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Of all the weapons players use in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt perhaps most useful are the silver swords. These weapons are intended for the slaying of mythical, mystical, and magical beasts. While steel swords will carve through human enemies, silver swords will cut down any fearsome creature of legend.

There are a lot of swords to choose from, and the best option will vary depending on play style and enemies. For general use, however, players should strongly consider one of the silver blades listed below to fulfill their contracts.

Updated November 18, 2023, by Ritwik Mitra: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the greatest video games ever made, turning CD Projekt Red into one of the biggest companies in the gaming landscape. The adventures of Geralt were a blast to experience firsthand, and fans can't wait to see how the series evolves after Geralt's story ends on a high note. Players will get many silver swords to deal with monsters, and the best of the bunch can cleave most enemies in half with ease.

20 Bloodsword

Complete The Quest 'Inheritance'

Witcher 3 Bloodsword
  • 310-380 Damage
  • 5-20% Critical Hit Damage
  • 1-4% Critical Hit Chance
  • 9% Bleed
  • 1-2 % Dismember

Found as hidden treasure in Boxholm, the Bloodsword is a solid choice for taking down tough beasts or if under-leveled for the challenge ahead. It deals 227 to 277 damage every hit and raises critical hit damage and the chance of landing a critical.

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But the sword’s main benefit is the added chance of causing bleeding and dismemberment. Bleed will deal damage over time, making foes fall faster, and dismemberment is always helpful. It’s a great sword to attack a few times until the bleed effect kicks in. Geralt can then back off and play defensively while the bleeding does its work.

19 Naevde Seidhe

In The Ancient Ruins Under The Mountains Of Ard Skellig

Witcher 3 Naevde Seidhe
  • 363-443 Damage
  • 8-15% Igni Sign Intensity
  • 8-15% Yrden Sign Intensity
  • 10% Stagger

There are actually three ways to obtain this sword. The first is by finding it in a Monster’s Den in Kaer Gelen near the Miner’s Camp. The second is by completing the quest For Fame And Glory. Finally, players can find one in the Ancient Crypt at Ard Skellig.

It’s the ideal sword for players that rely heavily upon signs as it boosts the intensity of Igni and Yrden signs. It also has a chance of causing stagger, which can be useful for getting some distance to cast signs or retreat if need be.

18 Manticore Silver Sword

Craftable Weapon Introduced In Blood & Wine

Witcher 3 Geralt On Roach Holding Manticore Silver Sword
  • 335 – 409 Damage
  • 250 Armor Piercing
  • 50% Critical Damage
  • 5% Critical Hit Chance
  • 10% Bleed
  • +5% Experience From Humans/Nonhumans

The Manticore Silver Sword is obtained from a diagram hidden in a cave beneath the Palace Gardens. It’s guarded by gas and a mysterious stranger, but it’s worth the effort. The sword comes with some powerful stats.

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It comes short of the Grandmaster gear from other schools, but it is more than capable of doing the job. The armor-piercing combined with bleed makes it ideal for tough targets. The experience gain is also handy when facing humans and nonhumans alike.

17 Sarrim

Craftable Weapon Introduced In Hearts Of Stone

Witcher 3 Geralt On Roach Holding Sarrim
  • 418 – 512 Damage
  • 15% Aard Sign Intensity
  • 15% Igni Sign Intensity
  • 15% Axii Sign Intensity
  • 75% Critical Hit Damage
  • 10% Critical Hit Chance

To wield the mighty Sarrim, players must find its diagram located at a bandit camp in the Kilkerinn Ruins. The sword provides a number of boosts in addition to great damage.

This puts the Sarrim ahead of many of the Mastercrafted Witcher school silver swords in terms of raw damage output. The Sign intensity perks are helpful for just about any build and the almost doubled Critical Hit Damage is really nice. It is certainly one of the best silver swords in The Witcher 3.

16 Harpy

Random Loot in the Caves of Velen and Skellige

Witcher 3 Harpy Sword
  • 427-523 Damage
  • 14% Bleed

The Harpy sword is very simple compared to others on this list, but that simplicity is one of its greatest strengths. It has an incredible base damage of 427 making it a powerful sword on that fact alone and capable of tackling most foes in the game.

But it also has the benefit of providing a 14% chance of causing Bleed. A dozen or so swings, and if the enemy is still standing, they have a good chance of being inflicted with Bleed, which will siphon off the last of their health points. This sword is great for long, brutal fights with tough foes. The Harpy sword can be found at a bandit camp near the Bloody Baron's compound.

