The Witcher 3 - Best Weapons and Armor

This page will show you what the best armor and weapons are in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as well as where you can find the diagrams needed to craft them.

The debate about the best weapon in any game is a familiar one. Players are always looking to get that tiny edge that will put them over the top and see them defeat their foes. Sometimes the debate is a very simple one with a clear winner, and then other times it’s more complicated. With The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the discussion is more complicated, but in a way that will benefit you under any circumstances.

Choosing the best armor and weapons in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is all about play style. If you don’t use your signs often you might prefer the Ursine School Gear for maximum protection. If you depend heavily on your signs, perhaps the Griffin School Gear is best for you. If you’re like us and prefer something lighter, relying more on your movement to help you win fights, the Cat School Gear might be the way to go. Of course, each type of gear has four variations (Basic, Enhanced, Superior and Mastercrafted), and what one you use will depend on what level your witcher is at.

Below you’ll find a table that will show you what level you can start using each type of armor at. For example, once you hit level 30 you will be able to craft and wear the mastercrafted variation of the Feline School Gear. This includes chest armor, gauntlets, trousers and boots. Of course, you must have the diagrams that are required to craft this gear, and you can find links to all of their locations on the right side of this page. Please also note that the second table indicates at what level you can start using each sword type at. They follow the same basic idea as the armor, with each gear set having four different variations.

Minimum Armor and Weapon Levels

Variation Griffin School Armor Feline School Armor Ursine School Armor Basic 8 14 17 Enhanced 15 20 22 Superior 22 26 27 Mastercrafted 31 31 31

Variation Griffin School Swords Feline School Swords Ursine School Swords Basic 7 14 15 Enhanced 14 19 21 Superior 21 25 26 Mastercrafted 30 30 30

The Witcher 3 Armor Sets

The Witcher 3 Walkthrough

The Witcher 3 Viper School Gear

The Witcher 3 Griffin School Gear

The Witcher 3 Cat School Gear

The Witcher 3 Bear School Gear

Griffin School Gear

As we mentioned above, the Griffin School Gear is all about your sign intensity. If you are someone who likes to slam your foes Igni and Aard, this gear set will provide you with that opportunity. It won’t give you as much protection as the Ursine School Gear, but you shouldn’t need it given that you’re a master of magic. Be sure to reflect your choice in gear by adjusting your character customization options so that your focus is on using your signs.

Feline School Gear

This is easily our favorite gear set. Part of that has to do with how it looks, and the other part is because of the benefits it provides in combat. The Cat School Gear doesn’t provide you with the same level of protection that you get from The Ursine (Bear) School Gear, but it does allow you to recover stamina more quickly. This means you can use your signs more often, but they won't be as intense as if you used the Griffin School Gear. It also benefits your play style if the approach to your combat encounters is all about movement. Rather than rely on Geralt being able to take a lot of punishment, this gear is suited for people who prefer to dodge and roll out of the way when their enemy attacks.

Ursine School Gear

The final gear set is the Bear (Ursine) School Gear, and it’s all about being able to take crazy amounts of damage when you’re in a fight. It provides maximum protection, but you give up the stamina regeneration that you enjoy with the Feline School Gear. Still, you could make use of alchemy to tip the scales further in your favor, tossing bombs and rubbing your swords with oils to cause your foes more damage. If you’re a big fan of using lots of signs while you’re in combat, you may want to skip this gear.

As for which piece of armor or particular sword is the best, you're always going to want to go with the highest variation that you qualify for. That is to say, if you are a level 31 witcher, you're going to want to use the mastercrafted versions of the gear that best suits your play style.

In terms of swords, there are some out there that offer more damage than what you will find in these three sets, but you also have to factor in how many slots each sword has for runestones. For example, if you can find a sword that does slightly less damage, but has three slots for runestones, you can really bump up its stats for things like armor piercing, causing your foes to bleed, or even setting them on fire. What this all boils down to is that there is no one sword that is better than all the rest, but rather just one sword out there that will meet your unique combat needs.