Grounded is a survival game filled with terrifying insects like spiders and bees that can take you out in only a few hits. With this in mind, it's important to collect the best armor in Grounded to wear whenever you decide to leave your carefully-built base on an expedition.
There are many useful armor sets available in the yard, but the best armor in Grounded both protects you and provides helpful passive effects. These are Grounded's best armor sets and pieces, along with the total materials you will need to craft them.
Updated June 2nd, 2023, by Andrew Scariati: Grounded's best armor sets received another shakeup with the latest patches. Obsidian continues to add new bosses for you to overcome, like the Infected Broodmother, so you'll need powerful new armor to keep you alive during difficult fights.
The best armor Grounded has to offer isn't cut and dry, so you'll need to gather at least a few sets to alternate between during your adventure. With the addition of strong new bugs like Wasps to deal with, it's never been more important to gear up before you take on these vicious insects. Prepare to gather plenty of materials as you work to craft Grounded's best armor sets; despite the cost, they are well worth the price.
21 Fin Flops
- Bonus: Faster Swim Speed.
- How To Craft: Four Water Boatman Fins, Two Eelgrass Strands, Two Lilypad Wax.
Fin Flops are a standalone armor piece that grants faster swim speed. This effect is activated immediately upon use as the Fin Flops don't have any other pieces to pair with them to grant a full-set bonus.
Unfortunately, the Fin Flops have an armor rating of zero, but they're worthwhile to craft because of the extra swim speed. Darting around underwater to avoid your enemies is arguably better than being slow and struggling to escape attackers.
20 Firefly Head Lamp
- Bonus: Flashlight.
- How To Craft: Four Iridescent Scales, Five Glow Goo, Three Berry Leather.
The Firefly Head Lamp is incredibly useful at night and in dark areas of the Backyard. It adds a permanent flashlight that you can use while exploring, so you won't have to worry about getting stuck in the dark ever again.
There simply aren't a lot of other armor pieces that provide general usability to the extent of the Firefly Head Lamp. If you like to explore, especially at night, then collecting the Firefly Head Lamp is an absolute must.
19 Marksman's Cap
- Bonus: Increases Bow Damage.
- How To Craft: Five Crow Feather Pieces, Five Berry Leather, Five Silk Rope.
The Marksman's Cap isn't only a stylish piece of equipment. It's also one of the strongest types of gear for an archer because it increases your damage with bows in combat. This single armor piece also grants you some moderate defense against the dangers of the Backyard, which is impressive for a standalone headpiece.
The Marksman's Cap can be difficult to craft since it requires Crow Feathers, but it's worth the effort for the extra protection and damage boost, especially if bows are one of your favorite weapons to use.
18 Bubble Helmet
- Bonus: Veteran Diver.
- How To Craft: Four Eelgrass Strands, Five Sunken Bones, Four Silk Rope.
The Bubble Helmet isn't good if you're looking for pure damage resistance, but it's perfect for adventurers that want to explore underwater locations. This helm grants you an extra 80 seconds underwater without having to come up for air. When paired with the Fin Flops, you should have plenty of time to adventure underwater without worrying about air.
Although the Bubble Helmet isn't an easy piece of armor to acquire since the materials are on the rarer side, it's still a great helmet that you should strive to get if you like diving underwater to explore the unknown.
17 Ladybug Armor Set
- Bonus: Scarlet Embrace.
- How To Craft: Ladybug Head, 11 Ladybug Parts, 11 Berry Leather, Six Flower Petals.
The Ladybug Armor provides plenty of damage resistance as a Heavy Armor set, granting a flat 30 percent resistance to all damage. On top of this high armor rating, the ladybug armor also carries the Scarlet Embrace bonus, used to regenerate health passively.
Health is important in Grounded, and it's relatively hard to restore it, so you should craft Ladybug Armor as early into your journey as possible to get the benefit of regenerating health without any items. Be aware that this health regeneration effect is slow, though.
16 Spider Armor Set
- Bonus: Hunter's Prowess.
- How To Craft: Two Spider Fangs, 12 Spider Chunks, Seven Berry Leather, Eight Silk Rope.
Given its Medium Armor classification, Spider Armor doesn't offer as much protection as Ladybug Armor; however, its effect allows you to run faster, which is useful in so many situations. For example, you may need to move faster while fleeing from an enemy that you can't defeat, and not moving fast enough could mean certain death.
Spider armor is harder to craft than most early-game armor sets since it requires Spider Parts; however, it's worth the effort for the Hunter's Prowess bonus.
15 Bee Armor Set
- Bonus: Pollen Shot.
- How To Craft: 13 Bee Fuzz, Bee Stinger, Ten Berry Leather, Seven Silk Rope.
Archers benefit greatly from wearing Bee Armor due to its potent Pollen Shot effect. This special effect makes you deal more damage with bows, which is useful if you enjoy fighting enemies at long range.
Grounded is a dangerous survival game, so you may want to fight certain enemies from a distance, such as spiders. If keeping your distance and striking with arrows from above or while hidden is your thing, craft this armor as soon as possible.
