What is Starfield armor? Starfield’s distinctive spacesuits aren’t just for show – they’re also your first line of protection against the universe at large. The inclusion of Starfield armor should come as 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 latest previews, to give you a full breakdown of armor stats, as well as early indicators of which sets to watch out for at launch.
While your character may have a sliver of built-in protection thanks to their 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’re willing to bet that armor will be worn above a base layer of cosmetic items, and split into multiple parts to protect your head, chest, and limbs in combat. Here’s what we know about Starfield armor ahead of its release date in September.
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 individual faction styles 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 we know so far:
- Calibrated Deep Recon
- Constellation
- Explorer
- Mercenary
- Navigator
- Space Trucker
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, Starfield armor is only as good as its stats, and it should come as no surprise that different armor 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
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 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 weigh up whether or not to sell it to a vendor at one of the major cities or scrap it to make room in your inventory once its outlived its usefulness.
That’s everything we know about Starfield armor for the time being. Be sure to check back closer to launch for a rundown of the best armor you can equip to stay alive in the space game. We also recommend checking out Starfield skills and 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.