Key recommendations
- Stick to one main armor set in 7DTD due to resource constraints.
- Some sets are specialized for efficient resource gathering.
- Each armor set offers unique bonuses and equipment upgrades.
There are many sets of armor in 7 Days To Die, giving you plenty of options on how you want to handle the zombie apocalypse. In addition to belonging to one of the three major weight classes, which provide different armor ratings, each piece of armor also provides a special bonus ability. Each armor set also has a unique bonus if you only equip pieces from that set.
While they all have their optimal use cases, the truth is that resources are time-consuming and sometimes difficult to acquire, so it's better to pick one main outfit and stick with it. If you want to know what the best desert beats are, here are the best armor sets in 7 Days To Die.
10 Gathering outfits
Lumberjack, scavenger, farmer, miner
|
Armor class |
Light (Lumberjack) |
|---|---|
|
Medium (Farmer, Scorger) |
|
|
Heavy (Miner) |
An important exception to the idea of ”sticking to one outfit” is outfits created specifically for resource gathering. These armor sets are fantastic for gathering their associated resources, but offer few combat bonuses.
Generally, they provide a combination of stats that allow you to harvest longer, keep your harvesting equipment, harvest faster, give you more inventory, and increase your yield. Aside from the Scavenger set, to get the most out of this type of gear, keep the entire set in a box next to the relevant resources, trade into them when it's time to harvest, and then trade back when you're done.
9 Assassin
If you want a bit of Assassin's Creed in your survival experience, you can't do better than the Assassin outfit. This armor set makes sneaking more effective and sneak attacks more deadly. As a medium armor set, this outfit has decent armor.
Combined with the gauntlet's increased attack speed with Agility weapons (knives, bows, and pistols), this set is no slouch either when the fights get loud. Atypical of medium armor, this set does not produce additional noise and in fact the boots have a negative noise modifier.
8 Athletic
Rule number one: Cardio. Sometimes the zombocalypse is not survived by the strongest or the toughest, but by the one who can keep running the longest. This spirit is embodied by the Athletic set, which provides bonuses to health and stamina, the latter of which allows you to fight (or run) more.
The boots also give a nice bonus to sprint speed, so you get more mileage out of the extra stamina. The hat offers a nice discount on food, drink and medicine costs. The first two of them will last much longer because the full set conserves food and water consumption when regenerating health and stamina.
7 Enforcer
This set gives you the Agent 47 look, though you won't be orchestrating Rube Golberg-ian zombie deaths as much as shooting them to death with high-powered pistols. The Enforcer set has an interesting array of perks that are generally useful, if not entirely cohesive, giving you better trade, more efficient fuel usage, and a faster sprint.
The outfit increases your resistance to injuries such as broken limbs, bruises, and bleeding lacerations. While useful at some point, you don't want to test it too hard since this is a light armor set. The full set bonus is good, offering a major damage and reload speed .44 Magnum and Desert Vulture – the latter is the most powerful gun in the game.
6 Ranger
This outfit is the very definition of middle, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's medium armor, so it offers decent protection, but not fantastic. Gloves increase the damage of revolvers and shotguns, which are mid-level weapons, while the full set increases their reload speed. The other advantages give the outfit a universal feel; increasing health, stamina and bartering capacity.
Good but not great, this set will allow you to survive zombie wastelands well. However, it's not in the middle in one very important way: it's the best “fit” in the whole thing. It has a feel somewhere between Apocalypse's cowboy and Fallout 4's minions, turning you into a hip distributor of frontier justice.
5 motorcyclist
This armor set fulfills the biker's fantasy of fighting and brawling. If you want to get into melee while still maintaining some degree of mobility, no set is better than this one.
In addition to being medium armor, this set increases your survivability, giving you more health and increased resistance to being stunned, an affliction that could be fatal if it hits you at the wrong time. The rest of the outfit provides a boost to your close combat capabilities by increasing melee damage and reducing the stamina drain of weapon swaps.
The full set bonus further increases the armor rating and will reduce the fuel consumption of minibikes and motorcycles, so you can keep your pig on the road even longer.
4 commando
The Commando set gives you a nice mix of survivability and offensive power, with the gloves worth it for the impressive boost to all ranged weapons alone. The rest of the set is focused on keeping you alive and moving fast enough to get some distance from the brain eaters so you can get back to shooting.
Gain resistance to stun and faster recovery from critical damage, as well as an increase in sprint speed. The full kit makes item recovery faster, allowing you to easily heal on the fly and ensuring that as long as you're not cornered (and have health items), you'll make it out alive.
3 Raider
The Raider set transforms you into a metal plate that deals lethal head trauma, staggering around in heavy armor as you swing your weapon and turn undead into undead. Like other heavy armor, you get a lot of armor from this set, mitigating a lot of damage. Gloves also give you a pretty nice bonus to melee damage.
The helmet is also notable, as the legendary version makes you completely immune to being stunned, ensuring you can keep swinging as long as your health and stamina last. The outfit allows you to heal from injuries faster, while the full set lowers your chances of getting them in the first place.
2 Preacher
In this garment, you will be ready to give the reins to the Lord. This is probably the best value proposition in the entire game. As light armor, this set gives no penalty to movement or stealth, but in addition to the modest armor rating provided by light armor, the piece of clothing reduces a percentage of the damage you take from zombies.
This set also has the best gloves in the entire game, bar none. It is arguably the best armor in the entire game, as level 6 increases total damage by 60 percent. This is for all damage, not limited to a specific weapon class like in other sets. The set bonus is also quite nice, especially early on, giving you resistance to wounds and reduced chance of infection, making you completely immune to Legendary quality.
1 nerdy
It hurts to say, but Nerd gear is the best set when it comes to character growth and one of the best when it comes to surviving the zombie apocalypse.
The bonus XP gain from the head is nice, but much more impressive is the outfit that offers a chance to gain additional skill levels from magazines, a powerful growth ability unmatched by any other outfit in the game. His other abilities are quite useful, giving you a safer drop, stronger turrets, and the whole set slows down equipment degradation.
Then why should you avoid this set? Simple, the outfit is hideous. It's a mix of anti-chic and nerdy 80s apocalypse that's as ugly as it is “fit” useful. It's the epitome of an asskicking outfit. So if you don't mind looking like the biggest idiot in the wasteland, then this crap might be worth it.
