DESCRIPTION

Some of Skyrim's vanilla armors look very similar and even appear to be improvements of each other. This mod attempts to expand upon that idea by making some changes to vanilla crafting recipes to allow the player to use some armor items as a "base" for other armors.  When combined with other crafting materials, the player can improve the "base" armor item into a higher tier item, thus "progressive" armors.  This is especially useful for those who like to roleplay as this mod allows their character to start off with a lower tier armor, such as hide armor, and then use materials they either find or earn through their journey to improve their armor into something better, like studded armor, and onto scaled armor.  Some previously un-smithable armor items have been added - no new armors have been added, only recipes so the player can craft items that could only be found in the world before (see below for newly craftable items).

TL;DR - Vanilla armor pieces that look similar are now required materials for each other when smithing them. For example, you'll need scaled armor and a few other smithing ingredients in order to make scaled horn armor.

What this mod does:

• Adjusts some smithing recipes
• Adds smithing recipes for some already existing vanilla armors
  

What this mod does NOT do:

• Add new armors
• Change armor stats
• Change armor visuals
• Change smithing perks
• Change tempering or enchanting
  

FILE VERSIONS

I wanted this to be a compatible as possible so several file options are available, depending on what DLCs you choose to run and/or what changes you'd like made to your game. Each version is available as its own separate file as well as "full version" which combines all of them.

SKYRIM ONLY VERSION

This version makes changes to the crafting recipes for the following armors available in the base game:

• Studded Armor (cuirass)
• Scaled Armor set (helmet, cuirass, bracers, & boots)
• Scaled Horn Armor (cuirass)
• Light Elven Armor set (helmet, cuirass, bracers, & boots)
• Gilded Elven Armor (cuirass)
• Banded Iron Armor (cuirass & shield)
• Steel Armor w/pauldrons (cuirass) - Added in v0.9.1 - thanks Everlive!
  

The only armor "added" by this version is the Light Elven Amor set, including helmet, cuirass, gauntlets, and boots.

Armor smithing progression is now:

• Hide Armor set --> (Studded Armor - cuirass only) --> Scaled Armor set --> (Scaled Horn Armor - cuirass only)
• Light Elven Armor set --> Elven Armor set --> (Elven Gilded Armor - cuirass only)
• Iron Armor set --> Banded Iron Armor (cuirass & shield only)
• Steel Armor (cuirass) --> Steel Armor w/pauldrons (cuirass) - Added in v0.9.1 - thanks Everlive!
  

SKYRIM + HEARTHFIRES VERSION

This version includes all the changes present in the "Skyrim Only" version, with additional changes to the following items:

• Scaled Helmet - change in recipe
• Scaled Horn Armor (cuirass only) - change in recipe
  

This version requires Hearthfires DLC because it allows the player to use goat horns in smithing these items, both of which prominently feature goat horns.

SKYRIM + DRAGONBORN VERSION

This version includes all the changes made in the Skyrim version as well as makes changes to the crafting recipes for the following armors available in the Dragonborn DLC:

• Bonemold Pauldron Armor (cuirass)
• Bonemold Guard Armor (cuirass)
  

Armor smithing progression is now:

• Bonemold Armor (cuirass) --> Bonemold Pauldron Armor (cuirass) --> Bonemold Guard Armor (cuirass)
  

I chose to not make the Chitin and Stalhrim heavy armors dependent upon their light armor counterparts since most people tend to stick with heavy or light armor and all of the other progressive armors stay within one class.

REQUIREMENTS

You will need USKP (v2.1.1 or higher). Why? Because USKP adds in the recipe for Scaled Horn Armor, which is normally uncraftable in vanilla Skyrim. It took me a while to figure out why there were two recipes for Scaled Horn Armor and USKP was the culprit. Since I think most people are (and should be) playing with it anyways, it hopefully shouldn't be a bother.

COMPATIBILITY

This mod should be compatible with retextures/replacers for vanilla armors or mods that change smithing perks since only the smithing recipes have been adjusted. Any reported incompatibilities will be added here!

For CCOR, there is a CCOR-compatible version to download. I mean, the original technically works fine with CCOR if loaded after CCOR, but this version should better match the recipes in CCOR. Big thanks to kyptopyr for giving me permission to share this version!

INSTALLING & UNINSTALLING

Install using a mod manager or manually by extracting the chosen files to your Skyrim Data folder.

Uninstall by either deactivating it with your mod manager or by deleting one of the following files (depending on which version was installed) from your Skyrim Data folder:

• Progressive Vanilla Armors - SKYRIM.esp
• Progressive Vanilla Armors - SKYRIM+HF.esp
• Progressive Vanilla Armors - SKYRIM+DB.esp
• Progressive Vanilla Armors - SKYRIM+HF+DB.esp
  

CREDIT & THANKS

To Bethesda for making all of this possible
To the /r/SkyrimMods moderators for hosting this modding contest which provided the push I needed to actually open up the Creation Kit and learn how to make my own mod, albeit rather basic.