God of War Ragnarok Best Armor Guide

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Cody Perez

Cody has been in the video game business as part of media and content creation for more than 10 years. During that time, he has contributed and even led some of the largest sites in the world dedicated to gaming and entertainment. He has also dabbled some in PR and was a tester for Activision in the past working on the Call of Duty series. When not playing games or writing about them, he enjoys cooking, sharpening his Japanese skills, and watching the latest anime shows.

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Kratos is a season slayer of gods by the time God of War Ragnarok rolls around. With an impressive amount of customization and power at your disposal, there are lots of various armor sets to choose from. In general, each armor set is quite different from the others in terms of visuals, perks, and even the stats they change. If you want to know the best armor for you, check out our God of War Ragnarok best armor guide below.

The best armor in God of War Ragnarok is going to be mainly subjective to most players. Some players prefer the ability to use Runic abilities and other skills nearly nonstop, while others prefer their defense to be as strong as possible. That said, there are some armor sets that are inherently better than others and you’ll find our picks for the top ones in this God of War Ragnarok best armor guide.

Bottom Line Up Front

There is a lot of armor to choose from for Kratos in God of War Ragnarok, and it comes down to your personal preference, to an extent. Some of the elements we looked for when it came to the best armor were the stats, perks, and general focus of the particular set.

There are some armor sets that are generally better than others, including the Steinbjorn Armor Set, which is our favorite. It is the epitome of what armor should do: protect you. It focuses entirely on defense while also making up for the lack of vitality by restoring your health quite often.

Selection Criteria

Coming up with the top 10 armor sets from God of War Ragnarok was not an easy task. Every player is different, and some armor sets are just different from other ones, not necessarily noticeably better. As such, I used some strict selection criteria to come up with this list.

• Stats: Above all else, stats matter more than anything else. The initial purpose of armor is to give Kratos better defense, vitality, luck, and so on stats. If armor doesn’t have solid stats, it’s probably not worth using.
• Perks: There are various skills and perks that many armor sets have. These armor perks are a very close second to stats in determining what the best armor is. Perks need to be cohesive, make sense, and be valuable to the player.
• Visual Appearance: While undoubtedly not as essential as some of the other aspects, how the armor looks matters to a degree.
• Variety: I tried to give a nice variety of armor sets that appeal to various playstyles. In addition, I ensured there is armor here that you can get early in the game, partway through the story, and near the end.
• Unlock Method: Though this takes a backseat to the other criteria, the difficulty of how to unlock the armor set plays a minor factor in if it showed up on this list and in what position.

General Armor Tips

When it comes to finding the best armor set that works for you as a player, here are some of the tips I learned during my first playthrough of God of War Ragnarok:

• Don’t feel rushed to switch armor sets if you’ve already found one you love. For instance, the initial Survival set is quite suitable for Kratos. I recommend sticking with the armor you love until you indeed find something that is tailor-made for your play style.
• Find the playstyle that works best for you as early as possible. Are you a player who values having more strength over defense? Do you prefer having as small of a cooldown as possible? Figure out what you like the most, as it will help in determining what works best for you.
• Be prepared to give up on liking the visual appearance of your armor set. Kratos doesn’t get the best-looking armor in games, in general, and I find that some of the sets with the best appearances are, sadly, not the most powerful or useful.
• Don’t feel like you have to constantly switch to every new armor set you find. It is better to stick to two four different armor sets throughout your time in the nine realms that you really love. This way, you’ll be able to focus more easily on upgrading them to their fullest.

Best God of War Ragnarok Armor

Let’s take a look at the top 10 best armor sets in God of War Ragnarok. Bear in mind that this list is mainly based on my personal preferences, but I tried to keep everything open to all sorts of playstyles, even ones that don’t match my specific preference. These are ranked from the least best armor to the one that I find triumphs over the rest. Let’s get started.

10. Fallen Stars Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Runic, and Vitality

There is something to love about the variety of stats that the Fallen Stars armor set gives you. It is, in a way, one of the jack-of-all-trades armors with a boost to your attack power, defensive power, health, and even the runic skills you can use in combat.

That said, where it somewhat falls short, is in the fact that none of these particular stats are extraordinary. To an extent, you are better off just sticking to the armor that specializes in one or two of these stats, rather than all of them.

