Ebony Mail

Ebony Mail is considered by some to be one of the most powerful chest pieces in the games, providing useful protection and abilities.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena
During the third era, the Eternal Champion was an owner of the mail. It was hidden in Black Marsh after the previous owner, a warrior named Helath Stormbinder lost the favor of Boethiah. Following a strange map, the Eternal Champion eventually found the resting place of the mail and retrieved it for his war against Jagar Tharn.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
During the third era, the Hero of Daggerfall was awarded the Ebony Mail by Boethiah after completing an elimination job.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Ebony mail makes its appearance in Skyrim after completing the Daedric quest, Boethiah's Calling. The cuirass is a heavy armor with an approximate base defense of 46. It grants the wearer the muffle effect, and deals 5 poison damage per second to any enemies nearby.

A unique feature of the ebony mail is it grants the wearer a 'shrouded' effect while sneaking, making the wearer appear more like a shadow. Due to the handling of the particle effect's DDS texture file, the smoke effect coming from the mail while using a bow or other weapons can potentially make it difficult to see regardless of the visual settings.

Uses for Ebony Mail
While Ebony Mail is not the only heavy armor in the game with stealth enchantments, it is the most directly acquired. Other heavy armors with muffle, sneak bonuses, lockpicking, etc are randomly generated at traders or in containers and may take significant time to locate due to the many variations possible when the store or chest is first generated. It was originally stated that the Ebony Mail's shrouded effect was only a visual effect, but after further investigation has proven to be a functional part of the armor. The wearer is at least 15-20% harder to detect when sneaking in the armor.

Thieves Guild


 * If you decide to take the Thieves Guild quests later on in the game after you've already specialized in another play style with your character other than thief, the Ebony Mail can give you a much needed edge in completing quite a few Thieves Guild missions.

The Dark Brotherhood


 * This armor will provide synergy in completing your assassination jobs by allowing easier break-in and escape of the targets home or vicinity.

Dungeon Diving


 * The Ebony Mail can give a player an advantage when choosing non-violent approaches to exploring dungeons for whatever reason.

 Followers 


 * Heavy armor style followers can be made into much less of a liability for a sneaky character by being equipped with the Ebony Mail. It is also advisable to give them equipment further boosting their stealth, such as boots with muffle and fortify sneaking.

 Vampirism 


 * The armor's added stealth effect stacks significantly well with the stealth bonus from Vampirism (Skyrim).

Bugs

 * If the player equips Ebony Mail right in the crouch invisibility animation of Shadow Warrior while under the Invisibility spell, the shadow effects and damage aura may become a default Active Power when crouching (you get shadow tendrils and damage aura without having to wear the Ebony Mail), quicksaving and loading may fix it so that it just works during the 1 second Shadow Warrior perk invisibility.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls: Arena
 * The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
 * The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim