Best armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker

Choosing the best armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker isn't as simple as picking anything that grants a higher defense number. The stat bonuses involved can alter your current build in different ways, and become a balanced pair up for your current perks and abilities.

As you explore Vale Sangora, you'll come across many armor pieces. Yet, if you know where to look and what the decisions to make, you'll accrue a much stronger wardrobe that will sustain you for longer. Suit yourself with our best armor recommendations below and become an unstoppable force during both day and night.

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Best armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker

In The Blood of Dawnwalker, the vampirism running through protagonist Coen's veins affects the experience in many ways. armor is included, as you can have separate builds for daytime and nighttime. You may not notice the difference at first, but once you start obtaining rare armor pieces, you'll begin to notice that they tend to have bonuses that benefit either cycle. As such, running a daytime set that benefits, say, drinking blood makes little sense.

Considering that armor is split in four slots, as well as three accessory slots, the prospect of getting a total of 14 unique pieces for both sets sounds super daunting. Thankfully, you don't have to be that hard pressed about it. As long as one of your main slots is filled with gear that provides a solid foundation of strong bonuses, you can mix and match the rest more freely.

When it comes to medium and heavy armor, Coen will suffer a stats penalty until you've obtained the perks that mitigate it. We recommend you prioritise those during your adventure so you can start reaping your sets' benefits in full as early as possible.

Below, you'll find some of the best armor pieces in The Blood of Dawnwalker, their specific stats, and where to get them from. Bear in mind that specific numbers scale depending on the level you have when you find or craft the armor piece, so take those as a general reference, and instead focus solely on the actual properties themselves.

Ambrus's Cuirass

• Requirements: You need to defeat Ambrus, who is one of the members of Brencis's Court. We have a dedicated guide to help you reach the necessary Infamy level to trigger the fight. Upon death, make sure to loot his body.

Ambrus's Cuirass is a legendary heavy chestpiece. It reduces vampiric ability cooldown and the stamina cost of your attacks. In addition, it increases the activation charge restoration that you get from attacks and perfect blocks. Activation charges are needed to cast abilities and both weapon and claw arts, so this comes in handy.

Whilst the vampiric ability cooldown stat may make it seem as this piece is better reserved for a night set, we used Ambrus's Cuirass as the main chestpiece in both sets for multiple hours as, for a long time, there really wasn't anything better out there. If you get this early on in the game, which we recommend, you may still have the heavy armor penalty on, so it's best to focus on the perk that mitigates it to make the most out of the piece.

Isbrand's Plate

• Requirements: You need to progress through the questlines involving Lacra and Vicho in Svartrau City. In order, these are: A Study in Crimson, A Friend Like This, Song of the Mountain, and Hive and Seek. In the latter, after defeating all the kobolds at the very end of the cave, make sure to loot the chest that's to the side of Isbrand before you interact with him and Lacra again. We recommend doing manual save either before or right after the fight so you don't miss it. You can also learn about Lacra from the note that Ambrus drops after the fight against him, skipping Vicho's quest.

Isbrand's Plate is a legendary medium chestpiece. It not only adds significant armor to Coen, but a plethora of bonuses, increasing the following: maximum vampiric health, claw critical hit chance, claw critical hit damage, and blood drinking restoration.

As such, Isbrand's Plate is an excellent addition to your night set. Make sure to always be drinking blood whenever possible, specially during combat, and to use your claws rather than the sword.

Ancient Greaves

• Requirements: You need to complete Anca's questline. In order, the quests are as follows: Echoes of Silenced Bells, Between the Worlds, Where Old Devils Lie, and Stronger Than Achilles. In the latter, once you stumble upon the Font of Life, choose to destroy it. Once you do, you'll discover the Ancient Greaves hiding within.

As tantalising as chestpieces are, it's important to not neglect Coen's undies. The Ancient Greaves serve as legendary heavy trousers that are perfect for a day set.

You'll get increased witchcraft ability damage, as well as magical damage reduction for some extra defense. The armor piece also boosts activation charge restoration from blocking, as well as passive activation charge restoration. No matter what you'll be doing in combat, you can rest assured that you'll have a healthy regeneration of activation charges to use your abilities and weapon arts without much waiting time in between.

