These are the best armor sets in Fallout: New Vegas. This article includes sets that will suit many playstyles. There’s a wide number of different unique and non-unique armor sets in Fallout New Vegas, and it would be cluttered and you’ll have trouble selecting the best ones. Because of that reason, I will include sets that I consider to be the best. This list also includes Power Armor, and because it would spoil certain quests, I’ll refrain from mentioning how to obtain them.
A disclaimer before we proceed: Fashion is one of the greatest things in video games and real life, and we all love to look the best we can in games. When you play Fallout New Vegas yourself, I recommend that you try out different armor sets and decide for yourself what looks cool and performs well. And I recommend reading this list to know about the best sets in the game.
If you like this list, consider reading our other Fallout New Vegas guides.
Remnants Power Armor
This is arguably the best power armor in the game. Remnants Power Armor is a heavy set of armor, as you can see. The armor weighs 45 while the helmet weighs 5. When they’re combined, you get a Damage Threshold (DT) of 36, which is great. If you don’t know what DT is, it’s basically how an armor set ignores a certain amount of damage. In this set’s case, when you’re attacked, 36 damage points are subtracted from the damage delivered to you.
The armor grants you +1 Strength and +15 Radiation Resistance. While the helmet also grants a Radiation Resistance of +5, it causes you to lose 1 point in Charisma (Meaning: -1 Charisma). The whole set weighs 50, 45 for the armor and 5 for the helmet.
There’s a unique variant of this set called Gannon Family Tesla armor. It weighs 5 points less than the above set but has a slightly lower DT of 26. While the above variant is great for a build that uses Guns, the Gannon Family power armor suits an Energy weapon user the best. That’s because the armor grants a whopping +10 in Energy Weapons. Another major advantage of this set is how it’s classified as a Medium armor set and not a Heavy set.
Elite Riot Gear
This is arguably the best-looking and best-performing armor set in the game. You can only find it in the Lonesome Road DLC, however. It has very impressive stats for a Medium armor. Combined with the helmet, it offers the Courier a DT of 28, which is lower than that of a set of Power Armor, obviously, but the lower weight (which is only 29) makes it a stellar choice. It also rivals the stats of the T-45 power armor, and that’s saying something. Wearing this armor also rewards you with bonuses to skills: +5 Critical Chance, +10 Guns, and +1 Charisma. The helmet grants additional bonuses as well, along with Night Vision. They are +5 Speech and +2 Perception.
You can find a common variant of this set named NCR Ranger Outfit earlier in the game if you side with NCR. Obviously, it makes the factions recognize you as a member of the NCR and that may limit some of your actions. It’s also a very effective set of armor that makes you withstand heavy fire while looking cool as heck. When you combine both the helmet and the armor, you get a DT of 24, and the whole set weighs 33.
Combat Armor, Reinforced Mark 2
While this set doesn’t look like anything exceptional, you can find it early on in the game and it provides good DT while remaining in the Medium category. When you combine the armor and the helmet, it gives you 25 DT, which is really good, even for late-game sections. The whole set weighs 27.5.
Armor of the 87th Tribe
This is a unique set of armor that you can obtain in the Lonesome Road DLC, like the previously mentioned Elite Riot Gear. The set belongs to the Heavy class and while it’s certainly one of the armors of Caesar’s Legion, it’s not classified as a Faction armor. That means any other factions don’t count you as hostile when you wear this set. It weighs 35 and provides a DT of 22. It also offers you bonuses to AP (+10), Crit chance (+3), and Charisma (1).
Stealth Suit MKII
As its name implies, this is the perfect armor set for a player who uses a Stealth build. While it provides lower DT (of 22) than other armor sets on this list, a Stealthy Courier doesn’t plan on getting shot that much. It belongs to the Medium Armor category and weighs 25. Keep in mind that you need the Old World Blues DLC to obtain this unique armor.
There are multiple specialties of this set that makes it really good. As you upgrade the armor’s firmware, Stats stack and by the end, you’ll have the perfect stealth suit. It gives a massive bonus to Sneak, along with +1 Perception and +1 Agility. It also grants you the ability to move 20% faster when crouched.
What do you think are the best armor sets in Fallout: New Vegas? Let us know on the forums!
