Ultimate Bloodbath Build - Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This post will cover the best Bloodbath build in Witcher 3. This is a mutation obtained in Blood and Wine DLC, that greatly improves Geralt's attack power. The more hits are landed the stronger you become.

Bloodbath Build

This is probably the riskiest build, out of them all. For it to work you need to hit enemies multiple times successfully. Although this sounds easy there is a caveat - avoid enemy attacks or lose the bonuses. I will try to offer some options on how best this can be utilized.

Moreover, alchemy will play a major role in this build. It will ensure HP regeneration (in case you get hit) and further improve offensive capabilities. We can also accommodate many combat skills to ensure high adrenaline generation.

However, the main difficulty of this build is that you need to avoid enemy attacks. I recommend this build if you feel experienced with the combat systems and can anticipate enemy attacks. Of course, Quen can help immensely, but remember that you do not want to spend most of the time casting it.

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

Skills allocation

This section covers skills for the Bloodbath build. The main idea of this build is to have plenty of combat skills as you have the most slots for them. Moreover, they serve an important side objective - increase adrenaline generation for more damage.

So for example, if you do not prefer Fast attacks, just skip that column and take skills like Undying or Arrow Deflection.

Name	Effect
Muscle Memory	Fast attack damage increased by 30%.
Strength Training	Strong 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%.
Crushing Blows	Increases chance of landing a strong attack critical hit by 12% and strong attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Fleet Footed	Damage from hits received while dodging is reduced by 100%.
Whirl	Spinning attack that strikes all foes in the surrounding area. Maintaining the attack consumes Stamina and Adrenaline. Consumes 50% less Stamina and Adrenaline
Rend	Deals additional damage in proportion to the Stamina consumed. Ignores enemy Defense and increases critical hit chance by 60%. Adrenaline Points increase total damage by 33%
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%.
Acquired Tolerance	Every known level 1, 2, or 3 alchemy formula increases maximum Toxicity by 0.5
Synergy	Increases bonus for mutagen placed in mutagen slot by 50%.
Fast Metabolism	Toxicity drops 3 points per second faster.
Hunter Instinct	When Adrenaline Points are at their maximum, critical hit damage against the targeted enemy type is increased by 100%.
Killing Spree	If Toxicity is above 0, each opponent killed increases critical hit chance by 30% for the duration of that fight.
Cat School Techniques	Each piece of light armor increases critical hit damage by 25% and fast attack damage by 5%.
Bloodbath	Each fatal blow dealt by a sword dismembers the enemy or activates a finisher. Each blow dealt by a weapon in melee combat increases Attack Power by 5% until combat ends (to a maximum of 250%). The bonus is lost if you take damage (not including damage from Toxicity).

Alternative - Delayed Recovery

This is an interesting build alternative that comes with its pros and cons. First, you will be able to sustain potions indefinitely. Sounds cool? However, you will be unable to use decoctions (important for restoring health on hit).

But the most important part is that the potions allow you to use Superior Blizzard throughout the whole encounter! Combat becomes much easier as you can react to enemies better. So what needs to be changed? Simple, remove:

Name	Effect
Fast Metabolism	Toxicity drops 3 points per second faster.

Then switch it up with

Name	Effect
Delayed Recovery	Potion effects don't wear off until potion Toxicity falls to 55% of the maximum level.

What this will change? You will be able to have potions activated indefinitely as long as the Toxicity is above 55%. This way potions like Superior Swallow can negate HP drain, you can increase attack power, and have Superior Blizzard always active.

However, the question arises as to why I don't use this build as the main one. I prefer using Ekimmara Decoction to restore HP fast, which this alternative build cannot do (it can still use potions but with a limited duration). Of course, you can still use Superior White Raffard's Decoction

If you want additional combat skills and attack power you can also take out:

Name	Effect
Acquired Tolerance	Every known level 1, 2, or 3 alchemy formula increases maximum Toxicity by 0.5

Unfortunately, this way you can use a maximum of 4 potions before reaching the Toxicity limit.

