Damage Types and Effects
Geralt carries two swords: a steel sword for humans, non-humans and beasts, and a silver sword for monsters and magical creatures. The character panel shows weapon damage as DPS for each sword. Armor resistances name the physical damage types. Signs, bombs, oils and runestones add damage and effects of their own.
Damage Types
Physical Damage
- The physical damage types are slashing, piercing and bludgeoning, named after the matching armor resistances.
- Armor also resists "damage from monsters" and "elemental damage" as separate categories.
- Crossbow bolts deal piercing or bludgeoning damage plus a separate silver damage value.
- Blunt crossbow bolts deal bludgeoning damage instead of piercing.
| Bolt | Image | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Bolts |  |
4-6 piercing, +4 silver |
| Underwater (harpoon) Bolts |  |
9-11 piercing, +400 silver |
Elemental and Sign Damage
Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill. The General skill Elemental Attunement names the non-physical damage types: fire, frost, force, magic and poison. It raises them by 3% at rank 1.
- Igni deals fire damage, and Firestream deals continuous fire damage.
- Aard with Shockwave, Yrden's Magic Trap and Supercharged Glyphs, and Quen's Exploding Shield also deal damage.
- Aftershock makes every Sign cast deal magic damage in a small radius.
- Bleeding and Burning deal damage over time.
- Pyrotechnics makes every bomb deal 50 damage on top of its effects at rank 1.
Oils and Runestones
Oils coat a sword for extra damage against one enemy type: +10% Attack Power for a basic oil, +25% Enhanced and +50% Superior. Most oils go on the silver sword, and a few work on the steel sword. A basic oil gives 20 charges.
| Runestone | Image | Status Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Dazhbog |  |
3% burning |
| Stribog |  |
3% stagger |
| Triglav |  |
3% stun |
| Morana |  |
3% poison |
| Zoria |  |
3% freeze |
| Devana |  |
3% bleeding |
Effects
Bleeding
Bleeding is a status effect that deals damage over time. Weapons, runestones and bolts list it as a percentage chance to cause bleeding. Broadhead and Tracking Bolts apply it on every hit.
Gear That Adds It
The Devana Runestone adds a chance to cause bleeding to a sword. Runestones go in weapon upgrade slots. Both bolts below have a 100% chance to cause bleeding. The Tracking Bolt also adds +100 armor piercing.
| Item | Image | Bleed | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devana Runestone | |
3% | - |
| Greater Devana Runestone |  |
5% | - |
| Grandmaster Feline Steel Sword |  |
15% | - |
| Hen Gaidth Steel Sword |  |
15% | - |
| Cantata |  |
15% | - |
| Broadhead Bolt |  |
100% | 15 s |
| Tracking Bolt |  |
100% | 120 s |
Resistance
The Glyph of Binding is an armor glyph that gives +3% resistance to bleeding.
Before Remastered
The Combat skill Crippling Strikes made fast attacks apply Bleeding for 5 seconds. The enemy lost a fixed amount of Vitality or Essence each second. Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill. Crippling Strike now cripples instead: fast-attack crits raise the damage the enemy takes by 10% at rank 1.
Burning
Burning is a status effect that deals damage over time. Igni, the fire Sign, deals fire damage and has a chance to set enemies on fire. Burning enemies keep taking damage.
How It Works
Igni's alternate mode, Firestream, emits a continuous stream of fire. Its Stamina cost drops by 25% at rank 2 and by 50% at rank 3. Igni can also ignite flammable gas clouds in swamps and dungeons. The explosion damages nearby enemies.
