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There are hundreds of different armor sets, weapons, and skills available to players in Elden Ring. These are often catered towards different playstyles and have unique stats that can help bolster a player's attacking or defensive capabilities. These armor pieces can be found around the Lands Between as drops from a mob or in chests.
The early game is often the most difficult stage in FromSoft titles as players have to learn the mechanics and deal with challenging mobs without having any decent armor or weapons. Obtaining great armor in Elden Ring helps more than other FromSoft games, but don't forget about finding the best possible weapon as well.
Updated June 29, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: When it comes to how to get better armor Elden Ring players have a lot of options, even right at the beginning of the game.There are specific armor pieces that Elden Ring players should aim to get as quickly as possible for an easier early game, some of which can be earned easier than others. This list does not include starter gear Elden Ring players can get by choosing different classes, like the Raging Wolf set. Instead, the armor sets below are some of the best early armors Elden Ring players can find, no matter their initial choice of class. That doesn't mean getting these Elden Ring armor sets is easy, though – even though the Carian Knight set can technically be acquired early, expect to die a lot on the way.
10 Twinned Knight Set
The Twinned Knight set is the armor worn by D, Hunter of the Dead, and gives huge defensive buffs at the cost of weight and appearance. There's something both classical and metal about a suit of armor that depicts its wearer and another as one, but having a whole body jutt out of the side won't be everyone's cup of tea.
Where To Get The Twinned Knight Set
The Twinned Knight set can be acquired soon into the game as long as players head towards D, Hunter of the Dead and Summonwater Village from the start. Defeat the Tibia Mariner, then talk again to D in Roundtable Hold to continue his questline. As players continue his questline, D will eventually ask the player to return a dagger to Fia, and after talking to both back and forth, his armor – the Twinned Knight set – drops upon completion of his quest.
9 Kaiden Set
The Kaiden are the sellswords and horsemen that players encounter all across the Lands Between, notably found very soon into Limgrave at the bridge that crosses just north of Lake Agheel. These horsemen drop not only their Nordic-looking armor set, but also their gigantic curved swords, and makes for decent defenses from the outset of Elden Ring.
How To Get the Kaiden Set
The Kaiden armor set only drops from these Kaiden Sellswords, which are found primarily in Limgrave. Consume a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot, but it can take a good while of farming thanks to the RNG element involved. The set is comprised of a helmet, chest, wrists, and legs.
8 Knight Set
If you can only afford to buy one piece, go for the armor, as it provides better defenses than the other Knight set pieces. Plus, it's not a bad look, despite being very basic. The Knight set is an early game armor Elden Ring makes available to all players as soon as they reach Roundtable Hold.
Where To Get Knight Set
In the hallway to the left of the balcony, just a stone's throw from Gideon Ofnir's study, players can meet the Twin Maiden Husks, a motionless NPC who sells basic items. They accept Bell Bearings to increase and expand their stock, but you don't need any Bell Bearings to get what might be the best early game armor Elden Ring offers every Tarnished.
The entire set will cost a few thousand runes – the Helm, Greaves, and Gloves all cost 3000 each, and the Armor costs 4,500, for a total of 13,500 Runes to purchase all four.
7 Scaled Armor Set
The Scaled Armor Set has some of the highest defensive stats of any heavy set, but be sure to plan out your route to get this Elden Ring armor set early. The Scaled Armor set isn't found quite as early as the Knight Set, in fact the only way to get it is through the questline in Elden Ring's Volcano Manor. Though this tends to be encountered around mid-way through the game for most players, completing Rya's short questline in central Liurnia can get you there faster.
Where To Get Scaled Armor Set
After retrieving her necklace, Rya will meet the Tarnished at the entrance to teh Altus Plateau and teleport them directly to Volcano Manor. Here, the quest can be started, and the Scaled Armor set is rewarded for slaying the first target.
Found just northeast of the Gatefront Ruins, near the coliseum-like structure, players will find an invasion sign for Old Knight Istvan. Killing this NPC both progresses the Volcano Manor questline and rewards his entire set. This is true for every Volcano Manor target - if the player kills their mark, they get their clothes.
