I got the diagram for the Vran armor and the only item I'm missing is the Vran Armor Enhancement. The quest info says to "Find a smith who is also a sorcerer and have him make Vran armor." The only smiths I could find was the blue clothed one in the center of the ruins near the notice board and the guy who swallows swords in the Amphitheatre--neither of them showed a dialogue option for the Vran armor. The elven ruins are very tedius to navigate. Where exaclty is this sorcerer smith?

OH, that explain some things, thanks. The Vran armor is arguably the best in Chapter 3 correct? I'm just a tiny bit disapointed that the Raven armor is still the best looking one in my opinion. It seems like the later armors make Geralt look more like a soldier rather than a Witcher.

I like the art direction they took the armor in for this game. TW1 armor was all cool, but you had three armor choices throughout the whole game (if I recall correctly), and three options for the end game armor. It was very much more stylized as "witcher" armor, but I think that it makes sense that Geralt would invest in armor that he can wear and still be able to move in (his crazy spin moves and such) while also investing in more plating and protection. It also provides something else for me to spend my money on throughout the game. :)

I would argue for that, yes. But I don't like to ague. O.k., maybe a little.

I don't know about that. Compared to the armor you used in crafting Vran armor, the former has a few disadvantages:
1. 60% resistances vs 70% resistances.
2. 26 armor vs 30 armor.
3. No vitality regen vs +2 Vitality regen outside combat.

And a few advantages
1. Vigor +1 vs no Vigor increase.
2. Reduction of magic damage by 50% vs reduction by 20%
3. +8 sign damage vs none.
4. Vigot regen +15% vs none.

If it wasn't for the sake of curiosity and for the sake of completing the quest, I would actually prefer the first armor.