Best Armor Sets for Early Game in The Surge 2

Acquire the best early game armor sets in The Surge 2. This guide details accessible armor, locations, and strategies for survival in Jericho City.

Navigating Jericho City in The Surge 2 can be a brutal experience, especially in the early hours. Equipping the right armor set can significantly impact your survivability and combat effectiveness. This section will detail the most accessible and beneficial armor sets you can acquire early in the game, providing specific locations, acquisition strategies, and reasons why they're worth the effort.

1. Lynx Set: The Agile Assassin

The Lynx set is an excellent choice for players who prefer a fast, dodge-focused playstyle. It offers good energy gain and mobility, allowing you to quickly build up and spend energy on powerful finishing moves or healing injections.

• Acquisition: The Lynx set is one of the very first armor sets you can acquire. You'll encounter enemies wearing this armor almost immediately after escaping the crash site and entering the Gideon's Rock area.
• Location: Look for the basic human enemies wielding one-handed weapons or twin-rigged weapons in the initial sections of Gideon's Rock, particularly around the crashed prison transport and the pathways leading towards the first MedBay.
• Strategy: To obtain the full set, you'll need to target and dismember specific body parts of enemies wearing Lynx armor. Focus on severing their head, torso, arms, and legs. Since these are early-game enemies, their attacks are relatively telegraphed, making parrying and limb targeting easier. You may need to farm a few enemies to get all the schematics and crafting materials.
• Why it's good:
  • High Energy Gain: The Lynx set's primary bonus is increased energy gain, which is crucial for using implants and executing powerful finishing moves.
  • Low Stamina Cost: Its light weight means less stamina consumption for dodging and attacking, making it ideal for aggressive, mobile combat.
  • Early Accessibility: You can start farming this set almost immediately, giving you a significant advantage over unarmored early-game encounters.

2. Rhino Set: The Tanky Brawler

If you prefer to stand your ground and trade blows, the Rhino set is an excellent early-game option. It provides substantial defense and stability, allowing you to absorb more damage and resist staggering.

• Acquisition: The Rhino set can be found on larger, more heavily armored enemies in the early to mid-game areas. These enemies often wield heavy-duty weapons.
• Location: You'll start encountering enemies wearing parts of the Rhino set in the later sections of Gideon's Rock, particularly as you approach and enter the Downtown Jericho City area. Look for the bulkier, slower enemies with a more imposing presence.
• Strategy: Dismembering Rhino-armored enemies can be more challenging due to their higher defense and often slower, but more damaging, attacks. Utilize parries to create openings for limb targeting. Consider using a faster weapon to chip away at their limb health, or a heavier weapon to stagger them more easily. Like the Lynx set, you'll need to farm these enemies to acquire all the necessary schematics and materials.
• Why it's good:
  • High Defense: The Rhino set offers significantly higher physical defense compared to lighter sets, making you much more resilient to incoming damage.
  • Increased Stability: This set provides a bonus to stability, reducing the chance of being staggered by enemy attacks and allowing you to maintain your offensive.
  • Good for Heavy Weapons: Its defensive nature pairs well with slower, high-damage heavy weapons, allowing you to commit to attack animations without being easily interrupted.

3. Scarab Set: The Balanced All-Rounder

The Scarab set offers a good balance of defense and utility, making it a solid choice for players who want a bit of everything without specializing too heavily in one area. It often provides bonuses to health or elemental resistance.

• Acquisition: The Scarab set becomes available slightly later than the Lynx, but still within the early-to-mid game progression.
• Location: Enemies wearing the Scarab set can be found in Downtown Jericho City, particularly around the polluted areas and the more industrial sections. Keep an eye out for enemies that appear to be scavengers or those with a slightly more makeshift, but still robust, appearance.
• Strategy: These enemies are typically a step up in difficulty from the basic Lynx wearers. Their attacks might be more varied, and they can be more aggressive. Focus on learning their attack patterns to parry effectively and target the desired limbs. You'll need to dismember their head, torso, arms, and legs to gather all the schematics.
• Why it's good:
  • Balanced Stats: The Scarab set provides a healthy mix of physical defense and often some elemental resistance, making it adaptable to various threats.
  • Utility Bonuses: Depending on the specific pieces, the Scarab set can offer bonuses to health, stamina regeneration, or even specific damage types, providing versatile benefits.
  • Good Progression: It serves as an excellent stepping stone between the very early-game sets and the more specialized mid-to-late game armor.

Remember to always visit a MedBay to craft your acquired schematics. Upgrading your armor pieces at the Gear Assembly station will further enhance their defensive capabilities and set bonuses. Don't be afraid to mix and match pieces from different sets if you find a combination that suits your playstyle better, especially before you have full sets available.