The massive open-world RPG that's managed to live prosperously for over a decade, Skyrim is filled to the brim with secrets, lore details, and items that have all kept players coming back time and time again. Even all these years later, players are still discovering new pieces of gear or new ways to vanquish their foes in style.
Though it may not be the most powerful set of gear in the game, Skyrim's vast selection of Dwarven weapons and armors have found a place amongst a key sub-sect of fans. With pretty mediocre stats, coming just above Orcish gear and just under Elven, the Dwarven set of weapons and armors are some of the most visually unique in the whole game.
S-Tier
- Dwarven Black Bow of Fate: Found in the Dwemer Ruin Kagrumez, the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate offers a decent base damage of 13, but has an incredibly powerful enchantment. The bow's enchantment gives the weapon a 50% chance to absorb 25 points of Stamina, Health, and Magicka from opponents it hits, making it very useful for all builds.
- Zephyr: Another unique Dwarven Bow, this time found in the Dwemer Ruin Arkngthamz, Zephyr has a reasonable base damage of 12, but also has an enchantment that puts it above the other Dwarven weapons. Zephyr's enchantment allows it to fire 30% faster than a standard bow, making it one of the fastest bows in the game.
- Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow: The Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow is easily one of the best weapons in all of Skyrim. Offering a high base damage stat of 22 off the bat, the Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow packs a serious punch. To make it even better, the crossbow also ignores 50% of armor, giving it the highest damage potential of any archery weapon in the game, even beating out the Dragonbone Bow.
A-Tier
- Dwarven Crossbow: Though it lacks the enchantment of its enhanced version, the Dwarven Crossbow still has a hefty damage stat of 22, and has a fairly fast fire rate, making it one of the best ranged weapons in the game.
- Dwarven Bow: Not the most powerful ranged weapon in the game, the Dwarven Bow is still a good option for any lower level aspiring archers, starting to appear in the world once the player reaches level 12.
- Dwarven Warhammer: Arguably the best two-handed Dwarven weapon, the Dwarven Warhammer offers a base damage stat of 22, making it a formidable tool against even some of Skyrim's tougher enemies.
- Dwarven Battleaxe: With a base damage of 20, the Dwarven Battleaxe does rank lower than the Warhammer, though it's still a solid weapon for those specializing in a two-handed build.
- Dwarven Mace: Relatively fast, with a decent base damage of 12, the Dwarven Mace is a good early-game one-handed weapon.
B-Tier
- Dwarven Armor: One of the most unique looking armors in all of Skyrim, the Dwarven Armor set is sleek and stylish, but won't protect the wearer against the game's more challenging threats. When all pieces are worn together, the armor only gives a base protection stat of 78, which is even beaten out by the Orcish set, which gives 90.
- Dwarven Sword: The Dwarven Sword is fairly fast, but with a base damage stat of just 10, it's quickly outdone by Skyrim's other one-handed weapons.
- Dwarven War Axe: Arguably slightly better than the Dwarven Sword, the War Axe has a higher base damage of 11, but does have a slightly higher weight, meaning that it isn't quite as fast.
- Dwarven Greatsword: Another Dwarven item that looks more impressive than it is, the Dwarven Greatsword has a base damage of 19, making it the weakest Dwarven two-handed weapon.
C-Tier
- Dwarven Shield: Suffering the same issue as the Dwarven Armor set, the Dwarven Shield is easily beaten out by its competition, with even the Orcish Shield having a higher protection stat of 30 when compared to the Dwarven Shield's 26.
- Dwarven Dagger: With little to offer in the damage department, with a base stat of 7, the Dwarven Dagger is often passed over for Skyrim's other stealth-based weapons.