[Guide] Ultimate Armor Tier List (big brain) (2024)

2020 update: The information in this post is probably outdated now.

I started writing this as a joke about bad armor posts in the forums, but it turned into a serious guide.
I compare each armor in terms of its worth in the current state of the game. My perspective is one of a player who has exhausted the end update and knows more or less how everything works.
If you want a more mathematical comparison of armors and other stuff check out this spreadsheet by Megit.

hope u like

Tier S

• Superior Dragon Armor: The best combined raw power in the entire game, offensively and defensively. It's just too good, but it's also insanely expensive. Edit: It got nerfed by a bugfix and it's barely better damage than Strong now, so they better buff it again like an admin suggested.
• Wise Dragon Armor: It allows for fun without comparison; you can literally fly with AotE, and have endless max speed with Rogue Sword. You can recover a gargantuan amount of HP with Zombie Sword, making it by far the true tankiest armor in the game. Some day the game will add armors with better stats, but none will ever compare to the utility of Very Wise Dragon.

Tier A

• Strong Dragon Armor: The second best offensive armor in the game, and it would be the best if not for Superior's full set bonus. The 100 extra strength will increase your total damage by at least 40%. It's the best bang for your buck, and the gear of a dragon hunter.
• Unstable Dragon Armor: You will deal less damage than if you were using Strong, but its ability lets you flex on other players which is a huge plus. I suppose it's also a good choice if you don't care enough to own and reforge a lot of talismans for the critical hit stats.

Strong and Unstable are alone in this tier because raw damage is more important than raw protection in Hypixel SkyBlock. Even then, both still have fantastic HP and defense.​

Tier B

• Ender Armor: Great offense and good protection for anyone wanting to make a living in the End. A reforged Ender Armor is a must-have for everyone, only surpassed by offensive dragon armors while also being one of the cheapest sets in auction. It's overpowered.
• Old Dragon Armor: The highest raw HP in the game, it's a straightforward tank. It and other dragon armors have slightly worse reforges than Ender, but they work anywhere and not just the End.
• Protector Dragon Armor: The gimmicky counterpart to Old Dragon. It can go on par with Perfect Tier X. However it's not very practical with Zombie Sword, as every time you heal your defense lowers again.
• Young Dragon Armor: It's great armor despite being often looked down upon. The speed is a really cool permanent effect, but it doesn't work in combat and you can get even more speed with Wise Dragon and Rogue Sword.
• Perfect Armor: There are two problems with Perfect Tier X: It's disgustingly expensive beyond reason, and it's actually super underwhelming. It was supposed to be the tankiest and most impressive armor, but it's easily matched by armors that give HP and not just defense. The best it can get is around 5% better than Superior/Protector/Old Dragon, and it's still hugely outclassed by Wise Dragon's healing. If you want a great armor, Perfect is a terrible choice.

Tier C (Only good if you already have it)

• Mixed pieces set: Consisting of Hydra Head, Obsidian Chestplate, Creeper Pants and any good boots. It's very tanky, but it's not better than anything in B tier.
• Monster Hunter Set: It's good and a lot of fun, but hard to craft and every single piece comes with glitches. It will be annoying in the majority of situations. If you wanted a powerful and affordable set, try something else.
• Emerald Armor: It's made obsolete by any dragon armor, and the grind is atrocious.
• Diver's Armor: It's made obsolete by any dragon armor, and the grind is atrocious.

Tier D

• Ember Armor: It's on par with Golem and Hardened but it has Epic rarity. It's incredibly cheap in auction and has a useful ability, which should make it a go-to for starting players. It's surprising that it's not mentioned more often.
• Blaze Armor: Forgettable, way too expensive to craft, has a unique but barely useful set bonus.
• Growth Armor: Forgettable, way too expensive to craft, has a unique but barely useful set bonus.
• Zombie Armor: Forgettable, way too expensive to craft, has a unique but barely useful set bonus.

Tier E (Don't use these)

• Hardened Diamond Armor: It's the bare minimum you'll need to survive in the End. People in other armors will secretly judge you for wearing it. Notably, it's terrible if you don't yet have all the Fairy Souls to get enough HP. You should probably use Ember instead.
• Golem Armor: On par with Ember and Hardened but super expensive to craft for some reason. It's still very nice, but not a good choice.
• Magma Armor: It was the bread and butter of armors before the end update, but now I can't justify anyone ever getting it. It has so little defense that everything can kill you easily, and the mana is outclassed by other armors. R.I.P.
• Speedster Armor: It used to be a good choice, but now it's just a much worse version of Young Dragon. Crafting it is a mistake, just sell the sugar cane to an NPC for a lot of money.
• Crystal Armor: Generally, the fact that being in the dark will drop the armor's stats down to 0% makes it bad. However it has a niche of providing insane amounts of mana, which you can then use with Endstone Sword/Bow, or you can switch to your main armor (even Wise Dragon Armor to make it even more insane).

