Witcher 3 best armor sets and gear sets

What are the best armor and gear sets in The Witcher 3? The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's witcher gear sets are your go-to source for the strongest armor and weaponry in the game for our dear old Butcher of Blaviken. Each set belongs to a different witcher school, so the blueprints for these unique pieces of equipment must be tracked down in Scavenger missions, then crafted with very particular materials.

There's a fair amount of complexity to armor and gear sets in The Witcher 3. Below we've laid out all the essential information to get you up to speed on the basic ideas behind gear sets, before walking you through our rankings for each set.

The Witcher 3 best armor and gear explained

Before we get stuck into the details of each of the best armor sets in The Witcher 3, here are the essential need-to-know facts about how armor and gear works:

• "Witcher Gear" is the rarest and highest quality class of equipment above the likes of "Master" and "Magic". Witcher gear is coloured green in your inventory.
• There are four witcher gear sets in the base version of The Witcher 3, with another four available through DLCs (some free, some paid).
• Each gear set generally includes a full armor set, a silver sword, a steel sword, and sometimes a crossbow.
• For each piece of equipment in a set you'll need to track down its blueprint diagrams in the world before you're able to craft it. Tracking down these blueprints is the basis for the various "Scavenger Hunt" side quests.
• Gear sets are so sought after because the equipment in each set is among the strongest in the game. What's more, each piece in most gear sets can be upgraded several times with additional materials and blueprints.
• The upgrade stages for most gear sets are, from lowest to highest: Basic, Enhanced, Superior, Mastercrafted, and Grandmaster. In New Game +, you're able to craft Legendary variants of each of these levels.

One final piece of advice: don't ignore the suggested levels on the Scavenger Hunt quests. They're not just the recommended level for defeating the enemies guarding the diagrams; they're also the required level for actually equipping the gear once you've crafted it. So don't bother rushing a set long before you've reached the suggested level.

The best Witcher 3 armor and gear

Here's our countdown ranking of the best armor and gear sets in The Witcher 3, from worst to best:

1. Warrior's Leather Jacket
2. Viper/Serpentine Armor Set
3. Griffin Armor Set
4. Manticore Armor Set
5. Bear/Ursine Armor Set
6. Wolf/Wolven Armor Set
7. Cat/Feline Armor Set

Now let's take a look at our rankings for the best Witcher gear sets in The Witcher 3. For each set, I've also detailed the Scavenger Hunt locations and suggested levels, as well as all of the equipment contained within that set.

7. Warrior's Leather Jacket

• Equipment Type: Chest Armor

Let's not waste time here: the Kaer Morhen Armor is the medium armor that Geralt starts the game wearing. It's rubbish.

On a more interesting note, I'd refrain from instantly dismantling or selling this rubbish starting armor, because you can use it to craft the Warrior's Leather Jacket - a visually identical but statistically superior chest armor piece. But even this is only worthwhile if you craft it at the very start of the game, because the meagre 30 Armor it provides will soon be far outstripped by other armor you find during your travels.

6. Viper/Serpentine Armor Set

• Equipment Types: Silver Sword, Steel Sword (+ All Armor with Hearts of Stone DLC)
• Basic Sword Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: White Orchard, Level 6
• Venomous Silver Sword Associated Quest/Suggested Level:
  "Whatsoever a Man Soweth" in Velen, Level 36
• All Other Gear Associated Quest/Suggested Level: "Open Sesame!" in Velen, Level 34

The Viper Gear Set is an interesting one, because the swords are actually included in the base game - and very early on, I might add. But you'll need the Hearts of Stone paid DLC to gain access to the Viper armor set - as well as the late-game Venomous variants of both swords.

The swords are useful in the early game thanks to their poison chance, while the armor's claim to fame is a best-in-class resistance to poisoning - and that's on top of some decent elemental and monster resistances too. Still, it's rather too niche a gear set to rank very high in our tier list of best gear sets on offer.

5. Griffin Armor Set

• Equipment Types: All Armor, Silver Sword, Steel Sword
• Basic Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 11
• Enhanced Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 18
• Superior Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 26
• Mastercrafted Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 34
• Grandmaster Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Toussaint, Level 40

Griffin Gear is the first major set of witcher gear you'll be able to gain access to once you enter Velen and Novigrad. The main perk of this set of medium armor (and its associated swords) is a decent buff to sign intensity with each equipped piece.

