Horizon Forbidden West BEST Armors [Top 20]

Armors in Horizon Forbidden West play a great role in keeping Aloy alive. The enemies will get tougher as you play through the game, and they’ll eliminate you instantly if you don’t have good armor on you. Today, to help you out, we are going to create a Horizon Forbidden West best armor guide, thanks to which you’ll be able to survive longer in combat.

Horizon Forbidden West Best Armors

Let’s have a quick look at the comparison between the Armor Sets that Aloy can equip in the game:

The most powerful armors in Horizon Forbidden West are the legendary ones, but you’ll acquire them later on in the game. In our guide, we will mention armors belonging to most of the rarity levels so that you can select armors for the early and mid-game. Also, keep in mind that we will be discussing what the armors offer when they are at their maximum level.

Before we get to the list of the best armor in Horizon Forbidden West, it is important to mention that the following list is based on our personal choice.

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Nora Anointed

Nora Anointed is the armor everyone starts the game with. You don’t have to worry about completing a side quest or collecting items to get this armor, as it is unlocked by default. However, even though it is the starting armor of the game, the Nora Anointed offers a good level of protection. 

The armor also has two skills, Concentration Regen and Potent Medicine. The first one makes concentration recover more quickly, while the other one increases the amount of healing Medicinal Berries do and makes the healing process faster.

Overall, the Nora Anointed is a decent armor that you can use in the game’s early stages. Considering it can help you heal quickly, this Horizon Forbidden West outfit can prove to be helpful in multiple situations. 

Nora Sentinel

Next up, we have the Nora Sentinel. If you’re someone who isn’t planning to use the Nora Anointed for a long time, then you can make a switch to this one. Compared to the armor mentioned above, the Nora Sentinel offers better protection. 

It comes with three skills. The first one increases the concentration limit, thus allowing Aloy to perform ranged kills more easily. The second one regenerates the weapon’s stamina faster, and the third one increases the impact damage when you’re in stealth mode. 

Overall, the Nora Sentinel is one of the best Horizon Forbidden West armors for the early game. When upgraded to the maximum level, the armor can protect you against multiple kinds of attacks. 

How To Get Nora Sentinel 

To get your hands on the Nora Sentinel, you will need to purchase it from the Merchant in Barren Light. It will cost you 399 Metal Shards and 1 Skydrifter Circulator. 

Oseram Wayfarer

The Oseram Wayfarer is a Rare Warrior outfit perfect for those who like to take their targets down by using melee attacks. This is because it offers a skill that increases the damage dealt by Light and Heavy melee attacks.

Other than this, the Oseram Wayfarer has two other skills called Evader and Potion Proficiency. The first one allows Aloy to dodge roll more. As for the second one, it makes Health Potions heal more and faster. All of this makes the Oseram Wayfarer the type of outfit that can prove useful in every fight.

Overall, the Oseram Wayfarer is a great outfit. Considering it can increase the amount of damage melee attacks do, it can help you clear an area quickly. 

How To Get Oseram Wayfarer 

To get this armor, you will need to purchase it from the Merchant located in Plainsong for 399 Metal Shards and 1 Widemaw Circulator. 

Utaru Harvester

The Utaru Harvestor is another excellent armor that can provide good protection during the early and mid-game. If you’re someone who likes to have a stealthier approach toward taking down enemies, then this armor is for you.

When fully upgraded, the Utaru Harvester has a total of three skills to offer. The first one is called Low Profile, and it makes it difficult for the enemies to detect Aloy. On the other hand, the second skill is Stealth Ranged, which increases the amount of damage ranged impact attacks deal while in stealth. Finally, the third skill is called Weapon Stamina, and as its name suggests, it increases the stamina limit of your weapon.

Overall, the Utaru Harvester has everything you need in armor during the game’s early stages. At the maximum level, the armor offers a good amount of protection and can defend you from multiple attacks.

How To Get Utaru Harvester 

The Utaru Harvester can be purchased from the Merchants in Plainsong and Bulwark for 399 Metal Shards and 1 Shell-Walker Circulator. 

Utaru Thresher

If you like to carry around Heavy weapons, then this armor is for you. This is because the Utaru Thresher is designed in such a way that Heavy weapons users can benefit a lot from it.

The Utaru Thresher comes with a total of four skills when fully upgraded. The first one increases the concentration limit of the user, while the second one allows Aloy to move faster while carrying a heavy weapon. On the other hand, the third skill increases the amount of damage dealt by heavy weapons. As for the fourth skill, it lets Aloy doge roll more times.

Overall, the Utaru Thresher is easily one of the best armors in Horizon Forbidden West. Considering it greatly favors Heavy weapon users and offers excellent protection, the Utaru Thresher armor can defend you even when you’re facing some of the most fearsome machines. 

