Best Spellsword Build - Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This post will cover the best Spellsword build in Witcher 3. The idea is to merge Witcher's ability to use Signs and combat skills to create unique gameplay. This way you can avoid boring part of just spamming Signs and high-risk close combat.

Spellsword build

The build concentrates both on physical and magic combat. Of course, you sacrifice some maximization of either Signs or close combat. However, you can approach combat from multiple angles and can easily deal with groups of enemies.

Moreover, Geralt can use Wolven set bonuses to further improve its close combat from the Bleeding effect. Let's dive deep into the build details

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

Skills allocation

Here is a short overview of how to allocate your skill points. For detailed progression check the next section.

Here is the list of all Skills that are needed for the build and their effects. I offer two main signs - Quen and Igni.

Name	Effect
Exploding Shield	Quen shield pushes opponents back and deals damage when it breaks, with a chance for knockdown.
Delusion	Target does not move towards Geralt while he is casting Axii. Increases the effectiveness of Axii in dialogues. Reduces Axii casting time. Failed Axii attempts stagger the target
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 the player's Vitality.
Firestream OR Melt Armor	Alternate Sign Mode: Emits a continuous stream of fire that damages enemies. Stamina cost is reduced by 50%
Igni Intensity	Increases Igni Sign intensity by 30%.
Quen Intensity	Increases Quen Sign intensity by 30%.
Pyromaniac	Increases the chance to apply Burning by 100%.
Synergy	Increases bonus for mutagen placed in mutagen slot by 50%.
Griffin School Techniques	Each piece of medium armor increases Sign intensity by 5% and Stamina regeneration by 5%.
Muscle Memory	Fast attack damage increased by 30%.
Precise Blows	Increases chance of landing a fast attack critical hit by 12% and fast attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Crippling Strikes	Fast attacks now also apply a Bleeding effect. Affected enemies lose 150 Vitality or Essence points per second. Duration: 5 seconds.
Strength Training	Strong attack damage increased by 30%.
Crushing Blows	Increases strong attack critical hit chance by 12% and strong attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Razor Focus	Instantly gain one Adrenaline Point when entering combat. The Adrenaline Points generated by sword blows are increased by 30%.
Sunder Armor	Reduces enemy damage resistance by 30%.
Conductors of Magic	When drawn, magic, unique and witcher swords increase Sign damage dealt by 50% of their own damage dealt.

Detailed Skill Progression

This covers detailed progression for the build as many players will not be high level to have 50+ skill points. So just 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 an extremely good quality of life skill. It will unlock some additional dialogue options. Moreover, they usually provide additional XP.
2	Muscle Memory	I recommend getting this skill very early. You will mostly use Fast attacks early on and dealing more damage with them is handy
3	Exploding Shield	As Sign build, having your Quen shield explode will be very useful early on. The result is knocked down enemies, that can be instantly killed with Sword
4	Active Shield	I cannot stress enough how important this ability is. It provides a sustained Quen shield that restores HP when hit. This is mandatory on Deathmarch difficulty where you have limited options to restore HP
5	Firestream OR Melt Armor	This ability can be fun to use, however, I have only one use case in this build's context - dealing with Shielded enemies. It has a special mechanic - sustained fire will make enemies drop their Shields on the ground due to extreme heat. If you have no problem with these enemies, just take Melt Armor. It is good against some specific enemies that have high armor like Gargoyles or Elementals.
6	Strength Training	This is a good time to start introducing Heavy Attacks. We take the first skill that increases their damage. It will also unlock the next tier in Combat tree
7	Crushing Blows	Further enhances heavy attacks by increasing their critical chance and damage
8	Griffin School Techniques	The perfect time to get this skill. You should have your first Griffin Armor set at this time to utilize the bonuses from the skill.
9	Precise Blows	Boosts the effectiveness of Fast attacks by increasing their critical chance and damage
10	Igni Intensity	Increases the effectiveness of your Igni sign.
11	Quen Intensity	Increases the effectiveness of your Quen sign.
12	Pyromaniac	With the next-gen update, the skill is essential for Igni users. Geralt can now apply burning effect with 100% chance, making encounters against organics much easier.

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.

Order	Skill	Description
13	Magic Sensibilities	Although we will be taking it for progression, it provides extremely good bonuses and allows Signs to deal critical hits. After you ge Conductors of Magic feel free to compare it and choose the one that fits you the most.
14	Piercing Cold	Only taking for progression
15	Razor Focus	Instantly get additional Adrenaline Point at the start of the combat. This is a good ability as the adrenaline point gives a 5% Sign intensity by default and increases damage.
16	Conductors of Magic	I recommend this mutation, it will increase sign damage based on your sword damage. With the next gen update it has become extremely powerful.
17	1 mutation	Continue getting new mutations and Combat skills. They will improve Strong and Fast attack damage. Crippling Strikes will be great for adding additional DoT effect to Igni's burn
18	Any Combat skill level 3
17	Sunder Armor
18	4 mutations
19	Crippling Strikes
	4 mutations	Synergy is a compelling ability but it requires 12 point investment into the Alchemy tree. It will greatly boost Sign Intensity and Attack power gained from mutagens. The combat will become very easy after you have this
20	Any 4 skills in the Alchemy tree with 3 levels
21	Synergy

Tactics

Here are the main tips for the best Spellsword in WIthcer 3

Using combat and Signs together

What makes this build special is that you can effectively use both swords and signs. Of course, you may not be as powerful as a build that concentrates as one, but you get to enjoy the game to its fullest.

