RimWorld clothing tier list: best fabric for every job
An interactive RimWorld 1.6 clothing tier list — every vanilla garment, re-sorted for protection, cold, temperate, hot and social. Flip the fabric (cloth to hyperweave) to re-tier. All DLC through Odyssey.
RimWorld clothing does two jobs - keeping colonists alive in harsh biomes and protecting them in a fight - and the fabric you sew a garment from matters as much as the garment itself: the same duster is a throwaway in cloth and end-game kit in hyperweave. This guide is for players who want to optimise what their colonists wear. Every tab shows all 16 vanilla garments, re-sorted for the job - pick a job, then flip the fabric, and the whole wardrobe re-tiers. Official, vanilla content only: base game plus all DLC through Odyssey, no mods. Tap any garment for what it is and why it lands where it does.
Patch 1.6 + all DLCAll vanilla clothingScored at normal quality
Short version: clothing in RimWorld does three things - temperature regulation, combat protection, and a few social or utility perks - and the material you craft it from decides how much armour, insulation and durability you get. Devilstrand and hyperweave give the best protection; wools and thrumbofur give the most warmth; hoods and masks handle social and utility. Every job tab ranks the same 16 garments, just re-sorted.
5
jobs
16
garments each
6
fabrics to flip
How the ranking works
Every stuffable garment has base stats - a duster's is 30% armour, a parka's is a huge cold factor, a cowboy hat's is sun cover. The material multiplies them. A cloth duster carries 11% sharp armour; the same duster in devilstrand carries 42%, in hyperweave 60%. So there's no single “best garment” - it depends on the fabric and the job. In practice it's a progression: cloth in the early game, devilstrand by mid game, and hyperweave or thrumbofur in the late game.
Each tab lists all sixteen garments and only the sort order changes - pick a job to set what the tiers measure (sharp armour, cold, heat, overall comfort, or a social/utility perk), then flip the fabric selector to re-rank. Numbers are at normal quality; masterwork is about +45% and legendary +80% on top. A couple of pieces don't follow the toggle: the war mask is wood-only, and the fabric-only hats (tuque, tribal headdress, veil, face mask) craft only from a fabric - they're flagged on the chip.
Stats are computed from the 1.6 / all-DLC material multipliers and each garment's base factors (RimWorld Wiki). A strong starting read for kitting a colony, not a substitute for your own biome and raid mix.
Pick a job, flip the fabric
Every vanilla garment ranked by sharp-armour value. Flip the fabric and the whole wardrobe re-tiers: cloth barely protects, devilstrand is the farmable sweet spot, hyperweave and thrumbofur push a duster to the top. Hats and masks sit low - they cover little. You wear this over a flak vest; the power-armour sets get their own guide.
Every garment ranked by cold insulation for ice sheet and sea ice. The parka runs away with it - warmest garment, and an outer layer, so a helmet still fits. Wool tuques and warm coats follow; shirts and masks add almost nothing. Megasloth wool and thrumbofur are the warmest fabrics.
Every garment ranked by total comfort band (cold + heat tolerance) for mild, swingy biomes. The everyday-wear view: a duster is the all-rounder, and a farmable fabric like devilstrand keeps a whole colony comfortable through the seasons.
Every garment ranked by heat insulation for desert and tropical maps. A duster is mandatory - the most heat-tolerant outer layer, and it shades the torso. Cowboy and bowler hats help the head; parka is dead last (zero heat). Devilstrand doubles as fire protection.
Every garment ranked by its social or utility perk. Most clothing has none - it's here for protection or warmth - so it sits at the bottom. The headgear earns the top rows: a hood (+20% social), bowler and tribal headdress (+15%), cowboy hat (+10%), a face mask (+50% toxic resistance), war mask and veil (pain-shock). These perks are fixed, so the fabric toggle doesn't apply here.
// Cloth · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
C
duster C
C · Plainleather · duster · 24% sharp
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
A fine stopgap - a better hide or fabric beats it.
// Plainleather · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
C
duster C
C · Megasloth wool · duster · 24% sharp
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Shear it in bulk, but megasloths are slow to tame.
// Megasloth wool · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
A
B
C
duster A
A · Devilstrand · duster · 42% sharp
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Farmable and fire-resistant, but slow to grow.
