Tired of dying to the same old bosses? Bored of being beaten to a pulp by nameless goons? Sounds like you need some better Elden Ring armour (and it probably wouldn’t hurt to spend some time levelling up your Vigour/health stats too).
In Elden Ring there is loads of armour (or armor if you prefer the American spelling) — some of it you can buy from merchants, some you’ll just find in random places, and some you’ll collect merrily from the corpses of your fallen foes.
You can’t do much to upgrade each set of armour in Elden Ring (although some armour sets allow gentle tinkering at Sites of Grace), so you’re better off finding a whole new set if your current threads aren’t proving protective enough.
So whether you’re starting out and looking for some early-game armour that will help you through the first couple of bosses, or if you’re nearing the end of the game and looking to pick up some of the very best armour sets, keep on reading to learn all about Elden Ring armour!
How to get the best early armour in Elden Ring
Looking for the best early armour in Elden Ring? Here’s our top tip on that front! The Godrick Knight armour set should serve you very well in the opening act of the game, and it’s not too tricky to pick it up either.
Head to the Site of Grace in Limgrave named Gatefront, which is just before the tough tunnel where a big beast jumps down from above to attack you as soon as you enter. Most players will get stuck here at some point in their Elden Ring adventure, we’d wager.
Instead of entering the tunnel, spin around to face the other way and you should see a group of armoured soldiers, one of which is a particularly buff-looking Godrick Knight. As the video above shows, if you keep on killing these guards and the Godrick Knight, they will eventually drop each piece of their armour.
If you kill them all and still don’t have the armour piece you want, just interact with the Site of Grace and all of the knights nearby should respawn, allowing you to try again. This is a process called ‘farming’ and it might take you a little while to get the full armour set consisting of a helmet, chest armour, gauntlets and grieves (leg armour).
The Banished Knight armour is another goodie from early on in the game, and you should be able to get it as soon as you have access to Stormveil Castle (after you beat Margit, basically). From the Site of Grace named Rampart Tower, you should be able to farm a Banished Knight armour by following the video guide below.
The best Elden Ring armour sets and how to find them
What are some of the very best Elden Ring armour sets, and how do you get them? Different people will answer that question in unique ways, but if you’re talking about pure stats, the armour sets we’ve listed below are particularly appealing.
We’ve put the very best armour in terms of physical damage resistance top of this list, followed by some very tidy alternative options. Read on to see what we’d recommend, and click away on any of the guide links to learn more.
Bear in mind that many of these armour sets are quite heavy – you’ll need to level up your Endurance, thereby increasing your max equip load stat, if you want to actually wear them.
Bull-Goat armour set
- Weight: 63
- Physical damage resistance: 45
- Particularly strong against Strike (44.6 resistance)
- Get it by completing the Patches quest line, which starts at Murkwater Cave in Limgrave (video guide embedded below)
General Radahn armour set
- Weight: 39.2
- Physical damage resistance: 41
- Particularly strong against Slash (40.2 resistance)
- Get it by defeating General Radahn in the boss battle near Castle Redmane in Caelid (see video guide)
Banished Knight armour set
- Weight: 41.6
- Physical damage resistance: 39.3
- Particularly strong against Magic (29 resistance)
- Get it by repeatedly killing the same Banished Knight at Rampart Tower, Stormveil Castle (see video guide)
Lionel’s armour set
- Weight: 50.7
- Physical damage resistance: 38.3
- Particularly strong against Slash (42.2 resistance)
- Get it from a bedroom, down several lifts in the Capital (video guide embedded below)
Note: the barrel-chested Lionel armour seems to be something of a fan-favourite, but you can’t get it until quite late in the game. Check out the video below to see where it is and what it looks like.
Malformed Dragon armour set
- Weight: 38
- Physical damage resistance: 36.7
- Particularly strong against Light (30 resistance)
- Get it by defeating Malformed Knight in Farum Azula region (see video guide)
Godrick Knight armour set
- Weight: 28.1
- Physical damage resistance: 29.3
- Particularly strong against Magic (23.6 resistance)
- Get it by defeating the Godrick Knight at Gatefront Ruins (see video guide)
Royal Remains armour set
- Weight: 25.3
- Physical damage resistance: 25.8
- Particularly strong against Fire (22.1 resistance)
- Pick up the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Right) from the Village of the Albinaurics (in the Liurnia of the Lakes region), then win a fight at Roundtable Hold to earn this armour (see video guide)
Carian Knight armour set
- Weight: 23.5
- Physical damage resistance: 25.8
- Particularly strong against Holy (25.8 resistance)
- Get it from a grave near Church of the Cuckoo in Raya Lucaria (see video guide)
Raging Wolf armour set
- Weight: 24.1
- Physical damage resistance: 29.3
- Particularly strong against Pierce (28.1 resistance)
- Get it by completing Lady Tanith’s quest at Volcano Manor (see video guide)
Azur’s Glintstone armour set
- Weight: 11.8
- Physical damage resistance: 10.9
- Particularly strong against Magic (24.6 resistance)
- Get it by completing the Sorceress Sellen quest, which starts at Waypoint Ruins Cellar in Limgrave (see video guide)
Where can you buy armour in Elden Ring?
There are a number of merchants dotted around the map in Elden Ring, and many of them will sell you a few pieces of armour in exchange for some of your well-earned runes.
Merchant Kale, the Santa-looking chap at the Church of Elleh in Limgrave, is one of the earliest merchants you’re likely to meet in the game, and he’ll sell you every piece of the Chain armour set.
Once you unlock Roundtable Hold, the Tarnished HQ that you’ll be invited to visit fairly early in the game, you can also buy the entire Knight armour set from the Twin Maiden Husks.
There are plenty of other merchants in Elden Ring besides those ones, too. In general, though, the best way to get armour in Elden Ring is to find it out in the world. It might take longer, but the benefits will be far greater, and it’ll be cheaper!
Read more on Elden Ring:
- Elden Ring review – our final verdict
- Elden Ring multiplayer – how does it work?
- Elden Ring PC requirements – minimum & recommended specs
- Elden Ring classes – what’s the best starter?
- Elden Ring demo – network test recap
- Elden Ring bosses – top tips on facing them
- Elden Ring difficulty – how hard is it?
- Elden Ring length – how many hours do you need?
- Elden Ring trophies & achievements – the full list to unlock
- Elden Ring weapons – best early weapons
- Elden Ring keepsake – which starter gift to pick
- Elden Ring server status – error message explained
- Elden Ring map – everything you need to know
- Elden Ring runes – how to get rich quick
- Elden Ring smithing stones – where to find them
- Elden Ring staff – the best staffs in the game
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