“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” is a grand game with depth and detail, where the right kind of weapon can either make or break Geralt’s travels across the Continent. With so many swords, crossbows, and other weapons at your disposal, deciding on the best ones is going to weigh heavily on your efficiency in combat and, by extension, your overall experience. This review will cover all the best weapons in “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”: steel and silver swords along with the crossbows and unique weapons from the expansions “Hearts of Stone” and “Blood and Wine.” We shall go over what they do, how to acquire them, and what play styles they are best for.
Best Steel Swords in The Witcher 3
Steel swords are weapons used against humans and other non-magical beasts. An appropriate steel sword will set Geralt as a terrifying force of destruction to bandits, soldiers, and human enemies. Some of the best steel swords in the game are listed below:
Aerondight (Best Steel Sword)
Overview: Arguably the single most iconic sword in “The Witcher 3,” Aerondight is equally powerful. The relic sword scales up with Geralt’s level; hence, the higher Geralt gets in level, the more powerful it becomes. This is the only weapon that increases its damage with each hit until a critical strike is landing-the damage then resets in the hands of a skilled wielder.
Attributes:
Damage: Scales with player level.
Unique Ability:Each hit increases the weapon damage by 10% This stacks up to a maximum of 10 hits. The weapon damage is increased permanently when the critical hit is landed at full charge, and the counter is reset.
Three rune slots for customization.
How to Acquire: Aerondight is found in the “Blood and Wine” expansion. You will need to complete the quest “There Can Be Only One,” in which you must prove your worth by embodying the five chivalric virtues: Generosity, Compassion, Honor, Valor, and Wisdom.Now, you may claim your prize of Aerondight from the Lady of the Lake in Toussaint!
Playstyle Suitability: Aerondight leans towards a player that is all the way into precision and skillful combat. Given that its damage depends on scaling and has a huge critical strike bonus, the type of player who can sustain a long chain of hits without ever taking damage will find their niche with this weapon.
Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword (Best for Blood and Wine Expansion)
Overview: This Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword is another weapon capable of working great on its own in the “Blood and Wine” expansion. It also offers lots of customization with its three rune slots and has an exceedingly well-proportioned balance between damage, critical hit chance, and other types of bonuses.
Attributes:
High base damage (which scales with player level).
Critical hit chance and damage increased.
Three slots available for runes.
May come with different secondary bonuses, depending on the variant.
How to Acquire: This sword may be found during the “Blood and Wine” expansion. It is usually the reward for executing various quests or following treasure trails throughout Toussaint.
Playstyle Suitability: This sword is meant for those with an alto-and-fast-bycritical-strikes balanced playstyle. It fits the versatile mold and can be taken into any fight, thus becoming the primary weapon for the entire expansion.
Hjalmar’s Steel Sword (Best for High Crit Build)
General Description: Hjalmar’s Steel Sword is a weapon one can gain while roaming through the Skellige Isles on a main quest. This sword distinguishes itself by its very high critical hit chance and critical hit damage values. This sword is mostly favored by those fast and furious attack-type players with the highest impact.
Attributes:
High base damage coupled with high critical hit chance and critical hit damage bonuses.
Equipped with two rune slots for varied customizations.
Has a chance to inflict bleeding, thus exacerbating damage over time.
How to Acquire: This sword is acquired in the Skellige quest “King’s Gambit” by siding with Hjalmar in the battle for the throne. Once the quest is completed, Hjalmar presents it to you as a gift.
Playstyle Suitability: Hjalmar’s Steel Sword can be shaped for really fast attacks and critical hits, whereas the method of concentration on agility and dodging gets complemented by this sword to ensure maximum damage in every hit.
Viper Steel Sword (Best for Early Game)
Overview: Arguably one of the best steel swords early in the game, it belongs to the Viper School Gear and enhances the effects of poison damage so potently that it almost always proves useful against human enemies whatsoever devoid of poison resistance.
Attributes:
Moderate base damage with a really strong poison effect.
Two rune slots for customization.
Good for low-level enemies and early game challenges.
How to Acquire: The Viper Steel Sword can be crafted after finding its diagram in White Orchard, which is the starting area of the game. The diagram lies somewhere in the tomb of Kolgrim during the quest “Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear.”