6 Vulgar Militia Set
The Vulgar Militia set can be reached quite early in the game from the Third Church of Marika. While certainly not the best early game armor set in Elden Ring, this set prioritizes Immunity bonuses which can be really helpful for avoiding poison damages against Elden Ring's most annoying enemies.
Where To Get Vulgar Militia Set
Players should look to get this set if they are aiming to explore the world before going through the story. There are plenty of better armor sets around that the Vulgar Militia set should be replaced with when possible.
5 Lionel's Armor Set
The Lionel Armor set has some pretty decent starter defenses to physical damage, particularly against Slash and Pierce damage, and serves well early in the game if players can adjust to its weight.
Like with most early armor sets the player should look to replace this set with a better one as soon as possible - particularly one that's less heavy. It has a Robustness of 99, which can be really helpful for new players when first starting out, though.
Where To Get Lionel's Armor
Lionel's Armor can be found near the Site of Grace in the Lower Capital Church in Leyndell. The chest piece will be on a bed. Players can get here straight away but keep in mind that there will be a lot of different trash mobs around on their journey to the location unless the player uses Elden Ring mods to make the experience easier.
4 Godrick Soldier Set
The Godrick Soldier set is one of the best armor pieces to get in the early parts of Elden Ring and can be picked up relatively easily from the start. It provides basic stats, high in weight but good on defense, and can stick with players long past Limgrave. If the player kills enough Godrick Knights, they will eventually get the armor pieces for the Godrick Soldier set.
Where To Get Godrick Soldier Set
In Limgrave, the player will come across the Gatefront Ruins, which is a way to Stormveil Castle and the Stormhills that houses many Godrick Soldiers and a giant. Be careful when tackling this Godrick soldier party, as playing Elden Ring like Dark Souls isn't always the way to go and they will certainly kill you if you get too bold.
Heading east, there is a set of ruins made up of lots of Godrick soldiers and a particularly troublesome knight. As with any drop-rate-reliant piece of equipment, use Silver-Pickled Fowl Feet to increase your chances of items dropping, or level Arcane to achieve the same effect.
3 Banished Knight Set
While a bit weightier than the other ideal early-game armor sets, this set has 39.3 Physical Damage Negation and works well as a buffer against Magic damage too.
Nevermind it's impressive stats in the early game, the Banished Knight set looks stylish, too, giving some much-needed Elden Bling to an otherwise samey lineup of equipment at the start of the game.
How To Get The Banished Knight Set
The Banished Knight armor set is obtained from killing the same Banished Knight repeatedly in Stormveil Castle.
The Banished Knight is not particularly difficult to defeat and if the player is struggling they will likely need to get a better armor set by the time they're at Stormveil Castle. Stormveil Castle hides many secrets and treasures including some awesome side quests.
2 Royal Remains Set
This set buffs HP, replenishing it slowly giving the player added sustained capabilities during a fight which helps players who like to solo boss fights and dungeons. The set also has an aesthetically pleasing design with a skull-like helm that helps strike fear into the hearts of the trash mobs found in the Lands Between. It is very lightweight (25.3 weight) and grants impressive Damage Negation and Resistance.
How To Get The Royal Remains Set
The Royal Remains set boasts some impressive stats, but can only be obtained after completing a short quest in the Village of the Albinaurics and its follow-up event. Players can access the Albinauric Village early by skipping Stormveil Castle entirely – something new players may not know about Elden Ring is that much of the game can be skipped, intentionally so, to encourage exploration. After finishing up here, and talking to Albus, return to the Roundtable Hold to face off against a surprise enemy who will drop the set in their normal spawn location when defeated.
1 Carian Knight Set
The Carian Knight set is the best early armor in Elden Ring players can obtain if they are going for a low-weight but reliably-defensive build. Its 23.5 weight means that players will still be able to dodge and roll in fights without being impeded, and it has some decent Damage Negation and Resistance stats that help to level the playing field while traversing the Lands Between.
How To Get the Carian Knight Set
The Carian Knight Set can be found in the graveyard of the Academy of Raya Lucaria, and doesn't require beating any bosses, making it suited to early-game players who are struggling. However, players shouldn't get too confident with the lack of a boss battle, as there are more enemies here than meet the eye. The graveyard is right at the start of the Raya Lucaria legacy dungeon, but enemies won't just let the Tarnished waltz by.
Elden Ring is available on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, and PC.