The best Helldivers 2 armour

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 Boosters - A squad of divers

Jump to:Armour types and passive tier listS-tierA-tierB-tierC-Tier

Trying to determine thebestHelldivers 2armourset that you can equip first requires you to understand the differences between each different type. Armour stats aren’t actually that important when gearing up your diver. What matters more is your armour passive; a unique buff that can offer extra protection against certain kinds of damage, or even extra consumables like grenades and Stims.

If you’re gearing out your diver, you might also be wondering about thebest weaponsto take or thebest Stratagemsto use when dropping into hostile territory. Regardless of what stage you’re at, here’s my tier list of the best Helldivers 2 armour passives, plus which sets you can find them on and how to get them. It’s worth noting thatarmour stats are currently bugged in Helldivers 2 and are not providing protection, so it makes even more sense to double down on your passive.

Helldivers 2 armour types and passive tier list

You can buy rotating armour sets with a variety of passives in the Superstore(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - Superstore

There are three types of armour in Helldivers 2 with almost identical stats based on their type:

These armour types come with one of a certain set of passives, though you can find a couple of exceptions to this in the Superstore and Warbond. Generally, when choosing armour,passives are more important than stats, since these offer powerful additional buffs. Below I’ve broken down all of the current armour traits into a tier list based on how worthwhile I think they are.

Helldivers 2 best armour passive tier list

Swipe to scroll horizontallyTierPassiveS-tierDemocracy Protects, Med-KitA-tierEngineering Kit, FortifiedB-tierServo-Assisted, ScoutC-tierExtra Padding

Swipe to scroll horizontally

TierPassiveS-tierDemocracy Protects, Med-KitA-tierEngineering Kit, FortifiedB-tierServo-Assisted, ScoutC-tierExtra Padding

S-tier

Democracy Protects

Image1of4(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - DP-40 Hero of the Federation

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - DP-11 Champion of the People

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - DP-53 Saviour of the Free

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - TR-9 Cavalier of Democracy

This passive is first available with theDP-40 Hero of the Federationset on page five of the regular Warbond plus theDP-11 Champion of the Peopleset on page ten. You can get it far sooner with theDP-53 Saviour of the FreeandTR-9 Cavalier of Democracysets you get from the Super Citizen Edition of the game. It’s pretty self-explanatory why this passive is so good; 50% chance not to die on lethal damage is great when you’ll be taking lethal damage lots. Fewer deaths means more reinforces left to use.

Med-Kit

Image1of2(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - CM-09 Bonesnapper

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - CM-14 Physician

The first armour set you can get this passive on is theCM-09 Bonesnapperon page four of the regular Warbond, or later with theCM-14 Physicianset on page nine. Having two extra Stims helps you stay alive, but the more important detail here is that the continuous healing effect keeps going for two seconds extra. Usually when you get damaged, you’re in danger of getting damaged again, so this gives you an extra bit of survivability.

A-tier

Engineering Kit

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - CE-35 Trench Engineer

This passive is first available on theCE-35 Trench Engineerset on page three of the regular Warbond. While the recoil reduction is nice if you’re using a machine gun, the better part is those two extra grenades. There’s no situation in which that wouldn’t be helpful, and it’s especially good if you have to clear lots of bug holes but don’t have a Grenade Launcher and your Orbital Strike’s still on cooldown.

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Fortified

Image1of2(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - SF-05 Marksman

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - FS-23 Battle Master

B-tier

Servo-Assisted

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - SA-25 Steel Trooper

This passive is only available through armour sets in the Superstore or theSA-25 Steel Trooperset in the Premium Warbond. Luckily, it’s not all that strong. You’ll mainly feel the 30% extra throwing distance when hurling Stratagems, but it’s not really necessary when you can already yeet stuff pretty far. The same could be said for 50% bonus limb health; if you get a broken limb, you immediately fix it with a Stim, plus you’ll generally have someone in the team taking a Vitality EnhancementBoosterwhich already buffs resistance to injury.

Scout

Image1of3(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - SC-34 Infiltrator

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - SC-30 Trailblazer Scout

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - SA-04 Combat Technician

This passive is first available on theSC-34 Infiltratorset on page one of the regular Warbond, then later on theSC-30 Trailblazer Scoutset on page seven. This is generally a Light Armour passive, but it’s worth noting that theSA-04 Combat Technicianset on page eight of the Warbond is a rare exception of a Medium Armour set with the passive. If you’re someone who likes playing solo then I kind of rate this perk, but avoiding detection when in a big team is pretty much impossible. It’s also a bit of a bother to ping the map constantly to scan different areas when 90% of the time you can just spot secondary objectives, or take the UAV Recon Booster to give your team improved radar.

C-Tier

Extra Padding

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 best armour - B-27 Fortified Commando

This passive is one that you can get through theSuperstoreor the default armour you start with, but no one seems to know what it actually does. It says it provides a higher armour rating, but if you look at another set of the same type… it just doesn’t. What’s more likely is that this is a default passive for armour sets when they don’t have any other, since it looks like all armour sets have a passive no matter what.

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Helldivers 2 armour types and passive tier list#

Helldivers 2 best armour passive tier list#

S-tier#

Democracy Protects#

Med-Kit#

A-tier#

Engineering Kit#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Fortified#

B-tier#

Servo-Assisted#

Scout#

C-Tier#

Extra Padding#

Helldivers 2 armour types and passive tier list

Helldivers 2 best armour passive tier list

S-tier

Democracy Protects

Med-Kit

A-tier

Engineering Kit

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Fortified

B-tier

Servo-Assisted

Scout

C-Tier

Extra Padding