Potions

Potions are Geralt's short buffs, brewed through alchemy. Most come in base, Enhanced and Superior tiers, and each holds several charges. Potions add Toxicity, which drains away over time. Meditating with strong alcohol refills every charge.

How It Works

A base potion starts from Dwarven Spirit and a few ingredients. An Enhanced potion is brewed from the base potion and Alcohest. A Superior potion is brewed from the Enhanced one and White Gull.

A Superior potion holds more charges than the base one. Most Superior potions also add an effect of their own. Superior Thunderbolt grants 100% crit chance during storms, and Superior Swallow keeps regenerating Vitality while Geralt takes damage.

Thunderbolt and Petri's Philter add 25 Toxicity per dose, and Cat and Killer Whale add 15. White Honey clears all Toxicity and cancels every active potion effect.

Builds

Sword damage. Thunderbolt: +30% attack power, +35% at Superior.
Signs. Petri's Philter: +15% Sign intensity at base, +25% at Superior. Superior Petri's Philter makes every Sign apply its special effect.
Adrenaline. Maribor Forest speeds up Adrenaline Point gain. The Superior tier grants 1 Adrenaline Point on drinking.
Stamina. Tawny Owl: +5% Stamina regeneration in combat at base, +10% at Superior. Superior Tawny Owl stays active all night.
Survival. White Raffard's Decoction restores Vitality at once: 35% at base, 60% at Enhanced. Swallow speeds up Vitality regeneration over time.
Monster fights. Black Blood returns damage to vampires and necrophages that wound Geralt. Golden Oriole grants immunity to poison.

Best Potions

Build	Item	Key Figure
Attack power	Superior Thunderbolt	+35% attack power; 100% crit chance during storms
Signs	Superior Petri's Philter	+25% Sign intensity; Signs always apply their special effects
Healing	Superior White Raffard's Decoction	Restores 100% Vitality; 3 s of damage immunity
Adrenaline	Superior Maribor Forest	+0.15 Adrenaline Point gain; 1 Adrenaline Point on drinking
Stamina	Superior Tawny Owl	+10% Stamina regeneration in combat
Vampires and necrophages	Superior Black Blood	30% damage returned; they start Bleeding near Geralt
Poison	Superior Golden Oriole	Poisons heal Geralt instead of hurting him

Notes

Geralt knows the Cat, Swallow and White Honey formulas from the start. Vesemir hands over the Thunderbolt formula and its ingredients during The Beast of White Orchard.
Cat grants sight in total darkness. Enhanced Cat adds immunity to hypnosis.
Full Moon raises maximum Vitality by 300. Superior Full Moon also heals Vitality equal to Geralt's current Toxicity.
Blizzard slows time for a moment whenever Geralt slays an enemy. At Superior, with 3 Adrenaline Points available, his actions cost no Stamina during that slowdown.
Killer Whale comes in one tier: +50% breath underwater for 180 s, with better vision while diving.
Drowner Pheromones stop drowners from attacking Geralt for 90 s. The formula comes with Contract: Muire D'yaeblen, and the Herbalist at Kaer Trolde Harbor sells it before then.
Pops' Mold Antidote grants immunity to pops' mold for 360 s. Sigismund Dijkstra gives Geralt the formula and 3 doses during Count Reuven's Treasure.
Potion of Clearance returns every spent ability point to the pool. Keira Metz, Gremist and Yolar sell it for 1,000 crowns, and New Game + starts Geralt with one.
Potion of Restoration returns the ability points spent on mutations. It needs Blood and Wine and costs 1,000 crowns from Toussaint merchants such as the Herbalist in the Herb Store in Beauclair.
Otto Bamber, at the Herbalist's Hut northeast of Oxenfurt, sells many base and Enhanced formulas. Gremist, by the pond north of Gedyneith on Ard Skellig, sells most Superior formulas.