Armor

Follower armor set

The Followers you kill occasionally drop their armor. You'll find Followers in almost every area of Ashes of Ariandel, but you'll find the highest concentration of them around the Snowy Mountain Pass bonfire, so that's where you'll have the best chance of picking up all of the pieces.

Follower armor is fairly comparable to a lot of other armors in its balance of weight and damage absorption. Where it really shines is the frost resistance it grants, though this comes at the cost of poise.

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Millwood Knight armor set

After retrieving the Captain's Ashes from the top of the tower, give them to the Shrine Handmaid in Firelink Shrine to purchase the Millwood Knight armor set.

Like the Follower armor above, the Millwood Knight armor is about average for similar heavy armors, but with a bump to its frost resistance. Where the Millwood Knight armor impresses, though, is its poise. While it weighs about three-quarters as much as Havel's armor, the Millwood Knight set has the highest poise of any armor in the game.

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Slave Knight armor set

The Slave Knight armor set is found on a corpse in Corvian Settlement. This is the armor that was worn by the old man that brought you into the painted world at the very beginning.

A lot of the stats of the Slave Knight armor look unimpressive compared to armors of similar weight. Unlike the other armors from the DLC, the Slave Knight set doesn't focus on frost resistance, but instead has a high bleed resistance, which can help with giant bugs. Aside from the smart red half-cape, the other thing that sets the Slave Knight armor apart is its overall physical protection. Comparable armor weighs about 25 percent more.

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Vilhelm's Armor set

Pillage a corpse in the bug-infested basement of Ariandel Chapel to find Sir Vilhelm's armor.

Vilhelm's armor is an all around good set, comparable to other late-game armors like the Eastern set or the Fire Witch set. Vilhelm's set has high defense against thrusting damage and fire, but has especially great poise for its weight, which could come in useful with all the blocking you do in the DLC.

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Ordained Set

After defeating Lady Friede and her father in the DLC's climactic battle, the Shrine Handmaid in Firelink Shrine will sell her robes. (Seriously, skip this gallery if you're looking to avoid spoilers.)

Compared to other dress, robe and garb-type sets, the Ordained set is comparatively heavy. Fittingly, this comes with a better physical protection stat — especially against slashing damage — and magic absorption. In keeping with the DLC's theme, the Ordained set has high frost resistance.

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Shields

Both the Follower Shield and the Millwood Knight's Ethereal Oak Shield are waiting for you on corpses. The Follower Shield is near the Snowy Mountain Pass bonfire, and the Ethereal Oak Shield is in the Millwood Knights' tower near the Rope Bridge Cave bonfire.

The Millwood Knight's Ethereal Oak Shield has 100 percent physical damage reduction, which we are on record as preferring. Beyond that, it's light compared to the other 100 percent shields and better than average for lightning damage reduction, but it is more susceptible to fire than average. The major distinction of this shield, though, is that it regenerates your health while you carry it.

The Follower shield is a more middling shield. It has an average weight and stability and, like the Ethereal Oak Shield, is vulnerable to fire. It is better than similar shields at protecting against Dark attacks, though.

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Rings

Chillbite Ring

While not armor, the Chillbite Ring that Lady Friede gives you early in your explorations of the painted world does provide protection, so we're including it here rather than giving it its own section. Specifically, it increases the wearer's frost resistance.

You may have noticed that the setting of Ashes of Ariandel is snow and cold-heavy. While the environment itself doesn't attack you with cold, several of the enemies you face will.