The Witcher games really like to spread the player out in terms of combat. We’ve all had our fair share of troubles trying to learn all the signs while also figuring out which weapon is best for which creature. That’s where making small aspects of the game is an efficient and smart way to ensure you don’t get stuck somewhere out there.
That’s why getting your equipment in tip-top shape is important. This also applies to swords, of which there are many in The Witcher 3. We recognize two different types of swords: steel swords and silver swords. Depending on the material they’re made from, they’re effective against different enemies.
Silver swords are far more effective against almost all magical beasts. Of course, this also applies to other weapons and items which contain silver. You would use a silver sword on necrophages, vampires, shapeshifters, wraiths, and the like.
On the other hand, steel swords are more useful against a larger variety of creatures in the game. For example, their weight and strength are far more effective for humans/nonhumans and normal creatures that aren’t magical. This means you should be using steel against bears, bandits, and wolves.
In this article, we’ll be focusing on the most effective steel swords in the game and how to use them. This means we’ll get to crown what we think is the best steel sword Witcher 3 and explain what we love about it. Without further ado, let’s get to ranking!
The 15 Best Steel Swords in Witcher 3
It’s important to mention that the best steel sword in Witcher 3 may not be the same for everyone. There are several factors that come into play when it comes to crowning the best steel sword Witcher 3.
For example, a player going through the game on their first playthrough won’t be able to get a sword that is as strong as someone on their second or third playthrough. Similarly, different builds also have an impact on the ideal sword you want to choose.
This is all thanks to each sword’s unique stats, abilities, and characteristics as well as the time point you pick it up.
With that in mind, we’ve ranked our 15 best steel swords in terms of versatility. They can be used in a wide variety of situations and builds.
#15: Mourner
Attributes:
- +1-20 Armor piercing
- +4-10% Yrden Sign intensity
- +5-22% Critical hit damage bonus
- +1-2% Bonus Experience from Humans and Nonhumans
Coming up last on our list is the Mourney sword which makes a return to the third installment of the series after originally appearing in Witcher 2.
This Relic sword is available for purchase from the looters north of Lindenvale for 525 Crowns. Whether this is a steal or not depends on the person. If you’ve decided you don’t want to waste the money, you can always kill the bandits and loot the sword from their bodies. You can also buy one Mourner from them, kill them, and get another Mourner from their bodies. Pretty nifty.
It’s not a special sword by any means, but the stats are alright. It also has a cool name, meaning it just had to be on this list.
#14: Harvall
Attributes:
- +1-15% Igni Sign intensity
- +9% Chance to cause burning
The Harvall sword appears in all three Witcher games. However, just like the Mourner, it’s not a special sword by any means.
You can obtain it by completing the quests An Unfortunate Turn of Events and A Plea Ignored. If you don’t want to finish these quests, you can find the sword in a chest in the Lornruk lighthouse. You’ll know you have the right chest when you see Dobromir’s journal next to it. Finally, the sword may drop as random loot from certain enemies.
It’s a nice and simple sword that can be a great help to those who love using the Igni Sign. The subtle but effective attributes it gives you will help you feel the difference.
#13: Wolven Steel Sword
Attributes (Mastercrafted):
- +10% Sign intensity
- +10% Adrenaline Point gain
- +10% Critical hit chance
- +10% Chance to cause bleeding
- +5% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans
We couldn’t make a best swords list for The Witcher 3 without including one of the Witcher schools. The Wolf School Gear is inarguably one of the coolest pieces of gear in the game and the Wolven Steel Sword is no different.
You can only craft this sword, meaning you can’t loot it from anywhere else. However, you’ll need to start from the very bottom in crafting the regular Wolven Steel Sword if you want the Mastercrafted version. All of the lower-grade swords act as components to their higher-grade counterparts. The components are as follows:
- Wolven Steel Sword – Superior | 1
- Leather Scraps | 2
- Dimeritium Ingot | 2
- Monster Egg | 1
- Siren Vocal Cords | 1
#12: Iris
Attributes:
- Weapon charges with energy during combat. When its color changes to red, a strong attack will release this energy in an extra powerful strike, at the cost of part of the attacker’s Vitality.
Olgierd’s sword Iris is only available in the game if you have the Hearts of Stone expansion. It’s important to note that you can completely miss obtaining this sword if you make the wrong choices while doing the quest line.
To get Iris, you’ll need to save Olgierd von Everec’s soul at the end of the main quest line. As a result, he’ll give you the sword out of gratitude and as a token of departure from his old life.
