This is one thing ive been curious about since the first pictures, will pauldrons be a part of the chest armor like in Oblivion, or will they be seperate pieces like in Morrowind?
Also, will we be able to wear cloths underneath armor?

Look:
1 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033047799.jpg
2 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033053299.jpg
3 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052304153.jpg
4 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033042643.jpg
5 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033055955.jpg
6 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033045237.jpg
7 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052311168.jpg
8 http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052314715.jpg

In most pictures it looks like the pauldrons are a part of the chest armor, but in picture 3 it appears he is wearing some sort of chest armor(the straps) with a pauldron on left shoulder and a shirt underneath(the same one seen on the character in the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muK3GGppPpM&feature=related) while at picture 8 he is wearing the same straps, but nothing else, could be two diffrent chest pieces obviously though.

What do you guys think? Personally i really hope that pauldrons are seperate pieces, it opens for far more customization, but currently it kinda seems like they are not.

I am pretty sure that pauldrons are in, we have seen the same armor/pauldrons with different armor/pauldrons so I think there is a pretty good chance, but really it is 2 armor pieces, does it really matter that much?

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033045237.jpg

two paulrons, chest armour and a "harness"

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052314715.jpg

One pauldron, no armour, a "harness"

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033042643.jpg

only a "harness" and no armour

The "harness" is also over and under the pauldrons in different pictures. Maybe a sign of the pauldrons was equipped before the harness on some and after on others?

Hope you guys are right, looks like pauldrons are back in. Lets hope they arnt just being lazy and made a dozen varients of the same armor though..

My assumption is that the pauldrons are separated from chest armor, and they came together with the harness too. I think there is actually a left (leather) pauldron on the last pic in your post. But the screenshot with the Khajiit makes me not too sure about this anymore; it seems that the pauldrons that he is wearing are directly attached to the chest armor. edit: or maybe there is actually a harness where they are attached too, it just that it is hidden underneath the chest armor. I dunno.

I don't want to jump the gun, but more and more pictures I see, seem to indicate that we at least have a separate "Shoulder" equip slot. Maybe not individual pauldrons, but, while it seems they're intently trying to be coy about it, at the same time, you can see subtle cues, such as on the Elvish armor, where what appears to be an entire shoulder assembly appears slightly disjointed from the main cuirass (Which is actually how armor is assembled, but not something you see in Oblivion), what appears to be different variants of the same Armour, are seemingly missing one or both pauldrons.


All this could just be slight variations and no indication of the return of a Morrowind-esqu pauldron equip option. And any evidence brought fourth can be dismissed as simply a better focus on attention to detail, but if nothing else, there is no outright proof contrary.

On the last one you cant really see if he has a pauldron or not, since his left shoulder is not visible, and in the first picture he is wearing a diffrent harness then on the two others, so i dunno hmm.

If you compare http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052304153.jpg and http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052314715.jpg you can see that, what appears to be a flat shoulderpad on the latter one, is actually a part of the harness, its visible on the first one aswell, underneath the pauldron on left shoulder.

That doesn't really sound all that lazy...

Speaking of armor slots, I'd really like if you could wear robes over your armor again like in Morrorwind, I really miss that feature for some reason....

Compare this one, http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052304153.jpg with the orc picture: http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033053299.jpg
On the first one the pauldron is on top of the shoulder, while on the orc the shoulder armor actually starts more on the side of the shoulder. If you were to wear the pauldron on the first picture, while wearing the the chest-piece on the orc, the spike on the chest piece would be sticking through the pauldron

Yeah... The whole Pauldron+Robe sold the "Battlemage" look so well. I miss it. Even though there are no labeled classes, Skyrim(All TES titles really) are about being who you want to be, and more equip slot variants can really help you nail that "This is who I am, and this is how I want to look" thing.



I'm still mostly intrigued by the sword in that picture. It appears to be a Glass scimitar. My "Bethesda can do no wrong" mentality is steaming with optimistic possibility, but my inner pessimist is shouting "Chill, it's just a Glass Shortsword".

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052304153.jpg

Yeah, the people that are saying that its not clear in the last picture are right. However in this picture we can see a goblin with the same helmet and harness as the picture in question and has a distinct left pauldron. It also has a leather one underneath so maybe that is part of the harness, but there are pauldrons. It doesn't seem to be linked to the armour the goblin is wearing.


Edit: ArghoZ beat me to it

None of the pics people show actually show chest pieces that are the same, with and without pauldrons. There always different, perhaps similar looking but clearly not the same exact thing.It would be nice to have them but I see no evidence for it.

Indeed, especially the orc picture make me doubt.

I think this is what they've done, but time will tell.

Lesson one: Bethesda loves removing things from ES, to assume anything other than simplification is a mistake and will lead to overhype.

Assume its dumbed down, and you won't be disappointed on release day.

Aiite guyz, lets just assume for now that the armors come in as full body suits + helmets. Case closed and everyone will be happy enough by 11-11-11 :rolleyes:

If they have it instead of making new armors it would be imo. They can only have so many different armor sets in game...

Haha , though, i read in one of the articles that Skyrim will have more types of armors to choose between then in oblivion.

Would you guys either have the same amount of armor types as in Oblivion, but with seperated pauldrons, OR more types of armors and pauldrons attached to chest armor like in oblivion?

Personally i would prefer seperate pauldrons, because modders can easily mod in new armor, or they can put in more by DLC later.

Is it too much to ask for the amount and types MW had with pauldrons??

The belt thing on the chest begins with a B.... I believe.

I'm pretty sure we got pauldrons back. If not, then that svcks.

Depends entirely on Balance. I feel the modder solution is a little stupid though, I've never found an equipment mod that fits in the game, at the same level as the Bethesda stuff does. Sometimes because of "Player only" implementation, but more so because of a total clash of artistic direction, or mismatching color palette on the weapon. Even if it's technically done better, that whole "It's so good it sticks out too much" thing always bugs me.

Anyway. back to my original point, how content I am with an overall armor selection depends entirely on how it's balance. I always believe as the player progresses, equipment shouldn't necessarily be linear, for example, while early it's fine to have Leather-Iron-Steel and stuff, as you get higher, it's better to fan armor(and weapons) out for certain playstyles. New Vegas, even with it's pretty low count, does it quite well as a prototype. Even a high-end player might stick with the Reinforced Leather because of things like Sneak-Ease of Maintenance-Quality, over even armors in the same 'Light" category. So I personally can't give a definitive answer to that, but in an Oblivion system, I'd say More armor is better than Pauldrons alone, in a Fallout: NV balance system (Just the overall progression balance of equipment, not the stupid 1piece suit) definitely separate pauldrons.

i think they are not back in theres is just a bigger amount of armor styles

I couldn't help but notice that the pauldrons always attach to the same metal circle on the guys back even if the armor is different, examples are; http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052314715.jpg http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033045237.jpg http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/115/1158651/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110330052304153.jpg
But as soon as the pauldrons are removed the metal circle and straps which appeared to be part of the armor http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/116/1162158/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033055955.jpg

If you compare screenshots #4 and #8, you can see that the cuirasses are the same. In #4, the pauldron is sticking out, above the strap. In #8, the pauldron is underneath the strap. This is more evidence that pauldrons are separate.

EDIT: Wait a minute, in #4, it appears that that is not a pauldron, that is part of the Draugr's sword. Nevermind...