14 Koi Scale Armor Set
- Bonus: Dazzling Riposte.
- How To Craft: Ten Koi Fish Scales, Seven Eelgrass Strands, Seven Lilypad Wax, Five Sunken Bones, and Three Silk Ropes.
The Koi Scale Armor set is very powerful because of its unique bonus, but it doesn't grant a significant amount of damage protection, given its Light Armor status. The Dazzling Riposte effect will reduce an enemy's defense when you perfectly block their attack, which is useful for characters reliant on perfect blocking.
The Koi Scale Armor can be challenging to craft; however, this set is great for situations where you are in combat with multiple enemies since it will allow you to defeat them quickly after perfectly blocking their attacks.
13 Black Ant Armor Set
- Bonus: Pincushion.
- How To Craft: Black Ant Head, 14 Black Ant Parts, 11 Bee Fuzz, Three Black Ant Mandibles, Two Silk Ropes.
The Black Ant Armor set is one of the stronger gear sets and isn't too difficult to acquire. The parts you need to craft should be stored in abundance in your camp, especially if you usually fight every enemy you encounter should be stored in abundance in your camp, especially if you usually fight every enemy you come across. Black Ant Armor offers Medium Armor class protection while you're wearing a full set, so it's quite powerful compared to many others.
Additionally, you gain the Pincushion effect while wearing Black Ant Armor, which gives you a chance to reflect damage back to any enemy that attacks you. Overall, this is one powerful set of armor that is fairly easy to craft.
12 Wizard Hat
- Bonus: Wizard's Defense.
- How To Craft: Three Crow Feather Pieces, Ten Berry Leather, Four Termite King Carapaces.
The Wizard Hat is a standalone piece of headgear perfectly tailored for you if you're a fan of the elemental candy staves. Each of the Mint, Spicy, and Sour staves will benefit from this classic witch-like hat due to its Wizard's Defense passive skill. Using a candy staff's ranged attack will increase your perfect block timing window by 30 milliseconds for ten seconds.
In addition to Wizard's Defense, you can upgrade your Wizard Hat to imbue it with the Wizard's Duel effect, increasing your damage by 40 percent every time you perfect block with a staff. This effect also lasts for ten seconds and should provide a sizable damage increase for your staff of choice.
11 Mask Of The Mother Demon
- Bonus: Poison Coating.
- How To Craft: Broodmother Fang, Three Broodmother Chunks, Ten Silk Rope.
The Mask Of The Mother Demon is one of the best individual pieces of armor in Grounded. It has a solid armor rating for a lone helmet while granting you the Poison Coating effect. This Poison Coating will add the Poison effect to every attack, which deals eight damage every three seconds for 15 total seconds (40 total damage).
Getting the materials to craft the Mask Of The Mother Demon is quite difficult; however, it isn't too hard for a group of two or more that has many weapons and armor sets at their disposal. You have to defeat the Hedge Broodmother boss a few times to obtain the necessary materials. This mask also has a unique appearance, another reason to obtain it.
10 Termite Armor
- Bonus: Extra rock and grass harvest speed.
- How To Craft: Five Termite Parts, Four Termite King Carapaces, Two Lint Ropes.
The Termite Armor is a very fun piece of equipment to use. Not only does it offer a ton of damage resistance, but it also allows you to harvest rocks and grass more quickly. This is useful if you need to harvest a lot of materials to defend your base from an invasion.
You will need a handful of Termite Parts to craft the Termite Armor, but it's much easier to find those crafting materials than the ones you will need for other useful armor sets. The Termite Armor is a chest piece, so it's the perfect armor if you only need a shirt to finish your character's equipment set.
9 Antlion Armor Set
- Bonus: Sizzle Protection and Quickdraw.
- How To Craft: 14 Antlion Parts, Three Antlion Pincers, Five Silk Ropes, Three Bee Fuzz, Boiling Gland.
The Antlion Armor set is an absolute necessity if you plan on braving areas that sizzle from the heat, like the Sandbox and the EverChar Coal Bag near the Grill. Each piece of Antlion Armor provides some Sizzle Protection, with a full set combining to nearly completely nullify the damage while also bestowing the additional Quickdraw perk.
Quickdraw will allow you to reload 40 percent faster for three seconds with ranged weapons like bows and crossbows. In addition to this speedy trait, you'll get 90 percent reduced incoming melee damage for three seconds, ensuring you stay healthy while creating distance. This is the perfect armor set for the fastest bow in the west, as the gorgeous cosplay is only outdone by the functionality of this set.
8 Fire Ant Armor Set
- Bonus: Corrosion and Acidic Splash.
- How To Craft: Fire Ant Head, 14 Fire Ant Parts, Six Lint Rope, Two Fire Ant Mandibles, Four Dust Mite Fuzz.
The Fire Ant set is an excellent Medium Armor choice that provides superior utility for parrying, striking, and surviving. While wearing this set, you will gain the Corrosion perk, which provides a ten percent chance to inflict acid on an enemy, causing them to take 15 percent more damage for ten seconds.
