The Witcher 3: A Complete Guide To Grandmaster Armor

In the Witcher 3, players can find hints and long-faded notes that point toward special scavenger hunts. These hunts will lead Geralt to the crafting diagrams for powerful sets of witcher armor from some of the different witcher schools. In the Blood & Wine expansion, there are even more powerful versions of these armor sets, with the Grandmaster level.

To craft these powerful armor sets, Geralt needs to speak with Lazare Lafargue, who will give him the task of finding the diagrams. Here's everything to know about this series of quests and the Grandmaster witcher gear that can be crafted upon completing them.

The Master Master Master Master! Quest

The quest that starts these scavenger hunts is called "Master Master Master Master!" and it can be initiated by finding a notice on a board in Toussaint or by speaking with Lazare Lafargue. This armorer can be found in Hauteville in the Beauclair region.

He'll tell Geralt about the five witcher schools and where to find the crafting diagrams associated with each. From here, the quest log will have five new quests, one for each of the sets: Wolven, Feline, Ursine, Griffin, and Manticore.

Why Bother?

At this point in the game, it's likely that the average player has a pretty decent build going in terms of armor and weapons. So, why bother looking for these sets? Well, they offer fantastic boosts that are almost entirely unmatched by other sets. If playing New Game+, they can also be upgraded into Legendary versions.

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These armor sets are each tailored to their own type of playstyle, too, so even the most experienced witchers should seek them out to improve their overall build. Geralt will have to contend with a variety of trials, including monsters, bandits, puzzles, investigation, and more. Having the right equipment can make quick work of almost any of these challenges, and the Grandmaster witcher gear is some of the best around.

The Manticore Set

The Manticore Set — At a Glance

The Manticore Set, Explained

The School of the Manticore does not have an associated armor set in the base game, but it does in the expansion. This set is fantastic for alchemy builds and is considered Medium Armor.

When wearing three of the six matching pieces, critical hit damage and chance bonuses will also apply to bombs. For wearing all six pieces, Geralt will get an extra charge for each alchemy item.

The individual pieces offer buffs to crit chances, crit damage, and toxicity, as well as decent increases in resistance to various types of damage. The Manticore swords offer chances to cause bleeding.

The Manticore gear, despite not being called as such, is considered Grandmaster armor. It does not have lower tiers below Grandmaster.

The Feline Set

The Feline Set — At a Glance

The Feline Set, Explained

Those who prefer a Light Armor set with damage bonuses should seek out the Cat School Gear's Grandmaster upgrade diagrams. The individual pieces of armor offer bonuses in attack power and okay increases to different types of damage resistance (piercing, slashing, elemental, etc.). The two Feline swords buff the Aard sign and the chances to cause bleeding and dismemberment.

You'll find the diagrams for this set in the following places: Bartolomé de Launay's house, the Arthach Palace Ruins, and the Pits of Brume.

The Griffin Set

The Griffin Set, At a Glance

The Griffin Set, Explained

Players with a build that revolves around sign usage, might be interested in the Griffin School set. The individual pieces offer buffs to Geralt's signs, and set bonuses include stamina reduction in sign casting (three of six pieces equipped) and Yrden buffs (six out of six equipped).

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All of the individual pieces of this Medium Armor set offer sign intensity bonuses, even the swords.

The locations Geralt will need to visit to find all the diagrams include Fort Ussar and a Hanse Base north of Mont Crane Castle.

The Ursine Set

The Ursine Set — At a Glance

The Ursine Set, Explained

Those with a heavy or tanky build would most likely be interested in the Ursine set. This Heavy Armor has a high defense rating due to its bulk and is built for slow, heavy attacks rather than quick, speedy swipes. The first batch of diagrams for it are near Flovive, in a decrepit house just north of the town. The second set of diagrams can be found northwest of there in a cave with a stream flowing into it.

When wearing three pieces of the Ursine set, Geralt will gain a chance for a Quen shield to be produced at no cost when his current one is broken. When wearing six pieces, Quen-based damage dealt increases by 200%.

Additionally, all of the individual pieces offer a boost to Adrenaline Point generation.

The Wolven Set

The Wolven Set, At a Glance

The Wolven Set, Explained

The Wolven School gear is very versatile and has a hodge-podge of bonuses that can really apply to almost any build. For three pieces, Geralt will be able to use up to three oils on his weapon simultaneously, and for six pieces, he'll be able to throw bombs without the delay.

The individual armor pieces of this Medium Armor offer attack power and sign intensity bonuses, and the swords offer increased Adrenaline Point gain.

All of the diagrams for the Grandmaster set can be found in one place. Head slightly northeast from the Termes Palace Ruins and there will be an archaeological camp with a journal that Geralt can read. This journal points the reader north to the ruins where the diagrams can be found.

Other Information

There are some other considerations when pursuing these armor sets, which we've detailed below.

You Only Need One Set to Finish the Main Quest

Luckily, the Master Master Master Master! quest can be completed without finding every single diagram. This is especially nice for those who only want to build one of the armor sets rather than all five.

In order to satisfy Lafargue's requirements and complete his quest, Geralt only needs to return to him after completing one of the scavenger hunts. After that, it's a personal choice whether to finish the other four.

It's Expensive

One complaint that many fans have voiced is the sheer cost of making these armor sets — both in terms of the required items and the gold. Several of the crafting items needed to build these sets are hard-to-find or expensive to buy, like the Infused Slyzard Hide and Enriched Dimeritium Plates (among others). Meanwhile, the cost of constructing each piece is in the thousands of gold pieces.

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The player's best bet is to find the crafting materials that can be fused to make the more expensive ones required for the sets. For example, Infused Slyzard Hide can be made from Cured Draconid Leather and an Infused Crystal, both of which are a bit easier to come by than the Slyzard Hides. It might be worth finding many of the crafting items before the player gets their hopes up, just to have them crashing down when they don't have the materials or can't afford them.

It's Easy to Glitch by Accident

Be very careful when heading toward the Master Master Master Master! quest. It's very easy to cause a bug that locks the player out of completing it. Be sure to talk to Lafargue before finding the diagrams.

If the player hunts down all the various diagrams and completes each of the scavenger hunt quests before picking up the initial quest from Lafargue, it will bug the quest out and prevent completion.

It's unlikely that the average person would hunt down the diagrams first, but be careful.

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Source:gamerant.com

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