Sadly, Griffin gear seems to go rather under-utilised by the majority of players, who have realised over time that sign intensity isn't nearly as valuable in upping your DPS potential as the other main witcher gear sets.

4. Manticore Armor Set

• Equipment Types: All Armor, Silver Sword, Steel Sword
• Grandmaster Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Toussaint, Level 40

The Manticore Gear Set is only available in the "Blood and Wine" paid expansion, and features a set of medium armor and swords that can only be found in Grandmaster variants - which means, as with all the other Grandmaster gear sets, you'll have to reach Level 40 before you can make use of them.

The Manticore Armor is all about alchemy, boosting your maximum toxicity and bestowing a bonus to alchemy charges and critical hit effects to your bombs if you equip the entire set. The swords, I find, are far more valuable, with each one boasting a +250 bonus to your Armor piercing, alongside a strong critical hit damage boost and a chance to bleed. Very powerful swords indeed.

3. Bear/Ursine Armor Set

• Equipment Types: All Armor, Silver Sword, Steel Sword, Crossbow
• Basic Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 20
• Enhanced Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 25
• Superior Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 30
• Mastercrafted Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 34
• Grandmaster Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Toussaint, Level 40

The ultimate gear set for tanks and turtlers, the Ursine Heavy Armor set is unmatched in its ability to soak up damage, not only providing excellent armor stats and resistance bonuses across the board, but also giving you an extremely strong bonus to your Quen sign usage if you upgrade it all the way.

Add to that some strong Adrenaline Point gain bonuses with each piece you equip, and this gear set will also enable you to hit like a truck (or, indeed, a bear) once you get stuck into the fight.

2. Wolf/Wolven Armor Set

• Equipment Types: All Armor, Silver Sword, Steel Sword
• Basic Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Kaer Morhen, Level 14
• Enhanced Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 21
• Superior Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 29
• Mastercrafted Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 34
• Grandmaster Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Toussaint, Level 40

Another witcher gear set only available once you've downloaded the associated free DLC, the Wolven Gear Set is a lovely set of medium armor and swords which gives players a jack-of-all-trades option regarding their equipment choices.

This set will boost your attack power, adrenaline point gain, and sign intensity all at the same time, but of course it won't be able to reach the heights in any one category set by the other more focused gear sets. Still, the versatility of the Wolf armor and weaponry means it's a firm contender for the best gear set in the game for first-time players.

1. Cat/Feline Armor Set

• Equipment Types: All Armor, Silver Sword, Steel Sword, Crossbow
• Basic Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 17
• Enhanced Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 23
• Superior Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Velen/Novigrad, Level 29
• Mastercrafted Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Skellige, Level 34
• Grandmaster Diagram Locations/Suggested Level: Toussaint, Level 40

This is where we start to get serious. Some people suggest that you steer clear of the Feline Gear Set unless you're a seasoned Witcher 3 veteran, but I say the benefits are just too good to ignore for any player, even those just starting out.

The only real downside to this gear set is the fact that light armor won't absorb as much damage as medium or heavy armor. Otherwise, this set gives you a delightful boost to attack power and critical hit chance - not to mention a chance to cause bleeding with each hit thanks to your two swords.

Honourable Mention: Teigr

• Equipment Types: Steel Sword
• Associated Quest/Suggested Level: "Where the Cat and Wolf Play" in Velen, Level 25

If you're after armor, ignore the Teigr Gear Set completely, as all it contains is a single steel sword. I'm just including it here for the sake of completion, as it is technically a witcher gear set.

Available only with the free "Where the Cat and Wolf Play" DLC, this sword boasts a 15% increase to your Aard Sign intensity, along with some nice Feline-gear-esque boosts to critical hit chance and bleed chance.

And there you have it! You now have a complete knowledge of all the Witcher 3 armor and gear sets on offer. Now why not supplement your new gear with one of the very best Witcher 3 builds on offer? Alternatively, you can brush up on your own skills with our list of Witcher 3 combat tips and tricks.