This sword has one of the most unique mechanics in the game. Its strong strike also has a strong knockdown effect in addition to its damage. Overall, it’s a good sword to have on you if you want to change up the gameplay a little bit.
#11: Blave
Attributes:
- +15% Aard Sign intensity
- +24% Igni Sign intensity
- +15% Axii Sign intensity
- +75% Critical hit damage bonus
- +15% Critical hit chance
The Blave sword comes from the Blood and Wine expansion, the one which most consider to be the best Witcher 3 expansion.
This sword comes as a quest reward, if you can call beating Hamal ogn Dangbahli in Gwent a quest. You can face off against Hamal in the secondary quest Gwent: To Everything – Turn, Turn, Tournament! In any case, getting this sword isn’t so hard if you’ve got the understanding, mechanics, and skills to beat pretty much anyone in Gwent.
As a result, you get a pretty strong sword that can carry you through some hard fights in the game.
#10: Daystar
Attributes:
- +4-8% Fire damage
- +8% Chance to cause burning
- +1-3% Bonus gold
Daystar is, once again, a great sword against monsters susceptible to fire damage. Take note that it doesn’t give any Igni Sign intensity, though, which may be a dealbreaker to some. Regardless, the 4-8% extra fire damage and 8% burning chance is a good start. And of course, no one can say no to a sword that brings in a little extra gold in the game.
You can get this sword by accepting the contract quest Contract: Muire D’yaeblen. You’ll need to kill the water hag Abaya near the end of the quest and loot it from her body. Alternatively, you can find it during Peace Disturbed by looting a corpse in the Nightwraith’s chamber. Finally, you can also loot it from a corpse on an island northwest of An Skellig. You’ll have to get through the Basilisk first, though.
#9: Ard’aenye
Attributes:
- +1-20% Igni Sign intensity
- +3% Chance to cause burning
Okay, we promise we’ll focus on other Signs now that we’ve already mentioned 2 Igni-boosting swords. Igni is just so good, though… So useful.
Anyway, the Ard’aenye sword is in a guarded treasure south of Devil’s Pit in Velen. You’ll have to fight a few (okay, a lot of) Temerian army deserters to get to the sword. However, if you already have the quest In the Eternal Fire’s Shadow, getting the sword is really just a convenient stop you can make while in Devil’s Pit.
#8: Ultimatum
Attributes:
- +5-10% Igni Sign intensity
- +15-23% Critical hit damage bonus
- +3-4% Critical hit chance
- +8% Chance to stagger
Okay, so we lied about not putting in any more Igni-boosting swords. But really, this sword isn’t about Igni. It’s more about the Critical hit bonuses it offers, as well as the 8% chance to stagger. It’s definitely worth it if you’re dealing with monsters that are just impossible to beat the usual way.
You can obtain Ultimatum during the treasure hunt quest The Dead Have No Defense which takes you south of Duén Hen. Along the way to Byways, you’ll find a camp of deserters you must kill off. After reading some notes and finding a key, you need to kill more deserters near the inland. Finally, you can loot the chest they leave behind to get this awesome sword. You’ll also get some other miscellaneous loot.
#7: Belhaven Blade
Attributes:
- +30% Aard Sign intensity
- +100% Critical hit damage bonus
- +15% Critical hit chance
- +15% Chance to poison
- +5% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans
The Belhaven blade is a craftable steel sword you can only get the diagram for if you have Blood and Wine. You will find the diagram for this sword specifically during the Waiting for Goe and Doh treasure hunt quest. But make sure you like water, because the underwater diving you’ll have to do definitely requires a brave diver. You’ll get the diagram as a reward for looting the treasure chest near the sunken ship.
We also finally delivered on our promise to list some swords that fortify other signs! This one is definitely a good choice for Aard Sign lovers due to its 30% intensity increase. Of course, all the other attributes are a welcome addition to the benefits of owning this sword, too.
#6: Glory of the North
Attributes:
- +5-10% Igni Sign intensity
- +6% Chance to cause burning
Glory of the North is a tricky sword to acquire. However, given all the other, easier swords we’ll list later on, we’re not sure if this sword is even worth it.
Glory of the North only appears at random locations, which means you’ll have to rely on luck to get it. There’s no way to craft it, either, so pray to the RNG gods and hope they’ll have a good answer for you.
#5: Tor Lara
Attributes:
- +16% Aard Sign intensity
- +7% Quen Sign intensity
- +12% Chance to cause burning
- +2% Chance for an instant kill
The Tor Lara sword is one that is equally as hard to get as the Glory of the North. This is because Tor Lara also appears randomly as loot throughout the game. However, if you do happen to get it, you can thank your lucky stars, because Tor Lara has an amazing attribute.
