Top 10 Armor sets in the Core Game and Gen 1 Expansions: Part 1 (Patreon)

Eventually I intend to put this list into video format, but for the moment I thought it would be great for you guys to experience the written form of my thoughts on this topic.  I'm pretty sure that those of you who know me from my articles or the podcast will not be totally surprised about the choices I put down here, but the reasons why I've made the choices I have may be a little surprising:

If nothing else, this list should give you good shorthand for what Armor sets are worth aiming at and when to aim for them.

10. Dragon Armor – Dragon King

I’ll be honest, Dragon Armor makes the list just because it’s better than most of the other trash in the game. It’s not really top 10 material, it’s just better than all of the rest of the options out there.  Lantern Armor is very expensive for what you get, Phoenix Armor is a mess that is only propped up by the Phoenix Placart being really powerful (and I’m not putting Phoenix armor on this list just because it has one good armor piece in a pile of rubbish), White Lion Armor is flat out terrible and Silk Armor, while good, has the stupid drawback of having it’s hat locked behind killing a L3 Spidicules – which makes it a lot less efficient than it could be – so on and so on.

So really we’re left with Dragon Armor as the candidate to hold the 10th place, at least until we get access to the new armors from the Gambler’s Chest and new expansions.  And in all honestly, it’s not an awful armor set.  It’s just, unfocused.  However I tip it onto this list because it’s the  best armor you can use in People of the Sun, and that’s worth the number 10 slot in my opinion.

The full set gives you the following bonuses:

 • +2 Movement during your act

 •  Max Survival at the start of the showdown

 •  +1 to all severe head injuries

 •  Ignore Shattered Jaw Injuries

 •  Not knocked down on a heavy injury

 • 5 Armor on all locations

 •  Activated ability for Move + Activate that moves you 5 spaces and then gives you a +2 accuracy, +5 Strength melee attack

It’s very much an armor set for a bruiser style character, allowing for a very tanky individual who can take a lot of punishment, but it’s not really right for a primary tank.  It’ll do in a pinch, but some of the other armor sets on this list are much, much better for the job.

In Essence Dragon Armor makes the list because of it's top end nature in People of the Sun and because it does a lot of things solidly.  Sometimes you just want a solid armor set you can rely on.

9. Brawler Armor – Lion Knight

Brawler Armor is a hybrid armor set from the Lion Knight expansion.  It’s a set built around enhancing fist and tooth and it is not a bad complimentary piece, however it is the second best set for fist and tooth fighters and that is one of the reasons why this does not sit higher on this list.

This armor set is built out of a Skull Helm, White Lion Gloves, White Lion Cloak, Phoenix Faulds and Phoenix Greaves.  Making it possible to construct this armor set within the first 10 lantern years relatively cheaply.

A full set of Brawler armor gives you the following:

 •  +1 Insanity when departing

 •  +2 Movement when Insane

 •  -1 Damage for each hit suffered (Minimum 1)

 •  The Skull Helm cannot be destroyed

 •  4 Armor to each location

 •  +2 Accuracy when attacking with Fist and Tooth

 •  +1 Strength Token when knocked down

The main issues with Brawler Armor which stop it being any higher up the list are the poor affinities it has (the fault of the Phoenix armor parts) and how awkward it is to try and gain extra strength.  It fixes the accuracy issue of Fist and Tooth very well, but it needs further support on the strength front. One such possibility is to do it via Acid Palms (Dragon King, Gorm Level 2, Hunt Event) which will then give you one well protected survivor who can .  Finally the gloves, sadly, provide little benefit for the wearer, their ability relates to pounce, an ability you cannot get without the White Lion Coat (not Cloak).

However, this set is still not to be underestimated, the damage reduction of the cloak, combined with the decent armor value is something that makes this armor set a great deal more tanky than you’d initially consider, and that is enough to secure it the number 9 position.

8. Warlord Armor – Lion Knight

Warlord Armor is the second set of Lion Knight Hybrid armor on this list and is the single most impressive one.  It is built by combining the Screaming Horns with the Phoenix Placart, Leather Bracers and Lantern Legs and Lantern Greaves.  When completed this armor is the premium axe armor in the game. It provides a ton of bonuses and has solid affinities to boot:

 •  5 armor to all locations

 •  Activated ability to give + insanity to survivors

 •  If you are insane (and activate the Placart) you can trade the first hit you take each turn for 1 insanity instead

 •  +2 Survival when departing

 •  The potential to increase your movement (it’s better to activate the Placart here)

 •  +1 Luck and +1 Speed when attacking with axes

 •  When you critically wound with an axe (so good with Axe mastery) all other non-deaf survivors gain +1 survival and +2 strength until the end of the round

I think that collection of abilities and the obvious synergy between them all makes it pretty clear why I rate Warlord armor.  Just like Brawler armor previously it has the issue that if you do not play with the Lion Knight you will need to house rule it into your campaign (easily done, it’s not overpowered, and it’s balanced even if it’s available to create without any ‘gating’ from the strange caravan).

