Orichalcum is the dark green-tinged metal behind Orcish equipment, and every piece in the set needs it. Worth 45 gold, the Orichalcum Ingot is used in 14 forge recipes, all under the Orcish Smithing perk, from the Orcish Dagger up to the four-ingot Orcish Armor and greatswords. If you like heavy armor with plenty of spikes, this is your metal.
How to get it
Two 
Orichalcum Ore smelt into one ingot. Fittingly, the best mines are tied to Orc strongholds: Bilegulch Mine has 9 veins, while Mor Khazgur Mine and Dushnikh Mine have 7 each. The Orcs are not always thrilled to see outsiders, so be polite.
Loose ingots are fairly rare. Mor Khazgur has 3, Dushnikh Yal 2, and Mor Khazgur Mine and the Saarthal Excavation 2 each. Single ingots turn up in Irkngthand, Alftand and The Midden.
The easiest route is buying: blacksmiths such as Alvor, Balimund and Beirand often have a few. Bandits may carry them as well.
A full Orcish set with weapons needs a lot of ingots, so a trip to the stronghold mines is worth it once you have the perk. Smelters are usually right next to the mines, which makes the whole process quick.
Smelting and tanning
- 2 Orichalcum Ore → 1 Orichalcum Ingot at the smelter
Used to craft
Orichalcum Ingot appears in 14 recipes in the game files.
Armor
- Orcish Armor – Orcish Shield (3), Orcish Helmet (2), Orcish Gauntlets (2), Orcish Armor (4), Orcish Boots (3)
Weapons and other items
- Orcish Smithing: Orcish Bow (2), Orcish Warhammer (4), Orcish War Axe (2), Orcish Sword (2), Orcish Mace (3), Orcish Dagger (1), Orcish Greatsword (4), Orcish Battleaxe (4), Orcish Arrow (1)
The number in brackets is how many Orichalcum Ingot each recipe needs. Bold labels are the Smithing perk the recipe requires.
Improving gear
At a grindstone or workbench, Orichalcum Ingot is the material used to improve (temper) 15 items, including Orcish Armor, Rahgot.
Good to know
- Orichalcum Ingots also improve unique Orcish weapons like Rahgot and The Longhammer.
Data from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): value, weight, ore veins, recipes and merchant lists. ID 0005AD99 is the item’s form ID for the console.
