Brandon Curran 
Brandon is our resident RDR2 specialist and indie game reviewer. He studied the art of the written word in college.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Here, we’re going to cover a lot of territory in our Witcher 3 Ursine gear guide — complete with details on how to get all the Ursine armor and swords. Geralt of Rivia may belong to the School of the Wolf, but even the most loyal devotees of a particular witcher school must wonder what it’s like to cosplay the others. Furthermore, if you want endless layers of leather, padding, and steel to shield you from the nasties, it just makes sense to branch out and see how other witcher schools manage their armor.
With this in mind, we’re going to look at where to find Ursine Armor in Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (armor and swords). More precisely, we’ll break down the search locations, the opposition you’re going to encounter, and how to eliminate it. We’ll also briefly cover a few tips on forging the gear while cutting down on costs.
Below, we cover how to get all the Ursine gear in Witcher 3. This Bear School Scavenger Hunt is a lot of fun! Let’s get started.
Part I: Basic Ursine Armor & Sword
As with all the Scavenger Hunt quests, you can begin the hunt for Ursine Armor by finding one of the diagrams and reading the attached document. Otherwise, you can purchase the Witcher 3 Ursine Armor map from the armorer at Kaer Trolde.
Our first Witcher 3 Ursine Gear location is Fort Etnir, which lies to the north of the village of Rogne. If you take the road instead of traveling cross country, you’ll also find a diagram for a piece of enhanced Ursine Armor in the smaller ruins along the road to the fort. Climb up the staircase among these smaller ruins, loot the chest you discover there, and you’ll find a diagram for the enhanced Ursine Gauntlets.
Then, progress along the road northward until you reach Fort Etnir. While exploring the fort and its surroundings, be prepared to take on some gargoyles and an ice elemental — that is, slather your sword with a good dose of elemental oil and keep a couple of dimeritium bombs handy.
When the squatters are dispatched, enter a room on the eastern side of the fort, where a skeleton lies reposed alongside a letter. Loot both. You’ll acquire both the silver sword diagram and a letter providing your next lead (if you haven’t picked up Ibrahim Savi’s maps from the armorer at Kaer Trolde).
Our next piece of Witcher 3 Ursine School Gear is located on the other end of Ard Skellig, in the Ruined Inn southeast of Fyresdal. The inn contains a chest with the steel sword diagram and some notes. There are wraiths, sirens, and an ekhidna roaming the area, though the latter can be handled with hybrid oil, grapeshot, Igni, and Aard. For the former, you’ll need specter oil, moondust bombs, Yrden, and Quen.
The third diagram is located in a cave on Spikeroog. South-southwest of the Old Watchtower, the cave is also associated with “Contract: Here Comes the Groom,” so it’s wise to make sure you’ve picked up that quest before setting out if you want to spare yourself a second trip. In the cave, you’ll encounter a drowner, which can be eliminated with a bit of necrophage oil, liberal use of Igni, and a dose of black blood in a pinch. When you reach a fork, take the right path and ascend the ledge. There, you’ll need to jump and clamber until you spot a skeleton with your witcher senses. Carefully make your way over to it and pick up the Ursine Crossbow diagram, along with a letter.
The last four diagrams for this stage of the Scavenger hunt are in Castle Tuirseach on An Skellig, near Yngvar’s fang. Make your way to the bottom floor of the ruins. An iron gate blocks the archway leading to the interior, so you’ll need to descend the stairs into the castle’s dungeon. Expect to encounter wraiths in the dungeon and prepare accordingly, as described above.
At the end of the dungeon and to the right, pulling a lever will open the cell doors and cause more wraiths to appear. After destroying them, explore the cells until you find the one that has a hole in its floor. Loot the other cells if you desire, then jump down the hole and progress through the tunnel you land in, dispensing with the wraith you encounter there. Climb up the stairs and ledges until you reach a rock wall, which will need to be destroyed with the Aard sign. This will bring you to a room beyond the iron gate containing a chest with the remaining diagrams: the boots, chest armor, gauntlets, and trousers of the Bear School.
Part II: Urine Enhanced Armor & Sword
All of the diagrams for the Witcher 3 enhanced Ursine Armor quest are located on Ard Skellig. The diagram for the boots is in a cave southeast of Wild Shore. Be prepared to encounter trolls in said cave — you should coat your sword with ogroid oil and keep the Quen sign handy. Commence your search, and you’ll find the upgrade diagram in a chest beside a ruined boat.
