Remnant 2: Best Body Armor, Ranked

Highlights

• Armor Sets in Remnant 2 have different appearances and resistances based on the environments and worlds in the game.
• Upgrading armor using materials is no longer necessary in the sequel, simplifying the armor system.
• Players often underestimate the impact of armor and resistance on survivability, and min-maxing can still be important in choosing the best combination of armor pieces.

The Armor Sets in Remnant 2 are all incredibly varied both visually and in their stats. This has a lot to do with the fact that the player is traveling to all sorts of different worlds in this game, and as such Armor Sets will have different appearances based on their environment and different Resistances as well.

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Though, to be fair, Armor Sets are a lot simpler in this sequel than they were in the last game, Remnant: From the Ashes, as players don’t need to upgrade their Armor using Upgrade Materials anymore. Also, this core change seemed to steam a lot from the idea of Set Bonuses being a little ‘too’ incentivized in R: FtA, but there’s still a lot of merit to min-maxing which pieces to wear in a mixed Armor Set combination. Players heavily underestimate just how much each point of Armor or Resistance impacts survivability in Remnant 2, so let’s go over which Body pieces specifically are the best.

Updated November 26th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: Remnant 2 had a big change to the way its Armor works near the end of October 2023, and this came before the Awakened King DLC drop that already added a whole bunch of new gear, a new Archetype, and more. Granted, it’s not like they changed the system entirely, but the adjustments made to the Weight and Armor of a lot of different Sets still made a lot of waves. Plus, they also got rid of the Bright Steel Ring (replaced with the Dull Steel Ring), changed how the Strong Back Trait works, and adjusted the Stamina Cost penalty for each Armor Weight Class. So, with all those changes now in the game, it’s time to take another look through and see how the rankings changed.

10 Elder Rainment

Light Armor Set

First up is an Armor Set that only the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition holders of Remnant 2 will get to use for their first playthrough, the Raiment of the Elder Set. The Elder Set, Void Set, and Radiant Set were all very popular Armor Sets in Remnant: From the Ashes, so the developers at Gunfire Games brought them back as Edition bonuses for the second game.

Thankfully, there is still a way for anyone to obtain them in-game, regardless of edition, and that’s buying any of these three Sets from Whispers after completing the main campaign. In regards to the Raiment’s stats, the Elder Raiment is actually one of the lighter armor pieces in the game, weighing in at only 9 Units. This alone makes it a worthwhile armor piece to use for anyone who doesn’t want to invest in Strong Back but also wants their dream combination of armor pieces.

9 Fae Royal Bodyplate

Heavy Armor Set

Jumping up a whole 30.4 points of Armor from the Elder Raiment (and 14.4 units of weight), the Fae Royal Bodyplate is a great defensive option for anyone who is looking for something that prioritizes Armor over Resitances. And, at 26.4 Weight, it’s typically ‘just’ barely light enough for players to still wear a mixed Armor Set that includes this Bodyplate and still stay in the Medium Weight Class range.

Visually, the whole Fae Royal Set is one of the best looking in the game, which is proven by the fact that Gunfire Games basically made another copy of this Armor Set for the Awakened King DLC.

8 Crimson Guard Plate

Heavy Armor Set

While it’s great that Gunfire Games listened to their community (as they often do) and made it possible to obtain the Red Prince’s whole Set in the Awakened King DLC instead of just the Crown, the Armor itself (outside of the helmet) is basically just a recolor.

The Crimson Guard Set and the Fae Royal Set are almost 1:1, outside of the main color choices of course. Still, mechanically, the Crimson Guard Plate isn’t the exact same as the Fae Royal Bodyplate, it’s a bit heavier with a bit more Armor. But with the changes to Weight Class and Stamina Cost penalty, a bit of extra weight has even less impact than it did before, making this Crimson Guard Set an easy recommendation.

7 Realmwalker Tunic

Light Armor Set

The Realmwalker Set, as a whole, is deceptively ‘hefty’ in terms of the Armor it offers. It may just look like a military-style green jumpsuit, but there’s a reason Founder Ford always wore one of these things. The Tunic, in particular, is an example of something that trades a bit of Armor for more of an even spread of Resistances, as it technically has less Armor than the Elder Rainment, but keeps players protected from the elements more often in exchange.

