Shrouded Armor (Skyrim)

Shrouded Armor is an armor for dikke mensen enchanted Light armor set, traditionally worn by the assassins of the Dark Brotherhood. All variants of the Shrouded Armor have a special property that adds a perk which increases the total armor rating by 25 when exactly four pieces are worn in any combination of body parts and variants of the Shrouded Armor. This means wearing two Shrouded Cowls exploiting the Ancient Shrouded Cowl's bug allowing another Cowl to be equipped on top of it will only grant the perk if another part of the Shrouded Armor is missing even if it leaves a body part totally unequipped.

Craftsmanship
The armor is red and black, with many straps and buckles running down the chest and across the waist. It is the only set of armor other than the Dragon Priest Masks and Nightingale Armor to feature a cowl with actual protective leather. The cowl has two variations: one with the face cover, and one without. Each piece is also enchanted. It seems that whilst Khajiit and Argonians can wear the Shrouded Cowl, it does not provide a mask to hide the nose and mouth of the wearer, though the maskless version allows the ears to be seen, while the standard Cowl does not.

Variations
There are two other variations of the Shrouded Armor. One is called Ancient Shrouded Armor. It looks exactly the same as the Shrouded Armor but provides improved enchantments and armor ratings. The other is the Worn Shrouded Armor, which doesn't have any previous enchantments, thus potentially making it the most valuable, especially if the player acquired the extra effect perk, since it can be greatly "customized".

Joining the Dark Brotherhood
Joining the Dark Brotherhood automatically allows the armor to be collected; Astrid provides it after arriving at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary for the first time.

Killing Dark Brotherhood members
Alternatively, it can be obtained without joining the Dark Brotherhood by killing Astrid during the quest "With Friends Like These...". It is also found in the deserted Dawnstar Sanctuary, but is named "Worn Shrouded Armor". This variation has no bonuses but can be enchanted.

Additional sets
A few additional sets of this armor may be obtained by having the Perfect Touch, a perk of the Pickpocket skill tree. In the quest The Cure for Madness, another Dark Brotherhood sanctuary near Dawnstar is visited. The ghosts which roam the sanctuary wear this armor. Killing them causes their corpses to disappear, disallowing the collection of the armor. However, these apparition can be pickpocketed for the armor pieces with this perk. When the quest "Where You Hang Your Enemy's Head" is completed, an additional set of armor (minus the cuirass) can be found on the Mannequin in the Master Bedroom. The Orc, Sharamph, in Mor Khazgur wears a Shrouded Hood that the Dragonborn can pickpocket from her with the Perfect Touch perk.

Armor
Regular Armor= Alternate Armor=

Bugs

 * Regardless of whether the covered or non-covered hood is being used there is no face cover present in the meshes for males of any race.
 * When worn by either Khajiit or Argonian the hood will lack a face cover regardless of gender. With Khajiit it may also remove certain hairstyles or accessories.
 * Will show in the workbench menu but will return the 'requires perk' message even if the player already has Arcane Blacksmith. Intermittent, may be limited to the set that can be pickpocketed from Astrid when first meeting her.(maybe not a bug, because you need to finish "with friends like these" for temper the set; checked in creation kit)
 * If a Bosmer, Dunmer, or Altmer are wearing the Shrouded Hood, their ear-points stick out of the hood - FIXED - tested and confirmed with Altmer - still awaiting confirmation on Dunmer and Bosmer.
 * Sometimes the worn Shrouded Armor set will not appear in the inventory but will still have weight when picked up.
 * Shrouded Gauntlets, Armor, and Boots can be pickpocketed by the dragonborn from Ysolda, (in Whiterun, and once they have joined the Dark Brotherhood), when she is sleeping between the hours of 21.00-22.00. However, it is impossible to pickpocket the Cowl as there is a 0% chance of it being activated. This suggests she is wearing it, however it does not appear this way if the dragonborn just looks at her head.
 * If playing as Argonian or Khajiit, the Ancient Shrouded Cowl can cause your Cowl to simply disappear, and your Argonian's horns and feathers will disappear as well. Try to activate the Ancient Shrouded Cowl first and then your normal Shrouded Cowl. In some cases it occurs that you wear both of them at the same time, and now your Shrouded Cowl is visible.
 * As a Khajiit your wrists may go invisible whilst worn.
 * There is a chance of your character's chin appearing through the face cover if you are a Dark Elf female
 * The cowl may not appear on your character's head.