Full Guide Of PUBG's Helmets And Vests For Utmost Protection

The PUBG armor system might look pretty straightforward at first inspection, with protective vests and helmets divided into three levels – the higher the level, the better the protection they would provide. However, there are still a lot of things that could be learned about PUBG’s armor system – sometimes its actually more beneficial to use a level 2 item over a level 3. That might sound weird but we would explain in the latter part of our guide below.

In this guide you would find all the statistics and relevant information about all the protective gear in PUBG – and what they actually do in real combat. With this knowledge, you would be able to calculate how many hits you would be able to tank up before going down – and knowledge matters.

Vests

Level 1 Police Vest – comes with 200 Durability and 30% damage reduction

A level 1 vest is something you should have on yourself at all times – with it equipped, you would be able to block about a third of the incoming damage – which would save yourself from getting one-shotted in the early game. It’s easy to just skip this armor when you are looting a high-value area, however, better be safe than sorry.

The protection provided by a level one vest matter when you are going against the early game weapons like 5.56 Assault Rifles, SMGs and Shotguns. A vest could increase the number of hits that you could take from those weapons. Instead of going down after three bullets from the 5.56 AR, it would take four – leave you a margin for either survival or retaliate.

Level 2 Police Vest – comes with 220 Durability and 40% Damage reduction

A mere ten percent upgrade might not seem too big, but there are perks that a level two would have over its predecessor. However, don’t panic if you are not able to find one.

The level 2 vest offers much better protection against getting sniped. For example, the Kar98k would need three hits to down you instead of two – and that’s huge. With longer durations in between shots, you would more likely to be able to get into cover.

Level 3 Military Vest comes with 250 Durability and 55% Damage reduction

The best protection in PUBG, with a 15% increase over the level two armor – the Military Vest is sturdy enough to ensure your victory in most close-range situations. The common sniper rifles pretty much can’t even touch you now, with the damage threshold that you can take increase to a massive 4 body hits with the Kar98k and 6 body hits with the Mini 14. It also pretty much nullify weaker guns like Micro Uzi or S12K.

While the 55% damage reduction might sound tempting – durability is something you should take into consideration. Replace your full bar durability level 2 armor with a half durability level 3 armor on a body is generally ill-advised. You will be going around with zero damage reduction if the armor breaks.

Helmets

Ballistic Mask

Despite its name might suggest otherwise, the Ballistic Mask is pretty much just a cosmetic option. It won’t protect you from any incoming damage. Wear it for style points, I guess.

Level 1 Motorcycle Helmet – comes with 80 Durability and 30% damage reduction

The helmets pretty much work the same way as the body armors, with just a portion of the durability that armors have. However, it could be argued that their role is much more important. Without a helmet, a lot of guns would be able to take you down with one shot on the head, giving you no chance to escape or retaliate.

Level 2 Military Helmet comes with 150 Durability and 40% damage reduction

Not as much of an improvement – protection wise - compared to the previously mentioned 1 to 2 body armor – the differences are nullified by headshot damage modifier. All guns except snipers would still be able to kill you on two headshots.

The main strength that the level 2 helmet has over the level 1 one is probably the durability. With these stats almost doubled – this helmet would be able to last way longer than the motorcycle helmet could ever be.

Level 3 Spetsnaz Helmet comes with 230 Durability and 55% damage reduction

The best protection that you could have on your head, the level three hat can even save you from sniper rifle headshots (except for an AWM bullet of course). It is worth taking purely because of this fact. Against ARs, the Spetsnaz drop almost every gun to three headshots, except for the AK – and with you constantly on the move, the enemies probably can’t headshot you three times consecutively anyway. Early game weapon classes are pretty much nullified with a level 3 hat equipped on.

About the durability increase – the Spetsnaz is something that you would be able to take even when halfway damaged. A 50% level 3 hat will last about the same as a newly acquired level 2 – and the massive improvement in damage block isn’t something that one could take lightly. People usually only drop a level three for the military that if the thing gets down to like 10% durability – and sometimes not even that. Against snipers, even one point of durability would save you from getting one-shotted.

Interested in more of our PUBG guides? You might want to check out this guide for the Sniper Rifle class.