Ancient Hero's armor

• Requirements: You need to visit the main cathedral in Svartrau City during the day and talk to the priest to kickstart In The Name of the Father. For this quest, you'll need to confess all available sins during the conversation, and then say that you want to learn more. Father Florin will point toward a hideout. Upon arriving at the location, continue with the questline until you have access to Hero's End. You can either find the key in one of the rooms nearby or accept the trial directly from him. After a sizable trip throughout the catacombs, you'll ultimately stumble upon the armor piece.

The Ancient Hero's armor is a legendary heavy chestpiece that is likely to stay equipped in your Coen for a long time. It increases human health restoration, witchcraft ability damage, and damage against supernatural enemies. If you've been around Vale Sangora, you already know there's no shortage of them. The chestpiece also increases activation charge restoration from actions.

Between the boosts to human health restoration and witchcraft ability damage, using the armor for a day set is a no brainer. Pair it up with the Ancient Greaves and you'll have a robust foundation for a day set.

Enhanced armor of the Arbiter - Full set

1 of 4 Caption Attribution

• Requirements: You need to complete A Bulwark Against Darkness. For this, reach Infamy level 4 and visit Anca, who will have a letter for you that will kick off the quest. You'll then need four components to create the set, which is forged by Nareh, an NPC located in the northwestern corner of the map (she's also part of the Forge It Anew quest).
• Large Lizard Moult: Located inside a cave east of the Muddy Trail Shrine, which is found around the center of the map in the swampy area. Defeat the enemies within and loot the lizard.
• Flask of Quicksilver: Head over to Silts Tower, which is located all the way south on the map, slightly to the west. Fight your way to the top and start Home Sweet Home. After the first loop of the dream sequence, progress it until you're rescuing your siblings in the village again, and head to the well on the right side instead. Once the quest is over, head back up to the top of the tower once more and grab the flask.
• Silk Threads: From the Sandy Gorge Shrine, which is northwest of Svartrau City, head to the quest marker nearby to start Good Home. Complete the quest and then head over to Vedera Marsh Guardpost in the southeastern part of the map, between Svartrau City and Tantari Woods, to find a question mark (?) icon. Progress through Come Hither and then loot the Silk Threads near the body. You can also do Pearly and Precious if you don't mind paying for the item instead.
• Relic of a Saint: There are multiple locations to obtain this one. You'll likely get a relic during Echoes of Silenced Bells, one of Anca's quests, as one of the dead bodies has a Saint's Tibia. Alternatively, you'll find another relic in the monastery after finding and using the keys to gain access.
• Once you're done, return to Nareh, give her all four pieces, and she will tell you about a ritual that you must complete first. Tackle the fights involved with it and you'll have access to the entire set.

The Enhanced Arbiter armor set gives you all four pieces in one go. It is a significant time commitment, but one that you should definitely make the time for before your final confrontation with Brencis to rescue your family.

Plus, it has benefits for both day and night cycles, as listed below:

• Enhanced armor of the Arbiter (legendary heavy chestpiece): Increases weapon, claw, and witchcraft ability damage. It also boosts activation charge restoration from actions.
• Enhanced Shin Guards of the Arbiter (legendary heavy trousers): Decreases witchcraft ability cooldown. In addition, it increases activation charge restoration from actions and perfect blocks, as well as the general passive restoration.
• Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter (legendary heavy boots): Grants magical damage reduction, and increases maximum human health, maximum stamina, and human health restoration.
• Enhanced Bracers of the Arbiter (legendary heavy bracers): Increases maximum vampiric health and boosts weapon damage, blood drinking restoration, and vampiric health segment generation per second.

If you're looking to go with the best set that can fulfil all of your daily and night needs, then the Enhanced Arbiter armor set is the one to go. You can simply equip it for both of Coen's personas and then play around with the remaining jewellery slots to further increase its capabilities or fill any gaps to best suit your playstyle.

That's all for the best armor to get in The Blood of Dawnwalker! If you're looking for further assistance, make sure to check out our prologue quest order guide and the herbs recipe for Esme's medicine.