First Time Owner: These swords gather great attention in the early game for those in dire need of a reliable fighting weapon against human enemies. Its poison effect doubles as a damage-over-time kind to subdue lesser enemies quickly.
Feline Steel Sword- Best Used In A Fast Attack Build
The Sword- Feline Steel Sword-Is a part of the Cat School Gear, known for focusing on quick, agile attacks. The sword itself is excellent for players that want to go full force with a fast and aggressive combat style.
Properties:
Moderate base damage with bonuses to critical hit chance and attack power.
Has two rune slots.
Greatly increases critical damage and has a high chance of causing bleeding.
How-To-Get: Diagrams for the Feline Steel Sword are amongst Cat-School Gear treasure hunts. Enhanced, Superior, and Mastercrafted versions can be located around the game world, with the Grandmaster one being purchasable in the “Blood and Wine” expansion.
Playstyle Suitability: This sword is most suitable for fast attack builds. With its bonuses to critical hits and attack power, it is designed for players who want to fight fast and accurately rather than heavy armor and strong attacks.
Best Silver Swords in The Witcher 3
Silver swords are required for slaying monsters, spectres, and all supernatural beings. Silver swords made well are quite unwieldy for some of the most difficult enemies in the game since they distinguish their users more for life or death. Some of the best silver swords in the game are as follows:
Aerondight (Best Overall Silver Sword)
Overview: Aerondight is not only the best steel sword but also one of the best silver swords in the game. Its unique ability to increase in power with each successful strike makes it invaluable against powerful monsters.
Attributes:
Damage varies with player level.
Damage increases with each attack, stacking up to 10 times; a fully charged hit deals a critical strike, increasing the base damage of the sword permanently.
Three rune slots for customization
How to obtain: Again, Aerondight can be obtained in the Blood and Wine expansion by completing the quest “There Can Be Only One”.
Playstyle Suitability: Due to the scaling damage and ability to land critical hits, Aerondight is well suited to fighting monsters, which usually entails long battles against very strong foes. Permanent damage increment also favors the weapon as one that grows with Geralt and thus remains viable throughout the game.
Moonblade (Best for Relict Creatures)
General Information: The Moonblade is a silver sword with unique bonuses against relict creatures, making it an “anti-special” for certain encounters. High damage and critical hit chance make it an effective weapon against many of the greater monsters of the game.
Attributes: High base damage with a bonus against relict creatures.
Increased critical hit chance and critical damage bonuses.
Two rune slots for customization.
How to Get: The Moonblade appears as random loot within treasure chests or as a drop from some powerful monsters spread across the map. It is not locked behind an active quest, hence exploration and looting are the best ways to find it.
Playstyle Suitability: A good sword for players that face relict creatures quite often, such as leshens and fiends. There are special bonuses that facilitate such fights, but it is still generally good for monster hunting.
Bloodsword (Best for Bleed)
General Information: The Bloodsword is a silver sword known for being able to cause bleeding more often. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect that can seriously weaken enemies throughout a fight. It fits well into the playstyle of those who like to watch their enemies slowly have less and less health.
Attributes:
High base damage, increased chance to cause bleeding.
Two rune slots.
Medium critical chance, critical damage bonus.
How to Acquire It: One finds the Bloodsword during the “Scavenger Hunt: Bear School Gear” quest, in Skellige. It could also pop in as random loot from treasure chests or rare enemies.
Playstyle Suitability: The Bloodsword works well for those players who like to apply debuffs to their enemies and simply watch as they are weakened. The bleeding effect can do wonders against strong monsters that hurl punches slowly to those resistant to direct attacks.
Griffin Silver Sword (Best for Sign Builds)
Overview: It is the Griffin Silver Sword that forms part of the Griffin School Gear, which is built to accompany a Sign-heavy style of play. Thus, it raises the Sign intensity, making the magic of Geralt more powerful, so it can be more fitting for styles that use Signs like Igni, Aard, and Quen to brutally dominate enemies in combat. For those using a balanced approach between melee and magic, the Griffin Silver Sword remains a requirement.
Attributes:
Low base damage with a huge bonus to Sign intensity.
