Everyone says troll armor, but its not always an option. Sometimes there are trolls in your area, and sometimes not. A basic set is 3 trolls if you get some other cape, or 5 trolls if you want the cape too. Upgraded is going to at least double that, I don't know the full total, but be prepared to find and kill at least 10 of the things if you want to go that route.

mining is a win-win. you need copper and tin anyway, for other stuff than just the armor. And if there is a troll in the current square mile of forest, it will come looking for you as soon as you hit that copper node.