Spellsword (sword & sign) build Witcher 3 Next gen

This build is aimed at enabling your fast and strong attacks with strong CC signs (Aard and Yrden) while using potions and decoctions effectively. I find it the most fun way to play the game as it gives true “witchery” vibes.

Intro

The build has two slightly different paths now that depend mostly on your gold:

a) If you have a lot of money and got access to the level 3 runewright – take Adrenaline Burst instead of Flood of Anger (preferable for late game).

b) If money is the problem and/or you like Flood of Anger more, then pick it over Adrenaline Burst.

My end-game skillbuild:

Skills

Combat tree:

· Muscle Memory

· Precise Blows

· Strength Training

· Crushing Blows

· Razor Focus

· Flood of Anger (instead of Adrenaline Burst)

Signs tree:

· Aard Sweep

· Sustained Glyphs

· Magic Trap

· Supercharged Glyphs

Alchemy tree:

· Acquired Tolerance
- Synergy (for late game after getting mutation)

General skills:

· Griffin School Techniques

-Adrenaline Burst (instead of Flood of Anger)

Mutation – Piercing Cold

Additional post-mutation skills:

· Shock Wave

· Aard Intensity

The other two blue skills are not essential, but I would consider Yrden Intensity and Exploding Shield for additional knock-down effect.

Additionally:

Flood of Anger and Supercharged glyphs were nicely buffed, and I found them extremely useful now. In case you don’t know:

Flood of Anger buffed from +125% sign intensity for 3 AP to 300% sign intensity for 3 ap. If you cast empowered Aard then all the enemies (if they are knockable) will lie there for days so you are free to finish them off.

Supercharged Glyphs buffed from useless crap to actually doing decent damage depending on max hp (every tic for a certain max hp percentage). So it is like OK vs regular monsters and REALLY good vs bosses and especially vs Elementals, Trolls and Gargoyles.

Potions and Decoctions

For this build I really like to use two decoctions + Tawny Owl (most important) with the option to pop two more situational potions at the same time. This is why you need Acquired Tolerance from alchemy tree.

Decoctions:

Ekhidna decoction – with this you can forget about food and Swallow – you just heal from casting signs or simply jumping! Really convenient and synergizes with the playstyle.

Forktail decoction – with this build you will be using both attack styles along with signs, so this decoctions suits here the best. To activate 50% attack and sign damage you need to mix your attacks (fast attack + strong attack + sign in any order) so you will get the bonus for your next attack or sign.

As far as potions go – Tawny Owl, Thunderbolt, Petri's Philter, Maribor Forest are the best ones to use. With the help of the Acquired Tolerance you can pop whatever situational potion you need while still having two decoctions at the same time.

Runes

In the early game it doesn’t really matter what you use. Personally, I went with 3x fire runes for the steel sword and 3x poison runes for the silver sword. It all changes once you discover the runewright.



When it comes to runewords, there are two paths, again depending on your gold or love for Flood of Anger:

Access to level 3 runewright and lots of money (preferable for late game):

Replenishment runeword on both your swords. It allows you to transfer your fast-gaining Adrenaline Points into enhancing your sword with the power of the last casted sign:

Enhanced with Aard – next attack staggers and has a chance to knock-down

Enhanced with Quen – next attack will heal

Enhanced with Yrden – next attack will apply a slow

Enhanced with Igni – next attack will deal more damage and a chance to burn

This runeword makes fights far more interesting and more versatile.



Access only to level 2 runewright and/or willing to use Flood of Anger:

Steel sword – Preservation (convenient 20% buff to your attack power and a little armor forever)

Silver sword – Elation (gain 1 adrenaline point for every kill = more Flood of Anger)



Armor – Entanglement for both paths. That is where all the fun begins. When you place an alternative Yrden trap, every zap of it casts an Yrden circle under every enemy hit. With that you literally control the battlefield, since the enemies are slowed and staggered for a long period of time while you are free to hit them and gain more adrenaline points!

Balance other pieces of your armor with Aard and Yrden glyphs (i.e. 3 Aard glyphs + 3 Yrden glyphs for your end-game gear).

Gear

For this build I use the new Forgotten Wolven Armor set (6 pieces) exclusively, cause it looks badass and buffs everything needed for the build (Adrenaline points gain, Aard and Yrden intensity, Attack Power). Also, the grandmaster version of the set boosts Aard damage if it is casted in the Yrden circle. Since you will have a lot of them (via Entanglement runeword), this is by far the best set for this build. At the end of the game if you feel that you lack sword damage, you can replace Forgotten Wolven swords with classic Toussaint Sword+Aerondight combo.

Bonus: Another reason to use full Forgotten Wolven set:

Optional Gear

If for some reason you don't like Forgotten Wolven set, then do some slight changes:
Gear:
Classic Wolf with (or Cat if you like it more) Toussaint sword + Aerondight with double Elation runes for swords
Skills:
Swap Adrenaline Burst with Focus (replace Griffin School techs with Cat school techs if you got Cat armor obviously).
With that setup your damage will be on par (or slightly higher) with the additional Aard damage that grants Grandmaster Forgotten Wolven set. It will also boost your damage output with Adrenaline Points, which are also increasing the chance to instakill with your Piercing Cold.

Gameplay

Your end-game fights will look something like this:

[UmbraMortis]

According to the wiki for the Forktail the fast and strong attack counts as 1, so you need to use the crossbow or toss a bomb (besides the sign) in order to get the buff

No, it's literally fast+strong+sign in any order. You can check it yourself (you don't even need to hit an enemy, just hit the air), look at your stats before the combo and after. There is also a bug (or feature?) that let's you cast signs without losing the 50% buff (but you shouldn't hit with the sword).

[Franknol]

According to the wiki for the Forktail the fast and strong attack counts as 1, so you need to use the crossbow or toss a bomb (besides the sign) in order to get the buff

[Franknol]

Alright, I'll give it a go, thanks

[UmbraMortis]

Nice, but what to do while leveling?
It's not really a guide tho:)
But I would recomment getting Griffin School Technique and blue skills first, since signs are really OP early and there are a lot of blue mutagens to buff them. After that start learning red skills and when you unlock most of potions/decoctions recipes get the Acquired Tolerance.

[Franknol]

Nice, but what to do while leveling?