If somebody would please answer my question, that would be just dandy.

What is the best sneaking gear in the game? And by best I mean highest sneak bonus. As of now the best I have is Cicero's hat, but I wasn't sure if there was any better.

Looks like there are a bunch of vets on these forums, so I have no doubt that I will get an accurate response!

Oh, and it would be awesome if you could tell me how to get it as well. Thanks!

The BEST would be any gear you like that you enchanted to 40% or higher Fortify Sneak, with dual sneak and Muffle on the shoes.

When it comes to stuff in game, the Dark Brotherhood outfits (including Jester/Cicero's gear) and the Nightingale stuff is all pretty good. You'll probably half to mix and match though.

The Nightingale stuff looks cool, but unless you use Illusion it isn't very good.

If you're going after already-magical items, the dark brotherhood set is probably the best set. (The gloves are unbelievably good).

Instead of starting a new thread, I figure this is a relevant place to ask.

I love the nightingale armor. I actually am starting a Khajiit that I pretty much made to be a badass nightingale, because my other guy just kinda did the ritual and went back to his glass set. Now I know that there aren't any "nightingale" missions but I just wanna get into character and have an excuse to wear/benefit from the armor.

Alright enough of that... where was I...

So my plan was: start game > head to Riften > ??? > Nightingale Armor > ensuing badassery

But from what i understand, this method is flawed. The ES wiki claims that the strength of the armor depends on the level you get it? What does that mean exactly? If I go straight through the Thieves quest will my armor forever be below its full potential? Or somewhere down the road will I be able to improve it according to my level?

Does that make sense? I don't really know how to explain it but I tried.

As always, thanks for any help guys!

iirc, the nightingale gear has three tiers. to get the highest tiered armour, you need to be above level 32. to get the best weapons (which i think has 5 tiers) you need to be above level 46. there is an issue with the blade at its higher level though, in that it cant be smithed.

heres some links

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Nightingale_Blade
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Nightingale_Armor
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Nightingale_Bow

edit: the armour and weapons stay at the level you got them forever. the only way to improve them is via smithing.

Thanks, I was afraid of that :/

Another question, what exactly do the boots do? I'm trying to be a thief-mage (mainly illusion, little alteration) and I want to know how the "muffle" on the NG boots compares to the spell. Does the standard enchant depend on level too? Sorry I know so little about the finer points of ES games. I'm always up for learning though

Naked with only boots enchanted for sneaking.

The armor can be smithed past the 567 max armor level and the weapons ... they hang on one of my walls.

Nightingale armor is very stealthy but you must be too. At 100 sneak I am very seldom seen first even if I am just walking around. In sneak I am almost invisible ... unless I am.

Ebony mail is pretty good even though its heavy armor.

I'm gonna bump my question cuz it didn't really get answered

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Nightingale_Armor this should answer your questions my friend but I'm not to sure if Lv. effects the muffle or not? I think it doesn't it just muffles your foot steeps.

Edit: upon reading the link I gave you, I have now been informed that there is a point sys. for muffle . I take back what I said up there ^

so you're saying the the muffle on the NG boots is like an enchant with its own level?

From the way the chart reads in the link, each Lv. tear of the boots has a point rating. First Lv. has .25 points, second tear has .5 points and the third tear 35. It depends on your Lv.

edit: I think we should treed carefully here, we are very close to making this a spoiler thread.

Damn that jump from 2nd to 3rd tier is insane.

and hardly. I'm staying relevant to the thread topic. OP practically asked for spoilers

Remember too that there's a point with all the gear were it reaches overkill. I got the Nightingale gear in my late 20's and have never had any issues with sneaking. You only need so much to basically become invisible. I don't think waiting until you are high level to get the best stuff is important unless you won't be happy unless you have the best stuff. Otherwise it's not important.

The mid-tier (lvl. 19-31) boots are the same as the DB boots as far as muffle effect. Muffle effect is essentially "full" at 1.0 according to the point system (the spell, e.g., provides the full effect.) being used. The muffled movement perk provides a 0.5 effect so when combined with the mid-tier NG boots or DB boots, you have full muffle (i.e., the spell or any other muffle effects would apply no further improvement).

BTW, the highest lvl. NG boots seem *overkill* as far as their points (35) since 1.0 is full. (No one really knows why that is.)

I like your philosophy. I'm the same way. Overkill is no fun. I'm fine with having solid gear that is above-average but still allows challenge and diversity. True, I could max my bow to kill everything in one hit, but where's the fun in that? unless you have a thing for power trips...

I'll probably be a 20 by the time I get around to NG quests, so I'm glad to hear it's still useful enough at that level. And I'm a Khajiit so it's not like I have a natural stunt to sneak or anything

Whoah whoah, so in order to get "max" muffle on mid-tier NG boots I need to combine it with muffle spell? I thought muffle spell already provided max effect? If I just wait for the higher-tier armor will I not need the extra muffle spell effect to achieve max sneak? Like I said, idk if I'll even need the extra with my natural sneak but better safe than sorry. I have no light armor perks this time around so my sneak is pretty much my safety net.

TBH, you don't need the gear. Skills and Perks can make you almost invisible.