Dark Souls 2 is infamous for its difficulty; only the most ruthless RPG players choose to tackle this game head-on and expect to win! Dark Souls 2 is similar to its predecessors and its successors in difficulty, but the armor in this game is unfortunately where it begins to fall short. This game’s armor sets have sparked quite the controversy among Dark Souls fans, as many of the armor sets in the game leave a lot to be desired. There are numerous full sets of armor in Dark Souls 2, but you almost always have to mix and match wildly different sets of armor just to get a decent defense.
There’s nothing wrong with mixing and matching your tactical outfits in Dark Souls games, but many players end up looking more like they just crawled out of a lost-and-found bin at a gothic renaissance fair than prepped for a gruesome battle. Dark Souls 2, like many of the Dark Souls games, is an unbelievably difficult game, which only makes finding the right armor all the more important. If you don’t want to sacrifice style for practicality, use this guide to figure out which armor sets are worth hunting down in Dark Souls 2!
Top 8 Best Armor in Dark Souls 2
Heide Knight Armor Set
The Heide Knight armor in Dark Souls 2 has to be one of the most iconic armor sets in the franchise. It’s not the most stylish or visually petrifying armor sets in the game, but what it lacks in fashion it makes up for in defense and originality. This armor features staggeringly good defensive stats and even offers decent lightning defense and poison resistance!
The best part about the Heide Armor is that it’s not nearly as difficult to obtain as most armor sets in the game! All you need to do to get this armor is, unsurprisingly, knock around some of the Heide Knights located in a few easily-accessible areas of the game. The Heide Armor is a good armor to start out with, especially if you want armor that will give you defense from all types of attacks.
Aurous Armor Set
The Auros Armor set is, arguably, one of the best sets of armor in the entire game. In addition to its unique appearance, this armor has some of the most well-rounded stats of any of the other armor sets in the game. It’s not uncommon to see an armor set with good physical defense stats, but it’s much less common to see a set with decent dark, magic, and fire defense, in addition to its physical defense.
The Aurous Armor Set also offers a decent resistance to bleed, though if you’re searching for a good bleed resistance set, this armor wouldn’t be your first choice. If you want a good, well-rounded set of armor in Dark Souls 2 with one of the most unique appearances in the game, you need to consider adding the Aurous Armor to your collection!
Dark Armor Set
This armor set is skeleton themed! Who wouldn’t want to walk around looking like a beefy skeleton in a brutal RPG? This armor set makes you look like a Kiss band member gone rogue, and it’s really everything you could ever want in a Dark Souls armor set.
Not only does this armor give you major defense against enemies, but it also allows you to smite your opposers as a Skeletor cosplayer; what else could you ever want in a game? The Dark Armor Set, as its name would suggest, gives you an unbelievably high resistance to dark, and even gives you good physical defense, which is never a bad thing to have in a Dark Souls game. This spooky scary skeleton set will send shivers up your spine!
Vengarl’s Armor Set
If you’ve ever wanted to skin a ferocious animal and then parade about in their skin, you finally can with the Vengarl’s Armor Set! This armor makes it appear as though your character is draped in the hollowed-out carcass of a bear, or some other sort of terrifying animal (it’s not strictly specified). You can finally release your inner ferocious furry in Dark Souls 2!
This set also has surprisingly amazing physical defense stats, so physical combat shouldn’t be a problem for you as long as you’re wearing this armor. The Vengarl’s Armor Set is like a cross between Viking and hunter-style armor, so if that’s your thing, you should definitely check out this armor set!
Smelter Demon Armor Set
This set is famous among Dark Souls fans, and it’s not only because of its epic name. This armor both looks and sounds like it belongs in a heavy metal band, and it of course has even better defensive stats. This armor is extremely heavy, but it’s also extremely worth it!
You’ll never be as safe as you are in this set of armor, and you’ll never look even half as good in Dark Souls 2! Unsurprisingly, this armor in Dark Souls 2 features an incredibly high fire defense stat, as expected from anything with “demon” in its name.
Havel’s Armor Set
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Havel’s Armor Set is one of the most popular sets of armor in Dark Souls 2. If you want an armor set that looks amazing and will keep you safe from literally everything in the game, you need to check out Havel’s Armor Set!
This armor is perfect for any situation that calls for some of the biggest, heaviest armors in the game (which, in Dark Souls, it really isn’t hard to get yourself into that kind of situation). This armor also offers some of the highest poise stats in the game, which gives you a new reason to go out and hunt down this valuable set.
Syan’s Armor Set
This armor set is gorgeous. If you want to look like a fiery, sexier version of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, you need to invest in Syan’s Armor Set immediately!
The Syan’s Armor Set, in addition to offering high defensive stats all around the board, offers some of the highest fire defense stats than any other armor set in the game (including the Smelter Demon set).Syan’s Armor in Dark Souls 2 is strongly considered to be one of the most popular armor sets in Dark Souls 2; if you don’t have it already, you definitely need to get yourself a full set of Syan’s Armor!
Old Knight Armor Set
This armor makes you look like a villainous NPC from Skyrim and it’s honestly everything you could ever want in an armor set. The Old Knight Armor set doesn’t have the best defensive stats when compared to other armor sets in the game, but what it lacks in defense it more than makes up for in poise. The Old Knight set offers more poise than almost any other set in the game, with the total coming in at just slightly lower than the Havel Armor set.
This set is much easier to obtain than the Havel Armor Set, however, so this set is perfect if you don’t feel like putting in a thousand hours of work just to piece together the Havel Armor Set. If you want a set of armor in Dark Souls 2 that turns you into a Skyrim-Esque supervillain and gives you the poise of a god every time you put it on, you need to add the Old Knight Armor to your collection.
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Dark Souls 2 is one of the most popular Dark Souls games out there, and everyone needs a good set of reliable armor to keep them protected. You really don’t want to be caught dead without a good set of armor in a game that’s best known for its infamously difficult enemies! Thankfully, all of these armor sets will keep you protected and looking as deadly as possible in this brutal RPG. If you love Dark Souls games and would love to play similar games, try playing Elden Ring (it’s technically not a Dark Souls game) or Bloodborne!