Two rune slots attached for customization.
Other bonuses such as increased critical hit chance and damage versus monsters.
How to Acquire: The Silver Sword of the Griffin, yet just as the rest of the Griffin School Gear, with all of the treasure hunting to be done throughout different parts of the game. The simple schematic is acquired during the quest “Scavenger Hunt: Griffin School Gear”, with the enhanced, superior, and mastercrafted being scattered all over the world and the Grandmaster all the way in the “Blood and Wine” expansion.
Playstyle Suitability: Great for Sign-heavy builds. Increased Sign intensity will make Geralt’s magic practically stronger in crowd control, more in damage, or more in defense. This sword is best used with the Griffin School armor that also grants Sign bonuses.
Feline Silver Sword (Best High DPS)
Overview: The Feline Silver Sword, included in the Cat School Gear collection, is intended for players who favor a high DPS playstyle. This means fast, hard-hitting attacks and, as far as this weapon is concerned, it speaks loud to aggressive combat styles.
Attributes:
High base damage with bonuses to critical hit chance and attack power.
Two rune slots available for further customization.
Higher chance of bleed effects, which can be deadly for quick, brutally fast combat.
How to Acquire: The silver sword can be landed through the Cat School Gear treasure hunts. The tests for blueprints lie scattered in numerous locations with the higher-tier diagrams being found throughout the game. The Grandmaster form is obtainable in the “Blood and Wine” expansion.
Playstyle Suitability: This particular weapon best suits the fast and damage-based build. If your strategy is about striking quickly while inflicting high critical hits against enemies, the Feline Silver Sword will be great for you. Usually, light armor to maximize stamina and attack speed would synergize with this weapon.
Manticore Silver Sword (Best for Alchemy Builds)
Overview: The Manticore Silver Sword is part of the Manticore School Gear introduced with the Blood and Wine expansion. It is aimed at players favoring alchemy builds. It bestows bonuses related to the use of potions, bombs, and oils, making it super-useful for strategic combat.
Attributes:
Moderate base damage with bonus to critical hit chance and critical hit damage.
Increased toxicity threshold enabling more aggressive use of potions.
Two rune slots.
How to Acquire: The Manticore Silver Sword gets crafted after finding its diagram during the Toussaint quest titled “Scavenger Hunt: Grandmaster Manticore Gear.” The quest requires you to explore hidden spots and take on tough enemies to gather all the pieces of the gear set.
Playstyle Suitability: This sword really caters to players who like the alchemy-combat mix. With increased toxicity threshold, it lets Geralt down a few more potions without running into toxicity penalties. Hence those players who aim to fully utilize their alchemy skills in combat are best suited for this sword.
Ursine Silver Sword (Ideal for Tank Builds)
Overview: The Ursine Silver Sword is part of Bear School Gear and is a weapon for heavy hits. Tank builds work with the sword, which focuses on durability and strength-fighting. Hence, it’s for those who want to take hits and deliver a knock-out punch.
Attributes:
Heavy base damage with bonuses to Adrenaline Point gain and bonus power in using strong combat abilities.
Two rune slots for customization.
Increased chances of knockdown or stagger.
How to Acquire: The Ursine Silver Sword is acquired through the “Scavenger Hunt: Bear School Gear” quest, with diagrams scattered throughout the Skellige Isles. Please keep exploring for enhanced, superior, and master-crafted versions, with the Grandmaster version being available in the “Blood and Wine” expansion.
Playstyle Suitability: If your playstyle revolves around heavy armor and durability, this sword perfectly fits your needs. If you fight enemies up close activated by the building of adrenaline, the Ursine Silver Sword will pack a heavy punch, especially if combined with the Bear School Armor for a grand effect.
The Witcher 3’s Crossbow Hits!
Crossbows are secondary weapons in battle; as such, it is advisable to keep a distance from enemies, to shoot flying monsters, or to finish off low-health foes. Even though they are not nearly as important as swords, a good crossbow can still be worthy of its weight in battle, especially underwater and for certain aerial enemies.
Feline Crossbow (Best for Fast Attack Builds)
Overview: The Feline Crossbow is part of the Cat School Gear and is meant to complement a fast and nimble style of combat. It increases the attack power and critical hit chance so that anywhere in front of pressure can be maintained from a distance.
