How To Upgrade Armor In Weird West

The unforgiving world of Weird West can be made a bit more manageable with the right armor, which in WolfEye Studio's debut boils down to the vest you wear. But the process of upgrading your vest is more complex than it may seem at first, with several kinds of crafting ingredients needed for specific vests, each with its own stats and perks. Weird West leaves it up to you to wrap your head around this system, but we're here to help. Here's all you need to know about upgrading your armor in Weird West.

Weird West - How to upgrade vest

You'll find your first vest in the game's opening hour that unfolds like a tutorial for some of the game's many intricate systems. It's nice to have, but you'll soon want to upgrade it so you can enjoy better stats and some passive perks offered by better vests. Like upgrading guns, vests are split into several tiers identified by the number of stars each vest has. But vests include an added wrinkle: They can be crafted from the skins of four different animals found in the wild, meaning there are essentially 20 different vests in the game, though stats and passive perks, such as lightning and fire resistances, seem to be somewhat randomized, giving you even more options to choose from.

Here are the different vests and what they each require for upgrading:

• One-star vest: Two like animal skins (deer, bear, bison, or snake)
• Two-star vest: One-star vest + three like animal skins (deer, bear, bison, or snake)
• Three-star vest: Two-star vest + four like animal skins (deer, bear, bison, or snake)
• Four-star vest: Three-star vest + four like animal skins of superior quality (deer, bear, bison, or snake)
• Five-star vest: Four-star animal vest + five like animal skins of superior quality (deer, bear, bison, or snake)

As of now, we aren't sure whether superior skins are dropped by animals at random, dropped only when using certain weapons or tools, or perhaps when they're killed cleanly, like with a headshot. We'll confirm the best method after a bit more experimentation. Either way, you can also get around this confusion by buying skins, including superior skins, from the Dagger & Bones Trading Company within Grackle. Inside the shopkeeper has both a tanning station, used for crafting vests, as well as a shop inventory, where you can buy those skins, often called "leathers" in stores.

If you'd rather hunt for your supply, be sure to stop at Dagger & Bones anyway, as you'll need the skinning toolbag to actually obtain the skins from hunted animals. Without it, you can only take their flesh to be made into food at campfires. That's helpful too, but if you're strictly looking to improve your armor, it's their skins you'll need, either in the wild or from the store.

For more on WolfEye's debut, check out our Weird West tips for beginners.