Silver Swords

The silver sword is the blade a witcher draws for monsters and magical creatures, and the one his trade is named for. The Witcher 3 has 104 of them, many in several variants: a crafted one, and copies at different rarities found as loot or sold by smiths.

Combat

Pros

It is the right blade for the fights a witcher is paid for: monsters and magical creatures. Geralt switches between it and his steel sword at will.
Oils go on the sword, and each one adds damage against a single monster family, in three tiers.
Up to 3 slots for runestones, which add attack power, sign intensity, adrenaline gain or a chance to burn, freeze, poison, bleed, stun or stagger.
A sword with all three slots can carry a runeword instead, enchanted by the Ofieri Runewright at Upper Mill from Hearts of Stone onward.

Cons

Against people, nonhumans and beasts it is the wrong sword. Those fights are for steel.
Every swing wears it down, and a worn blade hits for less. A smith repairs it, or a repair kit does in the field.
Most found swords roll their level and damage when they drop, so the same name can be a strong sword or a weak one.

Builds

Every witcher school makes a silver sword, and the school decides what it adds. Each one belongs to a full set with armour, and the set bonuses are where a build comes together, see Witcher Gear.

Signs. The Griffin sword: +21% sign intensity at grandmaster tier, in a set built around Yrden.
Fast attacks. The Feline sword: critical chance and bleeding, for light armour and a combo of quick strikes.
Adrenaline and Quen. The Ursine sword: +21% adrenaline gain and +75% critical damage at grandmaster tier.
Bleeding hybrid. The Wolven sword: 11% each to sign intensity, adrenaline gain, critical chance and bleeding.
Alchemy and bombs. The Manticore sword: +250 armour piercing, in the one set made only at grandmaster tier.

A relic found late in the game can outhit all of them, but its bonuses are random and it belongs to no set.

Remastered rebuilt the skill trees and reset every point, so pair a sword with your skills in the new tree rather than with a build written before 29 September 2026.

Best Silver Swords

Build	Weapon	Key Figure
Hardest hitter	Ami	532-650 damage at level 48
Grows with you	Aerondight	Each hit charges it 10%; a full charge always crits
Critical hits	Gesheft	+100% critical damage, +15% critical chance
Signs	Grandmaster Griffin Silver Sword	+21% sign intensity
Adrenaline	Grandmaster Ursine Silver Sword	+21% adrenaline gain
Alchemy and bombs	Manticore Silver Sword	Manticore set: +1 charge on every alchemy item

Notes

Rarity runs Common, Master, Magic, Relic, then witcher gear as a class of its own. Higher tiers carry more slots and more bonuses.
Witcher swords are upgraded tier by tier: Basic, Enhanced, Superior, Mastercrafted and, from Blood and Wine, Grandmaster. A journeyman smith goes as far as Superior, a master to Mastercrafted, and Grandmaster needs the smith unlocked by the Toussaint quest Master Master Master Master!
Upgrading keeps runestones and loses a runeword.
In New Game + every witcher diagram becomes a Legendary variant at the same spot, and Legendary swords add your New Game + starting level to theirs.
Remastered adds Reforge: Éibhear Hattori in Novigrad and Yoana at Crow's Perch can change how a sword looks without touching its stats.