The Witcher 3 Griffin gear is one of five medium armor types belonging to the Witcher School gear sets. This set of gear belongs to the Griffin School, which is named that way not because they rode griffons into battle or anything, but because the school founder Erland of Larvik wanted to honor his former sword instructor Gryphon. The set consists of six items overall; four medium armor pieces (armor, gauntlets, trousers, and boots) and two swords (steel and silver). It is the best choice of armor in the game if your playstyle is focused on using signs.
The Basic tier diagrams are all located in Velen: Dragonslayer’s Grotto (four armor pieces), Lornluk (silver sword) and Hindhold (steel sword). Later on, I traveled to Novigrad and then Skellige to find the Enhanced and Mastercrafted variants, respectively. And for Grandmaster, you’ll need to have the Blood and Wine DLC so you can acquire it in Toussaint.
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Griffin School Gear
Like many others, the Griffin gear is most likely the first full set you’ll encounter and obtain. This is because the Griffin diagrams can be found in one of the earlier maps in the game, Velen. Plus, I just liked to wear a full Witcher set early and the Basic variant only requires Geralt to be level 11 to equip it.
You’re already here reading my guide so you definitely don’t want to buy a map to start the Scavenger Hunt quest. The quest will start once you collect the first diagrams, though buying the map will mark the locations on your map. The armorer in Midcopse sells the maps for the Basic and Enhanced Griffin sets, while the Superior and Mastercrafted maps can be purchased in Novigrad.
Griffin Armor
The Basic Griffin armor set contains four medium armor pieces: the Griffin armor, gauntlets, trousers, and boots. All four Basic diagrams can be found together in Velen.
I absolutely loved using this set while going crazy with my signs. Wearing the full Basic set of armor (no swords) will provide a +20% Sign Intensity. But the set shows its true potential when you reach the Grandmaster tier.
Wearing only three pieces at its Grandmaster tier gave me an insane buff: After using a sign in standard mode, the next time I used a sign would cost no stamina, if it was cast within 3 seconds of the initial one. Furthermore, equipping the six Grandmaster pieces provided +87% Sign Intensity. And that’s before I pulled the Yrden trick: If you stand inside an enhanced Yrden trap, the six-piece bonus adds another +100% Sign Intensity. Now that’s crazy.
Where to Find the Griffin Armor Set
You need to reach Dragonslayer’s Grotto. If you haven’t been there before, the nearest fast-travel point is Downwarren, and from there you need to head northwest. Once there, pay attention to the question mark on your mini-map. Get close and you’ll see an entrance to a cave.
Once inside, I traversed down a corridor filled with wraiths. Use Yrden to take them down quickly. On the right there is a small room filled with more enemies and random loot of worthwhile value. You’re going to want to keep moving and take a left turn and reach the end of the corridor.
Use Aard to break the wall. There will be green poisonous gas inside. Don’t make my mistake; do NOT have your torch out. Use Aard to clear the air and kill the wraith or quickly roll past it.
Use Aard on the second breakable wall. Watch out for the Ekimmara inside. Either dodge or deal with it and go up the stairs. In the middle of the room, there is a stone altar with a chest next to it.
Open the chest and find all the armor diagrams inside, plus a note explaining the lore behind George of Kagen, the famous dragonslayer from the School of Griffin whose name is aptly put on this location. You can check the materials required for each diagram in the crafting menu.
From here I simply went southwards toward the cave’s exit and found an illusory wall. Use the Eye of Nehaleni which you’ve collected during the main quest “Wandering in the Dark” to dispel it and exit the cave. Check each diagram and gather the required materials. Chances are you already have most of the materials, but I personally had to seek monster nests for the missing monster parts and dismantle equipment for leather and other components. You can do the same.
Afterwards, visit the dwarf armorer, Fergus, in Velen in the bloody baron’s keep to craft the armor. A journeyman armorer is all we need at this stage.
Griffin Swords
So the Basic tier of the steel sword gives us a +5% bonus XP from killing humans and nonhumans, while the Basic silver sword grants a +20% bonus XP from slicing and dicing monsters. On top of that, each sword adds 5% to Sign Intensity which means equipping the complete Griffin set (armor + swords) will now provide a +30% Sign Intensity.
Unfortunately unlike the armor set, the swords are each in different locations, not together. But at least they are both in Velen. The most easily-accessible blacksmith is the one located in Oxenfurt. Fast travel there after obtaining the diagrams.
I recommend going after the silver sword diagram first. It’ll even help with killing the monsters in the steel sword area if you craft the Griffin silver sword first. That is if you don’t mind visiting the swordsmith a second time.
Griffin Silver Sword Diagram Location
It’s located at Lornluk. The closest fast-travel point is the Abandoned Tower. Head northward from that point and you should reach this tiny castle connected to the mainland by a draw-bridge. There’s a dangerous Wyvern flying around the tower, but you don’t need to engage it in battle. The bridge isn’t lowered either, so you must take the rough path by the right. Go past the shrubbery and trees and slide down the cliff and dive into water.
At this point my Geralt was surrounded by Drowners and had no idea where to go. Look for the place of power nearby, then dive under water and swim inside the cave entrance right beneath it.
Get out of the water. You can loot the chest right in front of you. But to get to the diagram you must climb the ledges on your left. Climb high enough and you should finally reach inside the ruined tower itself. Get out to the balcony and climb the ladder on your immediate left, right next to the doorway.