The main actions I recommend using:

• Igni - to set enemies on fire to create long openings for the next attacks. Or just make enemies busy
• Fast attacks - good for short attacks when you are unsure what the enemy will do next. Also applies bleed
• Quen Sign - to put on protection or heal
• Strong attacks - perfect follow-up after burning status ends on enemies. Try to hit from the back

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

As you can see, with a few hits from the enemy Geralt was able to restore 2/3 of HP. Moreover, this ability is very good at slowing down the combat to evaluate your situation.

Main rotation

Here is an example of the main rotation I use. It utilizes both signs and close combat:

1. Apply Quen on Geralt at the start of the combat. Of course, if you feel confident you can skip this part as you can always heal fast with an Active shield Quen secondary ability
2. Try to hit multiple enemies with Igni and set them on fire. This way they become disabled while burning.
3. Use that time to either engage other enemies in melee combat or use another Igni
4. Select the enemy that is about to lose its burning status and get behind them.
5. Then use a Strong attack for big damage and follow up with a few fast attacks.

Equipment

Weapons

Steel Swords

Item	Description
Grandmaster Wolven Steel Sword	Use it for a full Wolven set. Provides bonus critical hit and bleeding chance
Grandmaster Griffin Steel Sword	Needed to have the full Griffin set. Gives a boost to Sign Intensity and bonus experience from humans

Silver Swords

Item	Description
Grandmaster Wolven Silver Sword	Use it for a full Wolven set. Provides increased critical hit and bleeding chance. Moreover, increases Sign intensity which is perfect for Spellsword build
Grandmaster Griffin Silver Sword	Necessary for the Griffin set. Provides increased Sign intensity, three slots, and bonus experience from monsters.

Weapon upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Greater Veles Runestone	I recommend equipping this rune on Silver Sword. Because monsters cannot be parried it makes much more sense to increase Geralt's Sign Intensity for more effective signs.
Greater Chernobog Runestone	Increases the attack power of the weapon.
Greater Devana Runestone	Increases the chance to cause bleeding.

Armors

Wolven Armor set

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

Griffin Armor set

Item	Effects
Grandmaster Griffin armor	+24% Sign intensity +19% Resistance to piercing damage +17% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +24% Resistance to slashing damage +26% Resistance to damage from monsters
Grandmaster Griffin trousers	+12% Sign intensity +6% Resistance to piercing damage +9% Resistance to slashing damage +11% Resistance to damage from monsters +33% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Griffin gauntlets	+12% Sign intensity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +4% Resistance to damage from monsters +12% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Griffin boots	+12% Sign intensity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +4% Resistance to damage from monsters

Armor upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Greater Glyph of Quen	Increases Quen sign intensity. Improves one of the main spellsword signs. Increases shield effectiveness.
Greater Glyph of Igni	Increases Igni sign intensity. Improves one of the main spellsword signs by increasing burning chance and damage.
Eruption	I love this Enhancement. It makes enemies explode if they are killed when under the effect of Igni.
Rotation	This is a very interesting Igni enhancement. It will allow spellsword to burn all enemies and then pick them one by one with physical attacks.
Ignition	Enemies set on fire by Igni have a chance to Ignite other enemies nearby. It is a good Glyphword, however, once you get Pyromaniac skill this loses its importance.
Greater Glyph of Mending	This is a very optional upgrade, that I recommend having only as a quality-of-life improvement. It provides bonus Vitality regeneration

Potions and tonics

Item	Effects
Superior Petri's Philter	The main potion that I recommend using in almost all encounters. It increases Sign intensity making them more effective. Also, signs always apply their effects.
Superior Tawny Owl	Improves stamina regeneration. This way Geralt can reuse Signs much faster.
Superior Blizzard	This is an extremely powerful potion. It slows time, allowing for much easier combat overall. Moreover, if you have 3 Adrenaline Points, no action uses stamina. This means that you can cast Signs as long as you have the potion active.
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 Thunderbolt	Increases attack power by 35%

Decoctions

Sepllsword has multiple options for decoctions. Generally, I suggest finding your preferred fight option - combat or signs. Once you decide on it is easy to pick Decoctions - those that increase Sign and stamina effectiveness. Or those that improve combat proficiency or health regeneration.

Item	Effects
Ancient Leshen Decoction	Each Sign cast increases Stamina regeneration for the remainder of the fight. +2 Stamina regeneration in combat.
Doppler Decoction	The build uses Strong attacks often, specifically after the enemy is about to stop burning. This is a very useful decoction for increased damage.
Foglet Decoction	Increases Sign Intensity during cloudy weather. +25% Sign intensity
Ekhidna Decoction	I only suggest using it if you have problems with sustaining health. Otherwise, avoid it.
Water Hag Decoction	Spellsword can easily regenerate HP and sustain it at 100%. With this Geralt's damage will be increased by 50%

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the post on the best Spellsword 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