Best Armor Combinations (OUT-DATED)

I'd like to start off by saying I'm doing copy+paste from rust.fandom.com since I prefer to have this info as a steam guide so I can check it without having to search it up on google and stuff.

The link to which I'm copy+pasting is https://rust.fandom.com/wiki/Best_Armor_Combinations

[EDIT] After //SlipperyPete:.'s comment I decided to add any valuable info related to the gear I may find in the comments, as I've done with his info, I will link your steam profile's page to let everybody know it was not mine.

Introduction

If you’re looking to succeed in Rust, the proper armor is a must-have. Here are five armor combinations for each stage of the game that’ll keep you protected and safe—ready to face anything the island can throw your way. Learn how to craft, find, and use every piece of armor with this guide!

1. Early Game
   
2. Mid-Game
   
3. Late-Game
   
4. Base Defense
   
5. Roaming

Early Game

• Wolf Headdress
  
• Bandana
  
• Wood Armor

Early in the game, you can’t beat the combination of wood chest piece, wood pants, and a wolf headdress. Easy to make and even easier to find, wood armor is good at protecting against melee damage (from spears, cleavers, maces, and the like) and lower-tier projectile weapons, like bows, revolvers, and the occasional Python, making it an excellent, easily accessible combination to get started with. The wolf headdress adds to the projectile weapon protection, making it an essential addition to your kit.

Note that you may want to use the Hide Poncho over the Wood Chestplate only if you're in a snowy area and you're almost sure there's no one that may use melee weapons against you since you will lose 30% from stab protection when using the Poncho instead of the Wood Chestplate.
The Wooden Chestplate and the Wood Armor Pants are vulnerable to fire damage, such as from a torch.

Mid-Game

• Coffee Can Helmet
  
• Road Sign Kilt
  
• Road Sign Jacket
  
• Roadsign Gloves

The coffee-can helmet, when combined with the road sign kilt and chestplate, is an excellent mid-game option for roaming, raiding and other mid-game endeavors. The coffee-can is an inexpensive, high-protection option against projectiles and melee attacks, and offers some radiation protection. The road sign jacket and kilt, both requiring road signs, leather, and sewing kits to craft, provide slightly more protection than bone armor (an early-game use for ‘bones,’)but do make the wearer cold. If you head out the door in this kit, be sure to wear a shirt or pants underneath for optimal coverage and protection.

Late-Game

• Metal Facemask
  
• Metal Chestplate
  
• Roadsign Kilt

Around day three or four of the wipe, you can expect to see more and more people roaming with metal armor and a metal facemask—a formidable late-game combination. They will also wear a roadsign kilt, as there is no metal armor for leg protection. In some cases, a day or two earlier in the wipe you can expect to see a metal facemask paired with some road sign armor—generally, however, metal facemasks are accompanied by metal armor. Each of these pieces is a bit pricier to craft than their road-sign alternatives, with a metal jacket costing you 50 leather, 25 high-quality metal, and eight sewing kits. It also decreases your cold protection by eight points when worn, so be sure to pair it with a hoodie and pants!

Thanks to DontKillMe
The Metal Facemask is the only piece of armor that will save you from being one-shot headshot from a bolt-action sniper rifle or a L96 (military version of the bolt) thanks to its +50% protection from bullets.

Base Defense

• Heavy Plate Armor
  
• Heavy Plate Helmet
  
• Heavy Plate Pants

Although the ‘heavy plate’ armor options offer more protection and are cheaper than the simple metal armor discussed above, the massive plate armor options reduce mobility by 40%. This reduction in movement makes it a useful choice for only last-stand base defense situations, or other situations that don’t require movement. The plate helmet also reduces your ability to see-- so wear with caution! In case you weren’t scared enough with the mobility and visibility reductions—the kit also reduces your cold protection by a factor of 8 and prevents you from aiming with your weapons (because of the armor), so keep that in mind if you want to give these armor pieces a try!

Roaming

• Hazmat Suit

Although not technically a kit of armor, the hazmat suit does offer some protection against melee and ranged projectile damage. The radiation protection also makes it ideal if you are roaming near a rad-town or monument—you can easily head into places that your pursuers don’t have the radiation protection for. However, it only offers 30% projectile damage, which is less than a road-sign kit would. The bright yellow and red coloring makes it high profile-- so be aware that you’re extremely visible!
In other words, you may actually want to use this suit only if you really don't want to lose that cool gear you got earlier or if you're going to an high radiation monument and your normal gear doesn't have enough radiation protection.
______
Thanks to //SlipperyPete:. and DontKillMe for this info

Another alternative could be the combination of:

• Miner's Helmet
  
• Snow Jacket
  
• Tactical Gloves (you can buy those from the Outpost for 40 scrap I believe)
  
• Pants (the black cloth ones, not burlap)
  
• Bandana (or Santa's Beard if you have one)
  
• Wood Pants
  
• Regular Boots

This combination nets you 57% Cold resistance, 45% Radiation Resist (only 5% less than a Hazmat suit), and a fair amount of damage protection (less than metal armor, but better than a Hazmat suit).

[CaptainCheesy]

Road Sign gloves? Come on man

[.NessMess]

Pretty bad guide ngl, midgame with chestplate? Bruh

[PewPew]

so much missed, why not add wear a bandana mask with your wolf head dress, or the metal face mask being the only peice of armour that will save u from being 1 shot from a bolt or l96 headshot? leather poncho is better when wood chest peice, a jacket and hoodie are as good as a roadsign chest and hoodie but only need T1 work bench and no roadsign to craft, frog boots are crap compared to regular, they only protect from cold and rads where as normal boots do that and more, also if some one has frog boots they have been around long enough to know this guide is basic and missing alot of imformation and facts, and if u have metal armour roam with it? no point going out with a hazzie to get one shot by a bolty or have an armour disadvantage in a gun fight because u want to horde pixels your going to loose when wipe comes around anyway

[Duskeh]

Alright, I will now add SlipperyPete's stuff to the guide then

[Rooster]

I have wanted to use the snow jacket one way or another since I recently found one, cool.

[//SlipperyPete:.]

You should mention in the Heavy Plate Armor section that the helmet also removed your ability to aim down iron-sights or use scopes.

Another alternative you could mention in the "Roaming" section, is the combination of Miner's Helmet, Snow Jacket, Tactical Gloves (get em from the Outpost for 40 scrap I believe), Pants (the black cloth ones, not burlap), a Bandana (or Santa's Beard if you have one), Wood Pants, and the Frog Boots (or regular Boots if you dont have Frog Boots). This combination nets you 57% Cold resistance, 45% Radiation Resist (only 5% less than a Hazmat suit), and a fair amount of damage protection (less than metal armor, but better than a Hazmat suit).

[Lavalampdrinker attorney at Law]

EXCELLENT GUIDE