You’re here because you need to know what the best armor Valheim can give you and we’re here to oblige. Whether it is to protect you against the harsh environments or the harsh creatures that roam the biomes of Valheim, we have it sorted out for you in this list.
For those of you who are interested, Valheim is now out in Early Access on Steam, so make sure to equip yourself with some Steam Wallet Codes and experience the game for yourself!
Do note that in order to obtain the best of the best, you would have to go through some hardship in obtaining the materials needed for these armor sets. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya, or come to us whining – we won’t hear it!
Leather Armor Set
The best armor set for beginners cause let’s be real here, you can only wear those pants and a ragged tunic for so long, right? You need something more durable, and as you’re just starting out, this is the best you can get for now. This is especially true if you haven’t gotten the chance to fully explore the island.
The Leather Armor set is considered to be a tutorial-level armor as you further learn how to craft, build and gather resources. Once you’ve built a workbench, make sure to craft a bow and get to deer hunting, cause that’s what the Leather Armor set is made of – deer hide.
| Item | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Leather Helmet | 6x Deer Hide | Defense: 2 |
| Leather Tunic | 6x Deer Hide | Defense: 2 |
| Leather Pants | 6x Deer Hide | Defense: 2 |
| Deer Hide Cape | 6x Deer Hide, 5x Bone Fragments | Defense: 1 |
As noted above, you will need a total of 24 Deer Hide and 5 Bone Fragments which will give you a defense rating of 7. This armor set won’t last long once you’ve defeated Eikthyr – Valheim’s first boss, but it is useful for the fight. Bone Fragments can be found by hunting down Skeletons which roam everywhere in Valheim.
Bronze Armor Set
The Bronze Armor set will definitely bring you further into the game. It is the next step after you’ve crafted your first pickaxe – the Antler Pickaxe from the antlers of the first boss. Make sure to build yourself a forge after mining tin and copper through the Black Forest. Bronze can be made in the forge by combining copper and tin and thus, this new set of armor is born.
The Bronze Armor set will be important as you attempt to survive in new areas and gather the necessary resources for an upgrade. Do note that this set of armor is also heavier and provides more durability as well as protection, which is a good thing to have.
| Item | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Bronze Helmet | 5x Bronze, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +8 |
| Bronze Plate Cuirass | 5x Bronze, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +8 Movement Speed: -5% |
| Bronze Plate Leggings | 5x Bronze, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +8 Movement Speed: -5% |
As noted above, you would need a total of 15 Bronze and 6 Deer Hide to craft the Bronze Armor Set, which will give you a defense rating of 24. The base quality of the items has a defense stat of 8 but it can be upgraded three times which will grant a base quality of 14. In that sense, if you equip the whole set, your defense will be boosted to 42. In order to upgrade these items, you would need additional Bronze and Deer hide.
Equipping the Bronze Armor set will also slow down your movements by 10%. You’re sacrificing speed for protection which is not a bad loss.
Iron Armor Set
Alright, the Bronze Armor set can get you through the few starting animal encounters and boss fights, but if you think you’re ready to go up against some of the nastier bosses Valheim has to offer, you might want to think again. Here we reach the next step: the Iron Armor set. Now, this is where things start getting tough, as the materials for this armor are hard to come by.
You can unlock the recipe for this set once you craft iron for the first time. Use your smelter to turn Scrap Iron into Iron Ingots. Scrap Iron is found in Muddy Scrap Piles which are found in Sunken Crypts of the Swamp biome. You should already have obtained a key dropped by the second boss, the Elder, which grants you access to the crypts.
| Item | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Iron Helmet | 20x Iron, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +14 |
| Iron Scale Mail | 20x Iron, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +14 Movement Speed: -5% |
| Iron Greaves | 20x Iron, 2x Deer Hide | Defense: +14 Movement Speed: -5% |
As noted above, in order to craft a full set of Iron Armor, you’ll need 60 Iron and 6 Deer Hide which will give you a total of 42 defense but minus 10% movement speed. The odds are better than the Bronze Armor which gives you a maximum of 36 defense with the same amount of movement speed.
Another upside is that you can upgrade the quality of your armor to a maximum value of 20 per piece. All this with additional Iron and Deer Hide of course, but it is well worth the hassle for a total of 60 defense.
