The Arbiter Armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker is pretty clearly the best armor in the game, unlocked as part of the quest "A Bulwark Against Darkness". To craft the Arbiter Armor, you'll need to find four rare ingredients scattered around the map, then find a blacksmith to assemble them, finishing up with a ritual in which you have to kill a bear for some unclear reason. It's definitely worth the effort though, as this is undoubtedly the best armor available, so if you want to complete A Bulwark Against Darkness and get the Arbiter Armor, here's where to go and the locations of all the components.
Want an offense to match your defense? Check out how to complete The Blood of Dawnwalker Forge It Anew quest and how to get the legendary Sword of St. Mihai.
A Bulwark Against Darkness quest walkthrough for The Blood of Dawnwalker
You'll get the quest A Bulwark Against Darkness in The Blood of Dawnwalker when you're suddenly given a Smuggler's Letter with the components needed to create the Arbiter Armor. There's a few ways that this can happen, but one is to reach Infamy Level 4 and speak to Anca at the Crossroads Inn. She'll tell you that a letter was sent, but this is only one way for it to happen. You can also simply be given the note by a smuggler while exploring Svartrau!
Either way, once you read it, it'll outline the four components needed to create the Arbiter Armor, as well as explaining that you'll need to find a Blacksmith who can combine them.
Where to find all the Components for Arbiter Armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker
There are four ingredients, or components, needed to make the Arbiter Armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Some of them can be found in multiple locations, others appear to be unique. Below we've laid out the best places to get them, and will go into greater details for each one further down.
- Bundle of Silk Threads. Found inside a cavern with a Murohn boss during the "Come Hither" quest.
- Relic of a Saint. You can get two Relics - the Saint's Tibia and the Relic of St. Tyna - during Anca's quest "Echoes of the Silenced Bells" at St. Tyna's Monastery.
- Flask of Quicksilver. At the top of Aurelius' tower is a ritual room, inside of which you can find a Flask resting on a desk.
- Moult of a Large Lizard. On the border of Briar Sloughs and Maragir Wealds is an unmarked cave full of Tatselwurms, and the moult is at the back.
We've also marked the location of the Uriashi Blacksmith, so you can have an NPC who can piece all this stuff together. Keep in mind that before you go about this quest, it might be worth investing in The Blood of Dawnwalker armor proficiency perks, as otherwise the Arbiter Armor may be a bit underwhelming.
Bundle of Silk Threads
There are two Bundles of Silk Threads in Vale Sangora, both found at different The Blood of Dawnwalker Sanzhana locations. One of the fairies, in the "Pearly and Precious" quest, will sell you the threads for 6,000 Denarius, but if you go to the "Come Hither" quest, you'll be tasked to kill a Murohn boss in a cave. In that same arena, resting on a rock, is a bundle of Silk Threads you can grab for free, with no consequences.
Relic of a Saint
There are multiple viable relics you can use for the Arbiter Armor throughout the game, but if you went through Anca's questline at St. Tyna's and did the choice about if you should throw the notes in the fire in The Blood of Dawnwalker, you might already have two of them. The Saint's Tibia is found on a body beside the building that the soldiers are hiding in (as shown above), and you can also use the Relic of St. Tyna that the soldiers ask you to get, though obviously you probably don't want to consume an amulet with an actual function.
If you missed your chance there, you can also find another relic with Lacra in her quest "The Night of Horrors," and purchase relics from Vicho in Svartrau.
Flask of Quicksilver
There's only one flask we know of right now, found at the top of Aurelius' tower in the south of the map. If you've been pursuing the Rebel's questline, you'll eventually be sent here and have to complete The Blood of Dawnwalker Home Sweet Home quest. After doing this, in the topmost room of the tower, to the left of the hanging golem, you can find a flask of quicksilver on the table.
Moult of a Large Lizard
Like with the Flask, there appears to only be one viable item to serve this function that we know of so far. If you head to the area marked East of the Briar Sloughs bog, you can find an unmarked cave with multiple Tatselwurms inside. Kill them, and you can use Focus mode to find an abandoned moult at the back.
How to craft the Arbiter Armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker
After finding all four components, you need to find the Uriashi Blacksmith at the Northwest location marked above. If you've already done the quest for the best weapon in The Blood of Dawnwalker, you'll have already met her.
Either way, come back with all four pieces and she'll begin a ritual wherein you have to kill some spirit wolves and a bear boss fight (at this point in the game you should comfortably know how to handle both). When it's done, the Blacksmith will give you the Arbiter Armor set, divided into the following:
- Enhanced Armor of the Arbiter (Chest)
- Enhanced Shin Guards of the Arbiter (Legs)
- Enhanced Bracers of the Arbiter (Arms)
- Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter (Feet)
This armor is that from the game's cover and promotional artwork, and it's certainly very good for both day and night builds. It offers a wide array of buffs for both human and vampire selves, and is pretty clearly meant to be the game's best armor, with the flavor text practically admitting as such. Make sure you regularly upgrade it so it keeps pace with your own level!
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