Highlights
- The Ursine Steel Sword is considered the best in terms of raw DPS, but its bonuses are not as exciting compared to other Witcher swords.
- The Feline Steel Sword complements a swift combat strategy and provides bonuses like increased critical hit chance and bonus experience from enemies.
- The Viroledan Blade is a powerful alternative to the Iris, offering direct damage and bonus effects like bleeding, poison, and a chance for an instant kill.
In The Witcher universe, a witcher's life is tough. They're practically orphaned against their will, mutilated, experimented on, and subjected to all kinds of horrid mutations that strip them of their humanity just so they could become glorified exterminators in a dark fantasy world full of monsters. That sounds simple enough, except some of the "pests" they tend to hunt are also the very humans whom they have sworn to help.
That's why every witcher carries around a steel sword-- wouldn't want to dull that soft silver blade on fatty human flesh. For that matter, steel swords are just as important as tools for witchers. Lucky for Geralt and the player, there's no shortage of them in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Updated August 23, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: The Witcher 3 needs no grand introduction. The trilogy has sold over 50 million copies and counting, and by all estimates, the third and final entry commands the lion's share of those sales. It's an amazing feat, and it's no wonder our readers still search for coverage on The Witcher 3 on a regular basis. We're slashing through old articles to ensure they're polished to a mirror sheen.
15 Ursine Steel Sword
In terms of raw Damage-Per-Second, the Ursine Steel Sword is often considered to be the best of all the Witcher School steel swords available throughout the world. That said, this isn't considering the other bonuses available through the Witcher School swords.
What perks are available to the Ursine Steel Sword come from its complement of heavy armor (which the Ursine armor is). At the mastercrafted level, it gives +20 percent Adrenaline Point gain, +75 percent Critical hit damage bonus, and +5 percent experience from humans and nonhuman enemies. These bonuses aren't especially exciting compared to other Witcher School steel swords.
14 Feline Steel Sword
The Feline School Gear focuses on swift movement, light armor, and quick killings. This is the preferred tactic of many Witchers, and the Feline Steel Sword compliments that combat strategy.
The mastercrafted version of the Feline Steel Sword +10 percent Critical hit chance, +15 percent chance to cause bleeding, +5 percent bonus experience from humans and nonhuman enemies. It serves as a brutal and swift weapon for Geralt to deal with his human and nonhuman foes.
13 Teigr
The Teigr is a unique sword that can only be obtained from the "Where the Cat and Wolf Play..." quest, where Geralt encounters another Witcher from the Feline School, named Gaeten, who killed a village of people for not paying him enough.
This is given to Geralt regardless of whether he kills or spares Gaeten, and the Teigr steel sword actually scales with Geralt no matter what level he is at during the first playthrough of the game. It provides Geralt +15 percent Aard Sign intensity, +10 percent Critical hit chance, +10 percent chance to cause bleeding, +5 percent bonus experience from humans and nonhuman. These bonuses are solid, but the scaling is one of the most important factors in the Teigr.
12 Manticore Steel Sword
The Manticore School gear is only available through the Blood and Wine downloadable content for Witcher 3. It is only available in its Grandmaster form as well, which is another form of Witcher School gear only available in the Blood and Wine DLC.
One of the most powerful aspects of the Manticore steel sword is that it rips through armor, with its bonuses being +250 Armor-piercing, +50 percent Critical hit damage bonus, +5 percent Critical hit chance, +10 percent chance to cause bleeding +5 percent bonus experience from humans and nonhumans.
11 Viper Steel Sword
The Viper steel sword isn't one of the best swords overall, but it's worth a spot on this list for how early in the game it is available to Geralt and the power it provides the Witcher at that stage of the game much like the Drake Sword from Dark Souls.
In the earlier stages of the game, this sword provides Geralt an edge over most non-monster enemies that would stand in his way. The sword provides +15 percent Chance to poison and +5 percent bonus experience from humans and nonhumans.
10 Wolven Steel Sword
The Wolven Steel Sword or the Wolven set in general, is Geralt's go-to for versatility and successfully captures his "everyman" capabilities. As such, this steel sword has a decent balance of magic and physical damage, with a +11 percent Sign Intensity bonus, +11 percent Adrenaline Gain, +11 percent Critical Chance, and +11 percent Chance to Cause Bleeding.
This makes the Wolven Steel Sword a good option for an all-around Geralt build who's ready to deal with everything. Although, don't expect it to shine in any aspect of combat; this sword is perfect of the jack-of-all-trades, master of none mentality. Make sure to get the Grandmaster variant through the "Scavenger Hunt: Grandmaster Wolven Gear" quest in Blood and Wine.
9 Iris
In order for rarer swords to compete against the standard witcher gear, they have to have some bloated stats or at least a useful gimmick. The Iris is one such steel sword that ought to turn heads or at least catch your attention enough to consider replacing whatever sword you're using with it.
Olgierd von Everec bestows this saber blade to Geralt after he finishes the main Hearts of Stone questline. Its stats are rather conservative, but it comes with a charge mechanic whereupon it will discharge a strong shockwave attack when full, dealing more damage than an Aard but also consuming the witcher's vitality. Definitely, one of the most fun weapons to use on this list, although not exactly the most damaging.
