Crafting confusion

cheshyrecat24_ESO

So I wanted to build an Orc blacksmith. Any blacksmith armor or weapons I found were either broken down for inspiration/materials or used for research.
He's level 19
Blacksmith level 17
Metalworking 2/10
Keen Eye: 2/3
Miner Hireling 2/3
Metal Extraction 1/3
Metallurgy 1/4
Temper Expertise 1/3
For reference, I can craft a level 1 Iron Cuirass with an armor value of 1268 w/o traits. With me so far?

I realized I needed another character to be a blacksmith to help level up my orc blacksmith. So I made a Kahjiit
He's level 13
Blacksmith level 5
Metalworking 1/10
Keen Eye: 1/3
Miner Hireling 0/3
Metal Extraction 1/3
Metallurgy 0/4
Temper Expertise 0/3
For reference, I can craft a level 1 Iron Cuirass with an armor value of 1652 w/o traits.

My confusion stems from how the hell does a level 5 blacksmith with hardly any skill points in blacksmithing craft a piece of armor that is 400 points stronger (ballpark) than the character who is much higher in level and has many more skill points into blacksmithing????

Any thoughts? What else boosts crafting output? Is there some other skill that also boosts blacksmithing? What am I missing?

Leandor

6 levels. Send the armor crafted on your Level 19 char over to the level 13 char and check it, it will have the same armour value as the one that the level 13 crafted himself.

Everything in ESO scales. Your level 19 "outlevels" a level 2 armour by 17 levels, your level 13 char only by 11 levels. The item's stats are therefore reduced more for one char than for the other.

Any heavy chest at the same level as the char level of the character wearing it, will always have 2676 armour value. The more you outlevel your armour, the less armour value it will grant.

cheshyrecat24_ESO

ok. Thank you. I'll try that. I appreciate the info.