The best armor in Starfield

The best armor in Starfield comes down more or less to one thing: whatever spacesuit you’re wearing. Yes, helmets and packs grant defensive bonuses — and often match your spacesuits in a set — but it’s your spacesuits that define the bulk of your armor rating. In other words, if you’re looking for the best armor in the game, you’re also looking for the best spacesuits.

The only problem is Starfield is littered with armor to loot, most of which is simply a bit naff. Who wants to don some dead Spacer’s sweaty spacesuit when you could be finding some pristine armor with top class stats? That’s where we come in. Without further ado, here best suits in Starfield and how to get them.

The Best Armor in Starfield

If you know where to look, you can find the best armor in Starfield, and some of it is actually quite easy to obtain early on in your spacefaring career. At a glance, here are the best spacesuits in the game, many of which also come with accompanying packs and helmets:

• Mark I Spacesuit
• Gran-Gran’s Spacesuit
• Mercury Spacesuit
• Mantis Spacesuit
• Starborn Spacesuit

Unlike the best ships and the best weapons, there are far fewer skills related to the best armor — the only one you should consider investing in is Spacesuit Design, in the second tier of Science, as it will allow you to craft better mods if any of these choices don’t come with everything you desire.

Mark I Spacesuit, Helmet, and Pack

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

How to get it: Loot in the basement of The Lodge, in New Atlantis

Kicking things off is a spacesuit, helmet, and pack you can actually get from within The Lodge itself. The powerful Mark I spacesuit is available without needing to kill anyone or complete any quests. Now you’re meant to require a Master knowledge of digipicking to be able to get this armor, but at the time of writing, there is a cheeky exploit you can use without needing to pick any locks at all.

The armor is found in the basement of The Lodge, in the room at the far end that also contains a framed painting and some storage boxes. Look to the left and you’ll see a mannequin inside a glass case. If you position your cursor in the gap between the door and the case, you’ll be able to loot the mannequin from inside.

If the exploit doesn’t work, level up your Security skill to rank three. Then, you’ll be able to hack the Master-level lock and get the Mark I spacesuit in the glass case. Its stats are top-of-the-line, especially for something you can get so early in the game. Since it’s classed as common, it doesn’t come with any perks, but that means you can add whichever mods you like via the workbench.

Gran-Gran’s Spacesuit and Space Helmet

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

How to get it: Gift from parents

This one is exclusively for the folks who picked the Kid Stuff trait at the start of the game, which means your parents are alive. They live in New Atlantis, which means you can visit them whenever you like. After you’ve been to visit a few times, your mom will tell you a tale of how your grandma was in the UC Marines.

Once you’ve entertained her captivating story about your fictional grandma, she’ll give you Gran-Gran’s Spacesuit and Space Helmet. This is a very bulky spacesuit, but it comes with the Pocketed mod, which increases your carrying capacity, and its stats are nothing to be sniffed at either, as it’s approximately on par with the Mark 1 Spacesuit. If you want to speed up receiving Gran-Gran’s armor, just sleep for a few days, ensuring you visit your parents every 24 hours.

Mercury Spacesuit

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

How to get it: Loot during the main mission, “Unearthed”

If you thought Gran-Gran’s Spacesuit was unflattering, get a load of this 1950s attire. The Mercury Spacesuit can be found on a mannequin during the “Unearthed” main quest. In the room full of museum pieces — including the Spirit Rover exhibit, which can show you where to look on Mars in order to find its cousin, the Opportunity Rover — is the Mercury Spacesuit.

This chunky silver outfit may look like you’ve wrapped yourself up in aluminum foil, but it has very impressive stats, and it also comes with the Pocketed mod, like Gran-Gran’s does. This is the closest alternative to Gran-Gran’s armor if you didn’t pick the Kid Stuff trait, but you’ll need to get a fair way through the main story to find it.

Mantis Spacesuit

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

How to get it: Complete the “Mantis” sidequest

The “Mantis” side quest sends you to a secret base on a remote planet. Short version: You can essentially become a superhero vigilante with the Mantis armor. (“Mantis” also rewards one of the best ships in Starfield.)

The Mantis Spacesuit (and the helmet and pack that come with it) is legendary-tier, which means it comes with three perks built in, although these perks randomized. This means you can reload and try the quest again for a fresh set of perks, if you don’t like the ones it gives you to begin with. The stats on this armor are the best thing though, coming in better than the above Mark I, but it’s not quite as easy to acquire.

[Ed. note: Spoilers follow for the end of Starfield.]

Starborn Spacesuit

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

How to get it: Enter The Unity

Finally, we have the Starborn Spacesuit, which you receive automatically upon completing the game and entering The Unity, also known as starting New Game Plus. The first time you become Starborn, you will wake up aboard your new Starborn Guardian ship with the Starborn Spacesuit Astra, which immediately becomes one of the best spacesuits in the game thanks to its high defense and resistance stats.

However, once you enter New Game Plus again? The Starborn Spacesuit becomes even better, and so on, with the final suit being the Starborn Spacesuit Venator, after the 10th time you enter The Unity. It’s a lot of effort for some better armor, but if you want to be the best Starborn in the galaxy, it’s worth doing. And it’s also quite cool-looking, unlike some of the other spacesuits on offer here.