Aerondight: A Truly Legendary Silver Blade - NG+ | DM | HoS & BaW

This blade, found in the Duchy of Toussaint, is a reward for completing a series of quests while fulfilling certain requirements. In this guide, the sword and its stats will be explained in detail, as well as how to unlock it and its corresponding achievement.

Introduction

I am making this guide mostly because I don't want anyone starting the BaW expansion to miss this sword! It is really fun to use and makes the game more enjoyable. You'll love it, I promise.

Also, this guide is directed to anyone who hasn't gotten the blade yet, and wants to- or has, and didn't realize how incredible it actually is. So, newer players just starting the BaW expansion pack and having difficulty with enemies... this sword may prove your savior. For the veteran who simply doesn't care for achievements and just loves to play the game and maybe missed the sword, you should really try it. I promise, it truly is an awesome silver sword.

I won't spoil much of the sections below, but I will say that this is the only sword in the game that 'grows' as your character does. Read on, witcher...

Unlocking Aerondight and Its Achievement

Foreword

To get this sword, you must first go through the hassle of unlocking the achievement titled: Embodiment of the Five Virtues, which is described as: Be given Aerondight by the Lady of the Lake. As you can probably guess, your Geralt must display the five virtues valued by Toussaint knights: Compassion, Generosity, Honor, Valor and Wisdom. This can only be done by completing certain main and side quests in specific way(s). Read below to learn how to get each virtue. (I plan on updating this later, but as of now- there is only one confirmed way to get each one. Anyone that helps identify more will absolutely have their name added in with it.)

READ:
If you happen to fail any of the challenges during the The Warble of a Smitten Knight side quest, this achievement (and hence the sword) will not be unlockable. So, it should go without saying, get everything done in this quest and defeat Gregoire at the end (another achievement).
Also, the side quest There Can Be Only One is how you actually unlock the sword Aerondight. If you miss one of the five virtues entirely, with no remaining virtue Points availiable, the quest will show up failed. You can pick up this quest by checking all the notice boards in Beauclair. I can't remember the specific one, but you should spam-check every notice board the first free second you get, anyways.

Getting the Five Virtues

Compassion
1) After entering Toussaint and defeating Golyat, you'll be tasked to follow Milton for a bit, then defeat a Bruxa in the basement of Corvo Bianco, all in the first main quest The Beast of Toussaint. Then, you'll end up at an arena, where your soon-to-be buddy Guillaume plans to slay a big 'ol Shaelmaar in the Duchess' name. But, he's an arrogant young knight and almost dies, so you have to save him. This fight was kind of tough for me at first, but you'll get it on your second try no problem. To get the Compassion virtue, let the Shaelmaar live after defeating it. Fun fact: if you let the time run out on this one, Geralt will let it live anyways. Also, if you choose to slay it, you will lose the (only) chance for a Compassion virtue in the expansion. So, be a nice witcher.

2) Thanks to Steam user and commenter CompletedQuill for mentioning that he killed the Shaelmaar and was still able to get a Compassion point. I quote, "It's letting the the lady from La Cage Au Fou move in and live in your villa. Seems reasonable, no?" If anyone can verify if this is true, you will also be added.

3) Thanks to FuzzyManBoob: "You can get a compassion point for doing the "The Big Game" quest, and going to the picnic and exhausting all the options, i'm not too sure if it helps to view the exhibits, but i did, i also allowed the woman from the "Le Cage" quest live in the vineyard, but it did not give me the point."

Generosity
1) After completing the third main quest in the expansion, Blood Run, in which you fight a vampire, exit through the door the knights left from and turn left into the main square of Beauclair. A young boy will approach you with a letter. To get the Generosity virtue, give the boy five crowns. Pretty straightforward.

2) This may very well not be a way to get a Generosity point, but I remember it distinctly from my playthrough. During the Scavenger Hunt: Grandmaster Manticore Gear treasure hunt, while searching for the Grandmaster Manticore Silver Sword diagram in the Hidden Chapel, you will eventually happen upon four ghosts of beggars, which you can give alms (ten crowns, actually) to. It would make sense if doing this correctly gave a Generosity point, no? It could also count for a Compassion point...

