The Nightingale Armor is a unique set of armor only given to those who have proven themselves to one of Skyrim's most elusive factions. As an artifact of the Daedric Prince Nocturnal, whose realm is darkness and shadows, each piece of the Armor is imbued with special effects that can turn a common thief into a master of the night.

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The Nightingale Armor is not an easy relic to acquire, though, requiring players to get about three-quarters of the way through the Thieves Guild questline before being offered a set. It's one of the most useful sets of armor in Skyrim for stealth-type characters, who tend to join the Thieves Guild anyway and won't have to go out of their way.

Nightingale Armor Stats And Effects

The Dragonborn In Nightingale Armor
  • Armor Type: Light
  • Armor Rating Total: 69
  • Nightingale Armor Effects: Increases Max Stamina by 40 and Frost Resistance by 50%
  • Nightingale Boots Effects: Permanently grants the Muffled effect and silences movement
  • Nightingale Gloves Effects: 25% boost to both Lockpicking and One-Handed weapons
  • Nightingale Hood Effects: Reduces Illusion spell cost by 17%
  • Additional Effects: 25 bonus Armor Rating if the full set is equipped, for a base total of 94

The Nightingale Armor is a Light set, and thus benefits from every perk in the Light Armor skill tree. With enough points spent in the tree, the Nightingale Armor is comparable to end-game Heavy Armor. The stat boosts on each piece revolve around thievery and stealth-based combat, and with a full set equipped an additional 25 Armor Rating is granted on top of everything else.

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The Nightingale Armor is leveled, so it will change based on when the player begins its associated quest. There are three versions: the weakest spawns from Level 1 to 18, a stronger version spawns from Level 19 to 31, and the highest-level version spawns at Level 32 and beyond. The stats above reflect the highest-level version of the Nightingale Armor.

How To Get The Nightingale Armor

The Skyrim Thieves Guild

The Nightingale Armor can only be acquired by getting to the quest "Trinity Restored" in the Thieves Guild questline, the ninth Thieves Guild quest overall, where it is simply given to the player for becoming a member of the Nightingales. Get through the first few hours of the Thieves Guild quest line until you reach the quest "The Pursuit". Completing this leads right into "Trinity Restored".

Make sure not to start the quest at all until you reach Level 32, as the highest-level version of the Nightingale Armor only spawns after this point in a player's progression. During the quest the player will undertake an oath to join the Nightingales, become a guardian of the Twilight Sepulcher and a servant of Nocturnal, and finally receive their very own set of Nightingale Armor.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S

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