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There are hundreds of different armor sets, weapons, and skills available to players inElden Ring. These are often catered towards different playstyles and have unique stats that can help bolster a player’s attacking or defensive abilities. 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 inElden Ringhelps more than other FromSoft games, but don’t forget about finding the best possible weapon as well.
Updated August 05, 2025, by Erik Petrovich: In searching for the best early game armor Elden Ring has to offer, players are likely to run into bits and pieces of a lot of sets, but few full armor sets – unless you know where to look. Not all the best early armor Elden Ring players can find will work for every build, though. You’d be hard-pressed to justify equipping the Scaled Set with a Prisoner character who hasn’t leveled up their Endurance, for example. This guide to the best Elden Ring early armor has been updated to include two new great early game sets – the Astrologer Set and the Spellblade Set – which are more oriented towards players who want to keep their weight as low as possible without completely tanking their defensive stats.
12Astrologer Set
TheAstrologer Setis one of the best early armorsElden Ringplayers can use to keep their weight at Light or Medium with heavy weapons equipped. Though it doesn’t boast the Physical defensive properties of the other bestElden Ringearly game armor sets listed here, it doesn’t weigh as much and offers higher resistance to elemental and special damage types.
Plus, it’s very easy to get – if you have the Runes.
How To Get The Astrologer Set
The Astrologer starting class begins with this armor set by default, but other players will have to find it out in the world. The Astrologer Set location is near the entrance to Liurnia of the Lakes from Stormveil Castle (not the shortcut to Stormhill). Exit Stormveil, then head down the path, past the church housing Thops, and continue past the Raya Lucarian Soldier camp to the water’s shore.
You should be able to see a Merchant’s campfire near the Site of Grace from a long distance away. Head towards this merchant to find each piece of the Astrologer Set in his inventory – a hood, robe, gloves, and trousers. All pieces cost a combined 4,500 Runes to purchase.
11Spellblade Set
TheSpellblade Setis the armor set worn by Sorcerer Rogier, and like the Astrologer Set, it offers very low-weight equipment and great bonuses to Magic, Fire, Light, and Holy damage negation, as well as great Focus and Vitality stats – especially compared to other great early gameElden Ringarmors.
It’s also one of the most stylish armor sets inElden Ring, featuring an adorned wide-brimmed Witch hat and a yellow-and-teal jester-like chest, hands, and legs. And Elden Blinghasto count for something.
If you would like to see an exhaustive list of other players' Bling, or show off your own,there’s a subreddit for that.
How To Get The Spellblade Set
The Spellblade set is, sadly, only available once Rogier has died. It is not possible to hurt Rogier during his first encounter in Stormveil, and, of course, he cannot be hurt while inside Roundtable Hold. Instead, you must continue his questline and defeat the Shardbearers until he begins to give into the Deathroot afflicting him. Return to his corpse in Roundtable Hold to get his full armor set and Rogier’s Rapier +8, a decent early-game thrusting weapon.
10Twinned Knight Set
TheTwinned Setis 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.
9Kaiden 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 make for decent defenses from the outset ofElden Ring.
How To Get the Kaiden Set
TheKaiden Setonly drops from these Kaiden Sellswords, which are found primarily in Limgrave. Consume a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot, and expect to take a good bit of time farming thanks to the RNG element involved. The set comprises a helmet, chest, wrists, and legs.
8Knight Set
If you’re able to only afford to buy one piece, go for the armor, as it provides better defense than the other Knight set pieces. Plus, it’s not a bad appearance, despite being very basic. TheKnight Setis an early game armorElden Ringmakes 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 gamearmorElden Ringoffersevery 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.
7Scaled Armor Set
TheScaled ArmorSet has some of the highest defensive stats of any heavy set, but be sure to plan out your route to get thisElden Ringarmor 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 thequestline inElden Ring’sVolcano 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 the 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.
6Vulgar Militia Set
TheVulgar Militia Setis reached quite early in the game from the Third Church of Marika. While certainly not the best early game armor set inElden Ring, this set prioritizes Immunity bonuses, which can be really helpful for avoiding poison damage againstElden Ring’smost 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.
5Lionel’s Armor Set
TheLionel’s Sethas some pretty decent starter defense to physical damage, particularly against Slash and Pierce, 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 usesElden Ringmodsto make the experience easier.
4Godrick Soldier Set
TheGodrick Soldier Setis one of thebest armor pieces to get in the early parts ofElden Ringand 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 Soldiers, 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, asplayingElden RinglikeDark Soulsisn’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.
The Godrick Soldier Set hasone of the lowest drop ratesof any armor set in the game, so it is crucial to your time and sanity to boost your discovery before farming. Leveling Arcane is one such way to do this. Alternatively, the Four-toed Fowl Foot can be reliably farmed fromGuillemots, the penguin-looking birds residing on cliff-sides throughout the Lands Between, but you cannot craft theSilver-Pickled Fowl Footuntil you get the recipe for it.The Cookbookcan be found in the Smouldering Church, right past the borders of Limgrave into Caelid.
Two other early-game items that boost Arcane (and all other stats) areGodrick’s Great Runeand theGrafted Greatsword.
3Banished 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.
Never mind its impressive stats in the early game, the Banished Knight set looks stylish, too, giving some much-needed Elden Bling to an otherwise similar lineup of equipment at the start of the game.
How To Get The Banished Knight Set
TheBanished Knight Armorset 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 someawesome side quests.
