Reliable early armor
| Armor | Source | Cost | Edge | Blunt | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digger's Light TrousersStraightforward purchase if your opening route centers on the Old Camp. | Fisk, Old Camp market | 313 Ore | 10 | 10 | 5 |
| Digger's TrousersThe stronger of the three source-checked early pieces. | Alberto, near the lower levels of the Old Mine | 324 Ore | 15 | 15 | 5 |
| Digger's DressBest budget option when the Free Mine route is practical. | Swiney, near the Free Mine entrance | Free | 10 | 10 | 5 |
The protection values above are useful for comparison, but the route matters more than buying every intermediate piece. Digger's Dress is the budget option when the Free Mine route is practical; the Old Camp purchases are easier to understand if that is where your early quests already lead.
Faction armor is the first major breakpoint
Formal admission grants the camp's starting clothing or armor: Shadow armor for the Old Camp route, Bandit's Dress for the New Camp, and novice clothing for the Brotherhood. Later upgrades follow faction rank and story progress rather than a simple player-level table.
Ore Armor and Crawler Plate warnings
Current public sources do not agree cleanly enough on the exact chapter hand-off for Crawler Plate Armor or every Improved Ore Armor dependency. Those routes remain outside this site's confirmed progression table until their quest and patch conditions can be reconciled.
If an armor route is unavailable
Check faction rank, chapter, and the NPC's quest state before assuming the item was removed. Do not install a cheat or item-spawn mod into the only save you have; preserve a clean backup first.