[PLAYER GUIDE] Gear and Equipment (Update October 2025)

This guide reflects the author’s personal experience and the game’s content as it exists at the time of writing. Future updates may alter features or introduce new content.

Gear and equipment form the backbone of your lord’s strength in Game of Thrones Winter is Coming. Every player begins with the basics, but how efficiently you craft, upgrade, and plan your sets determines how far your account will grow.

Equipment defines not only your battle power, but also how quickly you develop your city through gathering, construction, and research.

When we talk about gear and equipment, we refer to everything your lord can wear or enhance:

➥ The eight main gear items (head, weapon, legs, off-hand, chest, and the three accessories).

➥ The badges attached to them.

➥ The Refinement attributes are unlocked later through research.

These bonuses apply only to your lord, not to commanders, and are active only while they’re equipped. Each of these parts has its own presets, which can then be combined in the Quick Adjustment menu to create complete setups for battle, research, gathering, or Rebel Leaders.

The Blacksmith and Equipment Basics

You’ll unlock the Blacksmith once your castle reaches level 13. This building is the center of all things related to equipment. It has three main sections:

➥ Forge - where you craft and upgrade equipment.

➥ Inventory - where all your collected materials are stored.

➥ Refinement - unlocked at Castle 20, allowing you to improve existing gear with additional attributes.

➥ Collection Bonus - view passive bonuses earned from completing full sets. These boosts don’t require the gear to be equipped. Bonuses depend on the set - for example, Champion improves production, while battle sets improve troop stats and training speed. 

Badges

Each piece of equipment can also hold badges, which add extra stats depending on their type and quality. Higher-quality badges provide better boosts, and like equipment, they can be upgraded. Initially, only three badge slots are available for each gear item. Once you complete Badge Master in the Refinement research tree, the fourth slot will unlock.

Basic Badges

• Increase Attack, Health, or Defense for your main troop type.

You can obtain them from daily and other events, Rebel Groups, or packs.

• Upgrade ratio: four lower-tier badges combine into one of the next tier (4:1).

You’ll need 256 gray badges to create one gold.

The red-tier badges work the same way, but they also require Ancient Dust, which is available from events like All-Out War, Crossing the North, Day of Trade, or through certain packs.

Be careful with dismantling: you can only dismantle badges up to gold quality - red badges can’t be undone. Always check that you have enough of each type to fill all eight slots before upgrading.

Special and Event Badges

• War Badges - add both troop Attack + Defense; available in the Token Shop using Battle and Bravery Tokens from Champion City Siege.

• Total Badges - grant Total Attack, Health, or Defense across all troop types. Commonly rewarded in events like Ultimate Conquest, for example.

• Rebel Leader Badges - improve marching speed or motivation limit during Rebel attacks; obtainable from Day of Trade.

• Health Badges - exclusive to the Iron Bank’s final reward chest; a rare and valuable option for your main lineup. Always pick Health until you complete your set, as it’s the only reliable source for it.

Where to Get Materials

Different equipment sets require different materials.

• The Champion Set uses materials obtained from gathering resources on the map.

• Most other sets rely on materials dropped by Rebel Leaders, with higher-level rebels giving better-quality rewards.

• Battle Diamonds, used to upgrade battle gear to red quality, can be obtained from level 6 Rebel Leaders, special events, or packs.

• The Glorious Set, one of the top-tier options, besides its material, which can be obtained from Glorious Chests, needs Glorious Siderite - available only through spending events or specific packs.

Material Chests

• Several types of chests simplify material collection:
• Materials Chest - provides random-quality basic materials obtained from gathering.
• Main Material Chest - gives a guaranteed main material, the rarest drop from Rebel Leaders.
• Equipment Selection Chest - lets you choose which Rebel Leader’s materials you want.

Other Material Sources

• Rebel Groups - drop chests containing materials and badges.

• VIP Shop - offers Materials and Badge Chests daily for blue diamonds.

• Materials for Refinement are easily obtained from Expedition Beyond or Bounty. Remember, to unlock the better refinement options, make sure to research the Refinement tree once you reach Castle 20.

Battle Gear Progression

Each stage of your development benefits from a specific set of equipment. Here’s the recommended order for new players:

Champion Set

Your first and easiest battle set. Its materials are gathered from the world map, and it provides both basic combat stats and development bonuses.

Maester (Research) Set

A must-have for faster research speed. You can get its materials by defeating the Oldtown Students Rebel Leaders.

As you progress, focus on Expedition and Pacification research trees to unlock higher-level Rebel Leaders for better drops.

Mountain Clan Set

This set helps you defeat Rebel Leaders more efficiently as they grow stronger. You can find its chests in events like Crazy Friday, Lucky Discount, Bounty, War of the Kingdoms, or Return to Westeros.

Builder Set

Crafted with materials from Westerland Thieves and Crownlands Rioters, this set boosts construction speed and helps you finish building upgrades faster.

Huntsman Set

Focused on gathering speed, its materials drop from Riverlands Poachers Rebel Leaders. Perfect for resource farming and early progress.

New Lord Set

Optional, but a nice early boost if you want extra power during your first growth phase.

Choosing Your Troop Focus

Before investing heavily in battle gear, decide early on which troop type you’ll specialize in - Infantry, Cavalry, Spear, or Bow.

Most battle sets are designed for two troop types, but focusing on one saves both time and resources. Later, you can develop a secondary troop once your main line is complete.

The best gear setups often mix items from multiple sets to achieve the highest possible Attack, Health, and Defense bonuses for your frontline, while your second line only needs to focus on Attack.

Battle Gear and Marching Speed

Once your core sets are complete, focus on battle equipment. Start by upgrading your regular battle gear to Gold, then mix in King’s Guard pieces. The final step is pushing your gear to Red with Battle Diamonds.

Sometimes, you’ll need to sacrifice pure troop stats in favor of marching speed, especially during real-time strategy events like Siege of Winterfell. Certain items, like the Huntsman items, the King’s Guard Helmet, or the Glorious Sword, offer valuable speed bonuses that can make a difference in timing and positioning.

From Gold to Red

Once your early development is stable, it’s time to work toward your endgame battle gear.

• Begin crafting King’s Guard pieces - these are your stepping stones to top-tier gear.
• Aim for a mixed King’s Guard + regular battle gear set at red quality.

Meta Sets by Troop Type

Once you’re ready to optimize, these are the standard “meta” mixes most players aim for. Each includes the most efficient combination of items for its troop type.

Infantry focused

Cavalry focused

Spear focused 

Bow focused

Glorious Gear - Only If You’ll Finish It

The Glorious Set offers exceptional stats, but it’s only worth pursuing if you plan to take it all the way to red quality. Anything below that is a downgrade compared to a fully developed King’s Guard set mixed with regular battle gear items.

If you do aim for it, start collecting the materials needed and the Glorious Siderite early and commit to upgrading the full set.

Presets and Equipment Management

All the stats from your gear, refinement, and badges only apply when they’re equipped. To switch faster between different purposes - battle, building, gathering, research, or Rebel Leaders - use the Quick Adjustment system to create presets.

You can save several sets and swap instantly depending on your activity.

Building your lord’s equipment is a gradual journey, but every improvement makes a visible difference in both battle and development. Whether you’re farming materials daily, upgrading badges, or refining a single gear piece, each step brings you closer to a complete setup that truly represents your account’s power. Plan your troop focus early, progress one set at a time, and keep refining along the way - the results will speak for themselves on the battlefield.

I hope you'll find this guide helpful in your GoTWiC journey. I'm here to help with any questions you might have.