What is the best Starfield armor? Starfield’s distinctive spacesuits aren’t just for show – they’re also your first line of protection against the universe. The inclusion of Starfield armor should be no surprise to the seasoned Bethesda fan, but its sci-fi setting is an undiscovered country that might leave you lost on what to prioritize. We’ve combed through all the sets to give you the lowdown on what to watch out for.
While your character may have a sliver of built-in protection thanks to their Starfield background, Starfield armor is your best bet to ensure your survival, no matter what brand of morally bankrupt spacer crosses your path. Thanks to our ample experience in previous Bethesda RPG games, we know that armor is worn above a base layer of cosmetic items and split into multiple parts to protect your head, chest, and limbs in combat. The very best armor protected us during our playthrough for the Starfield review, and will protect you if you seek it out. Here’s what we know about all the best Starfield armor sets.
Best Starfield armor
The best suit of Starfield armor is the Mark 1 Constellation. To get it, go to The Lodge (Constellation Headquarters), turn right at the entrance to go downstairs. Turn left, then right in the next room, before continuing straight to the room with the painting and sofa covered in a sheet. The suit is to your left in a cabinet that requires Security level 3 (Master lockpicking) to unlock.
On a side note, an exploit currently allows you to get the Mark 1 Constellation armor without using Starfield digipicks. When you find the armor, carefully manipulate the reticle so that it’s between the hinges of the right side of the door. If you get it in the sweet spot, the text should change to “Mannequin”. You should then be able to nab the armor with little fuss, and it’s worth doing as it provides good defenses and resistance to most types of environmental damage except corrosive.
There is, technically, one better than the Mark 1 Constellation, but its unlock process means it’s more of a completion bonus. The Starborn Spacesuit Avitus gives unrivaled physical protection and the best resistance to thermal, corrosive, airborne, and radiation hazards. You can find it inside the Starborn Guardian VI Spaceship, which you get after eight Starfield New Game Plus playthroughs.
All Starfield armor sets
We don’t doubt that you’ll be free to mix and match Starfield armor to your heart’s content, but previews suggest that the styles based on individual Starfield factions will appear as distinct armor sets that you can collect on your travels. It’s highly likely you can gift them to Starfield companions to ensure their safety, too.
Here are all the Starfield armor sets:
- Bounty Hunter
- Constellation
- Deep Mining
- Deep Recon
- Deepcore
- Deepseeker
- Deimos
- Ecliptic
- Explorer
- Experimental Nishina
- Gran-Gran
- Ground Crew
- Mantis
- Mark 1
- Mercenary
- Mercury
- Navigator
- Old Earth
- Peacemaker
- Pirate Assault
- Pirate Charger
- Pirate Corsair
- Pirate Sniper
- Ranger
- Shocktroop
- Space Trucker
- Star Roamer
- Starborn
- Sysdef
- SY-920 Pilot
- Trackers Alliance
- UC
- UC Ace
- UC Antixeno
- UC Marine
- UC Security
- UC Urbanwar
- UC Vanguard
- Utility
- Va’Ruun
Each armor set includes a spacesuit and helmet, and while some are geared towards a flat rate of protection, others can provide more specialized defensive shielding against hostile elements.
Starfield armor stats
Of course, your Starfield armor is only as good as its stats, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that different parts excel at withstanding different weapons.
Here are the Starfield armor damage reduction stats:
- PHYS – melee or traditional ballistic weapons
- ENG – energy weapons
- EM – electromagnetic weapons
That said, Starfield guns are just one of many threats that you have to contend with while exploring planets. Starfield armor is a defensive shield both in and out of combat, designed to resist harmful elements that you can stumble upon in your travels across alien worlds. Like damage reduction, armor resistances vary in usefulness depending on your situation, and it’s likely that you’ll be keeping additional Starfield armor parts in reserve for just such an occasion that those resistances are required.
Here are the Starfield armor resistance stats:
- Thermal
- Airborne
- Corrosive
- Radiation
It’s also worth noting that armor of a particular rarity can have modifiers similar to the Starfield weapon mods. These give bonuses such as increased resistance against enemy types or a larger total oxygen consumption capacity.
Starfield armor mass and value
Your Starfield armor’s mass is calculated alongside the rest of your equipment and compared against your own mass allowance. This follows in the footsteps of both Fallout and Skyrim, which leads us to suspect that there will be several ways to increase that allowance to wear heavier armor without becoming over-encumbered. Starfield armor with heavier mass may also affect movement on low-gravity Starfield planets, which could, in turn, drastically affect how you perform in combat.
Finally, each Starfield armor part is ascribed a particular value, so you can decide whether to sell it to a vendor at one of the major Starfield cities or scrap it to make room in your inventory once it has outlived its usefulness.
That’s everything we know about the best Starfield armor. We also recommend checking out Starfield skills and Starfield traits that can also help you withstand the vast reaches of outer space. In the meantime, we’ve got some of the best games like Starfield, to keep you sated on the last leg of Starfield’s long journey to launch.
Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.