What is the best armor set in Elden Ring? A seemingly simple question, but not frequently explored since most build discussion centers around weapons, spells, and talismans, with armor mostly as an afterthought or whatever fits within your weight budget. This post will attempt to answer that question, and provide some recommendations for which armor sets to run.

All armor set values from: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Armor+Sets+Comparison+Table

All equip load values from: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Endurance

Methodology

For this analysis, I considered full armor sets broken down into the following weight buckets:

• Very Light - armor set weight of 15 and below, base 8 Endurance with a heavy non-Colossal weight (<= 15 weight) weapon
• Light - armor set weight of 15 to 23, base 8 Endurance with a light (<= 6 weight) weapon
• Medium - armor set weight of 23 to 35, up to 25 Endurance with a heavy non-Colossal weight (<= 15 weight) weapon
• Heavy -armor set weight of 35 and above, higher than 25 points of Endurance with any weapon

All categories include <70% equip load to maintain medium roll, and 4 talismans at 0.5 weight each. You can also use equip load increasing talismans such as Erdtree Favor and Jar Talisman to stretch these weight categories. To use a Colossal weapon at base 8 Endurance, you'd basically have to use incomplete armor sets, or just go completely without armor.

To evaluate armor sets against each other, I developed a formula using the 13 armor stats (Physical, Strike, Slash, Pierce, Magic, Fire, Lightning, Holy, Immunity, Robustness, Focus, Vitality, Poise), normalized in each category to account for the different scales so that each stat is on an equal playing field, and given different weights to account for my perceived importance in each stat, being:

• 20% for Standard Physical
• 10% each for Strike, Slash, Pierce for 30% total
• 7.5% each for Magic, Fire, Lightning, Holy for 30% total
• 1.25% each for Immunity, Robustness, Focus, Vitality for 5% total
• 15% for Poise

I will give at least two recommendations in each weight bucket, one for highest resilience within the bucket, and (more interestingly) one for highest resilience taking weight efficiency into account. As expected, the higher the weight category, the lower the efficiency as you sacrifice weight for more stats. Onto the armor recommendations!

Very Light (15 and below)

https://imgur.com/a/qacK5nW

Starting off with the lightest category, my recommendations for Very Light armor sets are:

• Lusat's Set for highest overall stats, with a surprisingly high Physical stat and very high Elemental damage resists across the board
• Godskin Noble Set for highest stats taking efficiency into account, being almost as strong as Lusat's Set, but 2 weight lighter in a class where every point counts
• Guilty Set for the highest efficiency across all armor sets, although it's only a 3-piece. 11.9 resists for 6.6 weight is absurd!

Light (15 to 23)

https://imgur.com/a/ANWwdfZ

In this next category of Light armor sets, I have one clear strongest recommendation:

• Ronin's Set has both the highest overall stats, and also highest resilience with high efficiency, with especially high Elemental resists
• Raya Lucarian Foot Soldier Set is also very solid
• Rotten Duelist Set if you need something on the lightest end of this weight spectrum

Medium (23 to 35)

https://imgur.com/a/Nube3Kw

Next up, my recommendations for Medium armor sets are:

• Blaidd's Set for highest overall stats, but relatively poor efficiency. High resists across the board for this category
• Gelmir Knight Set for high stats and high-ish efficiency, or any of the similar -XXXXX- Knight Sets
• Knight Set for average resilience and slightly higher efficiency

Heavy (35 and above)

https://imgur.com/a/3lsQeGt

Lastly, recommendations for the no-limits Heavy armor sets are:

• Bull-Goat Set for overall highest stats in the game for any armor set, but also the highest weight and the lowest efficiency
• Crucible Axe/Tree Set for highest efficiency in this category, with Tree being ever so slightly better, but essentially the same

Honestly, anything except for the Royal Knight Set works in this weight category, and it'll all depend on how much Endurance you're willing to spend.

Conclusion & Caveats

There are a few important caveats to call out:

• First and foremost, this data does not take into account passive effects that armors may have, which could completely change the evaluation of what armor set is "best", and there is no good way to fairly compare across different builds
• This evaluates armor sets on an aggregate basis, using my own judgement for which resist types are most important. Different scenarios may call for different armor types, and this only seeks to provide general game recommendations
• I evaluated armors only in their complete sets as taken from the Wiki, which brings issues: 1) Not every component of the set is equally as efficient, so mixes of different sets will probably be better, and 2) Not all armor sets have 4 pieces. If there is enough interest, I could repeat this analysis for all individual components instead of complete armor sets
• This does not take into account how easy each set is to acquire; some sets may not be available until very late in the game, or requires potentially grinding to farm the entire set, while others are early and easy
• Lastly (and maybe most importantly), this does not take into account fashion! Ronin's Set vs Godskin Noble Set for example...