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.
2	Muscle Memory	Fast attacks are the bread and butter of most combat builds, especially early in the game. This will improve Geralt's damage when using them.
3	Strength Training	Increases strong attack damage.
4	Precise Blows	Improves fast attacks critical chance and damage, greatly boosts DPS.
	Acquired Tolerance	Because the build will use decoctions this is a perfect time to get this ability. With it, you can safely use 1 decoction, as having recipes will increase maximum toxicity.
5	Resolve	I think it is important not to lose Adrenaline points with this build. They increase damage and can be easily lost if getting hit a few times.
6	Whirl	My favorite combat ability. Geralt can use stamina and adrenaline points to spin the sword 360 degrees and hit enemies around him.
7	Rend	Alternative version for Strong attack, that consumes stamina to boost damage. Adrenaline points also provide a 33% bonus.
8	Razor Focus	An extremely good perk in any combat build. Increases adrenaline points generation and instantly gives 1 adrenaline point when combat starts
	Cat School Techniques	Very powerful perk, that increases critical damage and fast attack power for each light piece of equipment you have equipped

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

I suggest unlocking mutations as early as you can, however, you will probably do that level 30+. Due

Order	Skill	Description
10	Crushing Blows	Increases strong attack critical hit chance and damage. Greatly improves Strong attack DPS.
12	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.
13	Synergy	A very powerful perk that will improve mutagen effectiveness by 50%. This means that Metamorphosisbuild will reach even higher attack power.
	Fast Metabolism	This is a very important ability as it will allow you to use potions with a short time in between when you will have high toxicity with decoctions.
15	Deadly Counter	We take this mainly for progression but feel free to enable it until you unlock Bloodbath
16	Bloodbath	Here is the main mutation of the build. With it, Geralt can accumulate attack power until getting hit. The more attacks you land the higher damage will become.
17	Any 2 mutations	To unlock the next slot we need additional 2 mutations
18	Killing Spree	Because Bloodbath build will always have above 0 toxicity, this will ensure that you can easily increase the Critical hit chance during combat.
19	Any 4 mutations	To unlock the next slot we need additional 4 mutations
20	Hunter Instinct	This is a very powerful skill. For this reason, we also took Resolve. Now when reaching 3 adrenaline points, critical damage will increase by 100%
21	Any 4 mutations	To unlock the next slot we need additional 4 mutations
23	Fleet Footed	I love to have this skill as it makes dodging much better

Tactics

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

Potion and decoction management

This is very important for this build and can make or break it. First, let's go through the option if you went with Fast Metabolism

• Use 1 decoction until you have Maximum Toxicity of 125
• Once you have 125, you can have 2 decoctions and use one potion in case it is needed
• Once you have 175 maximum toxicity start using 3 decoctions.

For the best decoctions check the equipment section below. There I will list good options. Generally, you should have Ekimmara Decoction and Troll Decoction. They play an important role in providing HP regeneration when intoxicated.

Now for Delayed Recovery, it is fairly simple. You can use as many potions as you want until you reach 100 toxicity. However, I think Superior Blizzard and Superior Swallow are necessary for the Bloodbath build. The first one empowers Geralt and allows him to slow time by improving his reflexes. The second one will give high HP regeneration all the time and will negate intoxication.

Quen in Combat

This part is very important. More or less you should always have Quen when in combat. It serves two purposes:

• You can negate damage to not die as fast
• You will negate damage and keep Bloodbath active

The second one is especially important as if you get hit, you lose the accumulated bonus to attack power and have to start over.

Avoiding enemy attacks

This is another important aspect of the build. You can do these actions to avoid damage:

• avoid arrows with a parry or glyphword Deflection
• dodge enemy attacks
• Roll from enemy attacks
• Parry and countering enemy attacks.

