The Armor Outpost is a settlement in the second quarter of the Valley. In order to reach it, at least one member of the Order of No Quarter in the second quadrant must have been defeated. As its name implies, this village specializes in armors and as such, Shovel Knight can purchase some of them here as well as upgrades for his Shovel Blade.
Unlike the Village, one is not forced to enter the Armor Outpost to pass through it on the map.
Shovel of Hope NPCs
Plaza
The main area of the Armor Outpost; here is where the wandering NPCs pass through.
In the 3DS version, the Fisherman NPC will offer to exchange a 3DS's Play Coin for some gold. This specific function is only present in the Shovel of Hope campaign.
The Fancy Shop
A shop dedicated to hats and clothing. It seems to be owned by Mr. Hat. The shop's signboard, similarly to the one found in the Village, can be struck for some Magic or Power jars to drop, with a large one always being the last one.
Aerial Anvil Shop
The airship floating above the Outpost, here both new armors can be purchased as well as upgrades for the Shovel Blade.
Aerial Anvil Front
Aerial Anvil Top
The ladder leading to above the airship only appears once the second wave of the Order of No Quarter have been defeated. It houses a catapult that sends Shovel Knight back to the Village.
Wandering NPCs
Plague of Shadows
In Plague of Shadows, upon entering the Outpost, Plague Knight will be in an area behind the Fancy Shop and most of the Outpost's houses. There, Percy can be found, alongside a broken down catapult. By paying him 50 Cipher Coins, he will work on the the catapult to make it work. After that, by hopping on it, Plague Knight will be thrown inside the Outpost. The civilians will flee at his sight, and a group of knights will ambush the alchemist. Upon defeating them all, he will claim the Outpost for himself, while the townsfolk will flee the settlement aboard of the Aerial Anvil.
Plague Minions will then populate the Outpost, but a few brave townsfolk who refused to evacuate can be found; Chester rests on a rooftop, selling any unclaimed Arcana at full prize or trading them for their respective Relics, should Plague Knight have managed to find them in a stage. Also exclusively in the Armor Outpost, Chester offers at the cost of 7500 gold the Big Tonic Bag. The female Troupple Acolyte will also appear and provide one Troupple Chalice for purchase. By entering The Fancy Shop, Plague Knight can fight Mr. Hat and win a Scrap Sheet. And just outside the Shop, the Airship Enthusiast, too stubborn to leave the Outpost, can be found pouting.
By the time, Plague Knight will not be able to enter the Outpost again from behind the Fancy Shop, until the Shortcut? is unlocked. Should he use the catapult found at Shortcut?, he will access again to the background of the Armor Outpost, and then use the now-fixed catapult found here to return to the ground area of Village. This offers a second chance to find any Scrap Sheets and Cipher Coins missed in both areas.
In Specter of Torment
In this expansion, the Outpost is only briefly seen during the end credits. Some time in-between the end of Specter Knight's quest and the beginning of Shovel Knight's and Plague Knight's journeys, the Armor Outpost was attacked by a massive raid of Liquid Samurai and Goldarmors, spearheaded by The Enchantress herself. The Knights tried their best to repel the assault while the civilians and Mr. Hat fled, but were only able to barely hold their ground against The Enchantress's powerful magic.
Trivia
- In Shovel Knight: Official Design Works, the developers explain that they created the Armor Outpost to house all the characters they designed and couldn't display at the Village.
- In Shovel of Hope on rare occasions, a wandering NPC walks through who has Shovel Knight's body and the head of a fish, mentioning how nice it is to have his helmet off.
- If Shovel Knight use the War Horn next to Yoppler, he will respond by also playing his own horn instrument, dropping some large magic jars in return.
- In Plague of Shadows, despite the townsfolk fleeing on the airship and taking flight, it is still seen on the map.