Witcher 3 Best Steel Swords And How To Get Them

Updated:

28 Mar 2021

Stick 'Em With The Pointy End, G

Witchers have silver swords. Duh. Everyone knows that. But they can’t really go around just hacking away at everything with silver. So, when Geralt needs to take out wild animals, guards, innocent bystanders, or really anything non-magicky, he ALSO needs a solid piece of steel. Read on for my take on the best 5 oversized letter openers available to you in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Honorable Mention: Viper Venomous Sword

5. Faithful Friend

Faithful Friend is a reward for helping return a lost horse to its owner during 2 of the 3 endgame (main story) prologues, on a side quest called “Faithful Friends”. Its powerful attributes leave your foes with little chance.

Players can optimize the swords ability to consistently deal high damage with the boost to Aard to keep foes stunned and at bay.

Effects And Attributes:

+28% Aard Sign intensity
+95% Critical hit damage bonus
+12% Critical hit chance
+15% Chance to poison
+5% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans

What Makes Faithful Friend Great:

Major boost to Aard sign makes for good crowd control
Big Crit stat buffs
Chance to poison

4. Blave

Blave is a steel sword added with the Blood and Wine DLC expansion. It can only be acquired if the player beats Hamal ogn Dangbahli in the first round of the Gwent tournament during “Everything - Turn, Turn, Tournament!”. Blave gives a buff to both Critical Stats and direct attack Signs, buffing both human only combat and general magic. The buff also applies to the use of Axii in conversation This sword is an absolute MUST for Battle Mage builds.

Effects And Attributes:

+15% Aard Sign intensity
+24% Igni Sign intensity
+15% Axii Sign intensity
+75% Critical hit damage bonus
+15% Critical hit chance

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What Makes Blave Great

Named in reference to The Princess Bride
Scales with level of character at time weapon is obtained
Battle Mage friendly -- major buff to all Signs and Crit stats

3. Teigr

Teigr is a witcher gear steel sword in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

It can be obtained during “Where the Cat and Wolf Play…” as loot from defeating Gaetan, or during he may give it as a reward in “Take What You Want” if the player spared him.

Teigr is an absolute standout because it is the only piece of Witcher gear in the game which auto-scales to the level at which it is acquired -- putting off getting it until as late as possible guarantees maximum power, where normal Witcher gear requires rare items to grind for and acquire before expensively crafting.

Effects And Attributes:

+15% Aard Sign intensity
+10% Critical hit chance
+10% Chance to cause bleeding
+5% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans

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What Makes Teigr Great:

Only Witcher Gear weapon in game that scales to player level when obtained (LVL 40+ = Grand Master scale attributes)
Agile, with good Battle Mage effects/attributes along with 3 upgrade slots. Combine with Master Crafted upgrade stones for maximum potential.

2. Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword (Crafted).

YOU MUST HAVE THE CRAFTED VERSION OF THIS SWORD.

I don’t use all caps without justification here. Many players get confused -- there are three versions of the Toussaint Knight Steel sword. The Magic and Normal variants found in the world are very pedestrian…. The crafted version is a monster of a human slayer. The combination of boosted Crit attributes, Chance to Burn, and boosted protective spell abilities make this sword hard to beat on a list of top steel for Geralt.

The diagram can be found in the central ruined tower of the Arthach Palace Ruins, at the upper floor. Players need not go through any special missions or trials to receive it, and the materials are fairly plain.

Effects And Attributes:

+300 Armor piercing
+30% Quen Sign intensity
+100% Critical hit damage bonus
+20% Critical hit chance
+15% Chance to cause burning

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What Makes the Toussaint Knight’s Sword (Crafted) Great:

Armor melts away under the blade
Big Crit damage buff
Additional buff to Quen Sign protective spell, absorbing more damage to player

1. Iris

Iris is, in the writer's opinion, the absolute best steel sword in the Witcher 3, no matter what build the player goes for. Upfront damage with auto-doubled heavy attack damage and dual critical hit rolls, plus a crowd clearing charge attack.

If you decide to save Olgierd von Everec's soul at the end of the main quest line, he'll give this as both his token of gratitude and departure from his old life.

Once Iris has been charged in normal combat, the blade will flash red. The player can trigger an intense strong attack that also does area damage with a push back effect -- very handy in dealing with the crowds of humans that typically swarm Geralt. Additionally, Iris strikes twice ANY time a strong attack is executed. This dual roll includes a second chance at critical -- paired with the right runes and stats, consistent dual criticals are very conceivable.

Effects And Attributes:

Weapon charges with energy during combat. When it's color changes to red, a strong attack will release this energy in an extra powerful strike, at the cost of part of the attacker's Vitality.