I want to avoid pimping out the smithing tree if possible, but end-game I really want a full set of Daedric armor. How hard is it to find Daedric armor as drops / in chests?

That stuff is extremely rare you may never get more that 2 pieces. I just use...

Hey where is this Atro Forge?? I need daedric stuff bad and hearts are hard to find! Thanks guys

Very rare. I found none before level 50. From level 70 I have found a few daedric weapons and one peice of daedric armor for the body. I also found a daedric bow at the Fletcher's in solitude. If your not going with smithing your best bet is to find the atronach forge. Just find that and look it up on the web and you'll see why I think it's a good thing for you. I just don't want to give you any spoilers. I will say that you need conjuration to be level 90 to do what you want it to do. There are very easy ways to get conjuration to level. If you don't like using exploits then do it the correct way but it will take time.

Check out the forge or find it on your own.

Here. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Atronach_Forge

I'll add that finding actual Daedric stuff is very, very rare. My current character is 74, with the Lockpicking perk that ups the chance of better loot 50%, and I've still only found TWO pieces of daedric armor. No daedric weapons.

Then again, on another character, around level 45 without the Lockpicking perk, I had already found 2 daedric weapons in chests. Weird.

If you really want daedric, you're better off paying the smithing perks. I find daedric hearts at Alchemy vendors all the time.

I'll note that when you do the quest 'The Wolf Queen Awakened', there is a huge pile of corpses that all contain leveled loot. When I did this quest, I got one and a half full sets of Ebony gear. It would be possible the same might have happened with Daedric gear had I done the quest when I was a higher level.

Hearts can be bought in the College of Winterhold and the Alchemist at Riften. Just check all of the Alchemists, they are always bound to have Hearts.

You can make Daedric Armor from the Atronach Forge, no need for Smithing or dungeon farming. You need 90 in Conjuration tho~

Dragonscale/plate on the other hand~

Dardric is very rare. At level 64 with 180 hours in, I have found 2 weapons and 2 pieces of armor.

300 hours, level 57, one pair of Daedric boots. Make them, or be prepared for a very long wait.

At level 50, I somewhat uncommonly find Daedric weapons on Dragur Deathlords and Death Overlords. Forsworn Ravagers and Briarhearts (as well as chests in their camps) have yielded Daedric loot, but I more commonly find Dragonbone/Dragonscale equipment, or enchanted Ebony items.

I'd say your best chance shot at finding Daedric items would be to search the chests at Dragon Word Walls, while you're a very high level.

You would think that the "Spoiler Tags" would mean that it does indeed contain .....well I don't know....spoilers.

Nice job guys.

If you need Daedra Hearts you can also get them from the Shrine of Mehrune Dagon. I think you can get 4 of them from killing the enemies. If you wait 3 days they will respawn and you can get 4 more.

i have 100 conjuration but like level 24 smithing and no perks in it

How do I use teh atronach forge to make a daedric helm ?

I've found a helmet, cuirass & gauntlets in a short period of time, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. Just got to look in the right places or be lucky.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Atronach_Forge