Finding the best armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker requires diligent exploration and quest completion. Fortunately, not every piece of legendary equipment is essential, as certain sets cater to specific playstyles. This guide details the top armor sets for well-rounded, vampirism, witchcraft, and swordmastery builds, ensuring you can find the perfect loadout.
As a general rule, legendary armor pieces offer superior stats to lower-quality items. This guide focuses exclusively on legendary equipment. Remember that armor does not level up automatically; you must visit an armorer to upgrade your chosen set. Due to the high cost of upgrades, it is advisable to focus on one or two sets to maximize your resources. Armor piece stats improve with each level.
Players utilizing medium or heavy armor should prioritize upgrading the Second Skin I and Second Skin II perks within the swordmastery skill tree. Failing to do so will result in a stat penalty when wearing such armor.
Best Overall Armor Set — The Arbiter Armor
The Arbiter's legendary heavy armor set provides a robust base armor value, increased maximum health, and enhanced health regeneration, effective day or night. It also offers benefits to both witchcraft and vampirism playstyles through its activation charge restoration bonuses. The significant advantage of this all-around set is the ability to avoid the need to manage and upgrade multiple armor sets, saving both time and currency. Furthermore, it does not demand a highly specialized build. All components of the Arbiter Armor set are acquired through a single, albeit lengthy, quest called "A Bulwark Against Darkness." This quest becomes accessible upon reaching infamy level 4.
Best Vampire Armor — Isbrand's Armor
For a specialized vampire build, Isbrand's gear is the premier choice. His greaves significantly boost claw damage, complemented by their critical damage bonuses, making claw-based combat more effective than swordplay. Isbrand's Plate enhances claw critical hit chance, which is crucial for maximizing damage output. Pairing Isbrand's armor with the Wolven Bracers further amplifies claw damage and critical chance.
Since only two legendary pieces are directly associated with Isbrand, players must supplement them with other armor sets. The Vrakhiric Bracers offer a similar claw damage increase but also improve vampirism ability frequency, making them a superior option if critical chance is already high. Vrakhir's Treads are the best boots for a vampire build, providing substantial increases to maximum vampiric health and regeneration.
The best vampire armor pieces are located as follows:
- Isbrand's Plate: Found in the chamber where Isbrand is encountered, at the conclusion of Lacra's quest "Hive and Seek."
- Isbrand's Greaves: Looted from a treasure chest southwest of the Gravel Lea shrine, after defeating kobolds.
- Vrakhir's Treads: Located in Chariklea's Room, obtainable at the end of Xanthe's quest "The Cycle of Love."
- Wolven Bracers: Acquired by investigating bodies west of Burner's Clearing and completing the "Of Wolves and Men" quest.
- Vrakhiric Bracers: Found in Bakir's treasury, at the conclusion of "The Lunar Game."
Best Witchcraft Armor — Ancient Armor Set
The Runic Enchantment chestpiece offers the highest witchcraft ability damage, but its lack of defensive stats makes it a risky choice. Pairing it with sturdy Ancient Armor pieces, such as the Ancient's Hero's Armour chestpiece, provides a safer alternative with increased activation charge restoration to fuel witchcraft abilities more frequently.
The Ancient Greaves are the optimal trousers for a witchcraft build, enhancing both witchcraft damage and activation charge restoration. However, their acquisition is dependent on a specific quest outcome. As a reliable alternative, the Enhanced Shin Guards of the Arbiter offer substantial benefits.
The best witchcraft armor locations are:
- Ancient Hero's Armour: Obtained after completing "In the Name of the Father" and defeating Rigoz in the underground crypt.
- Runic Enchantment: Acquired automatically during the "Stronger Than Achilles" quest.
- Ancient Greaves: Awarded at the end of the "Stronger Than Achilles" quest, provided The Font of Life is destroyed.
- Enhanced Shin Guards of the Arbiter: Acquired by completing "A Bulwark Against Darkness."
- Ancient Footwear: Found by completing "Xanthe's Excavations: Bloodied Dagger," northeast of the Tantari Bog shrine.
- Ancient Hero's Vambraces: Located on the road near the Drunken Bear Inn, obtained by completing "Xanthe's Transports: When Two Dogs…"
Best Swordmastery Armor — Pieter's Garb and the Mercenary Armor
Pieter's Garb is ideal for boosting swordmastery, significantly enhancing human health and its restoration. It provides superior critical hit chance and critical damage bonuses. For players not focusing on critical hits, Bakir's Armour is a strong alternative, ensuring consistent stamina management.
Regardless of the chestpiece choice, the Mercenary Armor pieces are highly recommended for a swordmastery build. The Mercenary's Vambraces are particularly effective when paired with strong blocking skills. If a critical hit build is not the focus, the Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter can be substituted for the Mercenary's Boots, offering increased HP and stamina.
The best melee armor pieces can be found here:
- Pieter's Garb: Located in a chest atop a cliff, accessible by following Volk's quest "Buried Past."
- Bakir's Armour: Looted from Bakir after defeating him in the Lunar Manor.
- Mercenary's Greaves: Sold by the Altenmarket armorer in Svartrau City.
- Mercenary's Boots: Available from the armorer in the manumit hideout in Svartrau City, requiring infamy level 4.
- Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter: Acquired by completing "A Bulwark Against Darkness."
- Mercenary's Vambraces: Sold by the armorer in Tantari.