Sons of the Forest Armor Guide and Crafting Tactics

In Sons of the Forest players face many hostile natives and a range of monsters that can deal serious damage. To survive, armor matters. This guide explains every armor type you can craft and which ones stand out as the best choices for protection and endurance.

Sons of the Forest guides

1. Walkthrough Sons of the Forest – the best order to inspect dungeons, locate beacons, key cards and the gold armor
2. Sons of the Forest beginner guide – how to manage inventory, where to find food, water, first aid kits, printers, and other essentials
3. How to build a shelter and save progress in Sons of the Forest
4. Using Kelvin (satellite) in Sons of the Forest
5. How to find a shovel and dig a grave in Sons of the Forest – where to locate diving gear and a rope thrower
6. Weapons guide in Sons of the Forest – where to locate and how to craft a spear, bow, pistol, axe, shocker, shotgun, chainsaw and katana
7. How to befriend the Three-Legged Girl (Virginia) in Sons of the Forest and make her a companion
8. Co-op in Sons of the Forest – how to play with friends, how to create a server, what multiplayer features are available
9. Sons of the Forest won’t start? Crashes with an error? Can not connect to the server? – Troubleshooting
10. Where to find and how to get a flashlight in Sons of the Forest
11. Where to find all clothing for Virginia in Sons of the Forest
12. Sons of the Forest armor guide – where to find bones, skins, circuit boards and techno cloth

How armor works in Sons of the Forest

Armor in this game does not offer perfect damage immunity. After several hits it can break, yet it often saves a character’s life during tough encounters. The armor indicator sits beside the vitality bar. Each armor piece adds a segment to that indicator, and players can equip up to ten armor segments. Heavier armor tends to absorb more damage per hit, reducing how quickly segments wear out.

So, which armor is best? The short answer is Techno Armor. It can be crafted on a 3D printer using a specialized resin that players frequently encounter in story bunkers and improvised camps. More details appear below.

Blade armor

Leaf armor is the game’s earliest defense. It offers limited protection, uses textile that is hard to come by, and those textiles are often better spent on crafting more useful items. Crafting requires leaflets and fabric contributions, with leaf armor suffering rapid degradation under cannon fire from natives.

Drawing:

• Leaflet (10)
• Fabric (1)

Normal cannibal attacks strip three armor cells, stronger hits remove five to six cells.

Where a lot of dust can be found

Rags are a versatile resource scattered across the island. They appear in native camps, caches, caves, and bunkers, making them a common building block for early armor and other gear.

• In native camps
• In caches
• In caves
• In bunkers

Hide armor

Hide armor is a solid mid tier defense crafted from animal skins. Start by finding two large animals, such as deer or moose. After slaughtering them, each carcass yields a skin piece you can use to assemble hide armor.

Drawing:

• Hide (2)
• Fabric (1)

In combat, a normal native attack costs two armor cells, with a strong attack costing three.

How to get lots of skins

Early on, players should craft a homemade bow and two spears. Hunting deer with a bow is awkward due to lack of scope and limited arrow range. Instead, spear a deer from ambush, then guide the wounded animal to a safe area and skin it after it dies. Later, practice sharpening skills with a dedicated target.

Bone armor

Bone armor provides strong protection and is relatively simple to craft. Materials needed include bones, twine, and adhesive tape.

Drawing:

• Bone (4)
• Twine (1)
• Adhesive tape (1)

Unlike earlier sets, bone armor can withstand multiple normal hits before breaking and loses one cell with each hit.

How to get many bones

Bones appear in cannibal camps and from graves or coffins. Players can also manufacture bones themselves by burning freshly harvested limbs in a fire. The inventory can store up to two human arms or legs at a time.

So each native killed yields four bones, enough for one armor cell. Note that limbs from common natives are usable, while large cannibals with gold masks and certain red enemies do not drop limbs.

Spooky armor

Spooky armor is the only armor in Sons of the Forest that cannot be crafted. It is obtained by defeating monsters that live in caves and later appear near the surface as the story progresses. If a battle takes place near protected areas, avoid shooting in those zones to preserve ammunition while aiming to destroy the armor first.

Techno armor

The final armor type appears in a bunker with a 3D printer and a locked orange key card door. The armor sits behind a poster on the wall near the printer. Creating techno armor requires a large amount of resources and a special techno fabric produced on the 3D printer. Each unit of techno fabric needs 250 milliliters of resin to craft.

Drawing:

• Techno cloth (1)
• Wire (1)
• Scotch whiskey (1)
• Circuit board (1)
• Batteries (1)

Where to find printed circuit boards

Circuit boards can be scarce unless players break apart laptops found in bunkers and caves, or salvage music players. Each device yields at least one circuit board when opened.

How to find ample resin for a 3D printer

Resin is located in bunkers, cannibal camps, caches, and scattered plastic boxes around the island. The game currently supports resuming looting after a reload, so players can stockpile resin by collecting and saving before reloading. This mechanic may change as development continues.

Can armor be removed?

Wearing multiple armor sets at once means they cannot be removed until progress advances and the golden armor is found. Golden armor serves a different purpose in the game and is not meant for direct protection. When in use, armor pieces automatically move into the inventory once equipped.

Other guides

• Walkthrough Sons of the Forest – optimal order to inspect dungeons, discover beacons, key cards and the gold armor
• Weapons guide – how to locate and craft spear, bow, pistol, axe, shocker, shotgun, chainsaw, and katana
• How to find a shovel and dig a grave – locate diving gear and a rope thrower
• Sons of the Forest beginner guide – inventory, food, water, first aid kits, printer and more
• How to befriend Virginia and make her a companion
• Using Kelvin satellite utility
• Building a shelter and saving progress
• Co-op play – joining friends, creating a server, multiplayer options
• Troubleshooting start issues and server connections
• Where to find a flashlight

Note: this information reflects ongoing game development and may adapt with updates.