Inside this final room, I simply looted the chest in front of me. In there lies the Griffin silver sword diagram.
Griffin Steel Sword Diagram Location
You’ll find the steel sword’s diagram in Hindhold. The best route is to fast travel to Hanged Man’s Tree and head straight north until you reach a ruined watchtower on a tiny island. Don’t worry about the broken bridge. I used Roach to jump over the broken sections and you can too.
There will be monsters roaming in the area. The first one you’ll encounter is an Endrega Warrior. Kill it and go inside the building. At this point I climbed upstairs and reached an area filled with Harpies. That’s because it’s a monster’s nest. You can slay the Harpies and destroy the nest or you can simply find the door to the room with chest. The door belongs to the room next to the tower.
Use Aard to break the door. You’re going to see a skeleton on your left here. You can loot the chests next to it, but the Griffin steel sword diagram is actually on the skeleton itself.
The Witcher 3 Griffin Gear Upgrade Locations
Like Feline, Ursine, and Wolven, the Griffin School gear also follows this quality upgrade path: 1. Enhanced 2. Superior 3. Mastercrafted and 4. Grandmaster (exclusive to Blood and Wine). The game makes each upgrade available naturally, parallel to how you level up so the upgraded armor can be equipped fairly around the same time you acquire it.
Don’t forget that you need to progress tier by tier, so you can’t just jump from Basic to Superior or from Enhanced to Grandmaster. You need to have the set be upgrade to the level required for the new diagram.
Enhanced Griffin Gear
The Enhanced Griffin Gear diagrams are spread across Velen. I’ve marked each item on the map:
- The Enhanced Griffin boots diagram is located directly north of Crow’s Perch. A level 18 Forktail guards the area.
- The Enhanced Griffin trousers diagram is found north-east of Crow’s Perch, near a burned building. The diagram is hidden behind rubble, buried under some burnt logs of the ruined structure.
- The Enhanced Griffin steel sword diagram is located at a pirate camp on the western side of Velen. Go straight west from Midcopse.
- The Enhanced Griffin gauntlets diagram is found near Frischlow, right toward the south section of Fyke Island. The entrance to the cave is blocked by rocks, which can be cleared with Aard. A level 18 Nightwraith guards the area. If you arrive between daytime and nighttime, sometimes a Noonwraith can also spawn and you have to fight both simultaneously.
- The Enhanced Griffin silver sword diagram is also located south of the Ancient Oak signpost, inside a cave. In the cave, reach the end, and check the right side.
- The Enhanced Griffin armor diagram can be found west of Oxenfurt, inside a chest within the wrecked boat in White Eagle Fort. The diagram is right behind the rock troll and you don’t need to interact with him to loot the crate with the diagram.
Superior Griffin Gear
The Superior Griffin Gear diagrams take us to the Skellige Isles. You can check each spot on the map:
The four Superior armor, gauntlets, trousers, and boots are found together at a pirate camp in northeastern Ard Skellig, near the Giant’s Toes fast-travel point, just a short distance to the north. The chest is at the back of the camp and is guarded by level 24 enemies.
The Superior Griffin silver sword diagram is found in a cave on the southern edge of Ard Skellig. It is just a small distance away from Elverum Lighthouse, to the southwest of it.
The Superior Griffin steel sword diagram is located on An Skellig, the northernmost major island in the Skellige Isles. The chest is behind a large rock and is guarded by several level 24 bandits.
Mastercrafted Griffin Gear
The Mastercrafted Griffin Gear diagrams are also located in the Skellige Isles.
The four Mastercrafted Griffin armor diagrams are together in a chest near a Place of Power on the eastern side of Ard Skellig. The area is surrounded by ruins and guarded by a cyclops.
The Mastercrafted Griffin steel sword diagram is found near the abandoned village of Boxholm, inside the lair of Morvudd the Fiend.
The Mastercrafted Griffin silver sword diagram is located inside an abandoned tower on a lake. A level 32 werewolf guards the area, although you can potentially reach the chest without fighting it if you move carefully.
You’ll also need Master Armorer Yoana in Crow’s Perch to craft mastercrafted armor after completing the required quest, while Hattori in Novigrad can craft mastercrafted swords after completing “Of Swords and Dumplings”.
Grandmaster Griffin Gear
Grandmaster Griffin Gear is the final upgrade tier and is available only with the Blood and Wine expansion. The diagrams can be found in Toussaint, and the finished gear must be crafted by Lazare Lafargue, the Grandmaster armorer and blacksmith in Beauclair. There are two main locations containing the six Grandmaster Griffin diagrams.
The Grandmaster Griffin steel sword, boots, and gauntlets diagrams are found at Fort Ussar in eastern Toussaint. Enter the ruins and search for the chest containing the diagrams. Reading the captain’s report points you toward the second location.
The remaining Grandmaster Griffin armor, trousers, and silver sword diagrams are located northwest of Fort Ussar at a Hanse Base.
After dealing with the enemies, use the mechanisms in the area to access the hidden section. You’ll eventually find a teleportation crystal that allows you to enter a portal. On the other side, defeat the golem and search the area for the remaining three Griffin diagrams.
Once you have all six diagrams, return to Lazare Lafargue in Beauclair. He is the only smith who can craft Grandmaster Witcher Gear.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