For some players who are that balanced sort of fighter, this could be useful. That said, the actual utility of this armor comes from the perks that it comes with. It generally has bonuses for runic players so if you use these skills or relics often, you will benefit the most from this armor with reduced damage during these attacks and more. It also helps that it looks great, too.

9. Survival Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Runic, Vitality, Cooldown, and Luck

The Survival Armor is the first one that you get in the entire game. If you want to talk about armor that is one of the most iconic in this game, this is the one. Like the previous armor on this list, it is the jack-of-all-trades offering stats for every single one of the major armor stats around.

But what I like about it more than the previous one is that it also includes some boosts to your cooldown and luck. It also has one of the simplest but cleanest looks for Kratos, with a more reserved nature. When it comes to overall stats, I would argue that this is the single best armor in the game.

It offers solid boosts to every stat option out there, which is fantastic for all types of players, but there is more to the story than this. What holds the Survival armor set from being at the top of this list is its lack of perks and skills.

You won’t find a single perk related to any pieces of this armor, from the chest piece to the shoulder guards and so on. Yeah, unfortunately, there are no boosts to speak of like the other sets on this list that do unique things but this is, ultimately, alright. At its fully upgraded version, you could honestly use this for the entirety of the game.

8. Fate Breaker Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Vitality, and Luck

Fate Breaker is another one of the armor sets that are tied directly to the main story. Players get it towards the end of the game, so it theoretically should be one of the best in Ragnarok. And it is one of the best, but not enough to reach the top of this list for a few reasons.

The stats that this armor set focuses on is noteworthy and significant, with some exceptionally high strength and vitality stats. Where it barely beats out its predecessor, the Survival set, is that it has some perks that deal with the Spartan Rage that Kratos has.

With these perks together, the player will get considerable buffs to their various stats after using the Spartan Rage. But then the rest of the armor ensures that you are able to get your Rage meter up quite fast, which allows you to almost always either be raging or buffed by the armor, which is nice.

7. Dragon Scaled Armor Set

• Stats: Strength and Defense

At first glance, the Dragon Scaled armor set is one of the most stunning visually, but there is more to it than meets the eye. It focuses only on strength and defense, having some high stats for both in the process. This means you’ll be dealing out hefty damage and be able to take some heavy damage, too.

Its perks are what make it one of the best armor sets around. With them, the player is able to get even more considerable buffs to their strength and defense whenever they block or parry their enemies. There are other buffs that work the same way, such as boosting Kratos’ shield and so on.

Altogether, this makes the Dragon Scaled armor one of the best in the game, but only for players who like to parry often. If you aren’t the type to go for the brute force method of fighting and blocking all the time in between attacks, then this is not the armor for you. But if you are, look no further than this armor set.

6. Berserker Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Runic, Vitality, Cooldown, and Luck

Berserker is essentially the final armor set you can unlock in God of War Ragnarok. It requires the player to take down all of the Berserker optional bosses in the game, which are the ultimate challenge here. If you beat all of them, you’ll get this extraordinary armor set.

In the end, though, I will admit that the Berserker armor set is honestly somewhat lackluster for the reward for the ultimate challenge. Sure, it excels at every stat type and in wonderful fashion, but that is pretty much it. Its perks are some of my least favorites in the game due to the risk-and-reward situation.

It generally involves stuff like boosting your attack but ensuring that you take more damage while this is available. That isn’t my sort of playstyle and it likely isn’t for most players, so I feel like you are better off sticking to other armor sets, especially since you are in the endgame when you finally get it anyway.

5. Giptumadr’s Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Runic, and Luck

If you can’t tell from the intriguing set of stats that it boosts above, the Giptumadr armor is solely built for the runic players out there. If you are using runic attacks often in the game, this is the armor set for you. The stats alone are vital and made to ensure that your runic attacks are the strongest possible.

However, it is the perk that you get with this armor set that makes it the best for runic-style players. Fortune’s Refresh is the main one I want to talk about, which comes from the breastplate piece. This one gives a solid chance via your Luck stat to instantly restore 70% of a cooldown for abilities after using it. These include both runic attacks and relics alike.

If you find yourself using these special skills often in the game, you need this armor. Max it out and the high Luck stat you’ll have will ensure this happens quite often. You’ll be able to unleash runic attack after runic attack on foes, possibly even speedrunning fights in a way.

