Worry no more, fellow Witcher. From this moment on, I swear to help you. You want to know where to find the Bear School Gear entire set, (Ursine Gear for the literate) Enhanced, Superior, and Mastercrafted. The Grandmaster set is for the owners of Blood and Wine DLC and gives set bonuses. I will warn you though, this set is a robust heavy armor that gives you more resistance and armor than Mandalorian iron and may make the game a bit too easy. You have heard the story of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, now it’s the time for the sequel, the Wolf who wears the Bear Clothing. If you have fast travel unlocked for most locations… the traveling will be faster. But I’m gonna consider you don’t have them, so as a bonus, we will unlock a lot of signposts during our journey together.
Reaching Skellige and Level Requirements
First of all, to equip the first bear set you need to be at least level 20. So unless you want to preemptively loot them and ease your anxiety, you will need to grind first. But, if you’re like me and are already at level 30 by doing side quests while your main quest is still at level 11, then nothing will hold you from your dreams. To reach Skellige, you first have to go to Novigrad, the biggest city in Velen. After the main quest Imperial Audience, you’re free to travel around the map and go north until you reach Novigrad. In the city, go west in the harbor and talk to Liglad, he will send you to his captain who is enjoying himself in a nearby tavern. He will charge 1,000 Crowns to give you a ride. Booze in the tavern costs approximately 8 crowns, enjoy the voyage because it may be his last before cirrhosis gets to him. Now, here things get a little tricky. During the voyage, a half-naked Geralt will wake up by a pirate attack. The pirates are level 16 and while you don’t have to kill them, you need to survive long enough, it can be hard if you are underlevel. After the wreck, you will find yourself in Skellige. A man will approach you while scavenging the ship and depending on your answers, you may brawl with him. If you are in the mood to break some glass chin, destroy him! If not, be polite. Now, the moment we were all waiting for. You can start looting your former brothers-in-arms. If you go to the back of the ship, you will find the captain’s body and with him, 1000 Crowns. Your cheapest Uber yet.
Buying the Map for Bear School Gear Set
While you’re not obligated, it makes things waaay easier if you buy the map for the Bear Gear Set. So easy that it’s almost pointless to keep reading this guide. But you will continue to read because you’re already committed to the cause, and also, you wouldn’t want to make a young writer feel rejected. The wreckage parked a few steps away from Kaer Trolde to the north. Once you get there, talk to the armorer and buy Ibrahim Savi’s maps. And read it, do not forget to read it as I did. Once you do, you will trigger the Scavenge Hunt quest and with it, markers that will be your guiding star. Oh yeah, you will also unlock Kaer Trolde’s signpost, which means you can Fast Travel back and forth from Skellige without paying a dime.
Bear School Gear: Ursine Crossbow Location
From Kaer Trolde, rent - steal - a boat and sail northwest, to an island where there’s a small village called Svorlag. From Svorlag, ride Roach south past the Old Watchtower until you reach a small cave on the shores. You will be greeted by a lovely Drowner wanting to hug you, but being the lone Witcher you are, kill it. After the assassination, go to a ledge on your right. Jump it and you will notice you are out of bounds on your minimap. Keep going forward while jumping another two smalls ledges. Light a torch or use a night vision goggles potion because there’s an Olympic jump to reach another ledge with a skeleton on it and the so desired Diagram: Ursine crossbow and a letter. Read the letter, out loud, to three family members, and the quest will update.
Bear School Gear: Ursine Steel Sword Location
If you paid attention to the letter addressed to Ingeborga, your next destination is where sirens live. Everyone knows that such monsters live nearby the Ruined Inn, in the south of Skellige’s main island. You can fast travel there if you have it unlocked or you can go back to Kael Trolde and ride the wind with Roach. Harpies will welcome you, whom you should kill relentlessly because you’re a cold-hearted monster hunter. Inside the inn, use your Witcher’s sense to find a secret basement that you can crack open with Fus Ro D.. I mean, Aard Sign. You have to fight two levels 20 Wraiths. Exorcise them and get the Diagram: Ursine steel sword inside a chest in one of the rooms along with an Innkeep’s notes. If you return to the hallway, there’s a note in the wall next to the other room, an arrest warrant if you want to dive deep into the lore of the bear Witcher.
Bear School Gear: Ursine Silver Sword Location
Now, to the north side of the main island! I know it’s closer to Kaer Trolde than the others, but bear with me. You can fast travel to Rogne signpost or do some cardio training. North of the village, following the road, you will find a small, but cozy ruin past the lake. When you arrive, you will hear some weird groaning, like an old man losing a game of chess. Actually, it’s an ice elemental. If you want, you can break it apart, but if you are in a hurry, run round to the right of the entrance and jump across the lowest wall on the minimap to find a skeleton corpse and the Diagram: Ursine silver sword and The knight Chalimir’s letter for more depth into the lore.
