You should never underestimate the importance of your boots, and it doesn’t matter whether you’d like to use them for sheer protection or to boost an attribute or two. They form an important part of everyone’s wears. As such, I’ve decided to list out the absolute best boots in Skyrim, most of which can be easily obtained if you play the game casually. However to get your hands on some of these, you might need to progress through the story for a bit or even level up your character to 40+. In any case, worry not – we’ll help you find exactly what you’re looking for!
10. Thieves Guild Boots
How to get: Join the Thieves’ Guild This amazing set of boots has one main purpose. And you might guess what it is just by reading the name. These boots boost your pickpocketing skill by 15%, making them one of the best items that you can have as a stealth player in Skyrim. They’re also very easy to obtain as all you need to do is join the Thieves’ Guild. The boots are fully upgradable, and they’re made of leather (which means they don’t provide too much of a defensive boost). But the lockpicking boost makes them one of the best pairs of boots that you can get – especially considering how easy they are to obtain!
9. Azhidal’s Boots of Waterwalking
How to get: Find and sit on a plinth in Kolbjorn Barrow after first visit during Unearthed quest Yes, you’ve read that right. No, there isn’t any religion involved here. Azhidal’s Boots of Waterwalking are a pair in Skyrim that allows you to move over water as if it was solid ground. Holy levitation, Batman! They don’t provide much of a defensive boost, but they are one of the only three ways that you can walk on water without using any mods. They also proved you with a cool buff to your enchanting, which gives you an extra 10 points of enchanting to the base value of your skill. They are a modified version of Ancient Nords Boots.
8. Movarth’s Boots
How to get: Visit Movarth’s Lair It’s truly a shame that you can’t wear these boots alongside the Thieves Guild Boots, as these ones give you an extra 15% increase to your base sneak skill. These look soft, though. Maybe there’s a mod that allows you to wear them as gloves? We should look into that. In any case, Movarth’s Boots have a unique enchantment so you can’t disenchant them regardless of your skill level. You can find them by visiting Movarth’s Lair at any given point in the game, so you won’t struggle to get your hands on them if you truly want to have them – even when the story hasn’t progressed too much.
7. Ancient Shrouded Boots
How to get: Attack and raid the corpse of an assassin in Hag’s End These boots, which are part of the Ancient Shrouded set, are legitimately one of the best pair of boots that you can get if you’re looking for items to aid an assassin’s playthrough. They allow you to move as silently as possible, as they completely muffle out any sound that you make when you move – regardless of how quick you move. You can only get this set of armor while completing the Dark Brotherhood storyline, so get ready to get your knife dirty and filled with blood if you wish to obtain them. The set itself looks quite nice as well, so that’s a plus for those of you who hate losing your sense of fashion when committing murders.
6. Guild Master’s Boots
How to get: Complete the Thieves Guild quest “Under New Management” If you thought that the Thieves Guild Boots were already good, then you should check out the set of boots worn by the Guild Master themselves. They give you a pickpocketing boost of 35 points which puts them just behind the Skeleton Key in terms of pickpocketing quality in Skyrim. Naturally, getting your hands on them isn’t easy. You need to complete the Thieves Guild questline first. A small price to pay for such a handsome reward!
5. Blackguard’s Boots
How to get: Access Glover Mallory’s basement after completing the Paid in Full quest I took the liberty to add one set of Solstheim boots to this list… but trust me, there’s a good reason for it. The Blackguard’s Boots increase your pickpocketing by 40% which puts them ahead of the Guild Master’s Boots in terms of buff strength. But they’re arguably much easier to obtain than the former set. All you must do to get them is complete the Glover Mallory quests in the Solstheim DLC, and they should be sitting right at the Breton’s basement. Easy peasy.
4. Daedric Boots
How to get: After level 34+ these appear in random loot chests or dropped by Legendary Dragons I’ve added two sets of non-enchanted boots to the list because of how powerful they are. The Daedric boots are some of the most recognizable in the entire TES universe, as they’ve featured in various games. They offer 18 base armor points which makes them some of the strongest in the entire game too. Which buff you want to put on them is up to you, but in terms of basic footwear, only the Dragonplate boots overcome this awesome set – and that’s because of their weight.
3. Dragonplate Boots
How to get: After level 40+ they can be found in random chests or created by blacksmiths; enchanted versions are dropped as loot by Revered & Legendary Dragons. Made with the bones of slain dragons themselves, Dragonplate boots are far better than their Daedric counterparts. Even though they offer one fewer point of protection, they are also much lighter which makes them more viable to carry around – especially if you’re wearing the whole set. They also need the Dragon Armor perk which is obtained at smithing level 100.
2. Nightingale Boots
How to get: Complete the “Trinity Restored” quest Part of the Nightingale armor set, the boots muffle the wearer according to their level and give you a defensive point value of 10, but at a weight of just 2. These boots are some of the best light boots in the game; not only because of their awesome buff, but also because of how awesome they look (yes, I’ve taken aesthetic value into consideration when making this list). You can get them during the “Trinity Restored” quest which makes them fairly simple to track down.
1. Boots of the Old Gods
How to get: Complete the quest “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine” These boots boost your sneaking by 20%, they look amazing, and they are given to you as a reward for completing the “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine” quest. What’s not to love here? They only weigh 1.5 points too so they work great with any mix of light armor you want. And the Boots of the Old Gods also give you a defensive value boost of 7. Since they are made out of leather they are quite easy to improve – though you need to have enchanting boosts if you are to get them past flawless.