3) "Note: You can also get "Generosity" for paying the kid at the boot cleaning stand while on the main quest." -hideN

4) "Requirements: 1000 crowns, and a hell of alot of patience.
What you have to do: begin a quest called A Portrait of a Witcher as an Old Man. To find this quest, go to the middle of Beauclair (near the shops and the bank) and there should be a painter. Talk to him and accept the quest, proceed through the quest but when you reach the point where he offers and begs you to buy his painting pay the 1000 crowns and you prove your generosity, thus attaining the generosity point."
Thanks to user ★WeaPhoenix★ for finding this!

Honor
1) A little ways into the side quest The Warble of a Smitten Knight, you'll have to have a horse duel against the Rivian Prince. Make sure to defeat him to get the Honor point. You can actually use potions here, so make use of them. If you get hit, pop a Swallow or White Raffard's and move about so he can't hit you, then go in for him when your health is restored. Time does slow down when he is about to swing, so you can aim well too. It might take a few tries to get it right, though.

2) "You can also get a honor point during the mission to recover Reginalds "jewels" in Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Granite by allowing the old man to use the testicles for a day instead of just taking them." - Hexatorium

Valor
1) Back with the The Warble of a Smitten Knight side quest, you will follow a cute yellow Oriole into the woods and then return and talk to Guillaume. To get the Valor point, choose the dialogue option to return to the games and finish them. Make sure to win everything and defeat Gregoire at the end.

2) I cannot remember the name of the quest, but near where the Lady of the Lake resides, there is a cave system and a man asleep at a campsite. Wake him and help him defeat the monster in the cave (something like a Leshen, but more powerful) then tell him to take the trophy and go home. I'm pretty sure that this quest gives a Valor point; I read it somewhere on IGN. Someone drop a comment and help me out.

Wisdom
1) Partways into the main quest La Cage Au Fou, you'll hide in a closet in the home of a spotted wight. After a bit, you'll get the choice to either attack the creature or try and cure it. To get the Wisdom point, cure the monster. Easy peasy. Make sure to take the poor old thing home after you're done, as that is the nice thing to do.

2) Thanks to user P4NCAK3 for bringing this to my attention: "You can get another Wisdom point for not attacking the Brothers in the "Father Knows Worst" quest." This makes sense, and I'm relatively sure that it's valid.

Once you are sure you have a point for each of the Virtues, and have also gotten the side quest There Can Be Only One, you are ready to get the sword. Start up the aforementioned quest and make your way to the small isle. Walk on water like Jesus then talk to the hermit on the little patch of earth in the middle. He will surely tell you that you are a man of great virtue and list all your points (should be five, duh). Then, tell him you are ready for the final test. The second you take control of Geralt, pop Quen and immediately hack the Hermit twice. Then, dodge behind him and do that again a few times until he gets to low health. He will submit. If you don't do this, you're gonna get blasted by water and sucked into a liquid tornado- so make it quick.

Now, it's finally over, and time to retrieve your lovely new Aerondight. After a short chat with the Lady of the Lake, you can take the marvelously floating sword, which will dispense your water-walking powers. Open your inventory and marvel at its beautifully confusing stats. Read on for an explanation.

Aerondight's Stats and Why It's so Good

Base Stats

At level 30 flat, the base damage range is 508-620. This is about average for a level 30 equivalent sword, but it's the effects that we care about.

I received mine at level 77, during a NG+ run, and the base damage range was 792-968. Here's a picture of my inventory right after receiving it:


For anyone who cannot or won't read the description, let me rewrite it below:

Each blow generates charges which increase sword damage by 10%. Charges are lost over time or when receiving damage. A fully-charged sword always deals critical hit damage.

Killing a foe with a fully loaded sword will expend its charge to permanently increase the weapon's damage. Damage is increased by: 0 (to a maximum of 10 - increasing along with your character level).

Excited yet? Read on...

Effects

So, the first half of the description of Aerondight's effects state that each blow (has to be an unblocked, unparried, actual damaging blow- not an issue with most monsters) increases sword damage by 10%... implying that sword damage, at a full 10 charges, will do 100% more damage- AND- a fully-charged blade will always land critical hits. Seriously... it's amazing.

Pair it with this skill, which increases critical hit damage by 75%... and your hits (which are always critical hits at 10 charges) are nearly always 1-shots to any enemy.

But, if you get hit (while Quen is active it doesn't count- yay!) you lose half your charges. So, if you're at 10 charges and get hit, you're at 5 charges. If you get hit at 5 charges, you go to 2.5 which the game brings to 2, then from 2 to 1 and 1 to 0. Quite simple.

