I pretty much only play it one way every time… When I’m high enough level, I get Griffin Witcher gear, and when I’m high enough for Feline Witcher gear I stay with it through the base game and both expansions. I did go Bear once and it was okay but never felt as good as a set.

Yes, there’s a main story event in the DLC with the single best piece of equipment - the Professor’s spectacles. Buy them, it’s your only chance!

Also there is some missable witcher gear in the very same quest, I think. Just get everything in the Borsodi Brothers’ venue.

If you want to be optimal you should be looking out for the Green Gear (Witcher Sets). They are all obscenely broken compared to other gear, to the point where they invalidate almost every unique item in the game. It’s one of the things I hate about the game. For the most part, gear is just a matter of picking the Witcher set that matches your build and play style.

There is a unique Steel Sword you can get at the end of Hearts of Stone depending on your choices that is actually quite good due to its unique ability. Definitely good enough to use for all of Blood and Wine. You can also get a unique Silver Sword in B&W that is very good, though it’s a quest reward that can take a while.

New Moon trousers are not bad, and the Nilfgaardian Guardsman Gauntlets are actually insane gloves, so look out for those. You should still use Witcher gear for the other two armour pieces though, for the set bonus.

Try to have fun without minmaxing. The game is simple enought were there’s absolutely no need to hunt gear down.