As far as wizards in Fairy Tail go, Erza Scarlet is one of the toughest. Often the one in charge, Erza proves to be the benchmark of strength for her guildmates until the very end. Her abilities and leadership are regarded highly enough that she even served as Guildmaster for a time.

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Unlike her fellow Fairy Tail members, Erza doesn't toss out spells left and right. Instead, she relies mostly on summoning armor, weapons, and other equipment to fit the battle at hand. Since the armor sets are often situational in their usefulness, ranking their power requires a look at how effectively they handle threats.

10 Purgatory Armor

The Purgatory Armor is supposed to be one of the strongest sets in Erza's collection, so fearsome that none have seen it and lived. Why is it ranked so low, then? Mostly because moments after its introduction, the armor was handily destroyed by the swordswoman Ikaruga.

It's uncharacteristic for Erza to boast about or exaggerate her abilities, so it was probably as strong as she claimed. Since the audience never gets a real look at the Purgatory Armor's capabilities, it's hard to judge it against Erza's other sets. In terms of appearance, it was at least pretty intimidating, what with the giant mace and black spikes.

9 Clear Heart Clothing

This requip stands out because rather than increasing Erza's defense, it completely opens her up for attack. Sounds useless on paper, but the upside is the massive increase in speed and strength gained through the reduced weight and dual katanas.

A mainstay throughout the series, Erza often pulls out this outfit in response to other armor not making the cut. Though there is certainly more useful, stronger armor that Erza can call on, adopting this set is a major milestone for her, given that she is known for being too guarded, both literally and figuratively.

8 Lightning Empress Armor

Donning a spear and relatively light armor, summoning the Lightning Empress Armor gives Erza the ability to attack with Lightning Magic. In addition to the offense this set offers, the armor also gives her the ability to resist other wizards' lightning-based attacks.

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The added resistance was strong enough to protect Erza from even Laxus' Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic. For that reason, it has to be credited on the list, although in terms of utility, there isn't much evidence that it beats out any particular armor with the same general capabilities, like the Sea Empress or Flame Empress sets.

7 Heaven's Wheel

If any armor summon could be considered Erza's signature move, it's this one. Introduced early in the series, Heaven's Wheel is a powerful crowd-control-style attack that involves Erza requipping hundreds of swords at once around her and firing them telekinetically.

Erza gains access to several more ranged spells through the Heaven's Wheel Armor, including Circle Sword and Trinity Sword. In addition, the swords summoned for Heaven's Wheel can be used for standard melee attacks like Pentagram Sword. If that wasn't enough, this versatile armor lets our dear Titania fly around.

6 Adamantine Barrier

The Adamantine Barrier spell is a move unique to Erza's Adamantine Armor. Featuring massive shields that cover Erza's whole body, the Adamantine Armor is purely defensive. Casting the Adamantine Barrier spell creates a huge magical wall, allowing Erza to protect both herself and a large area behind her.

Introduced in the Phantom Lord arc, Erza used this spell to block a blast from the dark guild's superweapon, the magical cannon Jupiter. The incredible defensive strength of the move saved Fairy Tail and its guildhall, but the armor broke in the process and Erza sustained significant damage.

5 Fairy Burst

One of the most intriguing Fairy Tail arcs takes the protagonists to the parallel world of Edolas and forces them to team up with—or even fight—alternate versions of themselves. In Erza's case, it's the latter. During her showdown with Edolas' Erza Knightwalker, Erza Scarlet requipped into one of her strongest armor sets, Armadura Fairy.

Wearing this armor gave Erza access to the Fairy Burst spell, which used the energy blasts and increased attack power of Armadura Fairy to clash with Knightstalker's magic. As with an unfortunate number of Erza's requips, it did the job at the cost of breaking the armor at the end.

4 Wind God Sword

Erza Wind God Armor

As advertised, the Wind God Sword is a particularly mighty blade that offers the control of Wind Magic. It comes as a part of the Wind God Armor, although the sword seems to be where the real power of this requip lies. In fact, the armor itself is mostly just a neat outfit.

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The Wind God Sword was singled out for this list because the Wind Magic Erza pulls off with it was potent enough to blow away the intense Sand Magic of the Spriggan 12's Ajeel. It shouldn't be a surprise that a weapon with a title like that is a big deal—when wizards in Fairy Tail throw around terms like "god" in their moves, things are pretty serious.

3 Piercing Armor

Naturally, as the events of the series reach their climax, the heroes have to pull out some heavy-duty power to keep up with the looming threats. The Piercing Armor comes with a lance designed to break through even the thickest wall.

During the Tartaros arc, Erza used the weapon to drill through Tartaros' giant floating base. In doing so, Erza managed to land a hit on Kyoka, a particularly formable wizard that proved difficult to beat. Given that Kyoka imprisoned and tortured Erza prior to the fight, it was cathartic for this new requip to make such an impact.

2 Nakagami Starlight

This unique move is a product of Erza's Second Origin unlocking a legendary set of armor, wearable by few because of the enormous magic strain it requires. Complete with a halberd that can cut through space, this requip is generally a versatile tool when strong magic needs to be removed.

When Erza first performs Nakagami Starlight, she is locked in battle with Sabertooth's Minerva, a master of the Spacial Magic, Territory. Lucky for Erza, cutting through Spacial Magic is what the Nakagami Armor does best. In terms of raw power, Nakagami Starlight is likely the strongest offensive magic Erza can perform.

1 Requip

So what tops the wealth of devastating moves and armor on this list? None other than the spell that makes it all possible—Erza's specialty, the Spacial Magic called Requip. Strong as she is, Erza can't carry hundreds of breastplates and greaves around on her back.

Through Requip, she can both store and summon her arsenal of gear for use at the necessary moment. Erza's go-to magic ability ensures that she is prepared for any situation, and in most cases allows her to attack or defend with optimal counters to her opponents' magic.

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