I did a test with a weapon upgrade (Skyforge Steel Sword) and noticed that upgrading it from Fine to Superior raised the damage from 22 to 28 (in my case, maybe these numbers differ depending on other perks) was the same whether I had the Steel Smithing perk or not. I figured "twice as much" meant each upgrade would improve the weapon damage (or armor rating) by a factor of two, but apparently not. So I'm wondering what exactly it means. And I suppose a related question is, what's the point of taking the Smithing perks at all? Can't you just find the armor in the game and upgrade it, even without perks?

Thanks.

Just a thought, but it may improve the "percentage" by twice as much. Meaning one level may be plus 10 percent damage, and the next is plus 20 percent. If the weapon did 30 damage, it would go to 33 damage with the first upgrade, and 36 damage with the second. (the second level of the upgrade increases base damage, not current damage)

I hope this makes sense.

Another one of the vague descriptions for perks in the game.

I don't think Skyforge Steel counts as "Steel". You'd think it would... but the system's very picky like that.

...and what Chaosaplant666 said too.

All i know is I'm getting rediculous stats via having dwarven smithing. Daedric bows only go up to 109 damage if I smith them up to max (without perk) - but my basic Dwarven bow now deals 190 damage thanks to that double-perk!

Are the Smithing perks something you can take full advantage of even if you get them after you've already started upgrading a weapon? For example, I have a full set of Elven Armor upgraded to Fine, and I don't have the Elven Smithing perk. But if I were to take that perk now, and then continue to upgrade the armor, would I have missed out on any extra armor for that first level (Fine), or does it all even out?

Thanks.

So are you saying that the first level is normally 5%, and the second level 10%, etc. and the perk doubles those percentages to 10, 20, etc.?

It halves the skill requirement to improve a material to a given tier.

Say you need 30 skill to improve a steel sword to flawless normally, with the perk you would only need a skill of 15.

UESP is your friend... seriously though, that's one of the most useful websites for an Elder Scrolls player

Found this on the wiki: Skyforge Steel weapons benefit from the http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Steel_Smithing perk.

Wow, thanks! I had always been going to a different wiki site which wasn't quite as helpful. So it seems that the Smithing perks don't improve the actual values of armor or weapon damage, but instead let you upgrade them to the next level sooner, by halving reducing the skill requirement. Not exactly improving it "twice as much," but whatever.