Wolven Bleed build - Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This post will cover the best Wolven Bleed build in Witcher 3. As you can guess the main aspects are using the Witcher Wolven armor set that gives adrenaline generation and unique effect for bleeding effects. Moreover, we will invest in a combat tree to unlock Crippling Strikes for more bleed stacks. If you are looking for a Wolven build with more concentration on magic, take a look at the Spellsword build

Wolven Bleed Build - combat focused

The build is for those that wish to use the Wolven armor set and its bonuses to the maximum. This mainly emphasizes the Bleed status effect. As you can guess it acts similar to poison and deals damage over time. Of course, some enemies are immune to it.

However, this is one part of the build. We will also invest in Alchemy and Signs skills trees. This will unlock more combat capabilities, like using multiple potions indefinitely and effective signs.

Note: Adrenaline Rush does not work as of February 19th, 2023. I recommend using these mutations instead - Metamorphosis, and Conductors of Magic (best if you like to use Igni more for higher damage)

The major caveat with this is the Adrenaline Rush mutation. It greatly improves attack power for the first 30 seconds of combat. However, it will be decreased if enemies are left alive after this time. So this creates interesting gameplay where you concentrate on taking out as many enemies as you can in the first 30 seconds.

The good thing is that this build can easily counteract the problem in prolonged combat. It is - bleeding. The longer you fight the more damage this status effect will deal to enemies. So it will counteract the negative effect of the Adrenaline Rush.

If this sounds like your build, let's move

The Build is tested on New Game+ and Deathmarch difficulty.

Skills allocation

This section covers skills for the Wolven build.

As you can see, most of the skills are going into the combat tree. If you are looking for a Wolven build with more concentration on magic, take a look at the Spellsword build

Name	Effect
Muscle Memory	Fast attack damage increased by 30%.
Resolve	Adrenaline Point loss upon taking damage is lowered by 100%.
Precise Blows	Increases chance of landing a fast attack critical hit by 12% and fast attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Whirl	Spinning attack that strikes all foes in the surrounding area. Maintaining the attack consumes Stamina and Adrenaline. Consumes 50% less Stamina and Adrenaline
Crippling Strikes	Fast attacks now also apply a Bleeding effect. Affected enemies lose 150 Vitality or Essence points per second. Duration: 5 seconds.
Fleet Footed	Damage from hits received while dodging is reduced by 100%.
Razor Focus	Instantly gain one Adrenaline Point when entering combat. The Adrenaline Points generated by sword blows are increased by 30%.
Undying (optional)	When Vitality reaches 0, it will be restored with a bonus of 67%. Requires at least 1 Adrenaline Point, which will be consumed
Deadly Precision (optional)	Each Adrenaline Point adds 2% to the chance of killing an opponent instantly. This effect cannot be triggered more than once every 15s.
Active Shield	Alternate Sign Mode: Maintaining an active shield no longer drains Stamina. The stamina drain for blocked attacks is unchanged. Damage absorbed by the shield restores player's Vitality.
Quen Intensity	Increases Quen Sign intensity by 30%.
Igni Intensity	Increases Igni Sign intensity by 30%.
Pyromaniac	Increases the chance to apply Burning by 100%.
Synergy	Increases bonus for mutagen placed in mutagen slot by 50%.
Delayed Recovery	Potion effects don't wear off until potion Toxicity falls to 55% of the maximum level.
Cat School Techniques	Each piece of light armor increases critical hit damage by 25% and fast attack damage by 5%.
Rage Management	If your current Stamina levels are too low, Signs can be cast using Adrenaline Points.
Adrenaline Rush	At the start of combat, sword Attack Power and Sign Intensity increase for the 30s by 30% for each foe (after the first). So, when fighting 11 foes, the bonus is 300%. Once it wears off sword attack power and Sign Intensity drop by 10% for each participating foe after the first (modifier cannot exceed 70%). Duration: 30s

Detailed Skill Progression

This covers detailed progression for the build as many players will not be high level to have 50+ skill points. So follow the abilities as you progress for maximum effectiveness.

