Howdy boyz, we’re gonna talk about the best armor shops in the world of Kenshi. We’re gonna discuss their locations, how hard they are to get to, what sort of armor they’ve got, and plenty of other stuff.
Armor in Kenshi comes in many shapes, sizes, and stats - they might be light, medium, or heavy and give you many buffs/debuffs. Some are better than others, some are completely atrocious. Now that we know everything about armor in Kenshi, let’s get started with the best armor shops:
10. Drifter's Last General Shop
Somewhere in the south.
In “The Hook”, to be more specific. You won’t find much there besides hats. Now you’re asking me, why would I need a goddamn hat, after walking through swamps, getting pecked by Beak Things, and getting my ass whopped by bandits throughout the whole journey?
Hats are useful for protection against duststorms, without them you’re gonna get a massive -10 melee attack debuff, making fighting significantly difficult against people with duststorm protection!
Why this shop is great:
- A large number of hats
- Decent armor grades(sometimes even masterwork)
- Gas masks(good against duststorms/gasses)
9. Crab Smithy
You’re in the crab territory now, fool.
So what could you possibly buy in a city named Crab Town, exactly?
You can buy armor from the famous Crab Smithy, such as Crab Shoes, Crab Trousers, and Crab Armour. For some reason you can’t buy a helmet, thus you’ll have to whack one of the crab guards in order to steal their helmet. Good luck with that!
Why this shop is great:
-The only shop with armor in The Pits East
-Crab armor?
-Above-average chances of getting high-quality armor
8. Holy Armor Shop
A Shek, an Hiver, and a Skeleton go into a bar, the bartender says…
A place that’s not very welcome to anyone besides humans. You’re gonna get your ass wrecked/enslaved if you go there, so be careful. Holy Armor Shop is great for those that wish to purchase the fancy Holy Chest Plates - they’re not the best armor in the grade, but they make you look kick-ass! You can also buy plenty of shirts with various grades, thus visiting that shop is a must, if you’re a human planning to go to the cannibal territory!
Why this shop is great:
- One of a few shops that you can buy Holy Nation gear at.
- The shopkeeper is polite unless you’re a Skeleton.
- You can also buy some helmets there, which cover 90-100% of your beautiful face!
7. Flotsam Armory
West of Rebirth.
You can buy multiple there high-grade weaponry, crossbows, but most importantly - armor. You can buy there reinforced, padded or sneakychain cargopants and decent medium armor. It’s the first shop that you should visit after escaping Rebirth - the place where everyone is enslaved.
Why this shop is great:
- This shop should be the first destination for people who escaped the Rebirth
- Besides armor, you can also buy weaponry in there
- Decent armor for more lightweight sort of players
6. Empire Armor Shop
North-east in The Great Desert!
There’s a chance of you finding an armory shop in there, so don’t be surprised if you can’t find one there! But what is there exactly? It’s pretty far in the north, you’ll encounter plenty of Slavers, Skimmers, and other creatures that will gladly murder you, but I guarantee you that the journey will be worth it - you’ll be able to purchase even specialist/masterwork grade armor, such as Samurai Legplates, Samurai Helmet and many many cool items that will protect you against the powerful attacks of Bonedogs and Skimmers. You can also get slumped in a nearby bar!
Why this shop is great:
- I remember getting a masterwork grade Samurai Helmet from there(badass+OP).
- A great place to visit if you are a pretty late-game character
- Also contains Black Plate Jackets(medium armor, pretty good to have)!
5. Shek Armor Shop
Welcome to the lands of Sheks.
You can find this shop in Squin. It’s located in the western parts of the Border Zone. Sheks check your stuff for drugs and Holy Nation books, thus make sure to not have them, otherwise, they will gladly kick your ass!
You can find there armor such as Heart Protectors(great for beginners with a small amount of Cats), Mercenary Plate, and most importantly - Plate Jacket. It looks good, has a small number of debuffs and if you decide to mass produce this piece of armor in your outpost, your army will look badass and intimidating from a mile!
Why this shop is great:
- Multiple rare items that you can purchase
- The shop has a small number of guards, thus making it easy to steal from it!
- You can even get into an argument with one of the Sheks in there and see him beat the crap out of you!
4. Mongrel Armor Shop
Welcome to hell!
Mongrel is in the center of the Foglands. You go to Mongrel only either to buy armor or weaponry. The road to Mongrel is extremely dangerous - you can encounter Fogmen that patrol the outskirts of Mongrel and occasionally attack the city itself, but worry not, as the armor shop is totally worth visiting…
In the Mongrel Armor Shop, you can buy fancy hats, such as the famous Ashland Hat, Tagelmusts, and even Stormgoogles(blueprints of these items are rare but purchasable). You can also buy Plate Jackets and Samurai armor pieces with high grades. The shop is totally worth all the Fogmen that you’re gonna cut your way through!
Why this shop is great:
- Rare and useful hats
- Fancy and strong armor
- Useful blueprints of certain items
3. Ronin Armor Shop
Tech shops in Holy Nation territory? What is this?
Besides tech shops, you can find there decent weaponry and most importantly, ARMOR. World’s End is located in the Holy Nation territory, and it’s the only city that contains inhabitants of multiple races - Sheks, Hivers, and Skeletons. You can ask yourself, why didn’t the Holy Nation pricks raid this place already? That’s because of the Holy Nation statues sitting in front of the city gates - that was enough to fool the HN fanatics!
Why this shop is great:
- You can buy yourself Unholy Chest Plates(no difference from the Holy Nation piece of armor, just looks more badass)
- A hellton of light armor to choose from
- Badass helmets
2. Heft Armory
Heft is located in the south-western parts of the Great Desert City.
Be careful, Heft is also the place of Tengu, the Emperor of the United Cities. You might get bullied by the nobles and the gate guards, thus don’t stay there for too long!
You can buy yourself all pieces of the Samurai Armor(which is probably the best armor in late-game, IMO) and plenty of other armor pieces that will protect you from rabid Skimmers. I personally got masterwork grade Samurai boots/Helmet from the shopkeeper there!
Why this shop is great:
- Buy the whole Samurai set(in all grades)
- Unique dialogue with the shopkeeper
- Another shop that you can easily steal from, due to only 2 guards roaming the shop!
1. Armour King's Shop
Drowned Ruins = Armour King's Shop
This is the best armory shop in the whole game, you can get there from Floodlands or Okran’s Pride. You will also have to swim there for a while, so prepare for that. Once you get there, you’re gonna be welcomed by a Skeleton that will encourage you to NOT steal stuff from him, or he will obliterate you(he will).
You can buy there masterwork/specialist grade armor, which is usually hard as hell to buy anywhere else. If you’re a Hiver, you can buy yourself there Hive Shirts and plenty of other badass armor pieces. The only downside to this shop is the fact that you can’t steal from it and you need a lot of Cats in order to make purchases in this game!
Why this shop is great:
- A very high chance of getting masterwork/specialist grade armor pieces
- Shirts for Hivers
- In summary, this is the best armor that you’re gonna get!