It’s a fun set that supports a powerful, but criminally mistreated, weapon type and is amazing fun when you have either the Denticle Axe (Sunstalker) or Xmaxe (Promo) to build in the late game.  Plus if you build one of these models with the various parts, they look cool as heck.

7. Vagabond Armor – Before/Beyond the Wall

Vagabond Armor is probably the most expensive armour in the game to buy from a real world monetary standpoint, you have to purchase two white box expansions (Before/After the Wall) in order to get the entire armor set.  But it is a really great set that has some incredible potential with the right expansions.

Vagabond Armor is an alternate leather armor set that removes all (non-accessory) head armor and requires that you wear a tabard instead.  In addition you can optionally wear either leggings or a Leather Skirt on the waist.  

Once completed you gain the benefits of leather armor, plus the tabard ability, which varies depending on your conviction chosen, but your head is more vulnerable.  And in addition a complete set gives you 1 extra armor (so you have 3 in all locations, 1 in the head and 4 on the body) and your wearer gains all the benefits of sword specialisation and mastery.

The main way I use Vagabond Armor is to transition a leather armor set from a tank build into a DPS/Bruiser build in the late game when I have the Gorm expansion available by equipping a Black Sword.  This gives you a DPS character with 4 Speed who hits on a 4+ and wounds on a 2+.  It’s one of the main areas where high speed really comes to life.  Generally I then take a Beacon or Leather Shield and aim for a head accessory such as one of the Masks.  

Vagabond armor does have some issues however, it’s very synergistic with a Leather Shield and Monster Grease, but that is about it, everything else you can try and do with swords and vagabond armor is problematic because the affinity that the tabard gives you is not that helpful.  With some work you can potentially build a mid-game scrap sword build that takes advantage of Deadly, but that comes at the cost of having to use all 9 slots to fit everything in and not achieving much else. 

It is this limitation, plus the sheer expense of physically buying the armor set itself, that keep it from sitting any higher on this list.  That written, I do need to note that now I own the set I use it in every single campaign where I have access to a decent sword (Gorm and Sunstalker).

6. Gorment Armor – Gorm

(Gorment Armor is in the middle, holding one of the best Mid Game tank/brusier set ups with the Leather Shield + Rib Blade)

Gorment Armor, from the Gorm, might be the second or third most flexible armor set on this list.  In the early game your Gorment Armor is going to be worn by your primary tank, but later on this armor set has some surprising synergies that we will get to.

Gorment Armor is very difficult to build, it requires a total of 8 Sturdy Hide and a Handed Skull from the Gorm along with a few generic resources.  This is quite a challenge to achieve and typically you will hunt 4 to 5 Gorms before you manage to complete this set.  But once it is done you get access to one of the most powerful abilities in the entire game in Guard.  This ability when activated lets you retreat 3 spaces and ‘set’ a block with your shield, something that costs 1 survival, but when the armor set is fully activated you get to guard each time for free.  In addition Gorment Armor survivors can be walked through and can become potentially immune to Intimidate actions when they have enough Courage.  

On top of this, Gorment armor in the early game takes up only 4 slots in your gear grid, but provides 3 armor to all locations.  While you can get a Regeneration suit by killing a level 3 Gorm, this really is not essential at all, as time has passed I’ve come to appreciate that the base Gorment Suit being just 4 Slots is worth more than it having the extra armor it gains from the Regeneration Suit.  So you should consider that part an optional bonus.

This armor set is also amazing on Archers, and that's something I will talk about in the future in more detail. 

About the only real downside to Gorment armor, apart from the difficulty in collecting the resources, is that Guard requires a blue, red and green affinity to activate and the armor set itself does not provide any red affinities (plus most good mid to late game shields fail to provide red affinities either) and it is just these two factors that stop the armor set being higher on this list.

Next week I will put up the remaining 5 armor sets, the ones which I think are the very best in the game in terms of power, return on investment and flexibility.  Until then, remember that armor is the most important thing in the early game, armor protects your survivors so they can get those precious resources which will let you build better and better things!  Good luck and great hunting!