The Blood of DawnwalkerThe Blood of Dawnwalker Armor: Sets, Legendary Gear and Vendors
Armour in The Blood of Dawnwalker comes as collectible sets rather than one linear upgrade path, and most of the best gear is random rather than fixed. Legendary and unique items show up in vendor inventories that restock, with a smaller chance of spawning in chests, and the named target is the Arbiter's set, which has its own achievement for gathering every piece and unlocking its full potential.
Gear in Dawnwalker
How gear actually drops
This is the part most guides skip, and it changes how you should shop. The best weapons and armour are not sitting at the end of a fixed quest chain. They appear in the inventories of weapon vendors, armourers and the silver trader, and that stock is randomised and refreshes when the vendor restocks. There is also a smaller chance for legendary gear to spawn inside chests.
The practical consequence is that you cannot follow a shopping list. You check vendors as you pass them, and you check chests even when a location looks empty. It also means a piece you missed is not gone forever: restock cycles are the intended way to see the same item again.
Weapons break down into three families, which matters because a legendary shortsword does not replace a greatsword playstyle. Longswords are the balanced option, shortswords trade reach and stagger for speed, and greatswords reward commitment and timing windows.
How to approach gear
Do not chase armour early
Segments spent hunting gear are segments not spent on the family objective. Early armour is not what saves a run.
Check vendors whenever you pass one
Because stock is randomised, a routine pass through a settlement costs nothing and occasionally hands you a legendary.
Restore the Arbiter's sword
St Mihai's sword ties into the Arbiter's Blade achievement and pairs with the set, so the two goals reinforce each other.
Complete sets, not pieces
Set completion is what unlocks full potential, so partial collections sit there doing very little.
Match gear to your tree
Armour supports a build rather than replacing it. Swordmastery builds gain the most from direct defensive upgrades, while a Vampirism build wants whatever keeps it alive long enough to reach night.
Gear is a completion activity. The strongest armour is gated behind exploration, which is exactly what the 30-day clock discourages, so treat collection as post-story content unless you are specifically chasing achievements.
When it is worth the segments
The honest answer is: after the story objective resolves. The game continues after day 30, most activities are not tied to the deadline, and the valley does not lock you out of anything you skipped. That makes a gear run a second campaign rather than a detour, and it is far cheaper in segments than trying to do both at once.