Summary
Elden Ringis highly praised for its rich visual design and detailed world-building. FromSoftware’s first attempt at a fully open-world Soulslike game is packed with content that compounds the ideas and gameplay of their previous titles. The massive world is named The Lands Between, and it has a rich and detailed history of factions and cultures that can be found across it. As a result, the game is packed with armor and clothes for the tarnished to wear as they fight for their place on the Elden throne.
There are countless options including those withinteresting and stylish designsfor the best “fashion souls” experience, alongside armor with strong physical and elemental defenses to protect players from harm. But many options just aren’t worth the hassle of unlocking. This can be due to poor defensive stats, strange or uninteresting designs, too small a drop rate, or too great a cost.
1Knight Set
Not Worth The Runes
While this set’s simple knight design may be perfect for some, andwell-suited for the early game, it is quickly made redundant as the player unlocks options with better stats and visuals in Limgrave, the game’s first area.
Another reason this armor isn’t worth it is the price. This set including the armor, helm, greaves, and gauntlets will set the tarnished back by 13,500 Runes. This is quite a sum for a new player, and it’s probably a better idea to put those hard-earned Runes into leveling up.
2Marionette Soldier Set
Impractical Armor
Worn by the Marionette Soldiers who roam various regions of the Lands between, these four-armed puppet soldiers can cause problems for the tarnished with their relentless and unpredictable attacks. Their armor features a metal helm covering the face and head, and a fabric undergarment protected by a cage of metal strips over the body.
This set has an interesting design, but the lack of protection for the arms and legs, the low overall specs, and the low 1.5% drop rate make it not worth the effort of unlocking. Marionettes are numerous, so players will likely get their hands on the armor as they travel across the map.
3Raya Lucarian Sorcerer Set
Least Impressive Sorcerer Robes
The Tarnished will come across many factions of sorcerers as they traverse the Lands Between, with the most identifiable being students ofRaya LucariaAcademy, the college where many go to study magic. These sorcerers have a chance to drop the Raya Lucaria Sorcerer set, comprised of blue robes and arm and leg wraps. This is paired with the Karlos Crown, which is found separately on a crab in the courtyard outside the debate parlor.
This isn’t a bad set for a magic build, but it’s definitely the most generic in terms of both specs and fashion. Better sorcery sets can be found around Liurnia, such as theSage Set in Stillwater Cave, or theAstrologer set from the Nomadic Merchant.
4Drake Knight Set
Hard To Find And Harder To Pull Off
The Drake Knights are a faction players don’t meet in the Lands Between, but their armor can be found inCrumbling Farum Azula. Locating this set involves jumping down an elevator shaft to a hidden area, climbing multiple ladders, platforming across floating rocks, and riding up another elevator, all while fighting off Warhawks and Beastmen. While this effort may be worth it for some, the armor doesn’t offer much defense, and the visual design is divisive at best.
The Drake Knight set has a striking visual design covered with the scales, wings, and horns of dragons, and while this looks cool to some players, many were unhappy with the wing cape and the large horn on the helmet, which is not removed in the altered version.
5High Page Set
The Normal Page Set Is Better
This set is worn by High Page enemies, the first of which is found near the Church of the Cuckoo Site of Grace, up the shortcut ladder. Despite being more difficult to obtain than the standard Page set, this armor has worse specs.
This set might be worth it for those who like the visual design, as its white coloration gives it a stylish look over the standard version. However, the slightly lower defense and overall rarity make it more of a collector’s item for any Tarnished who can be bothered to find it.
6Mushroom Set
Not Much Practical Use
Fans ofThe Last Of Usmay like this set as its design shares similarities with theinfected from that franchise, but this is the Lands Between, and that look just isn’t practical in most situations. One thing this set gets right is the impressive resistance to various types of poisons and rot.
This resistance is useful in areas like Caelid and the Lake of Rot, but the low defensive stats make it pretty useless in any other setting. Getting a hold of this set involves entering Seethewater Cave and avoiding poison build-up.
7Foot Soldier Sets
Poor Defense
Many factions across the map have some form of footsoldier, weaker enemies of small stature who usually wield short swords and crossbows. These enemies have a chance to drop their armor, usually made of fabric and chainmail, with a metal helmet.
The armor has weak stats, offering very little protection to the player, and the visual design is pretty boring too. The sheer number of these enemies makes it almost impossible to travel throughElden Ring’sworldwithout collecting several of these armor pieces, though they usually just take up space in the inventory.
8Leather Set
Worn By A Useful NPC
While it may be tempting to end the life of FromSoftware’s recurring trickster character and get a hold of his gear, it may be in the player’s best interest to keep Patches around despite the trouble he’s known to cause. Patches drops his leather armor, a lightweight and stylish set that could fit wellwith a stealthier build.
One reason to spare the trickster is because of the items he has for sale. This includes the Fan Daggers, which is very useful in PvP alongside a few other useful items. Another is because of his role later in the game when the player reaches Volcano Manor. Patches will invite the Tarnished to an invasion and reward the player with amuch more powerful armor set.
9Fur Set
Lightweight, But Poor Defense
Ancestral Followers appear in heavy numbers across theSiofra Riverand eastern Liurnia. They wear fur armor that covers the torso, as well as large decorative horns. This armor isn’t too hard to find, but its low defensive specs may not be worth the effort.
The Fur set’s design is interesting, but similar-looking armor such as the Champion Set and the Duelist Set offer more protection and arguably better visuals. This is also true for the Shaman set found on Ancestral Follower Shamans.
10Old Aristocrat Set
Not Worth Finding
The Old Aristocrat variation of the wandering noble is probably the least numerous of them all. This makes the rare clothing that they drop exceedingly more difficult to find. The specs are generally useless too, with poor physical defense and immunity.
As for the visual design, it’s interesting, being quite different from other clothing sets. The Old Aristocrat set includes a cowl, gown, and shoes. It doesn’t have any leg armor. As far as armor goes, this is not a set that befits a Lord, unless of course they were getting into bed.
