Simple question: Why can't they be improved?

Every "Nord Hero" weapon can be improved EXCEPT the Bow? Why? (Battleaxe, Greatsword, Sword, and Axe can all be improved)

SANB I can kinda understand but I don't.. it's like the Falmer Weapons. You can upgrade the originals, but the "Honed" versions you can't improve?

Are these on purpose, or a bug? I'm not understanding this..

Who else agrees that the ancient Nord weapons and armor are one of the best looking sets in the game

They do look fantastic, especially the bows.

The Ancient Nords are quite fascinating overall.

Ancient Nord weapons get turned into Nord Hero weapons (at Skyforge).
They are better looking than Ancient Nord. Newer/cleaner looking. Lighter too.
Certain things can not be smithed/upgraded because they were left off the game's lists, because of mistakes and typo's.
Or my guy would definitely be using a Nord Hero bow! (Which cannot be made.)
I guess I assumed they would have fixed things by now...
Thank the gods for Kivan and USKP.

I just don't get it though.. the Nord Hero Bow really isn't THAT strong.. same goes for the Supple Ancient Nord Bow..

I really hope it gets patched 1 day, I really like the look of the Bow and wanted to use it as my staple long range.. but I can't even improve it so it's just sitting on a Weapon Rack in Breezehome for the time being.

I do agree though on the looks of the weapons, that's why I use them the most. And the fact they're lighter in weight is better. But this whole Bow thing is bugging me.. I even finally found an Ancient Nord Bow recently and that's what started all this. Finally get my ingots to make it.. and you can't improve it. Lame.

This can be fixed in the Creation Kit or by downloading a mod, if you're on PC.

Have a high smithing level and beat the companions quest line, you can make nord hero armour & weapons at the skyforge and temper them.

i thought the ancient weapons should of been able to be the best weapons in the game.

the companions axe, should of been a monster, especially after upgrading, but instead, its average. Same with daedric, artifact, weapons, they are weak, absolutely no use.

I've already known this. I wouldn't be asking about the Weapons if I didn't know how to make them. You can temper ALL the Nord Hero weapons EXCEPT the Bow.

Yeah sorry, took me like 6 minutes to finish that post. Finishing up my report. I tend to stick with certain armour types throughout all my characters, didn't know that. I guess I should of checked before I posted.

The problem here is that the Tempering recipe for the Bow has the wrong item (the Battleaxe) in the output box, so doesn't work. The 'Supple' and 'Honed' Ancient Nord items, on the other hand, don't even have tempering recipes in the first place. Both of these issues are fixed in various mods, however that's not of much use for those on console systems so it would be nice if Bethesda fixed it as well.

There are a few other items that have no Tempering recipe, among which are the Honed Falmer weapons.

I'm hoping they fix this with ebony daggers, Wuuthrad, and horned scale armor.

Yes, all the weapons and armours that are bugged and can't be improved should be fixed. It's annoying for console players. As for the OP, Ancient Nord sword is probably my favourite looking weapon in the game, and the bow is also nice - especially the Nord Hero version. So yes, it is really disappointing that it cannot be improved.

The Supple Ancient Nord Bow is the best easily found bow in the early game. I pretty much always find one in Bleak Falls Barrow, Sarthaal, or Dustman's Cairn.

Well, whichever bow I use will get smithed up to 300 or 400 damage anyway, so it really doesn't matter.
And then double-enchanted of course...
Something like 60 points frost + 60 points shock, that really gets Ancient Dragons attention when you shoot them with it!

Yes Jefferey - all except the bow; you can't make a Nord Hero bow because of a typo...
EDIT:
Sorry guys, I see we're already on top of this!

This is no error - this is by design.
Nothing broken or needing to be 'fixed'.
Just the Nord Hero bow (made from a regular Ancient Nord bow) is an error, and definitely needs to be fixed ASAP.