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I decided to use Mage Armor and so I quit wearing Morokei (a "light armor" mask) in favor of a an enchanted "clothing" circlet (0 armor). When I picked up Diadem of the Savant I was disappointed to see it register as "light armor" with AC 8. My wife asked why, so I said if I put this on I'll go from 120 armor to 68: Instead I went to 128! I tried it several times (casting first, casting after, trying Morokei again) and the Diadem seems to be exempt from the Mage Armor rule despite being "light armor" (which is clearly modified by my slight light armor skill) and having AC 8.

Are all circlets exempt for Mage Armor? Are there other pieces (unique or entire classes) that are exempt?

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  • interesting, its entirely possible circlets are exempt as all the other ones I've seen have no armor rating, this may just be an oversight.
    – l I
    Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 12:13
  • Could it be that the perk refers specifically to "armor" armor, i.e. the big piece that covers your torso? What happens to your armor rating if you put on a helmet or a pair of boots or gloves? I'll try to fire up the console and test this when I get home if no one else comes along with more detail.
    – Kromey
    Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 19:53
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    That's why I mentioned Morokei (a mask) which does negate Mage Armor.
    – Ben Jackson
    Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 19:55
  • He's a corollary question: if you wear a necklace labeled as Light Armor such as the Amulet of Articulation, does it mess up Heavy Armor or Mage Armor perks?
    – agf
    Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 11:34
  • I believe having a shield equipped does not negate the Mage Armor perk.
    – Krazer
    Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 22:38

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Here is the interesting thing about the Diadem of the Savant, it counts as both no armor (for the mage armor perk) and as light armor (for the custom fit perk).

I tested this with both my mage and my light armor wearing thief. I suspect this is an oversight by the developers as circlets are supposed to have no armor value, but this one some how ended up with one.

The amulet of articulation that @agf mentioned in the comments falls under the same category, as necklaces typically shouldn't have armor value, but in this case it is ignored by mage armor for the purposes of calculating the bonus.

Another clue that backs this is up that neither of these items can be improved at the workbench, so the game may not consider them to be armor at all.

From testing, I'm guessing that the mage armor perk is looking for specific types of armor rather than for anything with armor value, as I have the Lord's stone, which adds 50 armor value, and ebonyflesh still provides 300 armor rather than 100.

All the masks in the game seems to fall under the category of light armor and is classified as such, but I'm guessing necklaces and circlets are ignored by mage armor even though they may be mis-categorized as light armor (which the light armor perks looks for).

None of this can be confirmed until the CS is out, but I suspect this is most likely true.

As for agf's corollary question. No, the amulet of articulation does not negate the well fitted perk for heavy armor.

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    Side note, you can wear both the Diadem of the Savant + Falmer Helmet at the same time. Not sure if you can wear all circlets/diadems with the Falmer Helmet, or if there's other circlet + helmet combos to exploit. Just stumbled upon this little loophole when I was swapping gear with Marcurrio.
    – user17190
    Commented Dec 27, 2011 at 13:26

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