4. Hunter’s Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, and Cooldown

The Hunter armor set is one of the harder ones to unlock in the game, but it might be worth it for ranged attack and runic fans. The stats are a bit odd, but the highly high cooldown stat means you’ll be able to use runic skills and the like quite often once it is fully maxed out.

In addition, it has some intriguing perks, like boosting your ranged attack damage for a time. There are other perks, too, that focus on boosting ranged attacks. So, in the end, the Hunter armor is one of the most situational and specific armor sets for ranged fans, but if you like keeping a distance between you and your enemies, there is no better armor for you.

3. Surtr’s Scorched Armor Set

• Stats: Strength, Defense, and Vitality

If you are willing to put in the vast effort to unlock Surtr’s Scorched Armor set, you’re in for a treat. It arguably has the three most important stats for all playstyles in boosting your strength, defense, and health. And they are extraordinarily high at the max upgrade level since there are only three of them.

But the real star of this armor set comes from the perks it has. It has less of an emphasis on blocking and more on the aggressive nature of attacking nonstop. You’ll experience a reduction to damage while attacking, dealing bonus damage if you attack while an enemy is attacking you back, and more. This is the premier armor for full-on attack-style players.

2. Lunda’s Lost

• Stats: Strength, Defense, Runic, and Luck

This is another armor set that is built seemingly for runic abilities, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Instead, Lunda’s Lost armor set is one of the most unique in the game and, honestly, one of the most broken because of it. If you want a unique playstyle, this is the armor to pick up and equip.

Stats aside for a moment, it comes down to the perks that Lunda’s Lost gives you. With this armor set, you can build a poison Kratos build, which is the most broken in the entire game. How it works is that everything you do, from parrying enemies to blocking to even just attacking, will have a high Luck chance of poisoning an enemy.

With your already high Luck stat with this armor, it only increases the chances of this happening nonstop in fights. If poisoned, the enemy will not only take damage from the poison but also have their power level lowered, which means they deal less damage and take more damage.

The Lunda’s Lost armor set is basically how you break the game since you will pretty much poison every enemy you face and then deal some severe damage to them to take them out. While not every fight will suddenly be a cakewalk, Lunda’s Lost is one way to make each fight like that nearly. But its broken nature is why it can’t be number one for now.

1. Steinbjorn Armor Set

• Stats: Defense

You might look at the stat above and be confused. Steinbjorn only boosts defense, and that’s it. But you will find it has the most robust defense stat more than any other armor set, and it is unbelievably high. Aim for this armor if you want to make your enemies’ attacks like little tickles at best.

But it doesn’t stop there. Since you are only boosting defense, your health and other stats suffer. But the Steinbjorn set makes up for that in its perks, which are all about ensuring the survivability of the player. For instance, there is the beloved Bloodthirsty Retaliation perk.

With this perk, the player gets some of their health back after taking significant damage. Then there are other perks in the set that do things like possibly stun enemies nearby anytime that Kratos takes damage and so on.

Basically, this armor set focuses on defense and rendering enemies useless while also covering its bases and taking care of the weaknesses that it has at the same time. There is no better armor set in the game that works for every type of player at once, and it will get you through the most demanding bosses in the game.

To get the Steinbjorn armor set, players need first to have acquired the Draupnir spear in the main story. After that, get the Mystical Heirloom relic south of the Lake of Nine in Midgard. From there, players need to equip that relic and take out the troll mini-bosses in The Derelict Outpost in Midgard, Noatun’s Garden in Vanaheim, and the Forbidden Sands in Alfheim to get the materials to craft the armor set.

FAQs

What We Thought About God of War Ragnarok

The best God of War Ragnarok armor is one that has a nice mix of stat boosts and perks. Be it defense, strength, vitality, or even something like your ability cooldown rate, the stats have to be impressive in some fashion. And there need to be valuable perks to go along with it that make sense.

For me, the best overall armor in God of War Ragnarok has to be the Steinbjorn Armor Set. This has the best defensive stat in the entire game, which matters most to me. Couple this with its ability to regenerate health in dire situations, and you have one of the best sets that excel at what armor is meant to do.

I used the Steinbjorn Armor Set quite a bit in the final act of the wonderful game, after going through the painstaking process of unlocking it. If you want to know more about what our Managing Editor thought of God of War Ragnarok, be sure to check out his full review.

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