In Ancient Warriors gear comes in ladders: swords, axes, clubs, bows, crossbows, staves, shields and every kind of armour have rungs, and each rung needs a certain level. You can buy almost the whole ladder from Riverhollow’s traders — but the very top rungs aren’t for sale. You can only take them off the monsters that use them.
What the city sells
Four shops, each with its own trade:
- Sigurd at the barracks — swords, axes, clubs, mail, plate, helmets, boots and shields.
- Halvard at the archery butts — bows, crossbows, arrows, bolts, throwing knives and ranger’s garb.
- Olvir on the temple steps — potions, wands and staves, spellbooks, caster garb, amulets and rings.
- Gerold on the square — food and torches, and he buys anything the others won’t.
To buy an item you need both the gold and the level. The last rungs on sale are around level 48: Golden Armor, the Guardian Shield, the Elvish Bow. Everything above that is loot.
The top of each ladder: who drops it
| Item | Level | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Plate Armor | 60 | Undead Overlord, Lost Warlord, Raider Chieftain, the Necromancer |
| Demon Helmet and Demon Legs | 60 | Undead Overlord, Lost Warlord, Raider Chieftain |
| Skull Staff | 60 | The Necromancer in the crypt — 5% |
| Dragon Scale Mail and the full set | 55 | Bone Knight, Undead Overlord |
| Spellbook of Lost Souls | 55 | Warlock, the Necromancer, Acolytes of the Rite |
| Stone Skin Amulet | 55 | Undead Overlord, Lost Warlord, Bone Knight |
| Bone Blade, Axe, Club, Shield, Bow | 52 | Bone Knight, the Necromancer, Vault Warden |
| Ghost Chestplate | 56 | The Vault Warden in the crypt |
| Plasma collars and rings | 50–52 | Bosses of level 50–60, each colour from its own |
| Dark Armor and Dark Helmet | 36 | The Black Knight in the renegades’ castle |
| Boots of Haste | 35 | Black Knight, the skeleton rogues of the Necropolis |
| Fire Sword | 35 | Heroes in the renegades’ castle, the Elven Elder’s blades |
The chances for items like these are small — from a fraction of a percent to a few percent — and that’s on purpose: the top of a ladder should be an event, not a purchase. The exact chance for every monster is on its card in the bestiary.
Hoards: loot that always drops
Two bosses leave a hoard behind when they fall, and everything in it drops with a 100% chance:
- The Necromancer — the Guardian Shield, an Amulet of Life, coins and potions. How to beat him is in the boss guide.
- The Elven Elder in the Elven Cellar — among other things, the Elvish Bow.
On Kaldar island, hoards lie at the end of each of the three caves, and every character takes them once.
Quest rewards
Some good items are easiest to get from errands:
- Order’s Token — for the story quest “The Seal of the Order”. An amulet that no trader sells and no monster drops.
- Fire Sword — one of Torvald’s reward options for “The Badge of the Hundred”.
- Boots of Haste — a choice from Captain Hrodgar for “The Warlord of the Lost”.
- Crown Shield — a choice from Sigurd for “A Banner over the Steppe”.
How to farm faster
- Pick bosses for your class. A mage wants the Necromancer and the Warlock, a knight the Bone Knight and the chieftains, a ranger the Vault Warden with his Bone Bow and crossbow.
- Bosses come back. Ordinary elite monsters respawn in 5–8 minutes, the big bosses in 15. While you wait for one, you can go after another.
- Quest items drop only for the quest. The seal, the chieftain’s banner, tokens and keys only show up in loot when a quest is waiting for them — don’t waste time killing a boss “in advance”.
- Watch your load. If your backpack is full, the loot stays in the bag on the ground. Sell what you don’t need to Gerold — he buys almost everything.
Looking for a specific item? Open its page in the item catalogue — it shows who sells it and who drops it.
Read next
- Bosses How to beat the Necromancer in the crypt How to reach the crypt sanctum, what level to fight the Necromancer at, who to kill first and how to handle his servants. Tactics for every class and his loot.
- Guide How to level up fast in Ancient Warriors Where to hunt at every level, which quests pay the most experience, why the training camp matters and how to avoid losing exp on death — from the island to level 60.
- Classes Knight or mage: which class to pick as a beginner Comparing the four vocations in Ancient Warriors — knight, mage, ranger and druid: health and mana, weapons, key spells and play style. Which class suits you.