15 Grandmaster Forgotten Wolven Silver Sword

Craftable Weapon in the Next-Gen Update

witcher 3 forgotten wolven armor
  • 472-576 Damage
  • 10% Sign Intensity
  • 7% Adrenaline Point Gain
  • 35% Critical Hit Damage
  • 15% Critical Hit Chance
  • 10% Chance to Cause Bleeding
  • 10% Experience from Monsters

Added in the Next Gen Update for The Witcher 3, the Forgotten Wolven set is based on the armor worn by Geralt in the Netflix show. It can first be found through the In the Eternal Fire's Shadow quest, in Velen. This will grant the player the base diagrams, but these are nowhere near as strong as the Grandmaster version of the diagram. To craft the Grandmaster set, players will need to complete the scavenger hunt for some notes in Kaer Morhen. They can then pay Yoana in Crow's Perch to make the Mastercrafted armor and Hattori in Novigrad to make the Mastercrafted swords. Finally, with these items, Lazare Lafargue in Toussaint can craft the Grandmaster set.

This Grandmaster silver sword is not the strongest in the game as none of its benefits are massive, but it does provide a mix of bonuses that can help builds with sign damage, adrenaline gain, and damage over time.

14 Grandmaster Griffin Silver Sword

Part of the Griffin School Gear

Witcher 3 Geralt Wearing Griffin Set
  • 472-576 Damage
  • 21% Sign Intensity
  • 5% Critical Hit Chance
  • 25% Critical Damage
  • 10% Dismemberment
  • 20% Experience From Monsters

This is the first Witcher set the player is likely to encounter in the game. It is very powerful, even if it is the weakest of the four sets. The diagrams are in Kaer at Ard Skellig.

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It can be obtained in its weakest form early on and upgraded, making it a solid sword from the early parts of the game until mid to late game. As with the Forgotten Wolven Set, it must be mastercrafted first, then taken to the Toussaint, where its final form can be crafted. At Grandmaster state, it has static damage of 576 with a critical hit damage bonus, experience gain bonus against monsters, and a boost to sign intensity.

13 Grandmaster Feline Silver Sword

Part of the Cat School Gear

Witcher 3 Geralt Wearing Feline Set In Mountains
  • 472-576 Damage
  • 15% Aard Sign Intensity
  • 10% Critical Hit Chance
  • 15% Bleed
  • 10% Dismemberment
  • 20% Bonus Experience From Monsters

Like the Griffin sword, the Feline silver sword can be obtained early and enhanced over time to be a powerful weapon. Its diagram is found in the ruins of Est Tayiar behind a secret wall. At Grandmaster state, the sword deals the same 476 damage as the Griffin.

It also has a chance to cause bleeding, increases Aard sign intensity, and grants experience gains from monsters. Instead of relying on criticals for occasional spurts of damage, it gives steady results with bleeding and improved Aard damage.

12 Viper Venomous Silver Sword

Found in Gaunter's World

witcher 3 viper venemous silver sword hearts and stone dlc
  • 463-565 Damage
  • 25% Aard Sign Intensity
  • 75% Critical Hit Damage
  • 10% Critical Hit Chance
  • 15% Chance to Poison
  • 20% Experience from Monsters

Added in the Hearts of Stone DLC, this sword is only obtainable if the player chooses to help Olgierd, rather than simply allowing Gaunter O'Dimm to collect his debt. The sword is in the riddle, along the left of the path, lit up by red light.

With high critical damage and decent damage over time, this weapon is a great choice for players wishing to tackle the harder content in the game, or wishing to roleplay as a Witcher who uses a lot of poisons.

11 Grandmaster Ursine Silver Sword

Part Of The Bear School Gear

Witcher 3 Ursine Set
  • 472 576 Damage
  • 21% Adrenaline Point Gain
  • 75% Critical Hit Damage
  • 5% Critical Hit Chance
  • 14% Dismemberment
  • 20% Bonus Experience From Monsters

One of the strongest of the four Witcher sets, the Ursine silver sword provides great damage and helpful abilities. Its diagram is located on the small island near Olean's Grove. At Mastercrafted state, it deals 472 - 576 damage.

Where this weapon shines is in the perks. It grants a boost to critical hit chance, a 10% chance at dismemberment, an incredibly useful 20% boost to monster experience gain, and the piece de resistance is a boost to Adrenaline gain. The longer a fight goes with this sword, the more likely Geralt is to kill them with one blow. As with all the Wolven sets, it must be upgraded steadily through NPCs such as Hattori and Lazare Lafargue.