Wearing a full set of this armor also adds the Acidic Splash effect to each of your melee attacks. Acidic Splash has a ten percent chance to activate a splash that will deal 25 points of damage regardless of a foe's distance from you. This splash can trigger on arrows and ignores any of your target's defenses and resistances.
7 Sarah's Charm
- Bonus: Invincible Attack and Invincible Shielding.
- How To Craft: Right Elf Charm, Left Elf Charm, Two Pond Moss, Ten Tough Gunk.
Sarah's Charm is simply a must-have item for long journeys and general adventuring through the yard. This charm comes with the Invincible Attack and Invincible Shielding effects, but don't be fooled by their name – they won't make you immortal.
Instead, each of these passive effects will help you to maintain fully repaired gear at all times. Invincible Attack grants melee attacks a chance to repair your currently equipped weapon. On the other hand, Invincible Shielding will grant a ten percent chance to repair its durability by 25 when blocking.
If you're low on repair materials or simply want to avoid broken gear, then this is the best armor Grounded has to offer.
6 Moth Armor Set
- Bonus: Ranged Cut and Wind Run.
- How To Craft: Two Moth Scales, 12 Moth Fuzz, Five Pupa Leather, Ten Lint Ropes, Four Pond Moss.
The Moth Armor is a very late-game set of armor that is well worth the investment for ranged characters. Ranged Cut is a superb effect that can trigger the Bleed effect on any arrow, dealing 20 damage per second (DPS) for five seconds. Unfortunately, the Light Armor categorization keeps your defenses rather low.
Luckily, when outfitted with a full Moth set, you will also gain the Wind Run effect to counteract your low defense. Wind Run increases your movement speed by 20 percent for ten seconds when it activates, giving you ample opportunity to make your exit before your targets bear down on you.
5 Wasp Armor Set
- Bonus: Charged Shot Combo and Air Superiority
- How To Craft: Ten Wasp Shells, Three Pupa Leather, Eight Lint Rope, and Six Wasp Legs
The Wasp Armor set is a fantastic boon to bow users and is some of the best armor in Grounded, particularly against flying insects. The Air Superiority effect grants a 75 percent chance for uncharged bow shots to deal 30 points of Stun to flying creatures.
In addition, the Charged Shot Combo effect grants each uncharged shot a 30 percent chance to apply a five-second buff that reduces charge attack wind-up by 25 percent.
If you main bows, this is the best armor Grounded has to offer. It will improve your bow shots against flying foes and increases your charged attack speed for general use.
4 Roly Poly Armor Set
- Bonus: Block Stun and Taunting Gaze.
- How To Craft: 11 Lint Ropes, Ten Roly Poly Shells, 12 Pupa Leather, Ten Roly Poly Parts.
Roly Poly Armor provides an immense 30 percent damage resistance, given its Heavy Armor status. This set is all about withstanding hits and striking back with ferocious power. Block Stun increases the chance of stunning an enemy with each of your blocks, allowing you to counterattack for free.
When using a full Roly Poly set, you will activate Taunting Gaze – the attention of any hostile creatures will be redirected to you. While this is a bad perk for solo play, using it to ensure your friends have free rein to attack while you soak up damage is an extremely useful tactic. Combine this set with a ranged character, and you have a deadly combination of defense and offense.
3 Black Ox Armor Set
- Bonus: Overbearing and Stunning Charger.
- How To Craft: Two Black Ox Horns, Nine Black Ox Parts, Six Lint Ropes, Three Pupa Leather, Five Dust Mite Fuzz.
The Black Ox Armor set provides top-notch defensive protection first and foremost, boasting the standard 20 percent damage reduction offered by all Medium Armors. On top of your insulation from damage, Overbearing is a great perk for any melee-focused build. Every charged attack has a 33 percent chance to lower an enemy's damage by 20 percent for 15 seconds.
Reducing the damage output of high-tier enemies is an incredibly valuable ability, but donning an entire set of this armor provides even more to love. Stunning Charger bumps the chance of all of your charged attacks performing a stun by 25, which should allow you to use quickfire weapons to ensure your foes stay still and cannot retaliate.
2 Assassin's Armor Set
- Bonus: Cutman and Critical Chain.
- How To Craft: Mantis Head, Two Mantis Claws, Six Mantis Chunks, Ten Pond Moss, Ten Pupa Leather, Ten Lint Ropes.
While this Light Armor doesn't offer you the most impenetrable defensive armor, it will allow you to decimate bugs with vicious critical hit damage. The Cutman perk gives each critical hit you land a 50 percent chance to inflict Bleed, which will deal 20 DPS for ten seconds. Even alone, this perk offers enough to justify using the Assassin's set, but it gets better.
Using a complete Assassin's Set also grants you Critical Chain – every critical hit you perform increases the chance of performing another critical hit by 2.5 percent for the next ten seconds.
When combined with the Scythe of Blossoms, this set synergizes for incredibly high damage potential that should keep you safe by virtue of your targets being destroyed in an instant. If you're worried about your health, keep some key healing items on hand to refresh yourself.