Bear School Gear: Ursine Armor set Location
Next, proceed further north, with a bit of east. We will call it, northeast. Grab a boat and go to Urialla Harbor on a small island. If you bought the map in Kaer Trolde, you will see a marker north. Follow the trail on the right of the village through a mountain pass. When you get near a circular tower on the map, you will notice the pathway is blocked. So you will give up your quest and hunt for the Feline Armor Set instead. No! Witchers never give up! Go right, down a slope to find another trial and keep going north. If a troll attacks you, rejoice, you’re on the right path. Carry on, through a bridge and jump over the ledges, climbing up while killing or avoiding the harpies. It’s a pretty straightforward path that can be a straightforward dive to death if you’re not used to playing Mario. You may encounter some more harpies along the way and at some point, you will have to slide down a slope to get back to the main path and enter the castle after a pretty risk jump. I recommend saving the game. Enter the castle and storm the wooden door on your right. You will be facing some iron bars, turn left, and run down the spiral case. In case you’re wondering, yeah, there are monsters guarding the diagram, more wraiths. At the bottom, turn right and go straight ahead until you spawn a beautiful woman in green. Invite her to a death dance until you vanquish all that appears. Notice a chest at the back, open it and you will find out that it’s not our diagram. But, there’s a lever on the wall behind the chest. Click on it and you will notice all the doors behind you will open with more wraiths. Sex appeal your way to victory. In one of the two square rooms, you can find a relic weapon, Daystar. After some looting, the room you want is the one that looks like it’s malnourished. Drop into the cell, go forward, and right upstairs. More ledges, of course, until you find a crumbling wall that you should blast away with Aard. You will get into the room behind the iron bars. A wraith may spawn at any moment, so stay alert. At the corner, you will find a chest with our most desired prize, four Diagrams for ursine armor, boots, gauntlets, and trousers. More letters and stories about Gerd. There’s a lever beside the bars that will give you a shortcut to the entrance. And that’s it. You just got yourself a nice and complete set of Bear Armor! Of course, you still need an amazing armorer to be able to craft it for you and the materials, which you can get mostly by dismantling old weapons or monster parts.
Bear School Silver Sword: Enhanced Diagram
Wait! That’s not it, we barely scratched the potential of this amazing armor set. Now, we will hunt for the enhanced diagrams. A warning though: the level requirement is 25, so don’t go throwing your old armor in the forge yet. Although easy on the eyes, combat half-naked makes Death March seem like a walk in the park. Don’t forget to track the quest if you read the maps, markers are your friend. The first one is the Enhanced Silver Sword. To the east of Rogne, there’s a Grotto, from Yustianna. Walk or fast travel there and you will be able to see the marker on a building. Continue along the path east of Yustianna’s Grotto until you reach a snow-covered mountain. Climb up the mountain and continue ahead to find an entrance to the building. Deal with any enemies you find there, mostly pirates, and enter the fort. Dropdown a hole when you find it and keep going in a subterranean pathway to an open room. In the northeast corner, there’s a chest that houses the Diagram: Ursine silver sword - enhanced.
Bear School Boots: Enhanced Diagram
To the southwest of Ard Skellige, you will find the Wild Shore. If you have fast travel, use it. If you don’t, jump on a boat and fast travel to another boat closer to it or make Roach do some overtime cardio. From the Wild Shore signpost, head east through the forest until you reach a dirty track. Follow this track in a southerly direction until the quest marker for the boots tells you’re a hundred steps away from your goal. When it does, turn left facing the marker. You will find a winding route along the mountain, keep climbing until you find a snowy cave entrance. You’ve entered the home of a happy troll family. Sing away songs of life and death with the three level 16 monsters and after the slaughtering, search the debris on the western side for some loot and the Diagram: Enhanced Ursine boots.
Bear School Armor: Enhanced Diagram
The next one is near a signpost called Grotto. Chances are high you haven’t unlocked it yet and it’s hard to travel there by land. So fast travel to the Ruined Inn signpost, rent a boat, and approach via the shoreline. You will arrive in a flooded cave, so proceed through the straightforward tunnel following the marker until you reach a smaller room. There may be an NPC there called Djenge Frett, which is from another quest. Next to him, you will find your reward inside the chest, Diagram: Enhanced Ursine armor. You will complete the first part of the quest. Start tracking the second part to reveal the location of the next three diagrams and let’s be on our way.