10 Grandmaster Wolven Silver Sword

Part of the Wolf School Gear

Witcher 3 Wolven Sword
  • 472-576 Damage
  • 11% Sign Intensity
  • 11% Adrenaline Gain
  • 11% Critical Hit Chance
  • 10% Bleed
  • 5% Bonus Experience From Humans/Nonhumans

The strongest of the Witcher sets is the Wolven. It’s only available with the DLC and is found inside the Termes Palace near Beauclair. It is an improvement over its Forgotten variant.

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It has a boost to sign intensity, gives a boost to Adrenaline gain, and has the familiar boost to monster experience point gain. Setting it apart from the others is a chance to cause bleeding. It’s basically the other Witcher sets wrapped into one with a nice bonus on top.

9 Tah’rel

Craftable Weapon Introduced in Blood & Wine

Witcher 3 Geralt On Roach Holding Tah'rel
  • 481 – 587 Damage
  • 28% Aard Sign Intensity
  • 95% Critical Hit Damage
  • 12% Critical Hit Chance
  • 15% Poison
  • +5% Experience From Monsters

The Tah’rel diagram can be a bit tricky to find, but is worth it to get a powerful silver sword. It’s in the large river south of The Silver Salamander Inn to the west of the first major fork in the road. It’s part of the quest "What Was That About Again." Once crafted, players will have a strong sword with a number of helpful stats.

With lots of damage and an almost doubled critical hit damage, this sword is capable of packing quite the punch. The bonus experience from monsters is also a nice touch and cuts down on some of the end-game grinding needed for higher levels.

8 Grandmaster Legendary Griffin Silver Sword

Part of the Griffin School Gear, Introduced in Blood & Wine

Grandmaster Legendary Griffin Gear in The Witcher 3
  • 481-587 Damage
  • +25% Sign intensity
  • +50% Critical hit damage bonus
  • +10% Critical hit chance
  • +10% Chance to dismember
  • +20% Bonus experience from monsters

Blood & Wine introduced Grandmaster Gear, which players could strive to achieve, letting them enjoy the best versions of every school's armor set. This was a welcome inclusion, especially since most players were disappointed that even mastercrafted armor lost its relevance after a point.

The Griffin School has pretty cool-looking armor that players upgrade to Grandmaster level. The legendary variant of the silver sword can also reach this upgrade. The bonus to Sign intensity and multiple critical hit buffs make combat with this weapon satisfying indeed.

7 Grandmaster Legendary Ursine Silver Sword

Part of the Bear School Gear, Introduced in Blood & Wine

Grandmaster Legendary Ursine Gear in The Witcher 3
  • 481-587 Damage
  • +25% Adrenaline Point gain
  • +100% Critical hit damage bonus
  • +5% Critical hit chance
  • +14% Chance to dismember
  • +20% Bonus experience from monsters

The School of the Bear is one of the more fascinating schools in the game, with its heavy armor set providing greater defenses at the cost of lower speed. The outfit looks great, and players will love how the silver sword of the set promotes an aggressive playstyle.

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Players who love using their Adrenaline Points in battle will love how quickly they're generated with this legendary sword. It's genuinely a great feeling for players to show monsters who's boss, using a combination of Signs and powerful blows to take them down in a jiffy.

6 Grandmaster Legendary Wolven Silver Sword

Part of the Wolven School Gear, Introduced in Blood & Wine

Grandmaster Legendary Wolven Gear in The Witcher 3
  • 481-587 Damage
  • +15% Sign intensity
  • +15% Adrenaline Point gain
  • +15% Critical hit chance
  • +15% Chance to cause bleeding
  • +20% Bonus experience from monsters

The School of the Wolf is what most fans are familiar with, for obvious reasons. It's the school that Geralt, Vesemir, and most of the Witchers players are familiar with come from, and the gear itself looks pretty neat.

The Grandmaster Legendary Silver Sword of this school is a well-rounded beast. It upgrades Sign intensity, Adrenaline point gain, Critical Hit chance, and gives players a chance to make their foes bleed too. It is a jack-of-all-trades and a strong sword in its own right.

