- Main article: Ingot
- "No other race has replicated whatever process was used to create dwarven metal. Although it can be easily mistaken for bronze - and in fact many forgers of dwarven materials use bronze to create their fake replicas - it is most definitely a distinct type of metal of its own."
- ―Calcelmo[src]
Dwarven Metal Ingot is a crafting material found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is used to craft and improve various weapons and armor via smithing.
Background
Dwarven Metal Ingots were the metal of choice for the Dwemer. The method of producing these ingots was known only to them, and hence was one of many secrets lost with them. Due to the only source of this metal being the Dwarven ruins, the metal has come to be known as "Dwarven metal," named after its creators. This metal neither dulls nor rusts.
Smithing
Dwarven armor is a set of heavy armor that can be crafted with the Dwarven Smithing perk and the following supplies:
Dwarven Armor
- Dwarven Armor: 3 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 3 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Boots: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 2 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Gauntlets: 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 2 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Helmet: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 2 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Shield: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 1 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
Dwarven weapons feature an expanded range including the Crossbow with the Dawnguard DLC.
Dwarven Weapons
- Dwarven Battleaxe: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 2 Leather Strips , 1 Iron Ingot , 2 Steel Ingots
- Dwarven Bow: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 1 Iron Ingot
- Dwarven Dagger: 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 1 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Greatsword: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 3 Leather Strips, 2 Iron Ingots, 2 Steel Ingots
- Dwarven Mace: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 1 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Sword: 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 1 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot.
- Dwarven War Axe: 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 2 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Steel Ingot
- Dwarven Warhammer: 2 Dwarven Metal Ingots, 3 Leather Strips, 1 Iron Ingot, 2 Steel Ingots
- Dwarven Arrow (24):DG 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 1 Firewood
- Dwarven Crossbow:DG 5 Dwarven Metal Ingots
- Dwarven Bolt (10):DG 1 Dwarven Metal Ingot, 1 Firewood
Locations
- General stores and blacksmiths usually have dwarven metal ingots after level 6.
- Mzulft and Nchuand-Zel are the top ruins to find scrap metal (ore substitute), and more than 400 ingots can be made from looting just one of these locations. Nchuand-Zel is particularly interesting because of its location in Markarth. It's also where the Dwemer Museum and Calcelmo's Laboratory are located, where many dwarven items can be found. At least 240 ingots can be smelted from a thorough looting, though there are two caveats: all the items must be stolen and several guards patrol the museum.
- Inside various other Dwemer ruins in the form of ore substitutes as well as ingots.
- Inside Alftand Ruined Tower; a sublocation outside the main Alftand entrance. There is an approximate 88 ingots that can be smelted from the scrap. Note that there are several Dwarven Spider Workers and one Dwarven Sphere guarding the tower.
- An unmapped Dwemer storage building between Stony Creek Cave and Mzulft.
- Ten or more can be found in Avanchnzel.
- They can sometimes be looted from enemies.
- Most legitimate Dwemer ruins have Dwemer metal that can yield hundreds of ingots.
Smelting
The following table shows the ore substitutes that can be smelted to produce dwarven metal ingots. All common miscellaneous Dwemer items, except for Dwemer levers, which begin with an adjective (such as "small" or "bent") are smeltable.
| Name | Item ID | Weight 
|
Value 
|
Ingots Yielded | Ingots per Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bent Dwemer scrap metal | 000C886C | 2 | 15 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Large Dwemer plate metal | 000C8864 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Small Dwemer plate metal | 000C8866 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Solid Dwemer metal | 000C8874 | 25 | 25 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Large Dwemer strut | 000C8872 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 0.15 |
| Large decorative Dwemer strut | 000C8878 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 0.133 |
Trivia
- The bent dwemer scrap metal, large dwemer plate metal and small dwemer plate metal are the most efficient pieces to use, since they actually produce more weight in ingots than the raw material, at a 3:2 ratio.
- Although the ingot looks like a deep and dark orange, the weapons and armor crafted are a light yellow-gold color. This may be because of the other ingots that are used to smith these types of weapons and armor.
- As of the patch making Smithing experience relevant to cost, training from 30 to 100 Smithing on dwarven bows is often used since Dwemer ruins can yield as many as 300 ingots in one visit. All that needs to be purchased is the iron or iron ore which costs very little. Nothing has to be purchased at all if dwarven armor and weapons already on hand are improved, effectively reducing the cost of raising Smithing to nothing, assuming there are enough dwarven armor/weapons available to improve.
- Another good way to level up your Smithing is to make dwarven arrows. Since you only need firewood and dwarven metal ingots, they're really cheap to make. There is a wood chopping block next to the forge in Riften.
- Machinery in Dwemer cities (such as pipes, gears, doors and such) seems to all be made of Dwemer metal, though this metal can't be salvaged.
- Corundum ingots look quite similar to Dwarven metal ingots, barring the brownish cast that the Dwarven ingots have. This could mean that corundum is one of the ingredients in Dwarven metal.