One of the most important pieces of equipment you can find in Sons of the Forest is also one of the least obviously useful. The Golden Armor isn’t just protective, but also gives you a leg up on survival in what would otherwise be a lethal situation. Here’s where to find Golden Armor in Sons of the Forest.
Survival Fashion: Where to Find the Golden Armor in Sons of the Forest
In Sons of the Forest’s early game, there’s a natural bias at work that keeps you kicking roughly around the upper northwest part of the island. Not only are your earliest goals all localized there, but so are most of the first key locations.
Once you’ve successfully secured the VIP Keycard from the Food & Dining Bunker, however, it’s time to start going a little further afield. The last few big secrets of Sons of the Forest are, by comparison, off in the middle of nowhere.
The Golden Armor isn’t that far away, but expect it to take at least half a day to hike out there, depending on how keenly interested the cannibals are in what you’re doing. The closest entrance to the cavern you need is on the west face of the mountain, a decent distance to the south, where it’s easy to overlook.
If caves weren’t automatically labeled on your GPS, I’d never have found it on my own. If you’ve already found the first spawn point for the night vision goggles, you’re looking for the same cavern.
I found that getting to the Armor is another long underground journey, with dangerous mutants dogging every step you take. You’ll want to have plenty of food and meds, a solid supply of weapons and ammunition, and a 3D-printed Flask to carry some extra water. You also won’t get anywhere without the Rebreather.
Break the boards off the entrance with your axe, then head inside. You’ll need to go underwater and swim for a decent distance to reach the other side, where you’ll be in a big cavern filled with a variety of hostile mutants.
While there aren’t as many supplies on the ground here as there are in the other caverns you’ve had to explore so far, such as the one where you find the shovel, you do get one big reward right out of the gate: one pair of night vision goggles.
If you combine that with the silencer from the nearby Maintenance Bunker B, where the compound bow is found, you can ninja-style your way through much of this cavern. Slip by every mutant you can in the dark, and if something’s in your way, put a few silenced 9mm rounds through it.
The path through here is fairly linear. Eventually, you’ll find a pack of dead bodies dressed in a peculiar set of white-and-black armor. These dead men are gathered around a skeleton on a slightly raised dais, who’s wearing the Golden Armor we came here for.
To get back out of the cavern, you can’t simply go back the way you came. You’ll have to go further in. Keep an eye out for a couple of ropes you can climb, including one that might be the longest climbable video game rope in the history of the medium, and if you think you’re in a dead end, try going underwater.
The Golden Armor is treated like an outfit in your inventory, and cannot be damaged or destroyed. When equipped, it provides no protection at all against attacks from cannibals despite removing any other armor you have equipped.
However, in the late game, the Golden Armor utterly trivializes a particularly dangerous sort of enemy by reducing any damage they inflict on you to almost nothing.
That’s the location of the Golden Armor in Sons of the Forest. For more survival tips, check out our dedicated games hub.
