If you’re a Skyrim player who swears by the Thieves Guild’s iconic stealth gear, you’ve probably wondered how to get the most out of your signature set. You already know the Nightingale Armor looks cool, gives great stealth bonuses, and pairs perfectly with any sneaky playthrough, but its base stats fall off fast once you hit higher levels. Learning how to upgrade nightingale armor to legendary turns this mid-game staple into an endgame-ready set that can hold its own even against dragon priests and daedric foes. I’ve put this guide together after testing every possible perk combination and material grind on three separate playthroughs, so you don’t have to waste hours running in circles for the wrong supplies.
Prerequisites You Need Before You Upgrade Nightingale Armor to Legendary
You don’t need to complete any hidden quests or unlock rare content to get your Nightingale Armor to legendary rarity, but you do need to check a few simple boxes before you head to the blacksmith. Skipping any of these prerequisites will leave you staring at a workbench menu with no upgrade option available, so double-check this list before you start grinding for materials. Here’s exactly what you’ll need:
- Level 100 Smithing skill (you can boost this temporarily with potions or enchanted gear if you don’t want to grind to 100 permanently)
- Arcane Blacksmith perk unlocked (required to modify any pre-enchanted armor, including all Nightingale gear)
- Elven Smithing perk unlocked (Nightingale Armor falls under the Elven crafting category for upgrade purposes)
- At least 6 units of refined moonstone, plus 3 units of quicksilver ingot if you’re upgrading the full four-piece set
A lot of players make the mistake of skipping the Elven Smithing perk because they only focus on heavy armor or daedric crafting lines, but you can unlock it with just one perk point after you get the basic Steel Smithing perk. You don’t need to invest in any other light armor smithing perks if you don’t want to, either. Temporary Smithing boosts from fortify smithing potions and enchanted smithing gear count towards the level requirement too, so if your Smithing is only at 90, a 10-point boost potion will get you to the threshold for legendary upgrades without extra grinding.
Step-by-Step Upgrade Process for Your Nightingale Armor Set
If you’re trying to figure out how to upgrade nightingale armor to legendary, you don’t need to jump through any hidden hoops beyond the basic smithing process. Once you have all your prerequisites sorted, the actual upgrade only takes a minute or two, even if you’ve never modified enchanted gear before. Start by heading to any blacksmith with a workbench and smelter on site, Riften’s blacksmith is the most convenient option if you’re still wrapping up Thieves Guild quests, but any workbench across Skyrim works.
First, if you’re using temporary Smithing boosts, drink your fortify smithing potion and equip any +smithing enchanted gear right before you interact with the workbench, because the effects only last a limited time. Interact with the workbench, scroll through your available armor pieces until you find the Nightingale items you want to upgrade. Select the legendary upgrade option for each piece, you’ll see the material cost pop up, then confirm the upgrade. If the legendary upgrade option doesn’t appear when you first open the workbench menu, double-check that you have all the required perks active and enough materials in your inventory. If you’re using a temporary Smithing boost, make sure the effect is still active before you try to select the upgrade. You don’t need to do anything special to keep the original Nightingale enchantments, as long as you have the Arcane Blacksmith perk unlocked. The stealth boosts, frost resistance, and carry weight bonus for the full set will all stay intact after the upgrade, no extra enchanting required. I’ve seen players waste grand soul gems trying to re-apply enchants after upgrading, and there’s literally no need for that step. One thing to note: you can upgrade each piece individually if you don’t have enough materials for the full set right away. The hood, gloves, and boots only cost 1 refined moonstone each to upgrade to legendary, while the cuirass costs 3 refined moonstone and 3 quicksilver ingots, so you can prioritize the pieces you use most first if you’re low on supplies.
Stats You’ll Get After Upgrading to Legendary Rarity
The whole point of upgrading your Nightingale Armor to legendary is to get endgame-worthy defense without losing the unique utility that makes the set so fun to use. The base Nightingale cuirass only has an armor rating of 37 at its default state, which is barely enough to hold up against bandits at level 30, let alone higher level threats. Once you upgrade it to legendary, the cuirass alone jumps to a base armor rating of 82, and each of the three smaller pieces jump to 28-30 armor rating each. That brings the full set’s base armor rating to 171, which is more than enough to hit the Skyrim armor cap of 567 when combined with maxed light armor perks and any shield you might carry.
You won’t lose any of the set’s unique enchantments either: the 25% sneak bonus, 15% frost resistance, 50 extra carry weight, and 20% cheaper illusion spell cost all stay exactly the same as the base set. That means you get all the utility of the original Nightingale gear, plus enough defense to tank heavy hits from dragons and ebony warriors without switching to heavy armor. I’ve used a fully upgraded legendary Nightingale set for two stealth archer playthroughs, and I never once felt underprotected, even when I accidentally alerted entire bandit camps full of level 50 enemies. The set also retains its signature dark, shadowy appearance, so you still get the iconic Nightingale aesthetic that makes the Thieves Guild questline so rewarding.
Common Mistakes to Avoid During the Upgrade Process
Even if you follow all the steps we’ve laid out, it’s easy to run into snags if you make these common errors I’ve seen hundreds of players make. The first and most common mistake is forgetting to unlock the Arcane Blacksmith perk before you try to upgrade. Nightingale Armor comes pre-enchanted, so you can’t modify it at a workbench at all without this perk, no matter how high your Smithing skill is. Another frequent mistake is using raw moonstone instead of refined moonstone for the upgrade. Raw moonstone is mined directly from ore veins, but you need to smelt it at a smelter first to turn it into refined moonstone before it counts towards the upgrade material requirement. You can smelt 2 raw moonstone ore into 1 refined moonstone at any smelter located near most blacksmith shops across Skyrim.
You also don’t need to disenchant your Nightingale Armor to reapply better enchants after upgrading. I’ve seen players do this and lose the unique Nightingale enchantments forever, which is a huge waste, since you can’t get those enchants anywhere else in the game. Finally, don’t grind to 100 Smithing if you don’t want to. A fortify smithing potion made with blisterwort and glowing mushroom can give you a 130% boost to Smithing for 30 seconds, which is more than enough to push a level 60 Smithing skill to the 100 threshold needed for legendary upgrades. That saves you dozens of hours grinding iron daggers to level up your smithing skill if you’d rather spend that time doing Thieves Guild quests or exploring dungeons.
Upgrading your signature stealth set doesn’t have to be a confusing grind, and once you know how to upgrade nightingale armor to legendary, you can keep using your favorite Thieves Guild gear all the way to the end of your playthrough. You don’t need to switch to daedric or dragon armor to get endgame level defense, and you get to keep all the unique thematic and utility bonuses that make the Nightingale set so popular in the first place. Next time you’re in Riften after finishing the Thieves Guild questline, swing by the blacksmith shop with your materials and perks, and you’ll have a legendary set ready to go in just a few minutes.