How To Get Utaru Thresher 

To get your hands on this fantastic armor, you will need to purchase it from the Merchant in Scalding Spear. Compared to the armor mentioned above, this one is a little expensive to get as you will need 945 Metal Shards, 1 Sunwing Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core to purchase it. 

Tenakth Skirmisher

In Horizon Forbidden West, there can be times when you face pretty strong enemies. And by strong, I mean the ones you can’t take down quickly. Such enemies have potent attacks in their arsenal, and they can eliminate you instantly. This is where Tenakth Skirmisher comes in.

It has a total of five skills. The first one is called Low Health Ranged, which increases the damage of ranged attacks when Aloy is extremely low on health. The second one, called Low Health Valor, grants her more valor when her health falls below 25%.

As for the remaining three, they build up valor quickly, recover Aloy’s concentration faster, and increase the weapon’s stamina limit, respectively. All of this makes the Tenakth Skrimisher the kind of armor that won’t let you die quickly.

Overall, the Tenakth Skirmisher is ideal for players playing at a higher difficulty or those who struggle against powerful Machines. 

How To Get Tenakth Skirmisher 

You can purchase this armor from the Merchant in Scalding Spear for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Sunwing Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

Utaru Ritesinger

The Utaru Ritesinger is yet another armor in our Horizon Forbidden guide that prevents you from getting killed. It has a total of four skills, and each one of them has a benefit attached to it that focuses on keeping you alive.

The first skill is called Stealth Ranged, and it increases the ranged damage while in stealth. The second skill is called Second Chance, which will prevent you from getting eliminated by a killing blow if your health is below 25%. As for the third and fourth skills, they focus on making concentration drain slowly and making the effects of food last longer.

Overall, the Utaru Ritesinger is an excellent armor designed for those who keep on getting killed during combat.

How To Get Utaru Ritesinger  

To get your hands on this armor, you will need to visit the Merchant in Thornmarsh and purchase it from him for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Ragaer Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

Tenakth Dragoon

Now coming down to an armor that focuses on overriding machines. The Tenakth Dragoon armor possesses the capability of making your experience of overriding machines smooth.

The armor comes with a total of four skills. The first one is called Mounted Archer, and it lets you deal more damage while you’re riding a mount. The second one is Efficient Repair, and this one saves a lot of your resources by repairing overridden machines for fewer Metal Shards. As for the third one, it increases the health of the overridden machines, while the fourth skill decreases the amount of damage you take while riding a mount. 

Overall, the Tenakth Dragoon is an excellent armor for the mid-game, where you start facing tough machines. If you’re always using a mount, you should switch to this armor whenever you get the chance. 

How To Get Tenakth Dragoon

To get this armor, you will need to purchase it from the Merchants in Fall’s Edge and Legacy’s Landfall for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Stalker Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

Tenakth Recon

Another armor on our Horizon Forbidden West best armor guide that focuses on mounts and overriding machines is the Tenakth Recon. Compared to the above one, this one has some better skills. 

The Tenakth Recon also has four skills when fully upgraded. The first one, Machine Damage, increases the amount of damage overridden machines deal. On the other hand, the second one improves the health of overridden machines, thus providing them with the luxury of surviving longer in combat. As for the third and fourth skills, they let you keep an overridden machine longer and allow you to move around silently, something that prevents nearby enemies from detecting your movement. 

Overall, the Tenakth Recon is a pretty fantastic armor. You can choose it over the Tenakth Dragoon if you’re someone who’s not worried about spending more Metal Shards for repairing overridden machines. 

How To Get Tenakth Recon 

To get your hands on the Tenakth Recon, you can purchase it for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Behemoth Circulator, and 1 Lare Machine Core from the Merchant in Thornmarsh. 

Utaru Hardweave

When it comes to defensive stats, only a few Very Rare armors come close to the Utaru Hardweave. The protection it offers is impressive, something that will help you stay alive for a longer period.

When it comes to skills, the Utaru Hardweave has three. The first one is called Silent Strike, which increases the amount of damage Silent Strike deals. The second one, Stealth Ranged, allows you to deal more ranged impact damage while you’re in stealth. As for the third and final skill, it’s called Valor Surge Master, which builds up valor quickly. 

How To Get Utaru Hardweave 

To get this armor, you will need to acquire it from the Merchants in Lowland’s Path and Thornmarsh in exchange for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Stalker Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

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Carja Behemoth Trapper

If you’re looking for armor that can help you utilize traps more efficiently, then we suggest you go with the Carja Behemoth Trapper. This one can be acquired later in the game, and it can help you place traps more quickly and efficiently. 