Gear That Adds It
The Dazhbog Runestone adds a chance to cause burning to a sword. Dancing Star is a bomb whose fiery explosion can set nearby opponents burning. It also destroys monster nests. The base Dancing Star deals 100 fire damage, lasts 4 s and has 2 charges. The Exploding Bolt deals fire damage.
| Item | Image | Burn |
|---|---|---|
| Dazhbog Runestone | |
3% |
| Greater Dazhbog Runestone |  |
5% |
| Squire's Steel Sword (Relic) |  |
15% |
| Loathen |  |
12% |
| Harvall |  |
9% |
| Daystar |  |
8% |
Skills
Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill. Melt Armor makes Igni damage reduce enemy armor, more with each rank. It also adds +10% burn chance at rank 1. Elemental Attunement, a General skill, adds +3% non-physical damage at rank 1, fire included.
Before Remastered
The Igni skill Pyromaniac raised burn chance by +20%, +40% and +60% at levels 1 to 3. In the Remastered tree, the burn chance bonus sits on Melt Armor.
Freezing
Freeze is a status effect that immobilizes enemies for a short time. Swords, runestones, the Northern Wind bomb and the Piercing Cold mutation can all freeze. Frozen foes take extra damage from the blows that follow a Northern Wind blast.
Gear That Adds It
The Zoria Runestone adds a chance to freeze to a sword. Northern Wind is a bomb that freezes foes caught in its blast. The base bomb has 2 charges. Superior Northern Wind has 4 charges and adds a chance to instantly kill frozen foes.
| Item | Image | Freeze |
|---|---|---|
| Zoria Runestone | |
3% |
| Greater Zoria Runestone |  |
5% |
| Tor Zireael |  |
20% |
| Reach Of The Damned |  |
13% |
| Tlareg |  |
12% |
| Lune |  |
4% |
| Gwestog |  |
2% |
| Winter Blade |  |
2% |
Addan Deith, Ashrune, Carabella, Deithwen, Moonblade, Wild Hunt Warrior's Sword and Winter's Blade also carry a chance to freeze.
Piercing Cold
Piercing Cold is a Signs (blue) mutation. It gives Aard a 25% chance to freeze opponents. Aard also deals extra damage with it. Opponents that are frozen and knocked down at the same time die. Researching it costs 3 skill points and 3 Greater Blue Mutagens.
Poison
Poison is a status effect that deals damage over time. Weapons and runestones list it as a percentage chance to poison. The Golden Oriole potion makes Geralt immune to it.
Gear That Adds It
The Morana Runestone adds a chance to poison to a sword. Devil's Puffball is a bomb that releases a cloud of poison when it detonates. The base bomb deals 100 poison damage, lasts 10 s and has 2 charges.
| Item | Image | Poison |
|---|---|---|
| Morana Runestone | |
3% |
| Greater Morana Runestone |  |
5% |
| Gesheft |  |
15% |
| Viper Venomous Steel Sword |  |
15% |
| Gynvael |  |
11% |
| Dahlia |  |
10% |
Skills
Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill. Toxic Shock needs Poisoned Blades, Debilitating Poison follows Toxic Shock, and Potent Sting follows Debilitating Poison.
| Skill | Rank 1 |
|---|---|
| Poisoned Blades | Oiled blades get a 5% chance to poison |
| Toxic Shock | A strong attack on a poisoned enemy consumes the poison for a burst of 25% of the attack damage, once every 5 s |
| Debilitating Poison | Poisoned targets deal 5% less damage |
| Potent Sting | Poisoned weapons deal +5% damage, or +10% against poison-immune targets |
| Viper School Techniques | +2% max Vitality and +2% poison damage per piece of medium armor |
| Elemental Attunement | +3% non-physical damage, poison included |
Immunity
Golden Oriole grants immunity to poisons and neutralizes poisons already in the bloodstream. The immunity also covers noxious gas and monster poison attacks. The base potion lasts 60 s and has 3 charges.
Stun
Stun is a status effect. Weapons and runestones list it as a percentage chance to stun. The Cat Eyes mutation lets crossbow bolts stun as well. Remastered polished how non-boss monsters fight, including the application of effects.
