The Witcher 3 Weapons Guide#
Weapon Types Overview#
Geralt can carry steel swords, silver swords, a crossbow and his bare fists in The Witcher 3. Steel swords specialize in humans and humanoid foes, while silver swords are reserved for hunting monsters.
| Weapon type | Targets | Core stats | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel sword | Humans, animals, humanoids | Attack power + crit | Shops, loot, crafting |
| Silver sword | Monsters | Monster damage + Sign intensity | Crafting, quest rewards, treasure hunts |
| Crossbow | Flying, underwater | Crit damage + knockdown | Main quest |
| Fists | Fistfighting | No gear stats | Fistfighting quest line |
The Six Witcher School Gear Sets#
Every school’s gear is built around a different style of play, from pure crit damage to Sign spam and alchemy.
| School | Armor type | Core bonuses | Best level range | Set bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feline | Light armor | +50% crit chance, +20% attack speed | 10-40 | 3 pieces: +50% crit damage |
| Ursine | Heavy armor | +35% vitality, +30% armor | 10-40 | 3 pieces: +20% strong attack damage |
| Griffin | Medium armor | +40% Sign intensity, +25% stamina regen | 10-40 | 3 pieces: +20% Sign intensity |
| Wolven | Medium armor | Balanced combat + Signs, adrenaline gain | 14-40 | 3 pieces: +5% adrenaline gain |
| Viper | Light armor | Crit damage + poisoning | 30-39 (Hearts of Stone) | Steel + silver swords only — no set bonus |
| Manticore | Light armor | +30 max toxicity, alchemy boosts | 40+ (Blood and Wine) | 3 pieces: +30 max toxicity |
Legendary Weapons#
A handful of named blades sit above everything else, and most of them are tied to specific quests or bosses.
| Weapon | Type | How to get | Special effect | Level requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | Steel sword | Hearts of Stone — obtained after saving Olgierd | Charged heavy attack — special lunge attack | 37 |
| Weige’s Sword | Silver sword | Blood and Wine — Toussaint knightly tournament champion | High crit + armor piercing | 45 |
| Elder Blood | Silver sword | Main quest — Ciri’s sword | High monster damage | 15 |
| Bihywa’s War Blade | Silver sword | Skellige chest | Executes low-HP enemies on crit | 27 |
| Winter’s Blade | Steel sword | Wild Hunt drop | Frost damage | 25 |
| Tir Tochair blade | Steel sword | Hearts of Stone — auction house | Crit lifesteal | 35 |
| Pennant | Silver sword | Blood and Wine — dropped by Dettlaff | +50% damage to vampires | 47 |
Runes and Enchantments#
Socketing runestones, glyphs and runewords is how you squeeze extra performance out of any weapon.
Runestones#
| Rune | Effect | Tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mori | +crit damage | I | Crit-focused Feline builds |
| Dazhbog | +burning chance | I | Igni builds |
| Stribog | +knockdown chance | I | Aard builds |
| Zoria | +freeze chance | I | Control builds |
| Morana | +poisoning chance | I | Viper-school poison builds |
Armor Glyphs#
| Glyph | Effect | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Quen | +Quen Sign intensity | Tank builds |
| Igni | +Igni Sign intensity | Sign builds |
| Axii | +Axii Sign intensity | Control builds |
| Aard | +Aard Sign intensity | Physical crowd control |
| Yrden | +Yrden Sign intensity | Sustained engagements |
Runewords#
| Enchantment | Cost | Effect | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fracture | 15,000 | Lowers the cost of Whirl and Rend | Steel or silver sword |
| Preservation | 15,000 | Equipment never degrades | Armor |
| Protection | 16,500 | Creates a Quen shield when blocking | Armor |
| Levity | 15,000 | Heavy armor counts as light armor — triggers light-armor skills | Armor |
| Entanglement | 17,500 | Yrden auto-casts | Armor |
Gear Upgrade Path#
| Level band | Recommended gear | How to get |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | Wanderer’s set + random drops | White Orchard merchant + loot |
| 10-20 | Basic Feline/Ursine/Griffin sets | Treasure hunts — buy the maps |
| 20-26 | Enhanced Feline/Ursine/Griffin sets | Velen/Novigrad treasure hunts |
| 26-35 | Superior Feline/Ursine/Griffin sets | Skellige treasure hunts |
| 35-40 | Mastercrafted Feline/Ursine/Griffin sets | Skellige/Toussaint treasure hunts |
| 40+ | Grandmaster sets (Blood and Wine) | The craftsmen in Beauclair, Toussaint |
Armor Set Comparison#
Which set you pick depends on your build. Here’s how each school’s armor stacks up at max rank (Grandmaster):
| Stat | Feline | Ursine | Griffin | Wolven | Manticore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor rating | Medium | Highest | Mid-high | Medium | Low |
| Weight | Light | Heavy | Medium | Medium | Light |
| Attack bonus | +50% crit | +20% strong attacks | +40% Signs | +10% balanced | +30 toxicity |
| Stamina regen | Fast | Slow | Medium | Medium | Fast |
| Best socketing | Red (attack) | Green (vitality) | Blue (Signs) | Mixed | Green (alchemy) |
How Weapon Damage Works#
Understanding the damage formula matters when picking the best weapons. Damage in The Witcher 3 is calculated across several multiplier buckets.
| Damage layer | What it does | How to maximize |
|---|---|---|
| Base weapon damage | The number on the weapon’s stat sheet | Pick weapons with the highest base damage |
| Attack power bonuses | From skills, decoctions and mutations | Alchemy + the Euphoria mutation |
| Crit multiplier | Multiplier applied to base damage on crits | Feline gear + Bloodbath |
| Oil bonuses | +50% against matching monster types | Always apply the right oil |
| Armor piercing | Ignores a percentage of enemy armor | Rend + the armor-crushing mutation |
Best Weapon Acquisition Strategy#
A quick level-by-level shopping list for both swords:
| Level band | Steel sword pick | Silver sword pick |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | Random wanderer steel swords | White Orchard silver sword (quest) |
| 10-20 | Feline steel sword | Feline silver sword |
| 20-30 | Enhanced Feline/Ursine steel | Superior Feline/Ursine silver |
| 30-35 | Mastercrafted Feline steel | Mastercrafted Ursine silver |
| 35-40 | Iris | Viper silver sword (Hearts of Stone) |
| 40+ | Grandmaster Feline steel | Manticore silver sword (Blood and Wine) |
Top 10 Weapons#
If you only chase a few blades across the whole game, make it these:
| Rank | Weapon | Type | Base damage | Acquisition difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iris | Steel sword | 350-410 | ★★★★ |
| 2 | Bihywa’s War Blade | Silver sword | 400-460 | ★★★ |
| 3 | Tir Tochair blade | Steel sword | 330-380 | ★★★★ |
| 4 | Weige’s Sword | Silver sword | 430-500 | ★★★★ |
| 5 | Elder Blood | Silver sword | 280-320 | ★★★ |
| 6 | Winter’s Blade | Steel sword | 290-340 | ★★ |
| 7 | Pennant | Silver sword | 460-530 | ★★★★★ |
| 8 | Blood Curse | Steel sword | 310-360 | ★★★ |
| 9 | Halryn | Steel sword | 270-310 | ★★ |
| 10 | Fists of Fury | Steel sword | 250-290 | ★ |