If you intend to fight the forces of evil, whether pesky Goblins or dreadful Mind Flayers, it's always nice to ensure you're appropriately dressed for the occasion. Luckily, Baldur's Gate 3 has a plethora of equipment to choose from, from simple clothing to the three main types of armor from Dungeons & Dragons — which Baldur's Gate bases itself on — light, medium, and heavy armor.
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Our focus here will be on the latter, with the best heavy armor you can find, ensuring your strong frontline-type character can endure the punishment it takes to be in front of your friends, taking all the hits and live to strike back whoever attacked you.
Updated on October 11, 2024, by Lucas Olah: Are you still searching for something nice to wear while tearing your enemies apart? Well, we decided to add a couple of extra options for you, making your life a bit easier. Along with the new choices, we've also added quick reference tables for you to have an easier time locating each heavy armor here, along with a quick read of their benefits for your character.
This article discusses options from early in the game and Act 3 content, meaning you'll likely ditch earlier entries for the later ones as you go.
When replacing your armor for something better, consider giving the old one to a companion who can also wear heavy armor!
10 Chain Mail +1
A Great Beginning
Act | Any |
|---|---|
AC | 17 |
Where To Find | Sold by multiple vendors whenever you hit level 4. |
Other Effects |
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There's no better place to start than the easiest one to get. It's a simple armor with an AC (armor class) of 17 — enemies need to roll this number or more on their attack to hit you — and it decreases any slashing damage you'll receive by one.
There's nothing more to it, and you'll definitely replace this one with the other options here, but it's worth mentioning because of how easy it is to get. Around level four, the vendors from the Emerald Grove will start selling them. It's the first real armor a heavy armor build will get.
9 Adamantine Splint Armor
Only Losers Take Critical Hits
Act | Act 1 |
|---|---|
AC | 18 |
Where To Find | Obtain the mould and Mithral ore to forge it at the Adamantine Forge |
Other Effects |
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Your best option while still in Act 1 is here. It's made with one of the best metals, giving the armor an AC of 18, and it cancels critical hits — you'll still get hit when the opponent rolls 20; it just won't be critical. All damage you receive is decreased by two hit points, and the enemy gets the Reeling condition whenever they hit you, which gives them a -1 on their Attack Rolls — meaning their next strike will be harder to hit.
This armor, along with all the other Adamantine gear, has to be made in the Adamantine Forge in the Underdark. You can only forge two items, so be sure of your choices before making them. And watch out for the boss in the forge — make sure you're wielding bludgeoning weapons.
8 Flawed Helldusk Armor
Unleash The Fires Of Avernus
Act | Act 2 |
|---|---|
AC | 18 |
Where To Find | Forged by Dammon with Infernal Iron at the Last Light Inn. |
Other Effects |
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Though the Flawed Helldusk Armor isn't the perfect version of the armor (which we'll get into), this version is pretty good, too, especially because you can get it at the beginning of Act 2, whenever you find Dammon again at the Last Light Inn. You can give him Infernal Iron to forge with, along with boots and a helmet — just make sure you fix Karlach before getting rid of the exceeding Infernal Iron.
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Its AC is 18, and it decreases any piercing damage you receive by one. When someone 2m away from you or less hits you, there's a chance they'll receive a d4 of fire damage, which comes in hand as extra damage that you need to do absolutely nothing to trigger.
By default, every heavy armor gives you a disadvantage on Stealth rolls, and they don't give you additional AC from your Dexterity.
7 Rippling Force Mail
Dammon Disapproves
Act | Act 2 |
|---|---|
AC | 17 |
Where To Find | At Dammon's shop in the Last Light Inn, on the second floor. |
Other Effects |
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Dammon has a lot of armor to sell for heavy-armor enthusiasts. However, if you're not satisfied with his stuff, you can steal other options he leaves around. This mail has a base AC of 17 and a unique feature called Force Conduit that triggers whenever you receive bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Force Conduit reduces damage from these sources by one, and it stacks the more you get hit. Eventually, you'll blow up and damage people around you for 1d4 force damage.
6 Armor Of Devotion
Great For Oath Bearers (Or Breakers)
Act | Act 2 |
|---|---|
AC | 18 |
Where To Find | Sold by Roah Moonglow in Moonrise Towers |
Other Effects |
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Found in Act 2, this armor is mostly good for Paladins only, but it's worth mentioning. It has an AC of 18 and a unique property called Eternal Devotion, which lets you restore one use of your Channel Oath once per long rest.
That's a Paladin-exclusive trait, hence the 'mostly good for Paladins only.'
