Armor Proficiency in The Blood of Dawnwalker is something that starts coming up the moment you start acquiring Medium Armor and Heavy Armor, but it's not clear what that means and how you get it, only that you're being penalized for not having it. If you want to earn armor proficiency in Dawnwalker, it's going to take some time, but it is worth the effort and expense to do so, as I'll lay out below.
How to unlock proficiency with medium and heavy armor in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Armor proficiency in The Blood of Dawnwalker is tied to perks on the Swordmastery Skill Tree, as shown above. You first earn proficiency with medium armor (in stages), then you can progress to heavy armor.
Without proficiency, both Heavy and Medium armor come with penalties to stamina and other stats, as shown on the armor description. Gaining proficiency with these perks alleviates and ultimately removes those penalties altogether, allowing you to get the maximum effect of your armor, making these some of the best perks in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
To get these perks, you'll need to find Manuals to allow you to purchase those perks, then spend the Perk points on them that you will have earned from levelling up. You can buy these specific Manuals from Armorer and Blacksmith merchants in the world, or find them as random drops if you're lucky.
I definitely recommend investing in armor proficiency as a priority in the mid-game, as enemies get massively more damaging and you'll want to do everything you can to mitigate their damage, as you've probably discovered if you've hit some of the tougher quests like trying to save the Miller in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Some of the best armor sets in the game are also heavy armor, so it's to your benefit to be able to get the most from them.
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