The standard armor for First Order stormtroopers was known as First Order stormtrooper armor. This military junta, the First Order, was inspired by the ideals of the Galactic Empire of old. Its design, notably stark white, took cues from preceding armors, specifically the Phase I and Phase II models of clone trooper armor, as well as the armor set worn by Imperial stormtroopers in the past.
The armor worn by First Order stormtroopers was a striking white, and its design was influenced by the armor worn by Republic clone troopers during the Clone Wars, as well as the armor worn by Imperial stormtroopers during the Galactic Civil War. Like previous iterations, this armor was worn over a black body glove. It was designed specifically for humans. During its conflict with the Resistance and its supporting government, the New Republic, the First Order aimed to reinstate the recognizable and feared stormtroopers as the vanguard against the former adversaries of the Galactic Empire.
Improvements were made to the design of prior stormtrooper armor, including increased flexibility through an updated joint system. Macro scope scanners were linked to individual armor sets. These scanners could be attached magnetically to the back of the armor. Captain Phasma, a stormtrooper, wore her own distinctive stormtrooper armor that was polished with chromium to symbolize power. Specialized stormtroopers, such as flametroopers and snowtroopers, wore variations of the First Order stormtrooper armor to represent their respective specializations. To indicate rank, commanding stormtroopers wore pauldron armor plates that were color-coded.
The helmets worn by stormtroopers had a glossy betaplast finish, requiring consistent cleaning. They were equipped with a smoke filtration system and an external tank hook-up, but were unable to filter toxins. In addition to providing standard head protection, the helmets contained communication and targeting systems for the foot soldiers, although quadnoculars were needed for enhanced imaging. The helmet also projected a constant stream of data across the lenses, including telemetry, firing solutions, atmospheric conditions, and the ammo count for the blaster rifle. An ID tag would appear when one trooper looked at another, as the in-suit computer could identify friendly individuals.
The data stream could also display the exact distance between the wearer and allies or objectives. FN-2187 once observed that Slip was 29.3 meters behind him. The helmets had polarized lenses and night vision capabilities, but lacked advanced imaging technology to reduce weight. The armor was resistant to fire.
According to Captain Phasma, the commanding officer of the First Order's stormtrooper legions, the armor was strong enough to withstand the strength of a Wookiee. Archex derived a sense of belonging and purpose from the armor he wore as a stormtrooper before deserting the First Order military.
The signing of the Galactic Concordance in 5 ABY brought the Galactic Civil War to a close, with the New Republic claiming victory over the Galactic Empire. In the aftermath, the Empire's power was diminished through reparations and disarmament policies imposed by the Republic. Consequently, the treaty between the two powers strictly prohibited the mobilization of stormtrooper forces and the production of their armor. However, in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, former Imperials regrouped and established the First Order. Seeking to reclaim the Empire's legacy by challenging the Republic's sovereignty, the First Order secretly violated the treaty and initiated a vast rearmament program, leading to the creation of new armor for a new generation of stormtroopers.
As a result, the First Order adopted the tradition of the white-armored soldier that began with the clones who fought for the Republic. The appearance of First Order stormtroopers, like their Imperial predecessors, transformed the clone army's legacy from a symbol of honorable defense into a "faceless" icon of fascism. The First Order's ranks were primarily composed of humans, ostensibly because their armor was designed exclusively for that species. However, Resistance agent Vi Moradi suspected that the real reason was the First Order's xenophobia, with the armor excuse serving as a way to avoid openly admitting it.
Around 29 ABY, the same year that the First Order was publicly formed through the secession of Centrist planets, the First Order stormtrooper was officially revealed to the galaxy after a secret twenty-year development process. While the First Order's ranks were actually trained to conquer the galaxy, the Stormtrooper Corps was presented as a local defense force for the "newly-established" First Order at that time. With the Hosnian Cataclysm of 34 ABY, the First Order initiated its conquest of galactic space. During the First Order-Resistance War, stormtroopers wore their armor in battle against enemies of the First Order, particularly the Resistance, and to enforce its conquest of the galaxy.
Dok-Ondar, the owner of a den of antiquities on the planet Batuu, also acquired a suit of stormtrooper armor through undisclosed means. During the First Order's operations on Batuu, a First Order re-education facility was established under Lieutenant Gauge to brainwash local citizens into obedient servants of the regime, which the stormtroopers viewed as a means of countering Resistance propaganda. Seezelslak, an Azumel and the first patient, was made to believe that he had signed up to join the regime and would be made into a stormtrooper with his own armor, although he suspected he would look strange in it. When a droid repair technician infiltrated the facility with Ondar's stolen armor and the help of Seezelslak's allies, the brainwashed Seezelslak assumed the technician had also joined and complimented their appearance in stormtrooper armor, only for the technician to break the bar owner out and destroy the base. After the escape, Seezelslak recovered from his re-education with Ondar's help.
For Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson made subtle changes to the stormtrooper armor seen onscreen compared to its previous appearance in The Force Awakens. These changes included altering the color from a creamy white to a more subdued off-white with a slight grey tint, as well as modifying the shape of the black "mouth" on the helmets to give them a more menacing and skeletal look.