I hope you found this helpful in some way! What are your favorite armor sets in Elden Ring? Discuss below!

Edit: I realized that ~20 armor sets had corrupted values from Fextralife for some reason, so they're not included in these images...I've added them to my own spreadsheet but have not updated the contents of this post, so if you'd like the complete list, let me know.

Everywhere i look either it be on the web or on youtube, noone ever says what the best armor in the game is, they always judt say which ones are good.

i dont care if theyre good, whats the hands down no questions asked BEST armor in the game??

Some of you may have seen my previous post on the best armor set in Elden Ring, and a few people have commented or DM'd since then asking for an update including the DLC armor sets as well, so here it is! All methodology will be the same as before, so check that post for full details; I did slightly tweak the category weights to make standard physical resist more impactful, which is the only change.

You'll notice that the new best armor sets, runner ups, and most efficient sets in every single category are from the DLC, which makes sense since newer, more late-game loot should be better, so try out some of the new armor!

Very Light (15 and below)

Very Light Armor Sets

Starting off with the lightest category, my recommendations for Very Light armor sets are:

• Best: Gravebird Set for highest overall stats, but you have to look like a goddamn gravebird
• Balanced: Ansbach's Set is slightly worse than Gravebird Set, especially in physical resist, but almost one point lighter. Plus, it looks WAY cooler
• Most efficient: Hornsent Set for the most ridiculously high efficiency across all armor sets, although it's only a 3-piece. It's essentially equivalent to the Guilty Set in the base game, but a full point (15%) lighter!

Light (15 to 23)

Light Armor Sets

The next category is Light armor sets:

• Best: Fire Knight Set is the new clear best light armor set, with high resists and high efficiency
• Balanced: Messmer's Set has slightly higher efficiency, and you can cosplay as Messmer
• Most efficient: Igon's Set has the highest efficiency in this category by a small margin

Medium (23 to 35)

Medium Armor Sets

Next up, my recommendations for Medium armor sets are:

• Best: Black Knight Set has the highest stats by a decent margin in this category
• Balanced: Divine Bird Set is decently strong and very efficient
• Most efficient: Oathseeker Knight Set has the highest efficiency by a very small margin

Heavy (35 and above)

Heavy Armor Sets

Lastly, recommendations for the no-limits Heavy armor sets (and probably the most useful for late-game DLC content) are:

• Best: Verdigris Set is the new "best" armor in the game if weight does not matter, and by a fairly large margin as well. The efficiency also isn't too bad, especially compared to the previous best from the base game!
• Balanced: Gaius's Set is actually very efficient for how protective it is. Solitude Set is also worth calling out simply because of how early and easy to acquire it is, that's the one I've been rocking for the entire DLC
• Most efficient: Young Lion's Set is actually EXTREMELY efficient, even being more efficient than most medium armor sets, and I'd actually be inclined to say this is overall the best armor in the game

Conclusion

So there you have it, the best armor sets in Elden Ring including the DLC! Same caveats as last time, such as not including passive effects or individual armor pieces, and others covered in the original post.

There is a very clear conclusion from this though: USE DLC ARMOR! Across the board in all weight and evaluation categories, DLC armor is just better than base game armor. Also a lot of the "special" lore armor sets are the best in their categories, which is cool as well. Have fun!

I'm new to souls like games, but I'm really liking Elden Ring. I have beated Godrick and I'm exploring the map, my next step is to enter in Raya Lucaria. That's not the point. I'm developing a build based on strength (I like to use great swords) but i haven't found any good armour... The best that i have is the armour that i spawned with... Any suggestions?
(sorry for bad english)

I need help choosing the armor I’m gonna wear for most of the game. I’ve beaten the game >!(and gotten the secret ending)!< and I can’t decide on whether or not I want to go for a more protective armor like the Blackened set, or a more lightweight, mobility focused armor, like Eraden Clothes or sorcerer armor. I don’t use magic very much, and usually only use swords, body, and telekinesis. If you could share your opinion, it would be very appreciated!

Whats the best armor you can get at this moment ? I Heard that is mix of Crown of Grace, Lycansteel and Eventide.

I’ve levelled up my character, I’ve maxed out my beloved Greatsword, but the fashion is seriously letting down my build right now and I need some help!

Please give me some recommendations for light or medium armour that will pair with my weapon of choice, and where I can find it.