is so large that browsing any Skyrim mod forum will take you hours if you are solely looking for wears!
So I’ve compiled a list of the finest extra armor mods to help you whittle down the best of the best. Be sure to grab anything that looks enticing and just remember these are all totally free!
Have you ever desired to roleplay a Samurai in Skyrim without breaking the character of the Dragonborn?
Fear not, this mod is exactly what you are looking for.
It adds a variety of heavy armor sets to the game intended to be used by the Blades.
The design fits right in with the Blades’ armors so it is as close to a legit Samurai armor as you will get in the game.
The best thing about this mod is that it also adds weapons with the Samurai theme to the game. Which means you will be able to roam around the plains of Skyrim with your trusty katana and a lust for blood!
If you are interested in lore-friendly sets of armor this one is going to be just a plain treat.
Those who like to roleplay dark characters might want to give the Ritual Armor of Boethiah a try, as it was a set of armor originally forged by cultists who praised the Daedric Prince Boethiah.
Now you can craft the set of armor yourself and bring terror to the hearts of the innocent in the realm.
This heavy set of armor once belonged to Goyen, a knight who used to serve the Dragon Kings.
After he was betrayed, the man went on a bloodlust to kill all of the kings, and his armor became a thing of legend.
If you want to get your hands on the set of armor once belonging to this fearsome warrior you will have to kill the boss in Dovah Kendaar Do Jun.
But be warned: you will need to be prepared to face a very strong opponent here. Remington 40x serial number lookup by name. It is an additional set, after all.
Have you ever noticed how most sets of armor in Skyrim do not seem to fit Elven characters quite right?
In fact, you would even think Elven characters seem to be made specifically for the purpose of being mages. And using any other type of armor other than a robe would look a bit ridiculous.
There must be a way to fix this, right? Good news – there is!
The Alfheim Knights armor is a set which adapts to an Elven knight almost perfectly.
It belongs to a race of warrior elves who combine both their intuition and the strength of most humans from Skyrim.
The Warchief armor is very unique, but it somehow does not feel out of place in the game.
The creator of the mod has stated the main goal of this armor was to fuse some of the main aspects of the main warrior races of the game, a purpose which seems to have been diligently fulfilled.
The Warchief armor incorporates bear skin and skulls of slain foes to an otherwise elegant set of fur.
You can use this armor in light as well as heavy versions, so it is up to you to decide how you want to dress for the kill.
This set is based on the classic armor sets of Assassin’s Creed. And it has that traditional hood we all fell in love with.
However you can choose how you want to wear this armor: you can craft it as light or create it as clothing.
If you do not want to dress heavily then this is a great set of armor for you to use. Especially for Creed fans who like to intermix their fandoms a bit.
Do keep in mind it is mainly aimed at thieves and assassins, so it may not be the best set if you are roleplaying a knight.
Now this armor can be used by any type of player.
The creators of the mod made sure that you can craft equipment to the armor depending on how you want to play, which means thieves and knights alike will find a use for this highly-detailed set of armor.
It is up to you to decide which elements to add to it.
Have you ever wondered how the Dragonbone armor would look if it were to be crafted by a smith capable of working with ebony?
This is your answer to an otherwise uncommon question.
Dragonbone Ebonsteel Armor is one of the most beautiful sets on the list. And though it is extremely heavy, it will protect you from all kinds of foes including the mightiest of dragons.
The armor worn by the Imperial Legion has been a sign of prestige.
And many warriors prefer to wear it proudly, though they do not belong to the Imperial Legion themselves.
This mod aims to overhaul the way the Imperial armor looks by making it slicker and more impressive than in Oblivion and Skyrim. I’d say it turned out pretty well.
Do you remember that beautiful set of Paladin armor going around back in the days of Oblivion?
This mod is a complete rework of that set which gives you an armored horse with a similar set to the one included for your character.
It is a very beautiful set of armor and it somehow seems to fit perfectly well with the lore of the game.
