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Official sword-combat screenshot used for the best weapons guide

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Wiki guide · Remastered

Best Witcher 3 swords and how to choose

Use a steel sword for humans and a silver sword for monsters, then choose the best current School sword or relic based on level, bonuses, rune slots and the build it supports.

Reviewed by The Witcher 3 Wiki editorial team6 min readUpdated 2026-09-30Version Remastered

01 / Prerequisites

Prepare before leaving

  • ✓Keep both steel and silver swords equipped.
  • ✓Repair weapons before a major contract.
  • ✓Check the rune and glyph slots available.

02 / Route

Follow the path in order

  1. 01

    Match the sword to the enemy

    Steel handles humans and nonhumans. Silver handles monsters. Correct sword selection is the first damage multiplier and costs nothing.

  2. 02

    Compare the full weapon package

    Raw damage matters, but critical chance, armor penetration, sign intensity, adrenaline and rune slots can change which sword wins for your build.

  3. 03

    Use School swords with School armor

    Feline, Griffin, Ursine and Wolven sets include matched swords. Completing the set is often more consistent than mixing one high-damage weapon with unrelated armor.

  4. 04

    Upgrade at the right time

    Move to the next tier when the new sword is level-appropriate and the crafting cost does not delay a more important set piece.

  5. 05

    Keep a practical backup

    A secondary sword with a useful bonus can cover a build gap, but avoid carrying one so far below level that its damage becomes irrelevant.

03 / Common mistakes

Avoid the expensive reset

A sword with higher paper damage is not always better if it removes the rune or set bonus your build needs.

Do not sell every relic sword before checking whether it offers a useful effect.

Weapon condition matters. Repair before long quest chains or boss attempts.