If you are below level 11, I suggest following early game build guides

Order	Skill	Description
1	Delusion	This is a great quality of life skill. It will unlock some additional dialogue options. Moreover, they usually provide additional XP. I suggest dropping it later on in the game. You will still need these three points to unlock the next tier of Sign skills.
2	Muscle Memory	Fast attack damage increased by 30%.
3	Resolve	This serves two purposes - unlock the next tier of skills and negate any adrenaline loss from damage. It will become more important as you progress through the game
4	Precise Blows	Increases fast attacks critical chance and damage, further improving Geralt's DPS with them
5	Fleet Footed	Damage from hits received while dodging is reduced by 100%.
6	2 Combat skills	Because we took fleet-footed, we need two more skill allocations to unlock the next tier
7	Whirl	This perk is a beast. This will probably be your main damage dealer in almost all encounters. It requires some practice but allows one to hit enemies in 360 degrees constantly. Of course, Whirl consumes stamina and Adrenaline, so have that in mind when using it.
8	Razor Focus	Grants instant Adrenaline points, and increases adrenaline generation. This improves every aspect of the build
9	Rage Management	Allows casting Signs with Adrenaline points. I think this is a good synergy for Wolven armor as it allows fast adrenaline generation.
10	Cat School Techniques	Increases critical damage and fast attack power for each light armor piece. Mandatory skills for this type of build.
11	3 skills in Sign tree	Put to any ability you prefer, you can definitely take Exploding Shield
12	Active Shield	I love this Quen alternative mode. It gives a constant shield that when damaged restores health. This way you can get a breather if feeling overwhelmed. What is good is that you can also slowly move.
13	3 skills in Sign tree	Only take these for progression to unlock the next tier of Sign skills
14	Igni Intensity	Improves Igni intensity. Because we will be using it occasionally this will increase its damage.
15	Acquired Tolerance	With this skill, you will be able to have a decoction and use a potion or two. Later on, we will switch it to Delayed Recovery
16	3 skills in Sign tree	Only take these for progression to unlock the next tier of Sign skills
17	Pyromaniac	I think this is very important for the build. It will allow applying the burning effect with a 100% chance. Because Wolven's build does not have sky-high Sign Intensity, by itself there would be problems with burning enemies.

At this point, I recommend having all of the places of power collected. You will need a lot of skill points to fully progress through the build and unlock other skill slots.

Now, we start getting into the heavy stuff. Your goal is to get mutations as soon as possible. I recommend going via the Magic route.

Why is that? This way you can start moving Sign skills to the center, and include alchemy skills, which will further empower the build.

Order	Skill	Description
18	Magic Sensibilities	We mainly take this for progression
19	Piercing Cold	We mainly take this for progression.
20	Undying or Deadly Precision	A new skill slot will be unlocked. You can pick one of the skills suggested OR just skip and save skill points for the next mutation.
21	Adrenaline Rush	The mutation that I recommend for this build. The more enemies you fight the higher bonus to attack power and sign intensity for the first 30 seconds. The bonus is 30% for each foe. However, once that time passes, you will lose 10% of Attack Power and Sign Intensity for each of them left alive. This creates a hurry effect to take out the weakest monsters.
22	Any 3 abilities in the Alchemy tree with 3 levels	This will use up 9 skill points, but it is necessary to unlock the next tier of perks.
23	1 mutation	Additional mutation to unlock the next skill slot
24	Synergy	A very powerful perk that will improve mutagen effectiveness by 50%. I definitely recommend this as it will greatly boost bonus attack power from Red mutagens. Place this instead of one Sign skills, which then should be moved to the center skill slot
25	4 mutations	Unlocking more mutations will further strengthen synapses and unlock the third skill slot
26	Delayed Recovery	Switch it with Acquired Tolerance. Now you will be able to have potion effects indefinitely as long as toxicity is above 55%. Place this instead of one Sign skills, which then should be moved to the center skill slot
27	4 mutations	Unlocks the fourth skill slot
28	Quen Intensity	Improves the durability of Quen shield, greatly improving Active Shield alternative mode.

Tactics

In this section, I would like to share some tips on how to best play Bleed build in Witcher 3.

Using Igni

Igni Sign plays an important role in this build - disable enemies with the Burning status effect. This way you can better control the battlefield. Getting surrounded by ghouls? Use Igni and take them on by one. Overwhelmed by Forktail? Just let him burn for a few seconds. This is the reason we take the Pyromaniac perk, it ensures a 100% Burning chance

However, it does not deal crazy amounts of damage due to moderate Sign Intensity. Of course, mix this together with the bleeding effect and long fights become very easy.

Quen Active shield to restore health

If you are playing on Deathmarch, it is not so easy to restore health. However, with upgraded Quen - Active Shield you can easily restore HP from enemy hits

This makes the combat much safer, as every time you are overwhelmed it creates a safe bubble. Moreover, you can still move while using it, giving Geralt a chance to better reposition yourself.

