Best Starfield armor
Looking for the most protective equipment in the game? Here's all the best Starfield armor pieces and where to find them.
The Settled Systems are a dangerous place, so equipping yourself with the best Starfield armor is an absolute must, particularly on higher Starfield difficulties. Rather than scour the universe for the best armor sets in Starfield, save yourself some time and check out our round-up of the best armor for the Starfield early-game, late-game, and even Starfield New Game Plus. Most of the best armor in Starfield is actually really easy to obtain, and often free, so make sure to check out our full list of Starfield armor and armor mods.
Best early-game Starfield armor set:
The best early-game armor isn’t available to you unless you’ve taken the Kid Stuff trait. Shortly after joining Constellation in the One Small Step mission, you can visit your parents. Once you’ve visited them a couple of times, Mom will give you the Gran-Gran armor set which consists of:
This armor set is essentially free, and is a reskinned version of the UC Marine armor set. It boasts really high damage resistance for early-game armor, and as it only requires you to take a specific trait at the Starfield character creation screen, it gets our vote for best early-game Starfield armor.
Best mid-game Starfield armor set:
Once you’ve completed a few Starfield missions and increased your Starfield level, you’ll start to see more Starfield weapons gain the “Calibrated”, “Advanced”, and “Refined” prefixes. These are essentially upgraded versions of the base weapons, and your enemies will start using them too. As a result, you’ll need to upgrade your Starfield armor frequently. By the mid-game, Gran-Gran’s armor no longer holds up as it once did.
This is where the Mantis armor set comes in. You can get this armor set for free by completing the Mantis quest and exploring The Lair of the Mantis. The Mantis armor set consists of:
When you pick up your Mantis set, each armor piece will spawn with three randomly selected Starfield legendary armor effects, which can further boost the armor’s base resistances and utility.
Best late-game Starfield armor set:
Some of the best late-game armor in all of Starfield is earned for completing the Revelation mission and starting New Game Plus. Fittingly, not only does this armor offer some impressive armor resistances, but it also comes with a Starborn ship: the Starborn Guardian.
This armor set is unique in that it consists of one piece:
This single armor piece is in fact a helmet, spacesuit, and pack combined, and comes equipped with three Starfield legendary armor effects. Attempting to equip any other piece of Starfield armor will unequip the Starborn armor. Fortunately, you won’t need any other armor pieces, as the Spacesuit Astra boasts the highest environmental resistances of any armor.
While you won’t get the Starborn Spacesuit Astra until you’ve beaten the Starfield main quest, getting it is a mark of achievement, and you can get even better versions by beating additional New Game Plus levels.
The best Starfield armor:
The pinnacle of all Starfield armor is undoubtedly:
This single piece of armor is an improvement over its Astra counterpart, and can only be earned by reaching Starfield New Game Plus 10, or by using a Starfield console command. The Venator boasts the same environmental resistances as other Starborn armor, but the Venator possesses the highest damage resistances in the game.
You can find a full list of Starfield armor in our databases, or check out all the Starfield unique armor sets and their relevant quests.
Interested in boosting your armor further? Combine the best Starfield armor with damage resistance skills, which you can check out in our newly updated and comprehensive Starfield skills database.
Alternatively, have a favorite helmet or spacesuit that isn’t on this list? Head over to the Starfield forum and share your thoughts on what the best Starfield armor is, and what Starfield armor mods complete it.