Grounded armor is something you'll want to get as soon as possible, as damage reduction and the additional perks that come with having armor equipped will do a lot to help your survivability. You'll encounter all sorts of armor sets throughout the game, but the first one for the early game will almost certainly be the clover armor, which offers basic protection and helps you get started. Once you have that and have paired it with some of the better Grounded weapons, you can start taking the fight back to the bugs and protecting yourself a little more. If you want to know how to get armor in Grounded and how it works, we've got all the basics you need to know below.
How to get the Grounded Clover Armor Set
This is likely to be the first Grounded armor set you collect, as 'craft a piece of armor' is one of the initial assignments received after arriving in the garden and the opening recipes you get are for the Clover set – though you'll need to analyze a Clover Leaf or reach Brainpower level 1 to actually trigger this and get the recipe. Once you've constructed a Workbench to craft your armor, you'll need the following ingredients:
- Clover Hood: Clover Leaf x4, Crude Rope x1
- Clover Poncho: Clover Leaf x6, Crude Rope x3
- Clover Shin Guards: Clover Leaf x3, Crude Rope x2, Sprig x2
You'll find plenty of Clover growing by the Mysterious Machine, as well as near the Ice Caps Mints if you've discovered them to the northwest of the machine, and you'll need to chop them down with an axe to harvest the Clover Leaf. Crude Rope can be made in your Craft menu from Plant Fiber x3, while Sprig can be picked up growing all over the place. These Grounded armor pieces grant the following stats when equipped:
- Clover Hood: 2 Defense, 2.5% Resistance
- Clover Poncho: 3.5 Defense, 5% Resistance
- Clover Shin Guards: 2 Defense, 2.5% Resistance
Each of these pieces is rated as Light Armor, provides the +Fuller buff to reduce hunger drain, and by equipping all three Clover Armor set pieces you'll also receive the Moist bonus buff to stay hydrated for longer. For an explanation of how all of these Grounded armor stats and buffs work, see the next section.
Grounded armor and what it does explained
When assessing the qualities of different Grounded armor pieces, you need to consider both the damage reduction stats and perks (or side effects) they provide. We'll look at damage reduction first, as there are several stats governing how effective this is, including one you can't actually see in-game!
Resistance is the first stat to be taken into account, which is shown as a percentage of damage reduction. Resistance is determined purely by the weight class of the armor being used.
Defense is the next stat to be considered, and this is a straight numerical modifier to reduce the damage being received, which can be calculated by adding up the number of segments in the bar. Defense can be increased by upgrading the armor.
So as an example, if an initial 50 point damage attack hits a player with 20% resistance and defense of 10, the resistance modifier will reduce it by 20% to 40 points, then the defense modifier will reduce it by another 10 points, so only 30 points of damage will be received.
However, there is another hidden stat taken into account at the end of this, the Minimum Guaranteed Damage, which stops players from becoming invincible once they gain enough high-level armor. For base gear this is set at 20% of initial damage, which means a 50 point damage attack will always deal at least 10 points of damage, regardless of the Resistance and Defense stats the armor holds. The Minimum Guaranteed Damage can be reduced by upgrading your armor, but even at the maximum level 9 it will still be 5% of initial damage, so you will never be able to completely protect yourself with armor alone.
Each piece of Grounded armor has a weight class, which in turn has both a positive and negative effect on your stats. The heavier it is, the greater Resistance to damage it provides as detailed above, but you'll use more stamina to swing your weapons as a result of this increased weight. The effects of these weight classes are as follows:
- Light Armor: 10% Damage Reduction, 5% Extra Stamina Usage
- Medium Armor: 20% Damage Reduction, 15% Extra Stamina Usage
- Heavy Armor: 30% Damage Reduction, 25% Extra Stamina Usage
Each piece of Grounded armor also has a Side Effect attached to it, and these provide you with perks such as reducing the rate your hunger or thirst builds up, increasing your movement speed, improving certain combat skills, and a whole lot more. Equip all three pieces of the same armor set to receive an additional Set Bonus, and you can check exactly what Side Effects you currently have active by highlighting the icons on the Status or Inventory tabs of the menu.
However, it's also the case that some Side Effects are negative, to balance out especially good or easily-made armor. For example, the Acorn Armor makes you more likely to be attacked – not ideal if you're trying to sneak around insectile predators, so keep a note of armor effects before putting any piece on.
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