8 Faithful Friend
The Faithful Friend steel sword, which you get as a reward from the "Faithful Friend" sidequest, is all about attrition and direct damage. Its stat combination, which is +28 percent Aard Sign Intensity, +95 percent Critical hit damage bonus, +12 percent Critical hit chance, and +15 percent Chance to poison, leaves your human enemies with no time to breathe.
That makes the Faithful Friend a great option for aggressive witchers who rely on continuous damage combined with the stun of the Aard sign for tougher and shielded enemies. Additionally, the wavy blade design is just beautiful and unique that you might even find it hard to replace the Faithful Friend based on looks alone.
7 Viroledan Blade
If you prefer the saber-appearance of the Iris but without the charge gimmick, then Viroledan Blade is a great alternative that could be even more powerful. It's a craftable steel sword whose diagram you can obtain from Loth's quarters inside the Tulasens Caves in Toussaint.
As for its stats, the elegant Viroledan Blade is all about direct damage and lucky strikes. The weapon has +75 percent Critical hit damage bonus, +15 percent Critical hit chance, +15 percent Chance to cause bleeding, +15 percent Chance to poison, and +3 percent Chance for an instant kill; therefore, if the enemies don't die outright, they'll either bleed, get poisoned, or suffer your critical damage. That's just brutal.
6 Vitis
The Vitis is yet another elegant blade for more sophisticated witchers. The steel word can obtain it in the Land of a Thousand Fables, close to Longlocks' tower and the Vizima Dragon illusion. Do note that Vitis is for "Mage" build witchers who prefer to use magic instead of getting physical.
Hence, Vitis gives users a +20 percent Sign Intensity to all the witcher's signs, meaning Aard, Quen, Yrden, Igni, and Axii. It's a must-have sword for anyone using the Griffin School set or anyone who likes magic better. Plus the Vitis looks like a gorgeous rapier with a graceful hilt guard.
5 Blave
While similar to the Vitis, Blave also gives the option for players to utilize critical damage instead of just signs. The stats are as follows: +15 percent Aard Sign intensity, +24 percent Igni Sign intensity, +15 percent Axii Sign intensity, +75 percent Critical hit damage bonus, and +15 percent Critical hit chance, making it perfect for battlemage-type-builds.
Acquiring Blave, however, might be a lot more difficult compared to other swords. It is only given as a reward if you beat Hamal ogn Dangbahli in a game of Gwent during a tournament featured in the Blood and Wine expansion.
4 Hen Gaidth/Tesham Mutna
This entry might look like a cop-out but both the Hen Gaidth and Tesham Mutna steel swords actually share the same stats. Hen Gaidth can be acquired in the "What Lies Unseen" quest, while Tesham Mutna is from the "La Cage au Fou" quest. Both swords were added in the Blood and Wine expansion.
On their own, both blades deal big damage; however, when paired with their respective armor sets, you can receive a set bonus that allows Vitality (health) to be recovered by killing your opponents, essentially turning Geralt into a vampire witcher.
3 Belhaven Blade
Stat-wise, it seems The Witcher community's math for Belhaven Blade makes it more powerful than either the Hen Gaidth or the Tesham Mutna. The Belhaven Blade comes with +30 percent Aard Sign intensity, +100 percent Critical hit damage bonus, +15 percent Critical hit chance, and +15 percent Chance to poison.
If you can get your Critical chance to 100 percent, that makes the Belhaven Blade a tier above Hen Gaidth/Tesham Mutna. You can acquire the diagram for this crafted steel sword at the bottom of Sansretour River alongside a Supplies Invoice associated with the "Waiting for Goe and Doh" treasure quest.
2 Hjalmar's Steel Sword
Hjalmar's Steel Sword, like Iris, is also given as a gift to Geralt in the main quest, but only if you defeat a Vildkaarl in a fistfight during the Kaer Trolde banquet while doing the quest "King's Gambit." However, you'll want to make a quick save before Hjalmar actually gives you the sword.
That's because the only notable stat for this steel sword is the +45 to 200 percent Critical hit damage bonus, a percentage that is randomized every time he gives it to you as a reward. That means you can re-load as many times as you want until you get the 200 percent Critical hit damage bonus. Paired with Critical chance potions or decoctions or even oils, Hjalmar's Steel Sword can be a beast and can even surpass the best sword on this list.
1 Touissant Knight's Steel Sword (Crafted)
All the shiny swords here mostly pale in comparison with the crafted variant of the Toussaint Knight's sword: The Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword. Just take a look at how monstrous it is compared to any of the other delicate witcher swords: +300 Armor-piercing, +30 percent Quen sign intensity, +100 percent Critical hit damage bonus, +20 percent Critical hit chance, and +15 percent Chance to cause burning.
You don't even need to complete a quest to earn statistically (and readily) the most powerful sword in this game; the Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword's diagram can be found in the central ruined tower of the Arthach Palace Ruins, at the upper floor. After getting this sword, it's time to make those overpowered city guards get a taste of Toussaint knight steel.