5 Gesheft (Craftable)

Craftable Weapon Introduced in Blood & Wine

Witcher 3 Geralt On Roach Holding Gesheft
  • 508 – 620 Damage
  • 30% Aard Intensity
  • 100% Critical Damage
  • 15% Critical Hit Chance
  • 15% Poison
  • +5% Experience From Monsters

There are two Gesheft swords in the game, one is guarded by the Cloud Giant in the Land Of A Thousand Fables and the other is a craftable model that’s much more powerful. Gesheft’s diagram is hidden in a monster den northeast of Beauclair at the end of the Dun Tynne Crossroads river.

With such high damage and doubled critical hit damage, this actually makes it slightly better than Aerondight, the best sword in the game. The only reason it doesn’t rank higher is that it doesn’t see such a dramatic increase in damage over time as the fabled Aerondight does. Still, if players are looking for a powerful, low-maintenance sword, this is it. To improve its single-hit damage even further, players can use the water hag decoction to increase their damage by 50% while at full health.

4 Cantata

Found During The Quest 'What Lies Unseen'

Witcher 3 Geralt On Roach Holding Cantata
  • 576 – 704 Damage
  • 150 Armor Piercing
  • 75% Critical Hit Damage
  • 15% Critical Hit Chance
  • 15% Bleeding
  • 15% Stun

The Cantata is a strong silver sword that can be found during the quest What Lies Unseen. The player will loot a body in search of something to appease the Elder. This sword will be located on that body with a Crumpled Letter. This sword has tremendous potential in Geralt’s hand.

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This sword is easily one of the more powerful silver swords in the game for the base damage alone. But the armor-piercing, bleeding, and stun combine to take down the mightiest of foes. It’ll shred any defense, drain their health over time, and occasionally keep them stunned and vulnerable to attack.

3 Tor Zireal

Random Loot in the Caves of Velen and Skellige

Witcher 3 Tor Zireal
  • 540-660 Damage
  • 20-25% Igni Sign Intensity
  • 5-15% Quen Sign Intensity
  • 20% Freeze
  • 1-2% Instant Kill

Tor Zireal is found behind Kaer Muire and has a base damage of 555 to 679. What’s even more incredible about this sword are the stunning special effects.

It provides +50 to Vitality, which makes Geralt a bit tankier, and lets players make a few more mistakes. Each sword swing also has a 20% of causing Freeze, which can be a very strong way to take an enemy out of the fight for a short while. Geralt will be able to do ridiculous damage while taking ridiculous amounts of damage or simply wait for the enemy to freeze before hacking them to death.

2 Tlareg

In an Unmarked Shrine on a Cliff North of Larvik's Harbor

Witcher 3 Tlareg
  • 540-660 Damage
  • 2-20% Igni Sign Intensity
  • 12% Freeze
  • 1% Bonus Experience From Monsters

Found in the northern part of the Kaer Muire fortress, this weapon quickly outclasses the one above in terms of raw DPS and farming potential. It has a base damage of 692 to 846, allowing the player to one-shot many weaker enemies.

The perks give a bonus to Igni sign intensity, and that familiar chance of causing Freeze. Although the Freeze chance isi less than the Tor Zireal at 12%, it provides a handy boost to experience points gain, which Geralt needs to climb the higher levels.

1 Aerondight

Complete the Quest 'There Can Be Only One'

Witcher 3 Aerondight In Lake
  • 522-638 Damage
  • Each strike temporarily increases damage by 10%,
  • 100% critical hit chance on full charge
  • Killing foes while charged permanently increases damage.

The single most powerful silver sword is also the most powerful sword in the game, period. The Aerondight is reserved for those who complete the complicated and nuanced There Can Only Be One quest to prove they are destined to hold this sword, again.

It deals 508 to 620 base damage, but each successful consecutive hit boosts the damage by 10% for a max of 100%. At full charge, it also gets a 100% chance of dealing a critical, so its damage is doubled and then doubled again. Even more absurd is that when Geralt kills an enemy at full charge, the base damage is increased by two. Additionally, the sword's damage increases as Geralt levels up, meaning it will never be underleveled. It’s a sword that can deal quadruple damage in battle and grows alongside the player.

witcher 3 box art
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Franchise
The Witcher
Platform(s)
PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Switch , PC
Released
May 19, 2015
Developer(s)
CD Projekt Red
Publisher(s)
CD Projekt Red
Genre(s)
RPG , Action , Adventure
Engine
REDengine 3
ESRB
M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
Expansions
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone , The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
How Long To Beat
52 Hours
Metascore
94
PS Plus Availability
N/A