If you want this armor for yourself, be on the lookout for a merchant called Roah Moonglow in Moonrise Towers.
5 Reaper's Embrace
Ketheric Doesn't Need It Anymore
Act | Act 2 |
|---|---|
AC | 19 |
Where To Find | Loot Ketheric Thorm's corpse. |
Other Effects |
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If you've made a character with heavy armor, a shield, and a one-handed weapon, you'll love defeating Act 2's main boss, Ketheric Thorm, as he fights with the same setup. The armor in question is the Reaper's Embrace, which has one of the best aesthetics. But don't worry, it's got more than looks.
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Its AC is 19, and it also decreases the damage you take by two. It also has a unique characteristic (which can be turned on and off) that impedes anyone from moving you against your will, at the cost of giving you a disadvantage in Dexterity Saving Throws. Depending on how vertical the map you're fighting on is, this is a neat trait to turn on. It also gives you the unique cantrip Howl the Dead, which halves the movement of everyone near you and gives you an advantage when attacking the affected enemies.
4 Blackguard's Plate
Protect Mind And Body
Act | Act 3 |
|---|---|
AC | 19 |
Where to Find | Looted from one of the Death Knights that guard the entrance of the Murder Tribunal. |
Other Effects |
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While this armor is good, it only appears during Act 3, where you can find better armor already. Still, this one might be worth leaving to a companion in case you've already found better heavy armor for yourself.
It has an AC of 19, and it reduces any damage by one. It also gives an advantage to any wisdom saving throws, which is pretty good if your race doesn't give you that already. Essentially, mind-controlling you will be harder.
3 Emblazoned Plate Of The Marshal
Wyll Disapproves
Act | Act 3 |
|---|---|
AC | 19 |
Where To Find | Loot Ulder Ravengard's corpse. |
Other Effects |
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Be careful if you want this one; you'll have to be a bit evil. This plate armor can be found in Act 3 on Duke Ravengard's corpse, meaning you'll have to let a key character — for Wyll, at least — die to get it.
The AC is also 19, and all incoming damage is decreased by two. Other than that, you'll get resistance against fire damage and a bonus of +2 to any saving throw you make. Lastly, you get the spell Fire Shield, which gives you resistance to fire and causes cold damage on enemies who attack you with melee strikes or cold damage as it causes fire damage on enemies. You'll choose which option you want upon casting.
2 Armor Of Persistence
Endure And Survive
Act | Act 3 |
|---|---|
AC | 20 |
Where To Find | Sold by Dammon in Baldur's Gate |
Other Effects |
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A heavy armor that by itself reaches an AC of 20 is already a big deal, but luckily for us, that's just the beginning. Along with this absurd AC, all damage you take is reduced by two, and it gives you the effects of the cantrips Resistance and Blade Ward at all times as passive bonuses.
Resistance gives you a 1d4 bonus to any saving throws you make, while Blade Ward gives you resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. So not only are you hard to hit, but these hits will hurt less. Dammon will sell this one once you find him in Baldur's Gate.
1 Helldusk Armor
Become Untouchable
Act | Act 3 |
|---|---|
AC | 21 |
Where To Find | Loot Raphael's corpse. |
Other Effects |
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This armor has a bit of a cheating property, as it gives heavy armor proficiency to whoever wears it — meaning your Wizard can wear it with no problem — but it's still heavy armor, and it's also one of the best in the business. It's also the only Legendary here, another hint of how good it is.
Its base AC is 21, which is already impressive, and it punishes enemy spellcasters by burning them every time you succeed in a saving throw against their spells. It gives you resistance against fire, makes you immune to the Burned condition, and removes three hit points of damage from any attack you receive, no matter the source. If you have Heavy Armor Master, it'll remove six hit points of damage from non-magical weapon attacks, which is a nice stack. Lastly, it lets you cast Fly, just for kicks.
You'll get this armor at the House of Hope, beating none other than the Devil Raphael. Digging through the House, you can also find other pieces of the Helldusk Armor, making a nice set for you.
If you stack this with Viconia's Walking Fortress, your AC will reach 24.
You can even do that with Human or Half-Elf spellcasters, as anyone can wear the armor, and these races get shield proficiency.
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5.0/5
Baldur's Gate 3
RPG
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:96/100 Critics Recommend:98%
- Franchise
- Baldur's Gate
- Platform(s)
- PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Engine
- Divinity 4.0
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 100+ Hours
- X|S Optimized
- yes
- Metascore
- 96
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical Only
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 Players
- Cross Save
- yes
- Cross-Platform Play
- Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't support crossplay