Don't worry about the 'charges are lost over time' part, because it takes literal minutes to lose just 1 charge. In a battle, you'll never lose a point for time unless you are running around like a baby.






Also, with each effective hit, the sword flashes brightly and 1 charge is added to the counter right under your health bar. See here? That's a fully-charged, 10 charge sword.

The next half of the sword's description is really neat. The first time you look at Aerondight in your inventory, it will say damage is increased by: 0. This is a literal, never-ending sword damage increase that is not affected by time or anything else. It's an infinite damage boost. So, how do you increase this? Simply build up a fully-charged, 10 charge blade by hacking at enemies and then kill one. The blade will flash brightly, charges will be reset to 0 and the sword's damage is permanently increased by 2. The maximum amount of damage increase is 10 for the first level, but at the next level the cap is 20, then 30, then 40 etc....

But, do not worry too much about getting the max damage increase for each level, because even if you don't hit the damage increase cap and level Geralt up, the next cap still increases by 10 from the previous cap.

I.e.- If you have increased damage permanently by 8 on your first level, then level up before you can get it to 10, on your second level, the description will say damage increased by: 8 to a maximum of 20. So it is still possible to attain max damage increase even if you are sloppy during your leveling.

As of yet, I do not think there is a limit to how many times this can occur. As far as I know, this sword literally grows with your character.

Aesthetics and In-Action Pictures

During the Quest

Here she is, coming out of the water. Without a doubt, some of the sickest runes on any sword in the game.

Probably the coolest and most detailed pommel on a sword I've seen.

Fully out of the water, you can see how simply beautiful the blade is. It looks even better in a sheath.

Here's our Geralt and his new blade.

In Action

Here it is on Geralt's back, alone. It has a very simply pretty look, with the slim cross-guard and braided sheath.

Here it is at full charge; it glows brightly and even leaves a smoldering trail of light when swung, much like a lightsaber.

You can see that the runes leave a bright trail that fades quickly with the swordswing. Pretty neat.

Concluding Notes

Overall, this is probably my favorite sword in the game; aesthetically it's very pleasing and functionally it really is incredible. It goes well with any witcher set and really gets the job done when fighting tougher monsters.

Remember these tips when using Aerondight:

• Try to increase its damage whenever possible by smacking a few enemies until you get to 10 charges, then focus on one until it dies
  
• Don't get hit- dodge, roll, whatever... just don't get hit because it will decrease your number of charges
  
• Try to incorporate the Precise Blows skill into your build
  
• Enjoy being a witcher-jedi hybrid

If you learned something or enjoyed this guide, you know what to do:




Thanks,
Bagger.

P.S.- Tell me if I made any grammatical mistakes anywhere in the guide. Also, if you know of any ways to earn specific virtues other than the ways listed, please tell me! I will add your name right after putting it in.

Major Changelog

Any major changes made to the guide are listed here, with dates.

08/21/2016 - Started the guide and kept it private until public release.

08/22/2016 - Released the guide to the public.

12/23/2016 - Updated some virtue points and fixed a few grammatical mistakes.

[Psychobagger]

@hideN added

[󠁳⁧nt]

Note: You can also get "Generosity" for paying the kid at the boot cleaning stand while on the main quest.

[Psychobagger]

Yep.

[Ghoul]

thank you !

[Psychobagger]

Thanks! Added.

[Hexatorium]

You can also get a honor point during the mission to recover Reginalds "jewels" in Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Granite by allowing the old man to use the testicles for a day instead of just taking them.

[AnInsaneOstrich]

You can get a compassion point for doing the "The Big Game" quest, and going to the picnic and exhausting all the options, i'm not too sure if it helps to view the exhibits, but i did, i also allowed the woman from the "Le Cage" quest live in the vineyard, but it did not give me the point.

[Psychobagger]

@★WeaPhoenix★ - Haha! I remember that quest! I'll add it in.

[PeGeY]

@Psychobagger - I found a way to get generosity heres how

Requirements: 1000 crowns, and a hell of alot of patience


What you have to do: begin a quest called a portrait of a witcher as a old man, to get this go to the middle of the main city and there should be a painter, talk to him and accept the quest, proceed through the quest but when you reach the point where he offers and begs you to buy his painting pay the 1000 crowns and you prove generosity.

[PeGeY]

@Psychobagger - you too