All New Valheim 1.0 Armor Sets and the Best Ones to Craft

Valheim 1.0 adds four armor sets, two capes, and additional headgear. Not all of those additions serve the same stage of progression: Protector, Vanguard, and Caller are relevant to advanced northern equipment, while Lox Fur fills a different role.

The best set depends on what your build needs. A frontline fighter, a mobile weapon user, and a caster should not automatically spend their first materials on the same armor.

All Four New Armor Sets

The new sets have substantially different defensive and magical properties. Compare equivalent pieces rather than judging a set by a total that may or may not include a cape.

For reference, the listed base armor of their torso pieces is:

These figures describe the base torso items, not complete upgraded loadouts.

Protector: Best for Defense-Focused Melee

Protector is our first recommendation for players who prioritize raw armor. Its breastplate provides more base armor than the Vanguard chestpiece or Caller robes, making it the straightforward defensive choice among those torso options.

How to Get Protector Armor

The Protector pieces use matching moulds and cast-based crafting at a level 4 Black Forge. After making the cast, finish it in a Frost Foundry.

The initial cast recipes are:

These are the cast ingredients; finishing the equipment requires the hardening stage.

For the supporting materials, hunt moose for hides and Krigen for Leather Straps.

Choose this set when you want a larger defensive margin. It is still worth maintaining a reliable stamina budget and escape route rather than treating armor as permission to absorb every attack.

Vanguard: Best for a Mobile Weapon Build

Vanguard sits between Protector and Caller in base armor. Its chestpiece provides 34 armor without a listed movement-speed penalty, making it an appealing option for players who value repositioning.

Our recommendation is to consider Vanguard when movement and spacing are central to how you fight, rather than choosing it merely because it costs a different mix of materials.

How to Get Vanguard Armor

Krigen can drop the Vanguard moulds. You will also need resources from other creatures, particularly Elaking Hair Bundles and animal materials.

The cast-based pieces use a level 4 Black Forge:

Both casts must be hardened before use.

The Hood of the Vanguard has a different material profile involving Seal Pelts, Moose Hide, Moose Sinew, and its mould. Do not assume the torso recipe can be applied to every piece in the set.

Caller: Best for Magic-Focused Builds

Caller is the most relevant new set for players building around magic. Its robes provide less raw armor than the melee-oriented alternatives but include an Eitr-regeneration property.

That makes Caller a deliberate tradeoff: you are choosing equipment that supports magical combat rather than maximizing the defensive number on the character sheet.

How to Get Caller Armor

Hexen are a key farming target because they provide Nornathread and can drop Caller moulds.

The Robes of the Caller and Trousers of the Caller each have an initial cast recipe using:

6 Bloodgold, 1 matching mould, 6 Moose Hide, and 5 Nornathread, crafted at a level 3 Galdr Table. Their casts then require hardening.

The Headdress of the Caller uses a separate recipe built around Moose Sinew, a Moose Trophy, Nornathread, and its mould. Keep a Moose Trophy when hunting for the other materials.

For a caster, our priority would be to establish a sustainable supply of Nornathread before trying to finish several magical weapons and the entire armor set at once.

Lox Fur: New Armor, but Not an Automatic Endgame Upgrade

Lox Fur consists of a hood, jacket, and trousers crafted through a level 2 Workbench. Each piece has a listed base armor value of 16.

Its recipes use Lox Pelts and Bone Fragments, with root materials also required. Importantly, the hood uses Writhan Roots, while the jacket and trousers list ordinary Root in their material requirements.

Those are different items. Collecting one should not be assumed to satisfy recipes calling for the other.

Our recommendation is to evaluate Lox Fur within the progression stage where you obtain it. Do not replace a stronger developed loadout solely because this set was introduced in the newest update.

Both New Capes

Moose Hide Cape

The Moose Hide Cape provides 12 base armor. Its recipe is associated with a level 4 Black Forge and uses Moose Hide, Moose Sinew, and Bloodgold among its principal materials.

It is the more general-purpose cape to consider while assembling a northern loadout.

Cape of the Caller

The Cape of the Caller also provides 12 base armor, alongside an Eitr-regeneration property. Its recipe is associated with a level 4 Galdr Table and uses Seal Pelts, Nornathread, Bloodgold, and Refined Eitr.

For a magic-focused build, its magical property makes it the more directly relevant pairing to investigate.

Crown of Valheim and Crown of Roots

The Crown of Valheim is an endgame headpiece with 50 listed armor and a 5% movement-speed bonus. It is crafted at a level 4 Black Forge using 5 Bloodgold and 1 Crown Jewel. The jewel comes from defeating Kall Fimbulbringer, so this is not equipment you can prepare before that fight.

The Crown of Roots is a separate purchasable headpiece with only 1 base armor. It should not be confused with either the Crown of Valheim or the Witch Crown trinket.

Which Armor Should You Craft First?

Our recommendations are Protector for raw defense, Vanguard for a movement-conscious weapon build, and Caller for magic. Those choices follow the sets’ differing armor and equipment properties rather than assuming one set is universally best.

Start with the set that supports how you already fight, then plan your farming around its bottleneck materials. A completed, coherent loadout is a better first objective than several unfinished sets competing for the same Bloodgold and rare drops.