Attributes:
High Attack Power and Critical Hit Chance.
Faster Bolt Speed, Which Provides an Advantage When Trying to Hit Moving Targets.
Improved Reload Time.
How to Acquire: The Feline Crossbow’s diagram can be found during the Cat School Gear treasure hunt. The formation is in a chest lodged in the Est Tayiar ruins; accessibility is given only after finishing the quest tied to it.
Playstyle Suitability: The crossbow fits great if you want to keep things fast and precise. If you’re wielding the Feline swords and armor, your crossbow of choice should complement the fast attack build, allowing for a non-stop assault.
Ursine Crossbow (Best for Tank Builds)
Overview: Designed by the Bear School Gear for players who are much more into defensive/tanky playstyle, the Ursine Crossbow does huge damage and has much durability so it can be relied on if your focus is on surviving encounters that are tough.
Attributes:
High base damage, plus armor-piercing.
Long reload, but long damage.
Long durability, meaning you rarely need to fix it.
How to Acquire: The Ursine Crossbow is found during the Bear School Gear treasure hunt. The diagram is hidden in a cave in Skellige, which opens after completing the associated quest.
Playstyle Suitability: The crossbow fits the style of a player who opts for heavy armor and endureability. This best allows the use of Ursine swords and armor, as you are able to carry more hits but can deliver a harder punch ranged.
Elven Crossbow (Best Underwater Combat)
Overview: The Elven Crossbow is a special weapon specifically intended for use in underwater warfare. Crossbows are the only weapons to use underwater, which puts the Elven Crossbow on par with standard ones, offering better damage and range.
Attributes:
Increased damage and range when used underwater.
Increased speed of bolt travel, allowing great ease in hitting fish and underwater enemies.
How to Get It: Once the main storyline quest called “Through Time and Space” begins, the weapon is obtained. The Elven Crossbow is handed over to Geralt by Avallac’h and is essential for the underwater parts in the quest.
Playstyle Suitability: The above-mentioned crossbow is suitable for underwater combat scenarios while such situations are rare in the game. However, if one has to fight underwater, the crossbow can serve as the perfect weapon for the occasion.
Nilfgaardian Crossbow (Best for Early Game)
Overview: The Nilfgaardian Crossbow is a fine choice for the early days, thus providing a trustworthy ranged weapon in the first instance of the game. It is not all that powerful when compared to some of the choices in the later stage of the game but that does not insinuate it is not a good choice when starting to face flying or underwater enemies.
Attributes:
Medium base damage with balanced reload time and accuracy.
Available early on in the game, so it is good for newbies.
How to Acquire:
Buy it from a merchant at Crow’s Perch in Velen or from merchants elsewhere
Occasionally found as loot from defeated foes or in treasury chests
Playstyle Suitability: This one is mostly for players in the early stages of the game. A straightforward weapon to use until more powerful crossbows enter late-game selection.
Zireael Crossbow (Best for Mid to Late Game)
Overview: A high damage and fast reload ranged weapon, the Zireael Crossbow charms those in the late stages of the game who wish to bring some ranged punch into their armor.
Attributes:
Gives high base damage with increased critical hit chance
Fast reload time allows quick follow-up shots
Great against flying enemies and underwater foes
How to get it: The Zireael Crossbow is obtained during the “Hearts of Stone” expansion, when Shani gives it to Geralt as a reward for assisting her in her personal quest.
Playstyle Suitability: This crossbow fits well with late-game players in need of a reliable and ranged weapon of power. It proves to be very versatile on different fronts—it could take on flying menaces, humongous underwater beasts, or simply any other being that might need a punch or two in the face.
Conclusion
In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the best weapons complement your chosen play-style and augment your combat effectiveness. Whether you like to fast-attack foes with agility, plow through them with powerful magic, tank-it-out with durability, or try to lure them into some tricky alchemy, there are gear sets and enhancements built just for your play style. Giving some thought to each weapon’s pros and cons, and tactically enhancing them with runes and glyphs, will guarantee Geralt is the most efficient and powerful poison on the Continent’s side in dealing with any danger.