// Devilstrand · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
C
duster S
S · Thrumbofur · duster · 62% sharp
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Thrumbofur means hunting thrumbos - rare and dangerous.
// Thrumbofur · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
C
duster S
S · Hyperweave · duster · 60% sharp
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Hyperweave is trade or loot only - you won't craft it.
// Hyperweave · protection — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
B
C
D
parka B
B · Cloth · parka · 36 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Cloth is cheap and farmable, but thin.
// Cloth · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
B
C
D
parka B
B · Plainleather · parka · 32 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
A fine stopgap - a better hide or fabric beats it.
// Plainleather · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
B
C
D
parka S
S · Megasloth wool · parka · 68 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Shear it in bulk, but megasloths are slow to tame.
// Megasloth wool · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
A
C
D
parka A
A · Devilstrand · parka · 40 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Farmable and fire-resistant, but slow to grow.
// Devilstrand · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
B
C
D
parka S
S · Thrumbofur · parka · 68 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Thrumbofur means hunting thrumbos - rare and dangerous.
// Thrumbofur · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
A
C
D
parka A
A · Hyperweave · parka · 52 °C cold
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Hyperweave is trade or loot only - you won't craft it.
// Hyperweave · cold — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
B
C
D
parka S
S · Cloth · parka · 36 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Cloth is cheap and farmable, but thin.
// Cloth · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
B
C
D
parka S
S · Plainleather · parka · 32 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
A fine stopgap - a better hide or fabric beats it.
// Plainleather · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
B
C
D
parka S
S · Megasloth wool · parka · 68 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Shear it in bulk, but megasloths are slow to tame.
// Megasloth wool · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
C
D
parka S
S · Devilstrand · parka · 40 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Farmable and fire-resistant, but slow to grow.
// Devilstrand · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
B
C
D
parka S
S · Thrumbofur · parka · 68 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Thrumbofur means hunting thrumbos - rare and dangerous.
// Thrumbofur · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
B
C
D
parka S
S · Hyperweave · parka · 52 °C band
What's good
Outer layer - the warmest garment in the game, but zero heat insulation.
What's not
Hyperweave is trade or loot only - you won't craft it.
// Hyperweave · temperate — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
A
B
C
D
duster A
A · Cloth · duster · 15 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Cloth is cheap and farmable, but thin.
// Cloth · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
B
C
D
duster B
B · Plainleather · duster · 14 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
A fine stopgap - a better hide or fabric beats it.
// Plainleather · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
B
C
D
duster B
B · Megasloth wool · duster · 10 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Shear it in bulk, but megasloths are slow to tame.
// Megasloth wool · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
B
C
D
duster S
S · Devilstrand · duster · 20 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Farmable and fire-resistant, but slow to grow.
// Devilstrand · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
A
B
C
D
duster A
A · Thrumbofur · duster · 19 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Thrumbofur means hunting thrumbos - rare and dangerous.
// Thrumbofur · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
B
C
D
duster S
S · Hyperweave · duster · 22 °C heat
What's good
Outer layer over torso and legs - the all-round workhorse.
What's not
Hyperweave is trade or loot only - you won't craft it.
// Hyperweave · hot — tap a garment for what it is and why it ranks here
S
A
B
C
D
hood S
S · headgear · +20% social impact
What's good
Headgear - its real value is +20% social impact.
What's not
Worn for the perk, not protection or warmth.
// social & utility — fixed perks, the same in any material — tap a piece for what it does
Hats, hoods and masks
The headgear looks weak on the protection and temperature tabs because that's not its job. Switch to Social & utility and it climbs: a hood gives +20% social impact, a bowler hat +15%, a cowboy hat +10% - real mood and trade-price swings on wardens and negotiators. A face mask adds +50% toxic-environment resistance for fallout; a war mask or war veil raises the pain-shock threshold so a fighter shrugs off hits. These perks are printed on the garment and don't scale with the fabric, so that tab ranks them on their own terms.
How apparel layers work
Apparel in RimWorld operates on a strict layering system, and every piece falls into one of three roles - clothing, armour or utility. Four layers decide what stacks: the skin layer holds shirts, pants and tribalwear; the middle layer holds vests and utility items, where the flak vest lives; the outer layer holds jackets, dusters and parkas; and the headgear layer holds hats and helmets. Two garments only clash if they share a layer and the same body parts, so a button-down shirt, a flak vest and a duster all stack - they cover the chest, arms and legs from different layers at once.