Troll Armor Set
We’re moving on to less clunky armor here. This is for those who prefer to use stealth and sneak around. If you aspire to be a sneaky Viking assassin, the Troll Armor set is the one for you. It is considered the best light armor in the game and its materials are relatively easy to find, all you have to do is hunt down some trolls. Trolls are huge creatures that are pretty easy to spot, even early on in the game.
Use your bow to shoot at them from a distance, it’s your best bet – especially when you’re still new to the game. These Trolls are slow and pretty easy to evade, so luck is on your side here. Of course, when it comes to defense, this armor doesn’t give you much. It makes up for that by allowing you to sneak around and grants you the upper hand in landing critical damage to your enemies.
| Item | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Troll Leather Helmet | 5x Troll Hide, 3x Bone Fragment | Defense: +6 |
| Troll Leather Tunic | 5x Troll Hide | Defense: +6 |
| Troll Leather Pants | 5x Troll Hide | Defense: +6 |
| Troll Hide Cape | 10x Troll Hide, 10x Bone Fragment | Defense: +1 |
As noted above, you would need a total of 25 Troll Hides and 13 Bone Fragments which would grant you a total of 19 defense and the Sneaky Effect granted by a 25% sneak bonus. As you upgrade your armor, the maximum defense for each piece will go up to 12 (except for the cape, of course). This will then grant you a total of 37 defense.
Truth be told, you can get along just fine with the Troll Armor set and some people even skip the Bronze Armor set altogether. You can definitely survive with this set until you get to the Iron Armor set which offers a higher level of upgrades.
Wolf Armor Set
Dubbed the most versatile armor in Valheim, the Wolf Armor set is also amongst the hardest for you to craft as its materials are hard to come by. First things first, you need to make it to the land of the wolves which is the cold Mountain biome. You’ll need a whole lot of frost-resistant mead to get you through or you’ll slowly die of the cold.
This is why it is important for you to craft this set of armor as it can provide you resistance against the cold. The other material you would need to complete this recipe would be the Chain which can be found in the Swamp biome among the Wraiths.
| Items | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Wolf Armor Chest | 20x Silver, 5x Wolf Pelt, 1x Chain | Defense: +20 |
| Wolf Armor Leggings | 20x Silver, 5x Wolf Pelt, 4x Wolf Fangs | Defense: +20 |
| Wolf Cape | 4x Silver, 6x Wolf Pelt, 1x Wolf Trophy | Defense +1 |
You would need a total of 44 Silver, 16 Wolf Pelts, 1 Chain, 4 Wolf Fangs, and 1 Wolf Trophy. This gives a total defense of 41. The set could be upgraded for a maximum defense of 26 per piece (minus the cape) which would then grant you a total of 53 defense. This set doesn’t feature a helmet, so you could just equip one from the previous sets to complete the look and give yourself the maximum amount of protection.
Padded Armor Set
This is the best armor set you could get in Valheim at the moment and can only be crafted after you defeat Moder – the dragon located in the Mountain biome. This is the ultimate test, and Moder can only be summoned for three Dragon Eggs, which is a huge feat on its own.
But even after defeating Moder, there are some things you still need to do before crafting the Padded Armor set. You need to build an Artisan Table with Moder’s Dragon Tear, craft a Spinning Wheel for the table, and then use the wheel to turn Flax into Linen.
| Items | Crafting Recipe | Ratings |
| Padded Helmet | 10x Iron, 15x Linen Thread | Defense: +26 |
| Padded Cuirass | 10x Iron, 20x Linen Thread | Defense: +26 |
| Padded Greaves | 10x Iron, 20x Linen Thread | Defense: +26 |
Finally, for a total of 30 Iron and 55 Linen Thread, you’ll get the Padded Armor set which brings you 78 defense. After final upgrades, the defense for each item goes up to 32, which then brings you up to a whopping total of 96 defense. High defense with no cost to movement speed, this armor set is the best and highly worth the trouble.
Summary
That’s all the armor we think is worth your time in Valheim so far. There are single pieces of armor you could equip that would bring you different stats of course, but these are catered to whole armor sets that we think are much more worthwhile. We look forward to Valheim’s full release and future updates to see what the developers have in store for us!
Do let us know what’s your favorite armor set or single-piece armor to equip in Valheim down in the comments below!
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