The quest “The Sad Tale of the Grossbard Brothers” will eventually lead you to the Grotto with the enhanced armor diagram, so start that quest up if you want to save yourself a trip. The Grotto lies in the southern portion of the last chamber of the cave, where you’ll also need to dispatch the titular Grossbart brothers. For this, you’ll want to use Hanged Man’s Venom and Axii to maintain crowd control or set up a knockdown or rend. The chest with the diagram should be near one of the bed mats.
The silver sword upgrade diagram, meanwhile, is in some ruins northeast of Kaer Gelen. It’d be wise to expect some harpies on the approach. The best way to deal with them is to bust out the hybrid oil and your crossbow. In most cases, a well-aimed crossbow bolt or a timely Aard sign will send the harpy plummeting to the ground, where you can then run them through. Within the ruins themselves is a group of alghouls. Necrophage oil deals extra damage to them, Black Blood punishes them when they hit you, and Axii will cause their spikes to retract, allowing you to strike them down while they’re vulnerable.
Progress through the ruins, killing any alghouls you encounter along the way, and you’ll eventually come to a chamber with a chest opposite the entrance. Loot it, and the silver sword diagram is yours.
Kaer Almhult is your next stop. It’s a former prison on an island to the west of the Eldberg Lighthouse. Pirates and their guard dogs now occupy the ruins, and it pays to come prepared. Hanged Man’s Venom will work well on the men, while beast oil will do for the dogs. Dogs (and wolves, for that matter) are also quite susceptible to the Aard sign. It frequently them down, allowing you to finish them off with ease. Bombs like Northern Wind and Dancing Star are also good for dealing with crowds. Make good use of dodges, parries, and counterattacks (and always keep Quen handy), and soon Kaer Almhult will be inhabited only by dead meat and a blood-spattered witcher.
Head to the courtyard. Behind an overturned wagon to your right is a set of stairs. Ascend, cross a hallway, then loot the chest you find. With the steel sword diagram in hand, your business at the decaying fort is concluded.
Next, it’s time to hop on a boat. On an island to the northeast of the Marlin Coast, you’ll find a waterlogged cave. The cave itself is on the south side of the island, near the middle. Pop some Killer Whale if you’re worried about running out of breath and swim inside. Explore the cave, and you’ll soon be sailing away with the enhanced trousers diagram. As mentioned above, the enhanced gauntlets diagram can be found southeast of Fort Etnir.
Part III: Ursine Superior Armor & Sword
This quest will take you to Velen. The armor diagrams are located in a cave northwest of the Hanged Man’s tree and are grouped together. The quest “A Deadly Plot” will take you here as well, so you have the opportunity to make progress on two quests with one trip. Nekkers and nekker warriors roam the area. Ogroid oil and Northern Wind are effective deterrents against the little cretins. Inside the cave, you’ll find a chest in an alcove to the left, just as the path begins to curve. Within, you will find the armor, boots, gauntlets, and trousers diagrams.
Next, head to the Ruined Tower in Crookback Bog. The superior steel sword diagram is located here, guarded by an earth elemental. Elementa oil and dimeritium bombs are effective against such opponents. Once it’s dead, investigate the eastern side of the ruins. Behind a ruined tree and a bush, you should be able to find a chest containing the diagram.
There’s more to find in the bog. To the southwest of the Orphans of Crookback Bog is a cave. This also happens to be the cave associated with the quest “Contract: Swamp Thing,” so plan your trip accordingly. While certain entrances to the cave require the use of the Eye of Nehaleni, there are three entrances in total, one of which doesn’t require the use of the Eye. Inside, you will face foglets and Ignis Fatuus, a particularly old, powerful foglet and the titular swamp thing. Necrophage oil and Black Blood will increase your damage and punish the foglets’ attacks, moondust bombs will inhibit their ability to turn invisible, and Quen will help ward off sudden attacks. Your foes vanquished, you’ll find a chest in the cave, and within it the silver sword upgrade diagram.
