Version 1.0 is out! Hooray!

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45743/?

THIS MOD REQUIRES SHIVERING ISLES!

This mod does many things: It rebalances armor stats, adds three new armors, and overhauls level scaling for enemies like Bandits, Marauders, and Vampires.

THE NITTY GRITTY
To start, this mod rebalances stats for almost every armor piece in the game, including enchanted variants, leveled variants, and Shivering Isles sets. Changes are too comprehensive to include in a text file, but significant changes include:

-Skill has a greater effect on armor rating.

-Durability on all items has been reworked. Early light armors won't be so pathetic, but endgame armors in general are a little less durable. Global armor rate decays slower via GMST edit, but because some armors now have lower durability you might not notice it as much.

-Orcish and Daedric armors are considerably heavier - only an Expert or Master of Heavy Armor can efficiently wear them. Glass armor has a much higher AR, but it's also way less durable - whereas Elven Armor is the most durable Light Armor in the game now. The most durable armor in the game period is Dwarven Armor, by a wide margin; the Dwemer really knew how to build items that could withstand the test of time. Now your choice of armor isn't as simple as "get better armor"; sometimes you'll have to decide between more AR or greater durability.

-Imperial Captain armor, worn by Imperial Watch captains and Imperial Palace guards, was made playable. But you'll still have to kill a guard to get it. Criminal scum.

I also added three new sets of armor. "Colovian Leather", which existed in the game files as "Pit" armor but was never utilized by Bethesda, is an advanced Leather (Light) armor between Chainmail and Mithril; includes a Colovian Fur Helm by McMuffin. "Fine Steel" is an amalgamation of several different resources; it offers better defense than steel and is more lightweight, but is notably less durable. Both of them can be found on Bandit and Marauder bosses, respectively. I've also added a new set of even better Daedric Armor, using models made by McMuffin, and a Daedric Tower Shield made by Xaxxiron. This set is named "Daedroth" Armor, and is hand-placed throughout the game world. Hint: Check in main quest or Daedric quest-related dungeons. Extra hint: The following are the only items in the set you can miss out on permanently, but they're not hidden away and hard to find like the other pieces: The Shield and Helmet are in Mankar Camoran's Paradise, and the Boots are in the Sigillum Sanguis of Bruma's Great Gate.

Included in the mod archive is a PDF spreadsheet detailing exact changes to armor stats. You can find an online version of that spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1duon8cOwwU8RtR8cB4Uzbc5WF4p-0b5ooFHXpzzbXVs/edit?usp=sharing.

All of these new armors have been distributed through vanilla leveled lists, so it should be compatible with most major overhauls (mileage may vary). But (for the most part) I have removed most vanilla leveled lists from NPC inventories; instead, they have my own custom-made leveled lists, designed to be much more specific. The premise of this change is to distribute some of the new armors appropriately, but also hone in on when certain enemies should svck (bandits) and others should kick your ass (vampires). You'll find that enemies stop scaling with you and reach a maximum level at some point; on the flipside, enemies will have a minimum level that may or may not be much higher than your current level.

While I was there I went through several unique NPCs that have level-scaled equipment, like Pinarus Inventius or Mazoga the Orc, and gave them much more specific, un-leveled equipment. If I missed anyone, tell me who and I'll fix them! All of my adjustments are made based on level 30 being around the endgame level for most characters.

This is version 1.0 of MAU; as of right now, loot and vendors have not been changed. Armor statistics are subject to tweaks in future updates.

INSTALL
Extract the contents of this archive to your Oblivion/Data folder. Activate the mod in the mod manager of your choice, or Oblivion's default launcher; all life decisions are valid, and this mod will respect your autonomous choice to use whatever Mod Manager pleases you.

COMPATIBILITY
Super important: this mod requires Shivering Isles.

This mod changes a lot of stuff; you're going to want Wrye Bash to ensure the best compatibility. I've already added appropriate Bash Tags, so the right info will be imported into your Bashed Patch; however, if you use another mod that replaces the inventories of NPCs, each mods' changes will be added and the NPC will have extra items/armor pieces. If this happens, it's safe to remove the "Invent" tag from my mod with Wrye Bash; doing so won't remove my inventory changes, but they will be overwritten by any mod lower in the load order or imported into the Bashed Patch. Mileage may vary; please tell me your experiences using this mod with other big overhauls like Frans or OOO!

Included is a patch for Knights of the Nine. All this patch does is balance the Divine Crusader's Armor (to be consistent with my other balances), the generic Knights of the Nine armor, and dresses Sir Roderic in a non-leveled set of armor. I don't have the other DLC plugins, so I cannot make patches for any armor pieces they add.

Mods that add new armor sets, such as Armamentarium, are technically compatible - but the armor's values will be inconsistent with mine.

CREDITS
-GuarTrainer (aka garymorrowind) for "Fine Steel" armor from his "Armoury of Conan" mod
-giggityninja for "Fine Steel Helmet" from his "Steel Great Helm" resource
-mirz619 for "Fine Steel Shield" from his "Steel Shield Replacer" resource
-McMuffin (aka John Yerkes) for his "Daedric Lord" armor resource, and his "Colovian Fur Helm" resource
-Xaxxiron for his "Daedric Tower Shield" mesh

SPECIAL THANKS
-The fantastic modders listed above in the credits. Their resources are fantastic.
-Kobal, Saebel, migck, and everyone else who provided feedback on the gamesas forums.
-The various musicians whose recordings kept me sane during the making of this mod.
-Best modding community ever.
-Bethesda, for making a [censored]in' game and then letting us mod it.

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45743/?