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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
While weapons are important to building a team in Octopath Traveler 2, augmenting stats through armor is equally as important. When utilizing Octopath Traveler 2’s Boost system, optimizing defensive stats to survive while saving up BP to unleash powerful attacks is key. As such, you’re going to want to outfit your party with the best armor the game has to offer. That’s why today we are going to cover the best armor pieces in Octopath Traveler 2, including where to find them and how to use them in bolstering your defenses.
Octopath Traveler 2 Best Armor Pieces
Let’s jump right into our guide to the best armor pieces in Octopath Traveler 2 so you know how to make the most of your party!
Ancient Circlet
The Ancient Circlet is a great piece of headgear for elemental-oriented party members. It grants +41 Physical Defense, +77 Elemental Defense, and +55 Elemental Attack.
Where to Find It
There are a couple of ways to obtain the Ancient Circlet in Octopath Traveler 2. You can purchase it from the Nameless Village located in Toto’Haha for 13,000 Leaves. Alternatively, the NPC Tiffany in Timberain holds an Ancient Circlet that you can obtain using a Path Action like Throné’s Steal or Agnea’s Entreat to obtain it from her.
How to Use the Ancient Circlet
Ideally, the Ancient Circlet should be given to a character who specializes in elemental attacks like Osvald and his Scholar job or Temenos and his Cleric job. This is because aside from boosting Physical and Elemental Defenses, the Ancient Circlet gives a boost to Elemental Attack as well. As one of the few pieces of armor to give an offense boost as well as a defensive one, it’s a great idea to give it to characters who can benefit from an increase to their Elemental Attack.
Blessed Vestments
A great piece of body armor to pair with the Ancient Circlet is the Blessed Vestments. This is because this piece of armor grants the wearer +130 Physical Defense, +215 Elemental Defense, and a bonus +74 Elemental Attack.
Where to Find It
The Blessed Vestments are a little harder to obtain than the Ancient Circlet. To find them, you must travel to Timberain and find the Judge NPC. Once you find him, you can use a Path Action like Steal or Purchase to obtain the gear from him. Be careful because the Blessed Vestments come with a hefty cost of 27,550 Leaves if you choose to use Partitio’s Purchase Path Action.
How to Use the Blessed Vestments
Much like the Ancient Circlet, the Blessed Vestments work best when given to a character whose Elemental Attack you want to optimize. Osvald or another character with the Scholar secondary job is the ideal choice here since their main focus would be on dealing high amounts of Elemental Damage. Another great choice is Temenos with the Scholar secondary job since he would get double the benefit of an increase to Elemental Attack.
Swift Shield
Not only is the Swift Shield a great way to boost a party member’s defense, it can also increase their speed as well. This shield grants the equipped character +79 Physical Defense, +97 Elemental Defense, and +47 Speed.
Where to Find It
It’s fairly easy to acquire a number of Swift Shields for your entire party. This shield can be purchased from armor vendors in Merry Hills and Roque Island for 18,000 Leaves a piece. Although this can be somewhat of a high price point, late game players should be able to afford to outfit their party with this shield.
How to Use the Swift Shield
While in theory most armor would slow down the equipped character, the Swift Shield does the exact opposite. This makes it great for almost any party member, but it is especially perfect to give to Throné. She thrives when her Speed is as high as possible, which usually means having to sacrifice some Defense in the process. However, the Swift Shield lets Throné remain a fast character while removing some of her fragility.
Vest of Joy
The Vest of Joy offers solid defenses as it is, but it also provides the wearer with helpful protections against a wide variety of status conditions. It grants the wearer +170 Physical Defense, +170 Elemental Defense, and increases resistance to poison, sleep, confusion, blindness, silence, terror, and unconsciousness.
Where to Find It
To obtain the Vest of Joy, you will need to complete the side quest A Young Girl’s Wish. This quest is located at Conning Creak, but will require the player to travel to Borderfall, New Delsta, and Timberain in order to complete. Other than having to travel to different locations, the quest itself is not too hard so this armor should be fairly easy to get.
How to Use the Vest of Joy
Although the Vest of Joy can be beneficial to any party member in Octopath Traveler 2, it is an ideal fit for Castti. This is because the boss of Castti’s Chapter 4, Trousseau, has the ability to inflict a number of status conditions on the party, and does so quite frequently. However, keeping Castti free of these ailments with the Vest of Joy allows her to Concoct cures for the rest of the party and keep the whole team healthy.
Cursed Armor
At first glance, the Cursed Armor doesn’t look like the benefits would outweigh its steep costs. However there is a way to get around this cost. The Cursed Armor gives the wearer +222 Physical Defense, +222 Elemental Defense, but -66 Speed.
Where to Find It
The Cursed Armor can be found within a chest located inside the House Wellows Manor optional dungeon in South Timberain Trail. To find the chest, head to the easternmost room on the bottom floor. Located within this room should be the chest containing the Cursed Armor.
How to Use the Cursed Armor
The Speed penalty the Cursed Armor inflicts shouldn’t deter you from using it because it can be easily turned from a hindrance into an advantage. By equipping the Blessing in Disguise accessory, all hindrances caused a piece of gear to become gains, meaning the equipped character gains +66 Speed instead of losing it. This makes the Cursed Armor ideal for characters who need high defense and speed, such as Hikari or Throné.
Dragon Mail
While the Dragon Mail doesn’t offer as much total defense as the Cursed Armor, it comes close without needing to waste an accessory slot on a Blessing in Disguise to be useful. This armor grants the wearer +195 Physical Defense, +105 Elemental Defense, and reduces fire damage taken.
Where to Find It
The Dragon Mail can be obtained from a chest hidden in the Deserted Highroad area of the Brightlands. To find this chest, head west after descending a ladder near the save point located in the area. Here you will find the chest containing the Dragon Mail near a cliff.
How to Use the Dragon Mail
Given that this armor is geared towards buffing Physical Defense, physically-oriented characters benefit the most from it. Ideally, you should give the armor to a character like Hikari, Ochette, or Partitio. Bosses like Tera in Ochette’s Chapter 2 or Steam Tank Obsidian in Paritio’s Chapter 4 deal Fire damage, making the resistance this armor offers a huge help.
Sublime Ornamental Armor
The Sublime Ornamental Armor is likely the best piece of armor in Octopath Traveler 2, with only the Cursed Armor offering great defensive stats. This armor grants +180 Physical Defense, +180 Elemental Defense, and gives resistance to fire, ice, lightning, and wind damage.
Where to Find It
To obtain the Sublime Ornamental Armor, you will need to take to the seas on The Grand Terry. After passing the whirlpool located between Toto’haha and the Brightlands, head north towards The Lost Isle. Passed The Lost Isle and north towards the Brightlands, there is a chest in the water that contains the Sublime Ornamental Armor.
How to Use the Sublime Ornamental Armor
This armor is almost universally useful on any of Octopath Traveler 2’s party members thanks to its balanced stats and great elemental damage reduction. As such, it is best suited for the weakest party member or the one in most need of protection against elemental attacks. It can come in handy in the fight against Professor Harvey in Osvald’s Chapter 5 as he uses a range of different elemental attacks.
Join the High Ground
Hopefully this guide to the best armor pieces in Octopath Traveler 2 helped you find the right pieces of gear for your party. Let us know which armor you think is best in the comments down below. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss any upcoming guides for Octopath Traveler 2.
Happy Gaming!
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