Part IV: Ursine Mastercrafted Armor & Sword
Now it’s time to pick up the Mastercrafted Ursine Armor Witcher 3 upgrade diagrams, all of which are in Velen. The quest “A Princess in Distress” will take you by the cave you need to reach. A bear roams the area, so be prepared with beast oil and trusty old Quen. The cave itself is northwest of Blackbough in a cave near the Pellar’s hut. If you don’t have the quest active, nekkers will attack — see above for tactics when fighting nekkers. Whatever the resistance, eliminate it and enter the cave. In the largest chamber, hug the wall to your right, move past a deer carcass, then search behind a column and loot the chest you find, which will net you the steel sword diagram.
Northeast of Olena’s Grove is a small island with a Monster Nest full of drowners. Methodology for exterminating drowners is discussed above, and I’ll add that bombs like Dancing Star can help with crowd control. It’s also worth noting that while a drowner’s leaping attack will stagger you if you’re blocking, its subsequent strikes at close range are easy to counterattack. Dispatch the drowners and bomb their nest, then check out a nearby rock, a hole next to it, and the chest within the hole. Therein lies the silver sword diagram.
The chestful of armor is located beside the grindstone at the Destroyed Bastion, guarded by a cyclops. Ogroid oil, Quen, and Axii are all useful tools when fighting cyclopes. Destroy him, claim your diagrams, and now all that’s left is the Grandmaster Ursine Armor Witcher 3.
Part V: Ursine Grandmaster Armor & Sword
Your first order of business is to head to Toussaint, to the city of Beauclair in search of one Lazare Lafargue. Lafargue is a master armorer and blacksmith who wishes to finally attain the level of grandmaster by forging a set of grandmaster armor. He will give you the quest “Master Master Master Master!,” which will lead to the quest “Scavenger Hunt: Grandmaster Ursine Gear.” Rather than purchasing a map, you’ll get a lead from Lafargue, which will take you to the Tufo Vineyard (also the setting of “Contract: The Tufo Monster,” if you want to deal with both quests at once).
Following in the footsteps of a witcher of the Bear School, you’ll come to a collapsed house. Behind it is a large hole in the yard, and clearing away the rubble will reveal a network of caverns. Inside and to the right is an alcove with a chest in it. This will net you the silver sword, armor, and gauntlets diagrams. There’s also a note that will point you to your next destination.
The destination in question is north of Owl Eye Grottos. There, you’ll find a cave entrance into which you must descend. At the bottom, a giant centipede will strike. The centipedes are dangerous with their sudden eruptions from the earth, so be sure to keep Quen up during the fight. More importantly, coat your sword with insectoid oil and place Yrden circles around the forming mound as the centipede begins to surface. Once the centipede emerges, it will be paralyzed by the trap momentarily, allowing a coup de grâce on your part. This is a moment where something like Rend shines, and if your damage is solid, you’ll chop this bug in half in no time.
Once you do, search the waterfall ledge for some rocks you can displace with Aard. You’ll find a note from the Bear School witcher, instructing you to follow the marks he left behind to find him. Follow the marks to a subterranean stream, preparing yourself for another giant centipede fight down the left path. Past this is a small chamber with the skeleton of Junod of Belhaven, witcher, and his remaining grandmaster diagrams.
How to Get All the Ursine Gear in Witcher 3: Forging and Finality
With all the diagrams in hand, the actual forging process is all that’s left. Tips for handling this with maximum efficiency are discussed in our best armor sets article, which breaks down how to make good use of dismantling and efficient gathering of crafting materials to reduce the considerable cost of forging the armor.
Granted, these steps are entirely optional. If your money doesn’t hold much value for you, you might as well buy whatever ingredients you need directly and forge what you can, when you can. However, this will ultimately be much more expensive and perhaps even more time consuming, especially if you repeatedly need to take a break from forging to scrounge up more money.
For more detailed tips on avoiding this sort of situation, read the “Actually Forging the Damn Stuff” section of “Best Witcher 3 Armor Sets.” Otherwise, how you get this stuff made is between you and Lafargue.
With your quest finally at its end and your Witcher 3 Ursine Armor draped magnificently across your shoulders, it’s time to ride into the sunset. I’d like to quickly recommend looking at the Official Witcher Wiki — it’s been a valuable resource in filling the gaps in my memory. Whether you’re trying to recall how to complete a specific quest or want some combat tips on dispatching a particular enemy, it’s a great site to have on your side.
Meanwhile, for more tips on builds, armor sets, and all things Witcher 3, just stick around here at High Ground Gaming.
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