How Actually Effective Is Armor?

[Sovran Nila]

In the entire franchise, as power levels increase, how actually effective is armor? If a character wears a gi, as opposed to battle armor, are they susceptible to becoming hurt easier?

 

[SSJ2]

Not very. On Namek Vegeta says the high tech Freeza armour will protect against small attacks but that's about it. It wasn't enough for Goku/Gohan to choose to use it during the Cell Games, their normal gi was sufficient.

 

[Hector]

Considering TFS Vegeta was wearing his armor and still got Bulma pregnant, they mustn't be very effective.

 

[Spiral-Force]

Nothing major. You could say the armored being would look less rough after a destructive fight. Though if Piccolo's around, that can be fixed up in no time.