Quick answer
Key takeaways
- Armor upgrades are a direct defense investment. They matter when the set is still useful but incoming damage has become severe enough to reduce your opportunity to learn and recover.
- Upgrade the pieces you are actively wearing before spending heavily on sets you may replace soon. A current progression set is usually the best early target.
- Do not hoard every Armor Sphere forever. Resources exist to help you progress, and later sources make continued upgrading possible.
Armor & builds
Armor upgrades are a direct defense investment. They matter when the set is still useful but incoming damage has become severe enough to reduce your opportunity to learn and recover.
The best way to approach it
Upgrade the pieces you are actively wearing before spending heavily on sets you may replace soon. A current progression set is usually the best early target.
Use spheres before a difficult story or rank wall, not only after repeated failure. More defense gives you more attempts to learn the attack pattern.
Reassess after new armor unlocks. You do not need to max every temporary piece, but you should keep your active set at a sensible level.
A mistake to avoid
Do not hoard every Armor Sphere forever. Resources exist to help you progress, and later sources make continued upgrading possible.
FAQ
Is it wasteful to upgrade early armor?
No. Reasonable upgrades on a set you use through a difficult stage are a worthwhile investment in safer progress.