Combat

To be honest it is fairly simple with the build. Here are the main points:

• Build up adrenaline points for more damage and a higher amount of bleed stacks
• Use Igni to immobilize enemies for a few seconds.
• Use potions to maintain at least 55% toxicity (once you have Delayed Recovery). Check the Equipment section which potions to use with the Wolven build.
• Whirl if there are closely grouped enemies.
• Cast Quen at the beginning of combat, especially if you play on Deathmarch as a single hit can take more than half of HP.

Equipment

Here is my suggested gear for the Wolven Bleed build in Witcher 3

Weapons

Steel Swords

Item	Description
Grandmaster Wolven Steel Sword	The wolven sword is perfect for this build. It increases stats for all main build mechanics.

Silver Swords -

Item	Description
Grandmaster Wolven Silver Sword	A perfect sword that covers everything the build needs - Sign Intensity, Adrenaline point gain, Critical Hit chance, and Bleeding chance.

One caveat is that I do not recommend Aerondight. It is the most powerful sword in the game. However, the idea here is to use bleed as one of the main damage sources. The 6th piece bonus of Wolven armor improves this aspect. If you do not care about that, then definitely use Aerondight

Weapon upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Severance	Increases the reach of Whirl. Makes combat much easier, as enemies will have a harder time reaching with their hits as you continue spinning all around.
Replenishment	I suggest trying out this option on your sword. It will allow empowering your sword hits. For example, after using Quen, you can restore HP with the next hit. This creates new gameplay opportunities.
Greater Chernobog Runestone	Increases the attack power of the weapon. The good option before obtaining Severance

Armors

Item	Effects
Grandmaster Wolven Armor	+25% Adrenaline Point gain +20% Resistance to piercing damage +17% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +24% Resistance to slashing damage +31% Resistance to damage from monsters
Grandmaster Wolven trousers	+11% Attack power +11% Sign intensity +9% Resistance to slashing damage +11% Resistance to damage from monsters +33% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Wolven gauntlets	+11% Sign intensity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +6% Resistance to damage from monsters +12% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Wolven boots	+11% Attack power +5% Resistance to piercing damage +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +6% Resistance to damage from monsters

Armor upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Levity	Doesn't matter which set you pick, you want all of your gear to count as light. That is the only way to get the critical stats bonus from the Cat School Techniques perk.
Rotation	This is a very good option as it will make Igni hit in 360 degrees arc. Meaning you hit enemies all around you. With Pyromaniac perk ensures that all of them are out of commission for a few seconds. However, if you use the glyphword, then be sure to switch Cat Shool Techniques with Griffin School Techniques
Greater Glyph of Igni	Increases Igni sign intensity. Improves one of the main signs by increasing burning chance and damage.
Greater Glyph of Quen	Increases Quen sign intensity. Improves one of the main spellsword signs. Increases shield effectiveness.

Potions and tonics

Because this build utilizes Delayed Recovery you can use plenty of potions to maintain the toxicity of 55% and above. Always be sure to activate Superior Swallow as it will negate toxicity HP drain.

Item	Effects
Superior Blizzard	Using this feels like cheating, but it makes combat very easy as time slows around Geralt. Moreover, with three adrenaline points, you can cast Signs without cooldowns.
Superior Thunderbolt	This is the most recommended potion to use. It will improve attack power and grant 100% critical chance during storms.
Superior Tawny Owl	As Rend and Whirl rely on Stamina, this is another potion that will improve Geralt's combat prowess by allowing him to use those attacks more often
Superior White Raffard's Decoction	I recommend having this potion in the quick slot. It instantly restores 100% HP and grants immunity to damage for a short period of time
Superior Swallow	Another potion that can be used to greatly improve health regeneration.
Superior Maribor Forest	Increases adrenaline generation and grants one adrenaline point when used. I prefer to use it at the beginning of combat. The toxicity wears off while fighting

Decoctions

To be honest this build does not need Decoctions. However, until you get Delayed Recovery and have Acquired Tolerance, you can still use one decoction all the time. So here are my suggestions

Item	Effects
Ekimmara Decoction	This decoction is the main one for survivability. It will allow you to regenerate HP every time Geralt hits an enemy.
Katakan Decoction	Thanks to this decoction you will raise Geralt's critical hit chance by 10%. This will greatly improve overall DPS.
Wyvern Decoction	Use this together with Quen. It increases the attack power for each successfully landed blow, until Geralt gets hit by the enemy.
Arachas Decoction	A good decoction to increase defenses for Geralt. Feel free to use it, for a safer approach.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the post on the best Wolven Bleed build in Witcher 3. I covered all essential parts to be effective - skills progression, recommended gear, tactics, and general tips.

If you have any questions or suggestions leave a comment below