Viper School gear (Viper School Gear from Hearts of Stone) is a medium set. You wear it from level 39. It does not have a five-tier line like Griffin, and it does not have mastercrafted set bonuses for three and six pieces. Low-level Viper swords from White Orchard are a different thing. This page is about the armor from Hearts of Stone.
Combat style
The Viper set from Hearts of Stone is medium armor with high poison resistance. In combat you poison enemies and keep them at distance with signs, not by tanking hits like a bear. Aard fits the Venomous swords and knocking down a group. Quen works as a safety net. It is not a five-tier school line or pure Griffin for signs.
Piece stats
| Piece | Armor | Main bonuses |
|---|---|---|
| Chest | 235 | +30 % piercing/bludgeoning, +40 % monsters/elemental, +50 % poison |
| Trousers | 89 | +10 % piercing/bludgeoning/monsters/elemental, +30 % poison |
| Boots | 89 | +5 % piercing/bludgeoning/monsters/elemental, +10 % poison |
| Gloves | 85 | +5 % piercing/bludgeoning/monsters/elemental, +10 % poison |
The four pieces add up to around 498. Venomous swords have strong Aard and a chance to poison.
Piece stats in New Game+
In New Game+ you get this set from NG+ start level + 39.
| Piece | Armor | Main bonuses |
|---|---|---|
| Chest | 240 | +30 % piercing, +50 % poison, +30 % slashing, +28 % monsters, +40 % elemental |
| Gloves | 87 | +5 % piercing, +10 % poison, +5 % slashing, +4 % monsters, +5 % elemental |
| Trousers | 91 | +10 % piercing, +30 % poison, +10 % slashing, +8 % monsters, +10 % elemental |
| Boots | 91 | +5 % piercing, +10 % poison, +5 % slashing, +4 % monsters, +5 % elemental |
The four pieces add up to 509. The numbers in the table apply at NG+ start + 40. After that, armor keeps scaling. The chest gains +5 for each further Geralt level, and gloves, trousers, and boots gain +2. The full set picks up +11 armor per level.
When you start NG+ at 50 and you are at level 93, you are three levels above the table. The chest is at 255, gloves at 93, trousers and boots at 97, and the total is 542.
Where to find the diagrams
You do not buy Viper diagrams like a treasure map. You need the auction in the quest Open Sesame!.
At Countess Mignole you can buy the diagrams straight from her offer. You can easily miss that offer if you rush through the auction. Buy them as soon as you see them. A master has to forge them, not an apprentice.
Who crafts it
You need a master here, not an apprentice. Yoana at Crow’s Perch forges the armor (quest Master Armorers), and Hattori in Novigrad forges the swords (Of Swords and Dumplings). You get the diagrams from the auction, but a master must forge them, and you have the list in the blacksmiths and armorers overview.
Where next
Every school in one place: The Witcher 3 — armor sets.