Sharp damage
Protection is worked out per item from the outside in, and each layer mitigates independently: armour stacks multiplicatively, so two layers that each stop half of a hit leave a quarter getting through. Armour penetration is subtracted from each layer's rating first, which is why one high-value layer beats a stack of weak ones - a single devilstrand duster does more against sharp damage than three cloth shirts. Blunt weapons work the other way, shrugging off most clothing, so the melee pawns and raiders swinging maces are a different problem from the ones carrying blades.
Temperature control
A naked colonist is comfortable between 16 °C and 26 °C; everything a pawn wears widens that range. Insulation is additive and comes from the material, not the garment shape - which is why the fabric toggle changes warmth as much as it changes armour.
Cold insulation
For cold insulation the parka is unmatched: it's an outer layer that multiplies the material's cold value, so a megasloth-wool or thrumbofur parka adds roughly +68 °C at normal quality. Dusters give good heat insulation and decent protection instead, which makes them the default for hot and temperate biomes. With layering and warmth covered, the grids below turn it into a ranking - pick a job, then a fabric.
The catch
These tiers are read at normal quality, and quality swings hard - a legendary devilstrand duster (+80% armour) outclasses a normal hyperweave one, so a good tailor changes the picture more than the fabric toggle does. Coverage matters too: a duster covers torso and legs, a parka no legs, a vest just the torso. Read the tiers as “how much this fabric gives this garment”, then dress for the job your colony actually faces.
FAQ
What's the best material for clothing in RimWorld?
Devilstrand, for most colonies. It gives 42% sharp on a duster, resists fire, and you farm it - so you can dress a whole squad and chase high quality. Hyperweave and thrumbofur are stronger on paper (60-62% sharp) but both are rare, trade- or hunt-only. For pure warmth, megasloth wool; for heat, devilstrand again.
Is devilstrand better than hyperweave?
Not on raw numbers - hyperweave gives more sharp, blunt and heat protection. Devilstrand wins on availability: you grow it, so you can clothe everyone and chase high quality, while hyperweave is trade- and loot-only. Use hyperweave on your one or two best fighters and devilstrand for the rest.
What should colonists wear on an ice sheet?
A parka is the answer - it's the single warmest garment, adding roughly +68 °C from thrumbofur or megasloth wool at normal quality. Layer a wool tuque, plus a warm shirt and pants underneath. Megasloth wool is the practical pick because you shear it in bulk instead of hunting for it.
How do you make warm clothes in RimWorld?
Tailor them from a warm material at an electric or hand tailor bench. Warmth comes from the material, not the garment: megasloth wool, thrumbofur and alpaca wool add the most cold insulation, and a parka multiplies it. A megasloth-wool parka plus a wool tuque is the standard cold-weather kit; cloth barely helps.
Does a parka work in hot weather?
No - a parka gives zero heat insulation and covers your whole torso, so wearing one in a desert cooks the pawn. It's a cold-only garment. When summer hits or you move to a hot biome, swap the parka for a duster, which gives the most heat tolerance of any outer layer.
Does the fabric really change the ranking that much?
Yes - the material multiplies the garment's base stats, so the same duster swings from 11% sharp in cloth to 60% in hyperweave. Flip the fabric toggle on any job grid and watch the garments climb or sink. The one exception is the Social & utility tab: those perks are fixed, so the material doesn't change them.
What are hats, hoods and masks actually for?
Social and utility, mostly. A hood gives +20% social impact, a bowler +15%, a cowboy hat +10% - useful on wardens and traders. A face mask adds +50% toxic-environment resistance for fallout; war masks and veils raise the pain-shock threshold so hits stagger a fighter less. A tuque is the exception - it's a genuinely warm hat. That's why they rank near the bottom for protection but top the Social & utility tab.
Which clothing materials need a DLC?
Almost none of the essentials. Cloth, devilstrand, hyperweave, thrumbofur, wools and the common leathers are all base game. Odyssey adds a few hides - sealskin (the warmest common leather), mastodon and muskox wool among them. Royalty adds specialist apparel too - formal vests and prestige wear for nobles, and the eltex shirt for psycasters - but those are title and utility pieces, not everyday clothing. Everything in the fabric toggle here works with no expansions.
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