Gear That Adds It
The Triglav Runestone adds a chance to stun to a sword.
| Item | Image | Stun |
|---|---|---|
| Triglav Runestone | |
3% |
| Greater Triglav Runestone |  |
5% |
| Hen Gaidth Steel Sword | |
15% |
| Tesham Mutna Steel Sword |  |
15% |
| Cantata | |
15% |
| Azure Wrath |  |
12% |
| Forgotten Vran Sword |  |
10% |
Cat Eyes
The mutation Cat Eyes makes crossbow bolts pierce through enemies and knock down or stun them. It also raises crossbow crit chance by 50%. An enemy hit by a bolt at full Vitality loses 15% of its Vitality.
Stagger
A staggered enemy is left open for a follow-up attack. Aard, the telekinetic Sign, is a directed blast that staggers opponents or knocks them down. Runestones and some swords add a percentage chance to stagger.
Aard Skills
Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill. The Aard skills in the Remastered Signs tree are Far-Reaching Aard, Aard Sweep and Shockwave. Catalyst boosts Aard against enemies inside Yrden. Remastered also polished how non-boss monsters react in combat, including the application of effects.
Gear That Adds It
The Stribog Runestone adds a chance to stagger to a sword.
| Item | Image | Stagger |
|---|---|---|
| Stribog Runestone | |
3% |
| Greater Stribog Runestone |  |
5% |
| Ami |  |
15% |
| Rose Of Shaerrawed |  |
12% |
| Hav'caaren |  |
11% |
| Fate |  |
10% |
| Naevde Seidhe |  |
10% |
| Ultimatum |  |
8% |
Knockdown
Aard can knock enemies to the ground as well as stagger them. A knocked-down enemy can be finished off with a single execution move. Remastered added new finisher animations for Geralt.
How It Works
Higher sign intensity raises Aard's chance to knock enemies down. Aard can also knock flying enemies out of the sky so the sword can reach them. Aard Sweep, the alternate Aard mode, hits all opponents within a radius. Remastered rebuilt the skill trees with three ranks per skill, and Aard Sweep's knockdown chance grows with rank.
| Rank | Knockdown |
|---|---|
| 1 | 21% lower than Aard |
| 2 | 17% lower than Aard |
| 3 | Same as Aard |
Mutations
The mutation Cat Eyes makes crossbow bolts knock down or stun opponents. The mutation Piercing Cold kills opponents that are knocked down and frozen at the same time.
On Horseback
Roach has a fear meter that fills when enemies are close or when she is hit. When it is full, she throws Geralt off and he has to fight on foot.
Before Remastered
At level 3, the Quen skill Exploding Shield gave the breaking shield a chance to knock enemies down.
Dismemberment
Chance to dismember is a weapon stat. Some swords list a percentage chance to dismember among their bonus effects. Remastered added new finisher animations for Geralt.
Gear That Adds It
Gwestog carries a chance to dismember along with Quen sign intensity and a 2% chance to freeze.
| Sword | Image | Dismember |
|---|---|---|
| Grandmaster Ursine Silver Sword |  |
14% |
| Grandmaster Feline Steel Sword | |
10% |
| Grandmaster Griffin Silver Sword |  |
10% |
| Caerme |  |
1-10% |
| Hope |  |
1-10% |
| Headhunter |  |
1-2% |
Finishers
The mutation Deadly Counter makes a counterattack trigger a finisher at once when the attacker's Vitality is under 25%. New Finisher Animations is one of the free DLCs.
All Mechanics
| Group | Pages |
|---|---|
| Signs | Signs, Aard, Igni, Yrden, Quen, Axii, Sign Intensity |
| Stats | Attack Power, Critical Hits, Armor Piercing, Adrenaline Points, Vitality, Stamina, Toxicity, Experience, Resistances, Damage Types and Effects |
| Skills and Mutations | Skills, Combat Skills, Cat School Techniques, Griffin School Techniques, Bear School Techniques, Mutagens, Mutations, Cat Eyes |
| Other Systems | Combat, Witcher Senses, Gwent, Reforge |
All Categories
