Conquistador's Armor

Conquistador's Armor is a Rare heavy plate armor set in Windrose, sold by the Smugglers of Port Royal faction trader. The 2-piece bonus grants +15% damage resistance, and the 4-piece bonus grants Bulwark, making the first hits in any encounter uninterruptible. The set is one of the strongest defensive options at Early Access launch and pairs naturally with heavy two-handed weapons (greatswords, halberds, clubs) and the Crusher or Toughguy talent branches.

Set Bonuses

Set Pieces

All five pieces share the same 100 base defense at Rare rarity, plus the slot's standard armor scaling on upgrade. Crafting requires plant fiber, leather, and ingots (specifics vary by piece tier).

Build Synergy

Conquistador's Armor is built for tank players who absorb hits and trade favorably rather than avoid damage entirely. Optimal pairings:

• Weapons: Captain's Greatsword (with its Retaliation bonus), Sturdy Halberd, Plague Halberd, or any heavy club. Heavy two-handed weapons benefit most from Bulwark uninterruptible windups

• Talents: Toughguy branch (Stout Frame, Just a Flesh Wound, Too Angry to Die) for additional survivability; Crusher branch (Bonecrusher, Massive, Executioner's Aim) for two-handed damage

• Attributes: Strength (for crude damage scaling) plus Vitality (for max HP); some Endurance for stamina

• Food buffs: Strength +20 (Spicy Chicken with Sweet Potato or Seasoned CrocodileMeat) for damage; Vitality +20 (Seafood Platter) for HP pool

Bulwark in Practice

The 4-piece Bulwark effect is the standout feature. In a typical Soulslite combat encounter, you would need to avoid being hit during a heavy attack windup or be staggered out of the attack. With Bulwark, you can commit to a heavy windup against a swarm of enemies and trust that the first one or two hits will not interrupt your animation. This radically changes how the Crusher build plays: instead of patient wait-and-counter, you can open with a committed heavy attack and absorb the consequences.

Bulwark applies to the first hits in an encounter, which the in-game tooltip describes as "the first few hits." The exact threshold is not confirmed.

Mixing with Other Sets

If you want to combine Conquistador's Damage Resistance bonus with another faction's offensive bonus, equip 2 pieces of Conquistador's plus 2 pieces of another set:

How to Acquire

Conquistador's Armor plans are sold by the Smugglers of Port Royal faction trader at the hidden Smuggler base. Build Smuggler reputation by selling Contraband, defeating Blackbeard's elite enemies and turning in Insignias to the Smuggler Bounty Agent, and completing Smuggler-specific side quests.

Specific plans (Cuirass, Pants, etc.) unlock at progressively higher reputation ranks. The full set typically requires Rank 2 to Rank 3 Smuggler reputation. Crafted at the Armor and Clothing Workshop using the unlocked plan plus ingredient materials.

Lore

The Conquistador's name and aesthetic reference 16th-century Spanish conquistadors who explored and conquered much of the Caribbean and Central/South America. The historical conquistadors were known for their heavy plate armor, which proved unsuitable for tropical Caribbean conditions but provided exceptional protection in pitched combat. Windrose's Conquistador's Armor preserves this aesthetic while reframing it through the Smuggler's lens: the set is sold by a faction that values classical European military equipment as a status symbol of well-funded operations.

See Also

• Armor and Equipment - all armor sets overview

• Smugglers of Port Royal - source faction

• Pikeman's Armor - paired Smuggler set for two-handed builds

• Talent System - Toughguy and Crusher branches

• Upgrade System - leveling armor to 8 and ascending to Epic

Piece-By-Piece Recipes and Stats

Defense scales by craft tier. All five pieces share the same 100 DEF at Item Level 1, 200 at Item Level 6, and 300 at Item Level 11. Each ilvl corresponds to a separate recipe and a separate workshop attachment. Intermediate levels (2, 3, 4, 5 on the base recipe; 7, 8, 9, 10 on the mid-tier recipe; 12 and above on the top recipe) are reached by upgrading at the Upgrading Station rather than crafting.

Item Level 1 Recipes (Base Tier)

All Item Level 1 recipes use the base Armor and Clothing Workshop without any attachment.

Item Level 6 Recipes (Mid Tier)

Item Level 6 recipes require the Shoemaker's Bench attachment on the Armor and Clothing Workshop (30 Hardwood + 20 Tanned Leather + 15 Linen Fabric).

Item Level 11 Recipes (Top Tier)

Item Level 11 recipes require the Material Rack attachment on the Armor and Clothing Workshop (20 Wood + 15 Crocodile Hide Piece + 10 Linen Fabric + 10 Rough Hide).

In-Game Description

"This reliable metal armor allowed the Spaniards to conquer the New World thanks to its exceptional durability and toughness."

"They strode across foreign lands with swords in their hands and a thirst for gold in their hearts."

Visual Identity

Conquistador's Armor keeps a heavy-plate silhouette through every upgrade tier. The helmet is a closed-face morion with a comb running front to back, the cuirass is a smooth breastplate with squared pauldrons, and the gloves and boots are articulated steel. Higher upgrade tiers pick up ornate colonial military engravings along the cuirass and pauldron edges, which visually signals the jump from Copper Ingot to Foothills Iron to Mire Metal. The profile reads as Old World military rather than pirate, setting the tank identity apart from the leather and cloth sets.

Notable Fight Fit

Conquistador's 4-piece Bulwark pays off most when the player wants to commit to a heavy windup against an opponent that punishes flinched animations. Black Axel is a common benchmark: his boarding-axe swings have enough poise that an unarmored tank gets interrupted out of their own heavy attack before landing it, while a Bulwark-wearing Conquistador can complete a greatsword or halberd swing through the first hit. The same pattern applies against Blackbeard, where multi-hit melee sequences are the main stagger source.

Because Bulwark only protects the first few hits rather than providing flat mitigation, Conquistador is strongest on opponents whose burst is front-loaded. In extended attrition fights where the same combo repeats every ten seconds, Vitality pool matters more than the uninterruptible window, which is why Tracker's Leathers is often preferred for those encounters.