Armors | Soldier equipment XCOM 2 Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Armors, next only to primary weapons, are the main type of equipment you should take care of as quickly as possible, especially if you are playing on the higher difficulty levels. Armor directly translates into the amount of health points a soldier has, or to be more specific, the amount of damage he / she can take before dying.

Aside from increasing health, further variants of armors give armor points as well - those increase the survivability of your soldiers by a vast margin, as each point of armor decreases the amount of damage they receive by 1. Additionally, some of them give access to new abilities, or allow you to use pieces of equipment that are normally unavailable.

To gain access to the first, proper armor (Predator Armor), which will increase the health of your soldiers, give them a single point of armor, and allow them to carry an additional item, you must complete the "Hybrid Materials" and "Plate Armor" research projects, after which you will only have to create a single piece of armor for all of your soldiers (similarly to primary weapons). The only exceptions from this rule are heavy (W.A.R. Suit and E.X.O. Suit) and light (Spider Suit and Wraith Suit) armors, which give you a single piece for every craft.

Available armors

Icon	Name	Stats	Costs	Required research
	Kevlar Armor	no influence	none - available from the beginning	none
	Predator Armor	+4 health points +1 armor +1 additional slot for equipment	150x Supplies 20x Alien Alloys 6x Advent Trooper Corpse	Plated Armor
	Warden Armor	+6 health points +1 armor +1 additional slot for equipment	300x Supplies 40x Alien Alloys 20x Elerium Crystals	Powered Armor
	E.X.O. Suit	+4 health points +1 armor +1 slot for heavy weapons	5x Alien Alloys 5x Elerium Crystals 2x Advent Trooper Corpse 1x Elerium Core	Plated Armor
	W.A.R. Suit	+6 health points +2 armor +1 slot for heavy weapons	50x Supplies 10x Alien Alloy 5x Elerium Crystal 1x Elerium Core	Powered Armor
	Spider Suit	+4 health points +1 mobility +20 dodge Additional ability, Grapple, allowing you to shoot a grappling hook, which will carry the soldier to a higher ground. This does not cost an action point.	5x Alien Alloys 5x Elerium Crystals 2x Advent Stun Lancer Corpse 1x Elerium Core	Plated Armor
	Wraith Suit	+6 health points +2 mobility +25 dodge Additional ability, Grapple, allowing you to shoot a grappling hook, which will carry the soldier to a higher ground. This does not cost an action point. Additional Ability, Wraith, allowing the soldier to pass through obstacles. This does not cost an action point.	50x Supplies 10x Alien Alloy 5x Elerium Crystal 1x Elerium Core	Powered Armor

Notes

Here's a couple of hints that might come in handy while selecting armor:

• Medium armors (Predator and Warden) offer the most balanced stats, giving an additional slot for equipment. Thanks to that, the soldier will be able to carry an additional grenade, or another useful item that can be used during a mission. Those are also the only types of armors that require you to craft them once only, after which all of your soldiers will automatically be equipped with them.
• Light (Wraith and Spider) and heavy (W.A.R. and E.X.O.) armors give a single piece of equipment after crafting it. If you want to equip your whole team with them, you have to craft at least 6 of them.
• Light armors, especially Wraith Suit, are extremely useful for Sharpshooters. Thanks to the Grapple ability you will be able to place your snipers on top of a building, or other inaccessible place. This will give them a bonus to AIM, and the ability itself does not cost an action.
• The Wraith ability of the Wraith Suit is very effective, when used on a Ranger soldier, especially during concealment. Thanks to that, the soldier will be able to easily infiltrate buildings without alerting enemies, as he / she won't have to smash windows or kick doors to enter the construction. That ability can also be used to flank the enemy, coming literally out of nowhere and shooting the alien from point-blank range.
• Heavy armors (W.A.R. and E.X.O. suits) allow you to equip heavy weaponry. Heavy weapons are single-shot, but they can deal immense amounts of damage, destroying any obstacles along the way as well. This armor works well when equipped on a Ranger soldier, who you constantly use to attack enemies from close range, or on a Psi Operative, who lacks any abilities to flush the enemy from behind cover.