To improve the dodging and give it more usefulness (it can almost replace roll), take the Fleet Footed perk

Equipment

Here is my suggested gear for the Bloodbath build in Witcher 3

Weapons

Steel Swords

Item	Description
Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword	This is the most powerful steel sword in the game. Iris may compare to it in terms of damage, however, this has no confusing mechanics and pure high-damage stats
Iris	The perfect sword for this build. Because the build always uses Strong attacks, you can easily utilize the sword's unique effects. Moreover, you can easily negate its HP drain with Superior Swallow
Viroledan Blade	A decent sword with a +75% critical hit damage bonus. It can only be crafted

Silver Swords

Item	Description
Aerondight	This is the most powerful sword in the game. Each attack raises its charge, resulting in higher damage. However, it requires some grinding for it to be at peak effectiveness. Moreover, to add a rune or runeword to it you will need to add sockets at runewright
Gesheft	A very powerful silver sword that gives a +100% Critical hit damage bonus and a +15 Critical hit chance.
Ami	A strong sword in the game, but the weakest option out of the listed ones. The big drawback is that not many enemies have high armor to make use of +300 armor-piercing

Weapon upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Severance	Increases the reach of Rend and Whirl. Makes combat much easier, especially with Whirl. To be honest, I think this upgrade is the only thing you will need
Greater Chernobog Runestone	Increases the attack power of the weapon. The good option before obtaining Severance

Armors

I recommend two armor options for the Bloodbath build. However, none of them makes Geralt extremely sturdy against enemies. The first one is more offensive and has significantly higher DPS. I also suggest taking Grandmaster Forgotten Wolven Armor as it gives bonus adrenaline point generation and higher protection

Item	Effects
Grandmaster Feline Armor	+22% Attack Power +12% Resistance to piercing damage +17% Resistance to slashing damage +17% Resistance to damage from monsters +46% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Forgotten Wolven Armor	+20% Attack power +20% Adrenaline Point gain +18% Resistance to piercing damage +22% Resistance to slashing damage +30% Resistance to damage from monsters +30% Resistance to elemental damage
Nilfgaardian Guardsman's Gauntlets	+5% Resistance to piercing damage +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +5% Resistance to slashing damage +5% Resistance to damage from monsters +50% Critical hit damage bonus
Grandmaster Feline Trousers	+11% Attack Power +5% Resistance to piercing damage +7% Resistance to slashing damage +7% Resistance to damage from monsters +16% Resistance to elemental damage
Grandmaster Feline Boots	+11% Attack Power +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +6% Resistance to damage from monsters +6% Resistance to elemental damage

Now another option is a bit tamer and allows using two Potions one after another when Geralt has 3 decoctions active. This also gives more protection than the Feline set.

Item	Effects
Manticore Armor	+5 Maximum Toxicity +19% Resistance to piercing damage +24% Resistance to slashing damage +28% Resistance to damage from monsters +25% Critical hit damage bonus
Nilfgaardian Guardsman's Gauntlets	+5% Resistance to piercing damage +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +5% Resistance to slashing damage +5% Resistance to damage from monsters +50% Critical hit damage bonus
Manticore Trousers	+5 Toxicity +9% Resistance to slashing damage +8% Resistance to damage from monsters +33% Resistance to elemental damage +5% Critical hit chance
Manticore Boots	+5 Toxicity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +4% Resistance to damage from monsters +25% Critical hit damage bonus

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.
Deflection	Quality of life upgrades that automatically deflect incoming arrows. I think this is extremely useful, as a stray arrow could easily kill Geralt.
Your preferred Glyph for signs	Go for the Glyphs related to the signs you use. I use Quen most of the time with this build so adding Greater Glyph of Quen is the way to go.

Potions and tonics

Generally, with Fast Metabolism, you will be able to use one potion and wait 8 seconds to use another one. However, with Delayed Recovery, you could use all of them.

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
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

As mentioned, the main two decoctions I recommend are Ekimmara Decoction and Troll Decoction. For the third one choose the preferred one

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.
Troll Decoction	This decoction should be used all the time when you plan to have the Toxicity above 50%. It improves HP regeneration during and outside of combat and counteracts the Toxicity debuff.
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	I include this decoction as it could be a big lifesaver for such a fragile build.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the post on the best Bloodbath 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