Bear School Gauntlet: Enhanced Diagram
Fast travel to Rogne, drink and play Gwent with your friends if you want, and then head northeast across a wooden bridge beside the village fishing lake. Keep following the path and going down until you notice the marker is on your left. Do a u-turn leading back up to the other side of the mountain heading northwest. Continue along the path until you pass an archway. Soon after you will notice some stone steps to the right. Proceed until you enter a watchtower that nests a chest with the Diagram: Enhanced Ursine gauntlets.
Bear School Steel Sword: Enhanced Diagram
Unleashing the Columbus in you, you will need to travel to an isolated island just south of Svorlag, our first destination in this guide. There, you will find Kaer Almhult, a prison fortress. From the signpost, follow the path while meeting some unfortunate pirates along the way. When you get to the courtyard of the prison, notice an upturned transport wagon to your right and beside it some stone steps. Climb the steps into a ruined room where you will find a sturdy wooden chest and inside it, the Diagram: Ursine steel sword - enhanced.
Bear School Trousers: Enhanced Diagram
You will find the trousers on a small island as the marker indicates. Now you have three choices: you can return to your boat and travel all the way down south; you can fast travel to the Wild Shore and search for a nearby boat and travel west; you can fast travel to Marlin Coast, grab a boat and sail north until you find the entrance on the south side of the island. You will need to disembark on a rocky shore close to a block of ice that needs to be blown away with your beauty and the Aard Sign. Inside, you will almost immediately find a chest with the Diagram: Enhanced Ursine trousers. That concludes the second part of the quest for the Enhanced Bear School Set. You will need a journeyman or higher skill craftsman to create it for you along with the required materials. But I warn again, pay attention to the level requirement.
Bear School Armor, Gauntlets, Boots and Trousers: Superior Diagram
You thought it was over, right? Me too… we’re halfway there, keep up the pace! Now we will hunt for the Superior diagrams and rejoice, they all are in Velen! Chances are you unlocked most of the signposts required for fast travel. As in the former diagrams, the level requirements increase, so you will need to be a 30 to equip the set. Assuming you bought the maps from the armorer in Kaer Trolde, track the Scavenger Hunt for Bear Gear part 3 and travel to the Hanged Man’s Tree in Velen. Head northwest from the signpost, hopping the broken wooden fence, and journey into the woods until you find a cave down a rocky slope. If it’s your first time, use protection because there will be several Nekkers there wanting to steal your ursine diagrams. Burn them to ashes, enter the cave and after a short distance, you will find an alcove to your left and a wooden chest with, oh my god, four diagrams! Thank you, CD Projekt Red. You will find the superior diagrams for Bear School Armor, Bear School Gauntlets, Bear School Boots, and Bear School Trousers.
Bear School Steel Sword: Superior Diagram
Travel to the Ruined Tower in southeast Velen, east of The Orphans of Crookback Bog. After arriving, I advise caution. A level 25 stone elemental guards the precinct and it will not be happy to see a monster slayer nearby. But, if you’re in a peaceful mood and want to leave the old golem in standby, go around the building in a counterclockwise direction and you will find the chest in the eastern corner of the ruin, on a small stone ledge. Ta-dah, Diagram: Ursine steel sword - superior, is yours. Oh, the elemental may be triggered by your thievery manners, so chop chop.
Bear School Silver Sword: Superior Diagram
Fast travel to The Orphans or walk west until you reach there. From the signpost, head southwest across the marshlands of the bog, minding your step to not kick any innocent drowners. As you near the quest marker, you will approach a rocky hillside with a rock boulder illusion. You will need the Nehaleni’s Eye item that was given to you during the main quest, Wandering in the Dark if you want to break the illusion. After the boulder turns into dust, journey inside the cave, and on your left, you will find a soldier resting eternally on a chest. Open it to grab the Diagram: Ursine silver sword - superior. That concludes the part 3 quest of the Bear School Gear.
Bear School Steel Sword: Mastercrafted Diagram
Activate part 4 of the quest and let’s get into it. Your next destination is near the small village of Blackbough. You can fast travel to the village or walk west of Crow’s Perch. After arrival, head northwest into the grassy woodlands, aiming for the quest marker location. You may stumble upon some Nekkers, which you will need to put to rest before proceeding into the cave entrance. Once inside, drop down some ledges until you reach a dead end. Behind a wagon, you will find a wooden chest with your first mastercrafted diagram, the Ursine steel sword.