6 Space Worker Body

Light Armor Set

The Space Worker Set is another option, alongside the Elder Rainent, that players tend to use the most to get themselves into a specific Weight Class without having to give up all that much. This Set might as well be a space-themed body suit, as it offers about as much ‘Armor’ compared to the Medium to Heavy Body Armor in Remnant 2 as one would expect from a body suit, and it’s also just as skin-tight.

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That said, it’s only a ‘little worse’ than the next Body Armor ranking on here, and the Shock Resist it gives can be helpful on N’Erud specifically or against very specific boss/enemy types.

5 High Noon Duds

Medium Armor Set

As one would expect, as readers get higher and higher in these rankings, they’ll notice that each subsequent Armor piece is just a pinch better than the one before it. While this might seem obvious, a lot of rankings tend to have a much larger amount of numerical differences between every entry. In any case, while it might seem like the jump up in both Weight and Armor from the Space Worker’s Body is large, both Body Pieces have about a 2.5 Ratio for the amount of Armor they provide in relation to their Weight.

But the factor that really separates the High Noon Duds from all the others is how it seems to blend well visually with almost any combination of random armor pieces.

4 Zealot Overcoat

Medium Armor Set

Despite the look of the Zealot Set, this isn’t Light Armor. No, the Zealot Set is actually Medium Armor, similar to the Academic’s Set, which is also found in Losomn. Ignoring the Awakened King-specific benefits of wearing this full Set, the Zealot Overcoat in particular just has a good Armor to Weight Ratio.

And on top of that, it has some great Resistances outside of its Toxin Resist. Of course, this makes sense, given that this Set is tied to the Ritualist Archetype, a Class (or Dual-Class, depending on the combination) entirely built around Elemental Damage and Status Effects.

3 Labyrinth Mantle

Medium Armor Set

Not a ton of players have pointed this out, as they tend to keep the Labyrinth Mantle equipped alongside the rest of the Labyrinth Set, but when the Mantle is equipped alongside some basic pants (like the Survivor, Trainer, or Cultist Leggings), this chestpiece looks a lot like V’s Cyberpunk Jacket from all the Cyberpunk 2077 promotional material. Well, maybe it’s just the fact that both V’s jacket and the Labyrinth Mantle have these comically large popped collars with that over-the-top LED light strip hooked up inside.

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Getting back on topic, the Archon’s default Body Armor, the Labyrinth Mantle, is pretty comparable to the rest of the Medium Set category’s Body Armor. For example, hopping from the Zealot Overcoat to this, players only get about 4.8 more Armor at the cost of 2.8 more units of Weight. Additionally, this Mantle gives some pretty stellar Resistances to Fire and Shock damage in particular, which seem to be the elements that pop up the most in Remnant 2 overall, though Toxin damage does show up a decent amount in the new Losomn areas of the Awakened King DLC.

2 Radiant Protector

Heavy Armor Set

While it may seem a bit unfair, the only reason the Radiant Protector made it to the second place spot, besides its stellar stats overall, is simply because it’s available to Deluxe and Ultimate Edition players right away. Having a Heavy Armor chest piece that offers an absurd 69 Armor and good Resistance in the first couple of areas of the game (where the World Level is, at most, generated at 1-3) makes it very hard for the player to get killed at all.

Later on in the game, there are better options besides the Radiant Set, of course. But, in the early game of Remnant 2, this Armor Set is honestly overpowered.

1 Leto & Leto MK II Armor

Ultra Heavy Armor Set(s)

And of course, as anyone who has routinely seen players wearing these sets in multiplayer would expect, the Leto MK I and Leto MK II Armor are ranked number 1. While this may seem ridiculous, given that wearing either of these Armor Sets in full causes the players to heavy flop as their evade option due to being ‘Ultra Heavy’, it’s actually incredibly easy to get around that.

Granted, due to the changes the developers made to a lot of the Armor and Weight systems in Remnant 2, it might have seemed like the Leto Armor Sets would finally get knocked down a peg or two. And to be fair, they did, just not as much as people probably expected. These two Sets aren’t nearly as good as they were before the changes, thankfully, but they are still the overall best options for pure Defense on any of Remnant 2’s difficulties.