Best Early Game Armor in Persona 3 Reload (P3R)

While climbing through the dreadful tower that is Tartarus in Persona 3 Reload, one must not only pay attention to its Persona stock but also to its equipment. Here are the best pieces of armor you can get in the early stages of the game.

The Best Armor for Early Game in Persona 3 Reload (P3R)

Similar to weapons, your armor will be quickly swapped as you advance through higher floors. Your base equipment is enough to take you through the first Full Moon, but you should get something new from the Paulownia Mall Police Station by the time you’re around the 20+ floors. Most armor in the game can be used by both female and male characters, fortunately.

Best Early Game Body Armor in Persona 3 Reload

Pixel Vest

Obtained from Request 13, male-only armor. Has a huge defensive power alongside +10 SP, so it’s the perfect armor to go for the Protagonist for a while.

Camo Shirt

Bought from the Police Station. Gives the user a +1 in Strength, which can be great for Junpei or Akihiko early on. It has less defense than the next option, though, but it makes up for that with that extra damage you get.

Bulletproof Shirt

A Police Station item that has the highest defense out of all of these. But that’s all there is to it as it has no passive. However, it’s still useful since sometimes you can just survive by stat-checking the whole fight.

Best Early Game Foot Armor in Persona 3 Reload

Frost Heels

Randomly found on Tartarus lower floors. While it’s pure RNG whether you get it or not, it increases your Health by a bit, making it a rather good option if you’re up to grinding a few days of your life away at the tower.

Inline Skates

Bought from the Police Station. It has Agility +3, so you can hit a few Crits more easily and dodge attacks. Great for

Health Sandals

Bought from Tanaka on 5/24. Has a decent defense and a good anti-poison passive, but it’s easily missable and might be quickly surpassed by other items in the game.

All in all, you can probably scrap by with no issues as long as you use at least what you can get from the Police Station, as you just need to survive most hits to heal later. You can start thinking about better armor when July comes and you get access to the Mayoido Antiques shop, which has the best pieces in the game.

Don’t worry, the same can be said about weapons in the early game. As long as you don’t keep the same ones you start with through the whole game, you will be fine. Tartarus might eventually gift you some new armor if you spend your Twilight Fragments too, so don’t hoard them.