The world is once again at the mercy of alien invaders inEarth Defense Force 6, and it is up to players to save what little remains of humanity. Using a host of weapons acrossmultiple character classes, you’ll need to use your arsenal to dispatch a range of extraterrestrial creatures, including giant frogs, androids, and oversize ants.

A big part of your success incleansing the world of invadersis staying alive, which means players will need to maintain their health. One part of the game, however, that would seemingly contribute to this doesn’t operate like other third-person shooters do. With that in mind, here iswhat you need to know about armor inEarth Defense Force 6and what it does.

A player approaching an Armor crate in Earth Defense Force 6

What Does Armor Do in Earth Defense Force 6?

Despite what the name suggests, armor does not actually protect players from incoming attacks from enemies. Inmost games of this genre, armor works as an initial protective barrier, which prevents any loss of health while it is active, but that’s not the case inEarth Defense Force 6. Instead, a player’sarmor rating indicates the maximum amount of HP their character can have.

This may confuse players who are new toEarth Defense Force, as this is not a common way that armor is utilized in a game of this nature. It is good to bear this in mind, as it essentially means you have half the amount of hit points that you might have expected to. If you are downed in a single-player mission, you’ll lose the mission and some of the items you have collected along the way.

A mission summary from Earth Defense Force 6

How To Get More Armor in Earth Defense Force 6

While armor won’t protect you from incoming projectiles, it can be improved to increase your overall HP on your next run. To increase your armor rating, you will need tocollect red crates marked “ARMOR"while on your missions. These will be dropped by enemies after you have killed them, and are marked by green dots on the mini-map (along with health and weapons crates). Essentially, the key to getting better armor is to kill as many of theseabsolutely enormous enemiesas you can.

It is worth noting, however, thatthe amount of armor you collect won’t be added to your total until the next mission, so it is important to get as many crates as possible and successfully complete the mission. If you are downed and fail to complete it, then you will still receive some of your armor pick-ups, but there will be a penalty for losing.

Earth Defense Force 6 Tag Page Cover Art