There are a total of four skills offered by this trap. The first one, called Smoke Bomb Capacity, allows you to carry more Smoke Bombs. The second skill is called Trap Limit, and it enables you to place more traps and tripwires.

On the other hand, the third skill focuses on granting you more resources as you’ll recover more resources while dismantling traps and tripwires. As for the fourth one, it’s called the Quiet Movement which allows you to move around quietly.

Overall, the Carja Behemoth Trapper is an ideal armor for those who like to play around with traps and tripwires. Also, if you’re someone who likes to use a lot of Smoke Bombs in combat, then this armor can prove to be helpful to you.

How To Get Carja Behemoth Trapper 

The Carja Behemoth Trapper can be purchased from the Merchant in Thornmarsh for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Rollerback Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

Nora Tracker

The Nora Tracker is yet another armor that should be used by players who like to take their targets down silently. There are only a few armors in Horizon Forbidden West that are excellent for stealth play, and the Nora Tracker is one of them.

The armor has a total of four skills to offer. The first one is called Low Profile, and it makes you less visible to your enemies. As for the second one, it’s called Quiet Movement, thanks to which you can move around silently. The third and fourth skills, on the other hand, are called Quiet Spear, and Silent Strike, which reduce the noise melee attacks make and increase the Silent Strike damage.

Overall, the Nora Tracker armor is perfect for those who want to get the Assassin’s Creed feeling in Horizon Forbidden West. With this armor equipped, you won’t need to worry about getting into unnecessary fights again and again. 

How To Get Nora Tracker

The Nora Tracker armor can be purchased from the Merchant in Thornmarsh for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Large Machine Core, and 1 Dreadwing Circulator. 

Carja Trader

The Carja Trader armor is yet another armor that is perfect for those who like to use traps. It offers some amazing skills and can protect you from different types of attacks.

To begin with, the Carja Trader has a total of four skills. The first one increases the number of traps and tripwires you can place on the ground. The second one grants you the luxury of gaining more resources by dismantling traps and tripwires. As for the third and fourth skills, they provide you with more Metal Shards from dismantling and make the effects of food last longer.

Overall, the Carja Trader is a solid armor that can be used to increase the number of traps and gain more resources. 

How To Get Carja Trader 

The Carja Trader armor can be bought from the Merchant in Legacy’s Landfall for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Sunwing Circulator, and 1 Large Machine Core. 

Oseram Vanguard

The Oseram Vanguard is the armor type that grants Aloy impressive benefits whenever she’s low on health. Thanks to it, you won’t have to worry about getting killed quickly in combat, as the armor will help you stay on your feet. 

When it comes to skills, the Oseram Vanguard has four of them. The first one is called Low Health Melee, and it increases the amount of damage melee attacks deal when you are low on health. The second skill focuses on increasing valor whenever you get hit by enemy attacks, while the third one makes Health Potions heal more of Aloy’s health. As for the fourth skill, it increases the damage of Power Attacks. 

Overall, the Oseram Vanguard armor is meant for those players who want something that can help them stay alive in combat for a longer time. 

How To Get Oseram Vanguard

The Oseram Vanguard armor can be purchased from the Merchant in Legacy’s Landfall for 945 Metal Shards, 1 Large Machine Core, and 1 Snapmaw Circulator. 

Tenakth Tactician

The first legendary armor I would like to mention is the Tenakth Tactician. This is the type of armor that focuses on letting you take control of machines quickly. It also has a skill that lets you move around silently. 

The Tenakth Tactician armor comes with six skills when fully upgraded. These include;

• Quiet Movement.
• Mounted Defense.
• Mounted Archer.
• Machine Elemental+
• Machine Health.
• Lasting Override.

Overall, the Tenakth Tactician is one of the best armors to use in Horizon Forbidden West. When it comes to overriding machines, there isn’t any other armor that helps more than it. 

How To Get Tenakth Tactician 

To get this legendary armor, you will need to purchase it from the Merchant in Thornmarsh. It will cost you 2000 Metal Shards, 1 Apex Slitherfang Heart, and 1 Thunderjaw Circulator to craft it. 

Utaru Winterweave

The Utaru Winterweave legendary armor in Horizon Forbidden West is easily the best stealth armor in the entire game. This is because it will boost all of your stealth capabilities.

It has a total of six skills, which include Silent Strike, Smoke Bomb Capacity, Silent Strike Heal, Quiet Movement, Low Profile, and Quiet Spear. These skills reduce your movement and attack sounds. Furthermore, they also boost the damage of Silent Strike and allow you to carry more Smoke Bombs. All of this helps with staying undetected.

Overall, if you’re looking for a specific armor that can significantly enhance your stealth capabilities, then you should definitely get the Utaru Winterweave. 