Bear School Armor, Gauntlets, Boots and Trousers: Mastercrafted Diagram
Did you notice the amazing subtitle? Yeah, we are after four more diagrams! You need to go to the Destroyed Bastion, southwest of the Crossroads signpost. If you walk from the Crossroad signpost, you may encounter a wyvern on your way and a level 19 Cyclops when you reach the top of the hill, near the destroyed bastion. Start by shooting the Cyclops in the eye and then do a lot of Witcher’s pirouette before banging your enemy head on the rocky floor. Use your senses and you will find a chest that contains the mastercrafted diagrams for the Bear School Armor, Bear School Gauntlets, Bear School Boots, and the Bear School Trousers.
Bear School Silver Sword: Mastercrafted Diagram
Next destination: Olena’s Grove signpost. If you don’t have the fast travel unlocked, you can go to the Road to Bald Mountain signpost west of the Destroyed Bastion. If you have neither, you can always walk there on your best buddy Roach. From Olena’s signpost, head northeast across the grassy marshlands until you reach the quest marker. Use your Witcher’s Sense to reveal a wolf sign, investigate it and the quest will update. Head over to a small drowner island northwest of your current location. There is a monster nest on the island that you should destroy due to your career. At the top of the mound you will notice a hole in the earth and an almost-concealed chest housing the Diagram: Ursine silver sword - mastercrafted. This concludes the quest for the mastercrafted diagrams of the Bear School Gear, which requires level 34 to equip, a lot of materials to craft, and a master blacksmith/armorer. The only master blacksmith in the base game is Hattori in Novigrad, you need to complete his questline before unlocking his skills. Yoana, at Crow’s Perch, is the master armorer, but you also need to complete a quest line that starts with Fergus, a dwarven armorer next to her.
Bear School Gear: Grandmaster Diagrams Unlock
To locate all the six grandmaster diagrams you need the Blood & Wine expansion. It has a recommended level of 40 but unlocks set bonuses for the Bear School Gear. The stat bonuses are as follows:
3/6 Equipped Pieces - When a Quen shield shatters, there is a chance a new one will be cast at no Stamina cost. The bonus increases by 5% for each piece of the set. 6/6 Equipped Pieces - Damage dealt by abilities involving the Quen Sign is increased by 200%.
Mastercrafted equipment is a prerequisite before grandmaster crafting options become available. To unlock grandmaster quests, you need to go to the country of Toussaint. You can pick up the Master Master Master Master! Sidequest from the Gran’place notice board. That seems like a lot of masters. You will then need to talk to Lazar Lafargue, a craftsman who can craft both weapon and armor at master quality, putting Hattori and Yoana in the minor leagues. Speak to him to unlock the scavenger hunt related to the grandmaster diagrams you wish to obtain. In your case, the bear gear. Start it and track it so you can scavenge Grandmaster Ursine Gear.
Bear School Silver Sword, Armor and Gauntlets: Grandmaster Diagrams
The first three grandmaster diagrams are located in the village of Flovive, in the middle of Toussaint. You can travel east of Beauclair to reach the docks of Flovive. From the signpost, head toward the northeastern area of the village and as soon you reach the quest yellow circle, head left up to some steps and you will notice rocks and woods collapsed over a hole in the floor. Use a blast of Aard to clear the debris and walk into the cellar. Immediately to the right, you will see a glittering wooden chest that contains the grandmaster diagrams for the silver sword, armor, and gauntlets. Make sure to grab Charité Gontran de Tufo’s journal and read it to reveal the location of the next three diagrams and to learn why Charité Gontran is so mad at Witchers. Looks like he was stood up by his date.
Bear School Steel Sword, Boots and Trousers: Grandmaster Diagrams
The next location is northwest of Flovive’s signpost. Cross the vineyard towards the quest marker and when the path heads east, break off northwest and descend down into the grassy forest, where you may find some bears. Don’t kill them, you now share the same education. Keep traveling until you reach a shallow body of water named Filament Stream. On the northern side, there’s a cave entrance that descends deep down into the core of the planet. Inside the cave, you will meet with some nasty giant centipedes that were unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. After dealing with the overgrown bugs, you will find a small room to the northwest. You can break the rubbles with Aard or jump over them. There’s a letter in the room that gives you clues to follow the Witcher’s bear symbols on the walls that lead to the location of the remaining diagrams. Keep pushing forward through the tunnels and when you drop a ledge with two paths, go left. In the end, you will find the skeleton of the Bear School Witcher, which proves the set may not be as resistant as we thought. Anyways, loot the grandmaster diagrams for the Ursine trousers, steel sword, and boots. Head back to Lafargue and deliver him the diagrams. He will become the only grandmaster crafter in the game and also one of the most valuable allies a Witcher can have.
