A samurai’s armor is a work of art, intricately decorated, but with a violent function at its heart. You will come across a variety of armor throughout your time with Ghost of tsushima, but each works best in different situations. Once you have chosen your favorite set, you can also customize it with various armor dyes found in merchants from all over the earth.
Light clothing with an emphasis on mobility is a delight when Jin embraces his darker impulses like the stealth ghost, but offers little protection when it’s time to really throw himself into a fight.
Here are all the best Ghost of Tsushima armor sets for every playstyle, as well as where to lay your hands on them.
Note that many of the best armor sets in Ghost of Tsushima are quest rewards, while some unlock relatively late in the story. This comes as a spoiler warning to get quest rewards and unlock later game stories.
That said, the armor set shown here that unlocks the latest in the game has been extensively shown in the previews, and is literally in the Ghost of Tsushima case design.
The best Ghost of Tsushima armor sets for every play style
Best armor for explorers and finalists: traveler outfit
Right on Komoda Beach, when you arrive at a survivor camp and talk to a merchant, you will get a new set of threads – the traveler’s outfit.
In the story, swapping your broken armor helps to take away Jin’s heat by making him a less obvious target for Mongol invaders.
However, it also has the unique ability to track numerous collectibles across the Tsushima Island. This is the only armor set that allows you to aim the guiding wind at hidden objects.
While not as useful during combat, you probably find yourself using this at the end of the game to collect everything you’ve missed. Or it could get up quickly when you enter a new area to move around and grab everything while playing.
Best Armor for Mixed Characters: Ronin’s Outfit
You can really get one of the best Ghost of Tsushima armor sets right away in Act 1 by heading to the west of the island to help your old friend Ryuzo.
While Ronin’s outfit doesn’t have the damage reduction capabilities of the Adachi Clan’s Samurai armor, it makes up for this by combining a wide range of abilities in one set, so you’re not changing all the time and can focus on just having Fun with the game.
The decent buff for melee damage is always helpful, and stealth-oriented abilities are quite powerful and the only ones you’ll find in armor for most of the game.
If you like to sneak up on encounters but don’t want to fall short when history forces you into a violent situation, Ronin’s outfit is the way to go.
Best Armor for Melee Characters: Sakai Clan Armor
There are two great options for melee characters from the start of Act 2.
The first is an unlock story, in the northwest of the second area: the Sakai clan of Jin armor. This powerful set works well for players who want to get into fights without stealthily fooling around.
First of all because it greatly increases your ability to deal and take damage, but also because when it is fully updated it allows you to eliminate a maximum of 5 enemies with the Ghost of Tsushima confrontation mechanics.
Second is Gosaku’s armor, which rewards you at the end of The Unbreakable Gosaku Mythic Tale.
We have a full page on where to find and complete all the Mythical Tales, but you start it right outside Akashima when you reach that prefecture at the beginning of Act 2.
While Clan Armor has powerful passive buffs, Gosaku’s Armor is best if you want a more active challenge in your playstyle.
Essentially, power up your poses so you can stagger enemies more easily and finish in style. And once you have done that, it improves your health to a great extent.
If you enjoy playing the melee metagame (or you don’t and you want it to finish faster), then Gosaku’s Armor rewards you for quickly altering your stance to match your opponent, while keeping you healthy.
Best Armor for Stealth Characters: Ghost Armor
Next, towards the end of Act 2 and the beginning of Act 3, you finally unlock the Ghost Armor, the set in the game box and shown in Ghost of Tsushima previews and introductions.
The Phantom Armor works almost like the stealth equivalent of the Sakai Clan Amour, allowing you to go unnoticed until you can eliminate stragglers without response.
When fully upgraded, its reduction to enemy detection speed means that if you duck, you can walk right under people’s noses without attracting their anger. While the% Chance to Terrorize Enemies really does cut down large groups of enemies, it is unlikely that you will feel overwhelmed even without the support of your melee abilities.
Reducing the number of kills you need to enter the mighty Ghost Stance is also a boon, as it allows you to unleash one of the coolest mechanics in the game more often.
You can complement that weakness with charms anyway, and we’ve got a page on where to get the best charms in Ghost of Tsushima, here.
All other armor sets
While the above are our picks for the fittest, there are many more clothing options in Ghost of Tsushima.
There are a couple of memes there, but you could definitely find a use for some of them. Not to mention, they all look great.
Samurai Clan Armor
This makes sense as an early armor set, but others quickly outgrow it.
I tend to prefer proactive healing of Amaterasu’s Charm and Goskau armor rather than resolution. While the special ability that triggers when you take damage gets progressively worse as the game progresses, not only as you improve your combat system, but as you get more tools to block incoming attacks without getting hit.
You unlock the Samurai Clan’s armor on an early mission with Lady Masako Adachi.
Tadayori Armor
This set of armor to enhance archery is great if you want to shoot with the best, but I feel that Jin’s ranged attacks are strong enough anyway that you better get help somewhere else. However, that’s a great hat.
Pick it up from Legend of Tadayori Mythic Tale, we have a page here.
Kensei armor
While getting the Kensei armor is a lot of work, and it looks great, I felt it was quite situational and there were very few enemies in the game that needed to be removed.
There’s no question that you can achieve some eye-catching combos by turning on your Ghost Weapons and giving yourself a steady stream of Resolver to send out special spam moves, but it depends heavily on the limited ammo you can find.
Get the Kensei armor set from Six Blades of Sojiro Mythic Tale.
Mongol Commander Armor
You can complete a Tale of Tsushima to receive this unique armor set when you reach the Jogaku Temple in Act 3 of the game. While it comes fully updated with some decent perks, it is surpassed by other fully upgraded melee sets.
While dancing at a Mongolian camp in your costume is a great way to make the first hit, it’s more of a novelty.
Fundoshi
Speaking of novelty, enjoy the glory of Fundoshi – your reward for finding all the hot springs in Tsushima.
It’s definitely a joke, but his ability to run quietly means you can lead Leroy Jenkins to any band of unsuspecting foes roaming the island once you’ve cleaned up.
I feel like Tengai’s secret hat toiletries item really enhances the look.
List of Tsushima’s Ghost Armor Dyes
While the practicalities of each armor set are important, nothing beats a really cool looking set of threads.
Here’s a gallery of every armor tint in Ghost of Tsushima. You unlock more and more as you progress through the game. The first batch is found in surviving camps and towns in the Act 1 area. Then you can get more from the merchants in Act 2. Finally, you can buy all of the above armor dyes, plus 3 more for the merchant Ronin outfit in the Jogaku Temple in Act 3.
From Act 1 you have access to the White Dye Merchant, before you can visit the Black Dye Merchant in Act 2 for some unique colors. We will show you where to find them below.
Click or tap to expand the image:
Traveler Outfit Armor Dye:
Tints of Samurai Clan Armor:
Ronin Attire Armor Dyes:
Tadayori’s Armor Dyes:
Gosaku’s Armor Tints:
Sakai Clan Tints of Armor:
Kensei armor tints:
Phantom Armor Tints:
Where to find the White Dye Merchant and Black Dye Merchant in Ghost of Tsushima
If you want to put on a pure white outfit like death, visit the White Dye Merchant in the northwest of Act 1 area. He is between where it says “Walker’s Pass” and “Hills of Kashine” on the map.
His store is up the hill.
To find the Black Dye Merchant, head to Kawamata Village on the east coast of the Act 2 area. The store is just southeast of Kawamata, southwest of Urashima village.
To build more characters, here are our maps on where to find each fox den and bamboo strike.
If you’re having trouble updating your love, we also have a page on where to find more supplies and other materials.
