Elden Ring: Best Armor in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

FromSoftware / Brett Moss

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Human Made

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

We’ve already covered the best new weapons in the Elden Ring DLC, but what about armor? While not as many people are quick to get excited over new armor as weapons, there’s still a lot of really cool and powerful new armor sets to pick up in the DLC. In this article I’ll cover 5 great armor sets from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, along with stats and information about each!

Note: The stats here are from the Elden Ring wiki page on DLC armor.

Death Knight Set

Where to Find: Darknight Catacombs

Damage Negations	Resistances
Physical – 24.8	Immunity – 63
Magic – 19	Robustness – 106
Fire – 19.4	Focus – 41
Lightning – 24.6	Vitality – 106
Holy – 16.4	Poise – 47

In addition to solid stats all around (including a really great Lightning damage negation), you also get a boost to any skill or incantation from the Ancient Dragon Cult while wearing this armor. That makes this a default pick for anyone using those abilities. Since those incantations are quite powerful already, it’s hard to imagine this set not being the best one for anyone relying on those for damage.

To get the Death Knight set, you’ll just need to go to the Darknight Catacombs and then proceed forward on the normal route until you find a corpse with the set on it. It’s really hard to describe where it is within the catacomb as there aren’t many notable landmarks, but it’s not really hidden, so I’d recommend either looking carefully as you go through or just finding a quick YouTube video with directions.

Verdigris Set

The NPC, Moore, in Elden Ring — FromSoftware / Brett Moss

Where to Find: Moore’s Questline

Damage Negations	Resistances
Physical – 38.5	Immunity – 207
Magic – 26.5	Robustness – 245
Fire – 26.3	Focus – 81
Lightning – 28.3	Vitality – 115
Holy – 26.2	Poise – 100

The Verdigris Set makes this list out of sheer toughness. A quick look at its stats tell you everything you need to know: it’s tank armor with unbelievable poise and robustness. The robustness will be enough to keep you alive through more bleed hits than you can imagine, and the high poise will make staggering you feel impossible. Many online have compared it to the Bull-Goat Set from the base game, and it’s easy to see why so. It’s basically tied with that set in most regards defensively, so you’ll have to go through and compare them side by side to see which one is better for a specific situation, but it’s worth having both. I’m not sure if it definitely beats the Bull-Goat Set, but it’s very close if not.

If you’re a fan of being a tank, you have to get this set. It’ll be a go-to armor set for many bosses I’m certain, so I can’t really think of a reason not to get this set. Since it’s also very well-balanced, you won’t run into any bosses that cut through a one-off weak defense. All in all, I can’t recommend this set highly enough.

Rakshasa Set

Where to Find: Defeating Rakshasa in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum

Damage Negations	Resistances
Physical – 19.4	Immunity – 84
Magic – 16.3	Robustness – 143
Fire – 18.4	Focus – 66
Lightning – 15.3	Vitality – 66
Holy – 16.3	Poise – 58

The Rakshasa Set has a strong claim for best in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Its damage negations are notably low, but that’s because this set has the bonus effect of giving you +2% overall damage for each piece you’re wearing. That adds up to a nice 8% damage bonus just for wearing this set. The downside, as I just mentioned, is that it provides less defense than other sets. You’ll have to learn your enemy’s moves better than usual to stay alive while using this set, but the bonus damage is always worth your trouble.

If you’re confident in your abilities, the Rakshasa Set is arguably the best in the Elden Ring DLC. However, if you prefer to survive longer, there are plenty of other sets you can go with. Personally I do think this set is just about perfect for a New Game+ run, as you’ll already be taking so much damage that the lower damage negation won’t even matter since you’re already getting one-shot by so many things. It’s a high-risk, high-reward armor set, which is exactly what Elden Ring players love to see.

Fire Knight Set

Fire Knight Helm in Elden Ring — FromSoftware / Brett Moss

Where to Find: Dropped by Fire Knights (Located within the Shadow Keep)

Damage Negations	Resistances
Physical – 25.5	Immunity – 66
Magic – 19.2	Robustness – 110
Fire – 23.6	Focus – 50
Lightning – 14.5	Vitality – 57
Holy – 17.8	Poise – 40

While this set is pretty reliable all-around, what makes it so good is the Helm. The Fire Knight Helm gives bonuses to HP, stamina, and equip load. According to the wiki, it gives exactly +2% max HP, +5% stamina, and +4% to your max equipment load. To get all of that for free on a helmet is honestly too good to pass up. Even if you don’t want to wear the whole Fire Knight Set, even just the helmet is worth wearing for the bonuses. If you don’t absolutely need every point of defensive stats, this is a great piece to just throw on with other sets in a mix-and-match loadout.

The overall Fire Knight Set is pretty solid, but it’s really all about the one piece that gives bonuses. Plus, it’s also one of the cooler looking sets in the DLC.

Dancer’s Set

Where to Find: Defeat Dancer of Ranah in the Southern Nameless Mausoleum

Damage Negations	Resistances
Physical – 8.5	Immunity – 87
Magic – 24.9	Robustness – 54
Fire – 24.9	Focus – 136
Lightning – 23.6	Vitality – 144
Holy – 24.5	Poise – 10

The Dancer’s Set isn’t just good because it looks cool (even though it does). It’s one of few armor sets that gives bonuses other than just stats, and they’re better than most others as well. The Dancer’s Set gives a 10% bonus to damage from dancing attacks. Dancing attacks are weapon arts that have the word “dance” in them, such as Waterfowl Dance and Flame Dance. If you’re using any of those attacks, it’s absolutely a good idea to consider the Dancer’s Set. It does come with the drawback of being fairly weak in physical damage negation, but its elemental negations are great.

In PVP, there’s also a ton of potential for this set. Since the dance-type moves are very strong (some might argue better) against real people than bosses (usually), I could see this being one of the more frightening sets to see someone wearing. Just make sure to be aware of how little damage you can take while wearing this set and you can really get some good value out of it.