Tier F (Not worth discussing)

• Sponge Armor: Why does it exist.
• Lapis Armor: Wearing it is probably still the fastest way to get levels, mining diamonds/emeralds with an Experience III pickaxe. Apart from that, wearing it will make other players think you're dumb. And they'll be right.
• Angler Armor: It may help when you want to start leveling up fishing, but it will get you killed even to basic sea creatures due to it not being good at all.
• Miner Armor, Miner's Outfit, Fairy Armor, Farm Armor, Farm Suit, Pumpkin Armor, Leaflet Armor, Diamond Armor, Iron Armor, Gold Armor, Leather Armor, etc.

And remember, if you put Thorns on your armor it will be ruined forever. Peace!

OrchidAlloy said:

Wise Dragon Armor: It provides unparalleled fun. Endless 400% speed with Rogue Sword, literally flying with AotE, gargantuan HP with Zombie Sword. Some day the game will add better armors, but none will ever compare to the utility of Very Wise Dragon.

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OrchidAlloy said:

Lapis Armor is probably still the fastest way to get experience levels, if you mine diamonds/emeralds with an Experience III pickaxe. Apart from that, wearing it will make other players think you're dumb. And they'll be right.

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Truer words have never been spoken. Good post

badatpvp said:

Protecter makes each piece gain +1% defense, so at 75% hp it is twice as good and 50% it is 3 times as good etc

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+1 def not +1%

oh god I spent way too much time on this
I moved some armors around and added some which I forgot about. I think the general criteria is raw stats + usefulness + price/grind.

Xkr_ said:

add Blaze Armor ?

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Thanks, it's now in D tier.

badatpvp said:

Protecter makes each piece gain +1% defense, so at 75% hp it is twice as good and 50% it is 3 times as good etc

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I haven't tested this myself, but I'm quite sure that at 75% health it's 25% more defense.
Every piece increases its own defense by +1%, that just means +1% in total. If every piece increased every other piece then that's a very dumb description?

RoyFoy101 said:

sponge armor tier E imo. gives less defense than hard dia. In the water, has less EHP than diver's

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That's true.

LinkyLion said:

magma armor deserves 1 tier higher

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Imma leave it there because I can't see any situation where I'd justify someone farming it / buying it instead of something else.
I added an F tier instead.

OrchidAlloy said:

And remember, if you put Thorns on your armor it will be ruined forever. Peace!

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Is Thorns broken? Why would it ruin it?

sorayori said:

Is Thorns broken? Why would it ruin it?

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I explain it in this post (click)

OrchidAlloy said:

Perfect Armor: Why would you get this? It's way too damn expensive and the only stat it gives is defense. If you want a defensive armor, Old Dragon is on par with Perfect IX, and Superior Dragon is on par with Perfect X. Just sell the crafting materials to an NPC and buy a better armor in auction.

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OrchidAlloy said:

Emerald Armor: It's made obsolete by any dragon armor, and the grind is atrocious.

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Tbh, these should be swapped.
The grind for both armors is the same (24 enchanted blocks), but at least you don't need 4.7 million emeralds to get best tier.
Also, it's easier to tier up

thewhiskas27 said:

Tbh, these should be swapped.
The grind for both armors is the same (24 enchanted blocks), but at least you don't need 4.7 million emeralds to get best tier.
Also, it's easier to tier up

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doesn't change that it's better than it.

Xkr_ said:

+1 def not +1%

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It is +1% check auction house lol

It has higher eph than perfect X but nobody is talking about that

Rate my loadout, anybody?

H: Ghast head, trying to go for hydra

B : obsidian chestplate

L: creeper pants

B: Spider boots

CleansingFlames said:

It has higher eph than perfect X but nobody is talking about that

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According to Megit's spreadsheet, Protector Dragon is on par with Perfect X and Superior Dragon.
It doesn't specify how it was calculated, though. If you take small hits you would get more "EHP over time", but if you take big hits you'd get less efficiency.
I think Old Dragon (listed as having around 5% less EHP) is more practical, because in combat ideally you would be healing with Zombie Sword often.

Pr0Genji48 said:

Rate my loadout, anybody?

H: Ghast head, trying to go for hydra

B : obsidian chestplate

L: creeper pants

B: Spider boots

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any suggestions, anyone?