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How To Get Utaru Winterweave 

To get your hands on this stealth armor, you will need to purchase it from the Merchant in Thornmarsh for 2000 Metal Shards, 1 Tremortusk Circulator, and 1 Apex Dreadwing Heart. 

Tenakth Vanquisher

Out of all the armors in Horizon Forbidden Best, the Tenakth Vanquisher is the best when it comes to keeping Aloy alive. Its skills focus greatly on granting benefits whenever you’re low on health.

The skills offered by the Tenakth Vanquisher include Valor Surge Master, Low Health Ranged, Low Health Defense, Low Health Melee, Low Health Valor, and Evader. The first one helps increase valor quickly, while the next one increases the amount of damage ranged attacks deal when you’re low on health. As for the remaining skills, they focus on helping you resist more damage when your health falls below 25%, making your melee attacks do more damage, and so on. 

Overall, the Tenakth Vanquisher is easily one of Horizon Forbidden West’s most elite armors that are designed for those who are always getting killed by their enemies. 

How To Get Tenakth Vanquisher 

Compared to the armors mentioned above, this one is a little difficult to get as you will need to spend some time in the Hunting Grounds and Arena to gather a total of 54 Arena Medals. After that, you can purchase it from the Merchant outside the Arena in exchange for the Arena Medals you acquired. 

Carja Stalker Elite

The Carja Stalker Elite is easily the best Horizon Forbidden West armor when it comes to trapping. We have mentioned some other ones in our list as well, but this one is better than all of them.

When fully upgraded, the Carja Stalker Elite has a total of six skills to offer. One of them is called Quick Trapper, and as its name suggests, it allows you to place traps faster on the field. It has another skill called Nimble Crafter, thanks to which you’ll be able to craft tools, traps, and potions faster.

The remaining skills offered by the Carja Stalker Elite focus on placing more traps on the field, increasing the Smoke Bombs capacity, and allowing Aloy to move around quietly.

Overall, the Carja Stalker Elite is the best Trapper armor in Horizon Forbidden West. If you like to play around with traps, then this one is for you.

How To Get Carja Stalker Elite 

This is yet another armor that is a little difficult to acquire as you will need to gather 54 Arena Medals for it, after which you’ll be able to buy it from the Arena’s Merchant. 

Nora Thunder Warrior

If you’re someone who likes to take their targets down from a great distance, then the Nora Thunder Warrior armor is for you. This is because the Nora Thunder Warrior armor has skills that help significantly in taking down enemies that are far away quickly and easily.

The armor has a skill called concentration which boosts your concentration limit to a great extent. Another skill called Deep Concentration prevents the concentration from draining quickly.

As for the other skills, they focus on recovering concentration faster, regenerating the weapon’s stamina faster, and increasing the amount of damage of attacks executed while in stealth. There is also a skill called Heavy Weapon that increases the amount of damage heavy weapons deal.

Overall, if you want something that can help you become the master of ranged kills, then you should opt for the Nora Thunder Warrior armor. 

How To Get Nora Thunder Warrior 

Just like the armor mentioned above, you can purchase the Nora Thunder Warrior armor for 54 Arena Medals from the Merchant sitting outside the Arena. 

Oseram Artificer

Now, it comes down to the best armor in Horizon Forbidden West. In the game, most of your fights are going to be melee-based. And if you have the Osearm Artificer armor equipped, then you’ll be able to end the conflicts quickly. 

Just like all the other legendary armors in Horizon Forbidden West, the Oseram Artificer also has a total of six skills to offer. The first one can increase the damage of Power Attacks, the second one helps energize the spear faster, and the third one deals more damage when energizing a target. There is also a skill called Resonator Blast that allows you to deliver a powerful attack that deals a lot of damage. 

Overall, the Oseram Artificer is Horizon Forbidden West’s best set. If you want something that can help you dominate every fight, then you should get the Oseram Artificier without wasting a single second. 

How To Get Oseram Artificer 

To get your hands on this legendary armor, you will need to complete all of the Oseram contracts. The process may be pretty time-consuming, but it will be worth it as you’ll get the best armor in the game.

• Updated: 20th March 2023.
• Added: Armor Stats.

My Opinion On The Best Armor

If you ask me, in terms of stats and viability, the Nora Thunder Warrior is easily the best armor you can use. Furthermore, if you’re reading this in 2023, Transmog is finally a feature in the game. So, if you want to make Aloy look good and stylish while slaying machines, my favorite aesthetically pleasing armor is definitely between either the Carja Stalker Elite or the Tenakth Vanquisher, with the latter giving me Monster Hunter Armor vibes.

The Nora Thunder Warrior’s Concentration perks really helped for the endgame, not to mention it gave me an edge during my NG+ Playthrough as well, so you just can’t go wrong with it if you’re using a ranged build.