This female-only armor works best if you intend to wear it with humans only. Which means you will want to avoid trying this dark set on an Argonian for sure. Mac os 9 rom download.
The mod adds the Apex Werewolf armor to the game which is beneficial and can be crafted if you have the advanced armor smithing perk.
If you have ever wanted to feel like a hunter in Skyrim, but none of the sets included in the base game seem to do the trick, then you will definitely want to check out the Regal’s Huntsman Armor.
It is a beautiful set crafted with fur and adds decent protection on top of a spectacular look that is almost unmatched by any set found in the base game.
Also it’s clearly based on Assassin’s Creed, as is the case with the last DreamBurrows set mentioned on this list.
Have you ever felt like the Daedric armor is not as evil as you would like?
Well this Daedric Reaper mod takes the regular Daedric armor one step further and makes it look as if it came straight out of the Diablo universe.
This armor includes a set of two extremely powerful swords along with defensive wear.
And though the set itself does not seem right to be worn by the Dragonborn, it is an awesome and extremely detailed piece of wear you will definitely want to check out.
This female-only armor, which should honestly be called Demon Huntress Armor, is a detailed piece of leather wear that complements its defensive look with some metal alloys.
The set itself is very lightweight and adapts to most types of playstyles. Although admittedly it looks much better on nimble characters like thieves and assassins.
This set, which also includes the Spear of Thorns, is the ideal armor to be worn by a Dark Knight role-player.
The armor adapts to almost any type of body in the game and works with both male and female characters.
It is an extremely powerful set which needs to be uncovered in a coffin located on Serpent Stone Island.
Kynreeve Kahl is a powerful Daedra which can be summoned by the most skilled of Conjurers, provided you have already installed the mod that includes him.
In any case, the armor worn by this Dremora is so beautiful that many players have wanted to get their hands on it for a while.
And this mod makes it possible for you to obtain the set worn by this powerful summonable follower.
You will need to visit the Skytemple Ruins and take a stand against two powerful level 30 Dremora who are waiting for you to take them down.
It’s going to be a tough fight, and it requires you to kill them both if you wish to get your hands on the amazing Kynreeve set. But in my eyes it’s well worth the trouble.
This amazing set of armor looks to have been brought straight out of a movie set.
It is so majestic and I think you’ll struggle to find anything like it in any mod page. Although you cannot get your hands on this mod using the Nexus browser – it is only available to download via Steam, and the developer is no longer supporting it sadly.
In any case this unique armor is modeled to be worn both by males and females, and its appearance is so mighty, you will look like a holy warrior wearing it.
Lack of updates may be a turnoff but I think it’s so fun that I just had to include this in my top 5.
This mod replaces all of the Dark Brotherhood armors with these incredible sets, which are as beautiful to look at as they are meticulously made.
It is called the Sicarius Armor and it adapts perfectly to any assassin playstyle you might want to follow. As you can imagine, it is based on the traditional Assassin’s Creed style too.
The set does not fall short on detail and it also fits perfectly into the world of Skyrim. Give it a try and see what you think.
Now this set of dark armor is made to look as if it were a dragon standing.
The helmet is one of the most perfectly-crafted I have encountered in the Skyrim modder community, second to none on this list.
Furthermore it provides great defensive attributes and serves as a perfect type of armor to be worn by those who are a bit far away from the light, if you catch my drift.
Traversing through the plains of Skyrim with a dark horse and this set of armor is a thing to behold and you will absolutely love doing so if you download this mod to go along with your journey.
Created by the same developer of Immersive Weapons, this mod adds new armor types to the game and increases the variety of where they spawn.
Ultimately this makes Skyrim feel way richer than it does when you first download the base game or any of its DLC’s.
All of the armors added with this mod are extremely lore-friendly. And with over 50 sets of armor to choose from it will be hard for you to not find something you like considering everything this mod has to offer.