The 2% chance for an instant kill is very helpful in situations when dealing with large hordes of enemies. It’s also a good choice for Witchers looking to fortify their Aard and Quen Signs easily. The intensity improvement isn’t all that big, but when you compare it to the small chance you might instantly slice your opponent’s head off, we can forgive the other modest attributes.
#4: Gwestog
Attributes:
- +2 – 10% Quen Sign intensity
- +2% Chance to freeze
- +4 – 10% Chance to dismember
Quen Sign lovers rejoice! The Gwestog is yet another good choice for those who want to make full use of this Sign. It also provides a few other great, though small attributes with a chance to freeze and dismember your opponent. Gwestog is definitely a useful one to have on you.
You can get Gwestog as random loot throughout the game. Your biggest shot at finding this sword randomly is from the Witch Hunters arresting Berthold and Anisse during the secondary quest Now or Never. However, completing this quest has some in-game consequences that certain players might not want.
If you want an alternate, surefire way to obtain the Gwestog, the Fists of Fury: Skellige quest is a great choice. All you have to do to get it is defeat Olaf the bear.
#3: Hen Gaidth
Attributes:
- +150 Armor piercing
- +75% Critical hit damage bonus
- +15% Critical hit chance
- +15% Chance to cause bleeding
- +15% Chance to stun
The Hen Gaidth sword is one you’ll want to obtain as late in the game as possible. This is because the sword scales to your level at the time of obtaining it. It’s one of the best steel swords you can get while doing your first playthrough of The Witcher 3. The stats on Hen Gaidth are just too juicy and tempting to ignore.
You’ll need to have the Blood and Wine expansion to obtain Hen Gaidth, though. You have to do the What Lies Unseen main quest to get to the Unseen Elder’s cave where you can get the full set. This includes armor, boots, gauntlets, trousers, a mask, and the sword itself. You’ll have to choose to see the Unseen Elder during the previous quest, Blood Simple by progressing the Oriana quest line.
#2: Hjalmar’s Steel Sword
Attributes:
- +20-200% Critical hit damage bonus
- +2-3% Bonus experience from humans and nonhumans
Hjalmar’s steel sword owes its #2 spot on our list of the best steel sword Witcher 3 purely to the 20-200% Critical hit damage bonus. Even at its lowest, a 20% Crit damage bonus is an extremely helpful attribute. Knowing this, we don’t even have to mention how broken it is to have a sword that occasionally hits for 200% bonus Critical hit damage.
Getting Hjalmar’s steel sword is simple. All Geralt has to do is defeat a Vildkaarl in a fistfight in the Kaer Trolde citadel. You’ll have to start the King’s Gambit quest to get to the banquet where you’ll have to do this. However, be careful not to progress the quest further. You’ll have to win this fistfight before you complete the first quest objective.
Upon approaching him, Hjalmar will challenge you to complete this fistfight and give you the sword if you win. But you should be aware of the risks because you’ll have to forfeit your own sword if you lose. Alternatively, you can pay 350 Crowns to keep the sword after all. Only after doing all this can you talk to Crach.
#1: Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword (Crafted)
Attributes:
- +300 Armor piercing
- +30% Quen Sign intensity
- +100% Critical hit damage bonus
- +20% Critical hit chance
- +15% Chance to cause burning
Finally, we reach the best steel sword Witcher 3, the Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword. It’s important to note that there are three different versions of this sword: the master version, the magic version, and the crafted version. The crafted version has the best stats out of the three, so that’s the one you’ll want to go for.
Just look at the attributes of this thing. An additional 100% Critical hit damage bonus? 300 Armor piercing? 30% Quen Sign intensity? It’s hard to find any other steel sword in The Witcher 3 that comes close to achieving what the crafted Toussaint Knight’s Steel Sword does. And it’s all thanks to the Blood and Wine expansion that gave us some of the best swords out there in general.
And the best part is that you can just loot the diagram at any time! All you have to do is get to the Arthach Palace Ruins and loot it from Antoine Straggen’s bed. You’ll also get another diagram goodie, the Toussaint Ducal Guard Captain’s gauntlets! But let’s get back to this awesome sword.
To craft it, you’ll need the following components:
- 3 × Leather straps
- 2 × Dark steel ingot
- 1 × Ruby
- 1 × Amber
- 2 × Monster saliva
With these swords, you can kick non-magical creature butt. Happy Witchering!
