I am guessing I am here for asking a stupid question. Or that technical support isn't knowledgeable enough to correctly answer A simple inquiry I sent them. So they pass me off to these forums. It all started when I chose the Smithing perk "Steel Smithing". Seemed logical enough to me and others from the forums. That if I can create iron armor pieces from the beginning and now having "Steel Smithing" perk. I could create steel armor pieces. Well I can't. After asking others who were as confused as I was. I sent for technical support as it seemed a technical issue. The first answer was of no use. Sending me a link to a recipe wiki page that I had already had. The second reply was confusing and contradictory. I was told I needed the 'advanced armor perk' found on the light armor perk branch. Well there is no such perk in the 'light armor perk tree'. However there is an 'advanced armor' in the smithing tree. Needed to make plate and scale armor. HUH???? Am I being told an iron head piece is not plate mail? Or an iron chest piece is not plate or scale mail? The answer technical support gave me suggests that plate and scale mail are made only from steel. So I asked a third time if they could be a little clearer and less confusing. I am told that this is a game play issue and to ask on the boards. (way to pass the buck)

So I am asking here. Contrary to what the game and the tech's are telling me. What skills do I need to make a steel set of armor? Thank You.

The Smithing tree has two branches - left being mainly Light Armors, and the right being Heavy. "Advanced Armors" is in the left branch, and adds the use of Corundum to the Steel you learned at the bottom level. That lets you make Steel Plate (using Steel + Corundum) as well plain Steel.

The confusion comes from using "Plate" on its own as a shorthand for "Steel Plate". Yes there are a lot of plate armors, but only Steel needs the distinction of regular and plate versions.

So Steel Smithing is enough to use Steel ingots to make regular Steel armor, without extra Corundum (there's already some in the ingot recipe), and Advanced Armors perk is needed to use Corundum ingots in combination with other materials. The armors made with that skill typically also use Corundum for tempering.

Some more confusion is introduced by the categories at the forge not matching the perks. Steel skill lets you make Imperial or Steel, and probably one or two other pieces. Advanced Armor perk will add more choices under the Steel category, rather than add a whole new section, like Dwarven or Elven do.

THANK YOU Very Helpful indeed. Confirms that we are not crazy There is confusion. With clarifications Just what I needed.

I wonder why they made the 'light armor branch' (of smithing perk tree) have some heavy armor things like the advanced armors?

Probably a result of poor oversight of armor types for the smithing tree. It should be in the middle, like Arcane Blacksmithing, but without having "advanced armors", the perk tree isn't really "balanced" from a visual perspective. Hell, it still isn't, as there are 4 seperate heavy armor-specific perks (ignoring Dragon and Steel), while there's only two for light.

Plate armor as others kind of said is a perk on the left (light armor) side of the smithing tree. I kind of like that there is a heavy armor there. The light side uses fewer perks to get to dragon armor and on the way you can use plate armor too to evenly level your defense.

Always a matter to discuss.

Here, your are free to use heavy or light armor if you use the left tree.

One aspect is, that the weapons on the left tree are stronger than the one of the right tree. At least until you go for Daedric on the right tree.

So, you have to make a decision between protection for yourself or damage against your enemies.

Protection is the right tree, starting with dwemer-armor, damage is the left tree, starting with elven-weapons.

And then there one build who uses steel-armor, but goes the left tree for the elven-weapons, over plate-armor to dragon-armor. And of course the other build, where the character wears light armor and light bows, but have a tank with heavy armor at his side.

Because the advanced armor perk is both light and heavy armor, I feel it should've been in the center of the tree, just under arcane blacksmith.

I don't think I've ever made steel plate armour I've just looted it from whatever bandit happens to be wearing it

Placement on the tree is partly so that you have to climb it one step at a time, to make you spend three points in the skill, instead of just two, to get there. Smithing lets you become over-powered too easily already, without extra short-cuts.

I tend to gimp my characters by letting them use weapons but not armor, so smithing provides only half the benefit.

Could be due to Scale armour. Scale is a light armour and uses corrondium to craft.