Best V Rising armor, all sets and how to get them

V Rising merciless armor weapons copper iron nightstalker hollowfang — (Image credit: Stunlock Studios)

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Best armor
All armor sets

The best V Rising armor set in the game is, at time of writing, the legendary Death armor set - but it's not legitimately obtainable within the game, requiring players to tinker with V Rising console commands and cheats to get hold of it. Fortunately there's a few close seconds you can get hold of otherwise, and with a total of ten sets of armor to pick from in V Rising, there's a clear and comprehensible progression path for players to work their way up, upgrading from set to set when crafting recipes and resources become available. Having the best armor is just as important as having the V Rising best weapons, so keep reading for more information on how to get V Rising's best armor and what the different sets can do.

Best armor in V Rising

V Rising armor best sets all — (Image credit: Stunlock Studios)

The best armor in V Rising is definitely the Death armor set, for a very simple reason: it give the player a massive increase to their health, more than any other armor set you can find. However, as mentioned above, there's an issue that it won't be available to all players - the only way to get it is to use the "give" console command and effectively cheat, something not every player can do (depending on server status), or is even willing to do (depending on preferred style of gameplay). The second best option is the Bloodmoon set, which we'll discuss momentarily how to find, as it's a little more complicated than just typing in what you want (though you can do that for it, obviously).

All armor sets in V Rising and how to get them

Here's the tier list of all the best V Rising armor sets in order:

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Boneguard
Plated Boneguard
Nightstalker
Merciless Nightstalker
Hollowfang
Merciless Hollowfang
Dawnthorn
Twilight
Bloodmoon
Death

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As mentioned, there's a total of ten different armor sets in V Rising, but the Death and Twilight set are currently gated off for any player determined to succeed without console commands - so in reality there's actually eight. Every other set can be obtained by hunting down certain enemies or researching recipes, and there's actually a pretty clear order of progression between armor sets, as indicated by their attached Gear Level. If you've got, say, the Merciless Nightstalker armor, your next priority should probably be the Hollowfang armor, as it's clearly meant to be the next step up - a straight line of progression rather than branching paths.

Wherever you are on that path, we've laid out all the sets below and how to get them (or you can always click on the tier list above to jump to the one you want). Keep in mind that we haven't included one-off or random armor pieces, like the rings or cloaks, because they're not part of a set. Still, it's absolutely always worth keeping an eye out for them, as they usually provide other abilities beyond just increasing your survivability.

Boneguard armor set

Gear Level 1
+57 max health (total)

Boneguard armor is the first, simplest armor you'll obtain, taught as part of your tutorial. You can make the whole set in your inventory crafting menu at any time using nothing more than bone and animal hide.

Plated Boneguard armor set

Gear Level 2
+75 max health (total)
Increases physical power by 2 (if all pieces worn)

Plated Boneguard is the natural upgrade, obtained via the Simple Workbench you'll build at your Castle. You need to use up your Boneguard armor to create it, adding additional Animal Hide to make a better version.

Nightstalker armor set

Nightstalker armor set
Gear Level 3
+98 max health (total)

Nightstalker armor is also available from the Simple Workbench by default, but it requires far better materials. You'll need some V Rising Leather and some Coarse Thread to assemble them, but it's a worthy upgrade that leads you to something better.

Merciless Nightstalker armor set

Gear Level 4
+127 max health (total)
Increases physical power by 2 (if all pieces worn)
Increases Gear Level by 1 (if all pieces worn)

After you manage to create Copper Ingots, you can take them to the Simple Workbench and use them to enhance your Nightstalker armor - but you'll need to research the recipes first. We've actually laid out how to get V Rising Merciless weapons and gear in our page here, so check that to find out how to get yourself into the next phase of protection.

Hollowfang armor set

Gear Level 5
+162 max health (total)

We're solidly in the midgame now, as Hollowfang looks pretty snazzy and can help you endure some very tough hits without dying. To get this, kill the boss Beatrice the Tailor in Dunley Farmlands, and you can build the Tailoring Bench, which comes hardwired with recipes for the whole Hollowfang set. To make the set, you'll need a healthy mix of Cotton Yarn, Leather and Wool Thread.

Merciless Hollowfang armor set

Gear Level 6
+204 max health (total)
Increases movement speed by 4% (if two pieces worn)
Increases attack speed by 4% and Gear Level by 1 (if all pieces worn)

You'll need to build a Study and use V Rising Scrolls to unlock the recipes to make Merciless Hollowfang armor, or just get lucky drops from enemies. Either way, once you have the recipes you can use the Tailoring Bench to enhance your existing Hollowfang armor with Iron Ingots to make it into this superior form (and if you don't have V Rising Iron, check here on how to get it).

Dawnthorn armor set

Gear Level 7
+252 max health (total)

A particularly showy set of purple threads, the Dawnthorn armor takes us firmly into the late-game of armor sets. You can get the recipe for this armor by killing the boss Octavian the Military Captain, found in the Bastion of Dunley area in East Dunley Farmlands (check the V Rising map if you're not sure where that is). Kill Octavian, a level 58 boss, and you can build the Dawnthorn armor set in your Tailoring Bench with Scales, Pristine Leather, and Ghost Yarn.

Twilight armor set

Gear Level 7
+252 max health (total)
Become immune to sun damage and sparkle when standing in the sun (if all pieces worn)

Seems a little late for this sort of reference, but let's get it out the way - the Twilight armor actually makes you immune to sunlight if you wear all four pieces at once (though you do sparkle instead). It's actually a very good set, exactly as protective as the Dawnthorn armor with the additional sunlight immunity on top of that, but the problem is that it's currently only accessible via console commands. If your server doesn't allow that, there's no way to get it.

Bloodmoon armor set

Gear Level 8
+307 max health (total)
Increases movement speed by 6% (if two pieces worn)
Increases attack speed by 6% and Gear Level by 1 (if all pieces worn)

The best any player can legitimately obtain, players can create the incredibly powerful Bloodmoon armor via the Athenaeum, the highest tier of research construction you can make in your Castle. Feed the Athenaeum enough Schematics to get random recipes, or just get lucky killing high-level enemies, and you'll be able to craft all four pieces of the Bloodmoon armor at the Tailoring Bench. Keep in mind though that it uses up the Dawnthorn armor to do so, as well as Imperial Thread, Silk, and the very rare Primal Blood Essence (something you can find out how to get at our V Rising Blood Essence page).

Death armor set

Gear Level 9
+370 max health (total)

At the pinnacle of defence we have the Death armor, the best armor set currently in the game (assuming you count console commands as "in" the game). The Death armor set actually has its own inventory sprite - a cultish-looking set of black and red robes - but when equipped your character looks like they're wearing the Bloodmoon armor, presumably because the official look is still being programmed in at Stunlock Studios as some part of the future V Rising Roadmap. Nonetheless, the health boost is fantastic, so if you're really having trouble with the final bosses of the game, this can help see you through.