Like, I know that the high elves use glass and moonstone for example. But what about dunmer? Do they use ebony ore? I know Nerevar used a dwemmer weapon (trueflame?).

Iron, probably. Iron is most likely the single most common material for metal or metal-like goods across Tamriel, and there's no reason for the Dunmer to abstain from using such a ubiquitous resource.


That said, we do also know that the Dunmer have developed to use what's easily available around them, particularly in regards to the chitin of Morrowind's native fauna. While it doesn't make particularly good weapons, I'd imagine the Ashlanders in particular make extensive use of it for spears and arrows.


They also have an abundant source of Ebony, but the relative difficulty of working in the material likely means it's a high-status material. Similarly, we know that there are deposits of Glass and Adamantine in Morrowind, both of which are utilized by the Dunmer.

So a dunmer wearing glass armor would make sense?

Very much so. The styles featured in Oblivion and Skyrim are not the Dunmeri style, though. This is what Dunmeri glass http://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-item-Glass_Armor.jpg and http://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-item-Glass_Weapons.jpg look like. This is still something that only a select few can afford, though. Most Morrowind Dunmer wear chitin, bonemold, or netch leather. Chitin weapons of all types and bonemold bows are pretty common. Iron and steel weapons were also pretty common in TES3.

If he can afford it and prefers light armour. It's certainly not one of the most common materials used by Dunmer. Quite a few Buoyant Armigers wear it, although most make do with chitin.

Ninja'd

I might add that while nobody in the games seems to comment on it, Redoran warriors tend to use more Dwemer arms. At least the ones between the majority, who use bonemold and steel, and the wealthiest nobles, who use ebony (including the odd daedric weapon).

I'd dare to say daedric isn't too uncommon in Morrowind, or at least on Vvanderfell, considering the vats amount of daedric worshiping and related ruins. Unlike in Skyrim, daedra were almost a part of the wildlife in TES 3.

Daedric gear was extremely rare in TES3, though. I think the only examples in the game were as set loot in set locations rather than being part of the leveled lists like in every other game. They certainly don't have any cultural stigmas against using Daedric gear, though.

I personally wouldn't call Glass Light Armour. The Light-Medium-Heavy distinction is absolute rubbish, and has no real value from a lore perspective.


From a character perspective (not a gameplay one) what one chooses to wear is going to depend on their wealth, social position, and somewhat their place of residence.


Lower classes of all strokes are likely to find Iron and Chitin, depending on their access. Iron seems to be just as abundant a resource in Tamriel as it is in the real world, though nomadic populations like the Ashlanders would likely find it difficult to process to any significant degree.


Medium wealth equipment would likely be Steel and Bonemold, with a defiante preference for the latter amongst the Great Houses. While steel is relatively common, Bonemold seems to have a ritualistic significance, embodying history and ancestry. Non-house aligned Dunmer would probably just go for Steel, but those trying to emphasise their family ancestry would likely try to have a suit of Bonemold commissioned.


Higher up, you'd start to see more regional variation based on access to resources, social disposition and personal flair. Houses or individuals with a more functional or militant lean would likely favour Ebony because of its strength, though we've seen a lot of Dwemer amongst similarly martial individuals. If they're flashy, or trying to show off their wealth, it could be Glass, which tends to be pretty but isn't as functional as Ebony or Steel. Depending on the region or trade, Ebony could also fill this role, as it can show off the product of a regions wealth or trade in such a valuable commodity. We've also seen a few higher status Steel variants, though these seem to be predominantly imported armours. We have no real information on Adamantium or its trends.

Where does daedric armor lie then? Would the higher-classed individuals use it over say, ebony for one example?

Other than Divayth Fyr's suit, the only pieces of Daedric seen in Morrowind that aren't at the bottom of some forgotten ruin are on display by extremely wealthy individuals, none of whom seem to have more than a single piece. The only two exceptions are a lone Buoyant Armiger who wears a Daedric helm and a body guard to an extremely wealthy and influential individual who has a Daedric shield. Presumably, adventurers who do manage to find Daedric gear will use it, but most of it seems to be held as collector's items.

Remember, before Oblivion made it fairly common in leveled lists and Skyrim made it craftable, Daedric armor and weapons were the rarest in the world, topped only by one-offs, like the various artifacts. Most adventurers would go their entire lives without ever seeing a sample. If the Oblivion Crisis actually made Daedric gear more common, then I imagine that anyone who could benefit from it and got a hold of it would use it, especially the Dunmer since their Daedra worship would make taboos about using Daedric equipment unlikely.

In short, adventurers probably can't afford Daedric and the wealthy probably won't part with any, but adventurers who do find Daedric will absolutely use it.

Armor, yes, but most characters would swim in daedric weaponry and shields past level 20. There are a bit more daedric weapons distributed between NPCs, and all weapons and both shields are in leveled lists. This, of course, in no way disproves the actual point of the posts above, that in a non-gameplay manner it is quite a collector's item. Bottom point is, in case you'd go for an experienced adventurer or a rich person, daedric would absolutely fit a dunmer.

In all fairness, glass did always look like just glass plate covers over armor pieces whose main bodies were made of some metal such as steel.

And moreover, you could argue that the dunmer is an experienced conjurer and spends their days working the atronoch forge. This would make more sense to me then a dunmer finding or crafting it to be honest. Especially since c is supposed to do some interesting things in Elder Scrolls.

A hard core dunmer who possibly admires everything daedric would definitely grab the opportunity to work such an artifact, I like the idea.

Bonemold and chitin are eco materials so it is possible they may use something similar. That or they are famed for yheir knowledge in destruction magic so many may steer to magic as a primary form of attack

Iron, Steel, Silver, Ebony. IIRC Morrowind has some Chitin and Bonemold weapons too.

Destruction would definitely be an option with emphasis on daedric armor created through conjuration.

I agree and also most elves arnt famed for the massive muscles and tall stature, and considering most "traitional" dunmer customs descend from ashlander tribes, who care more about speed and agility for hunting and scouting purposes it makes sense the dunmer would prefer netch leather and chitin and other light armour and weapons that can be fashioned on the go.