Vampire Armor (Dawnguard) is the dark, gothic leather outfit that vampires across Skyrim wear once the Dawnguard add-on is installed. It’s light armor with early-game protection: the 25-point cuirass sits just below Leather Armor. The set has no helmet – only a cuirass, gauntlets and boots – which suits creatures who prefer to show off their glowing eyes.
How to get it
You can’t forge it at a smithy. The usual source is the vampires themselves: once the Dawnguard storyline gets going, vampire attacks and lairs become common, and vampires wear either this armor or simple robes. The boots are on practically every vampire you kill, so they’re the easy part.
Castle Volkihar is the jackpot. Spare cuirasses lie in the coffin room and in the reading room with the arcane enchanter above Feran Sadri’s alchemy lab, and a pair of gauntlets sits in each of the Volkihar Keep and the Undercroft. If you side with the Volkihar Clan in Dawnguard, the vampire Hestla even sells all three pieces – a rare case of a vampire offering customer service.
The cuirass comes in three colors – black, light grey and red – with identical stats, so pick whichever matches your coffin. The gauntlets are the rare piece: ordinary vampires don’t wear them, and the only one who does is the randomly encountered vampire Traveler.
Is it worth wearing?
As protection, not really. The full set gives 40 armor for 8.5 weight and has no enchantments, which is fine at level 10 but quickly outclassed by Dawnguard Armor (29 for its cuirass) or Elven. The missing helmet also means you’ll have to borrow a hood or circlet from elsewhere, which breaks Matching Set.
Its real value is the look. For a vampire Dragonborn, a Serana fan or anyone playing a spooky aristocrat, it’s perfect. Tempering needs Leather and the Advanced Armors perk; add Custom Fit to stretch its usefulness a bit further.
Good to know
- Three cuirass variants exist, all with identical armor and weight.
- No helmet is part of the set.
- Not the same as the royal armor worn by the Volkihar leaders.
- The sleeves clip through most close-fitting gauntlets from other sets, another reason to stick with the matching pieces.
Set pieces
| Piece | Slot | Armor | Weight | Value | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vampire Armor | Body | 25 | 5 | 175 | 020142C7 |
| Vampire Gauntlets | Hands | 8 | 1.5 | 25 | 0201A51F |
| Vampire Boots | Feet | 7 | 2 | 25 | 0200B5DE |
Variants
These versions share the set’s look or slot but are separate items in the game files:
| Piece | Slot | Armor | Weight | Value | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vampire Armor | Body | 25 | 5 | 175 | 020191F3 |
| Vampire Armor | Body | 25 | 5 | 175 | 020191F2 |
Crafting and upgrades
This set can’t be forged by the player – you have to find, buy or earn the pieces.
Improve (temper) the pieces at a workbench with Leather.
Stats from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): base armor rating, weight and value before Smithing improvements and perks. The ID is the item’s form ID for the console.