Best Skills at Start - The Witcher 3

The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is unforgiving and deadly, you will be fighting for your life from the moment the game begins. Given the large number of skills in The Witcher 3, it is vital to immediately start planing which ones you wish to unlock. The best way to do that is to decide what you want to focus on – combat, alchemy, signs, or a mixture of several – and then stick to it. To help you prepare for your travels in the Northern Realms as best as possible, we have put together a list of the best skills to invest in at the beginning of the Witcher 3, depending on the type of build you wish to play as.

You gain one ability point every time you level up. Ability points can also be gained by drawing from Places of Power, one from each. If you want to know how to spend them as best as possible, check out the full list below.

Combat Builds

Regardless of which path you choose, you will still have to rely on your sword some of the time. Combat builds are therefore the easiest, as the majority of the enemies you will face in the game will succumb to a sharp and swift blade. You have to spend 8 points in the first tier of combat abilities in order to unlock the second, and you have two options – the fast combat build and the strong combat build.

Fast Combat Build (Rogue)

This build is all about being nimble, doing fast attacks, and avoiding hits. The best skills to invest in are:

Arrow Deflection (Defense): Lets you deflect arrows while parrying; later levels reflect arrows back at the attacker.
Muscle Memory: Increases the damage made with fast attacks.

When you unlock the second tier, focus on the following:

Precise Blows (Fast attack): Increases the critical chance and damage of fast attacks
Fleet Footed (Defense): Decreases the damage you take when dodging.

There are a few General skills you should unlock:

Cat School Techniques: Increases critical damage and fast attack damage for every piece of light armor you wear.
Focus: Adrenaline points increase weapon damage. Since every skill in the combat tree improves adrenaline generation, this skill is vital

Strong Combat Build (Tank)

This build is for those who want to deal greater damage and not worry about avoiding hits. You first need to invest in:

Strength Training (Strong Attack): Increases the damage you do with strong attacks. Upgrade it to level 5.
Resolve (Battle Trance): Makes you lose fewer adrenaline points after taking damage and increases adrenaline point gain. Invest 3 points into it.

In the second tier of skills, unlock the following:

Crushing Blows (Strong Attack): Increases the critical chance and damage of strong attacks.
Undying (Battle Trance): When you lose all Vitality, it transforms some of your adrenaline into it.

The general skill tree also has a few you should invest in:

Bear School Techniques: Increases vitality and strong attack damage for every piece of heavy armor.
Focus: Adrenaline points increase weapon damage. Since every skill in the combat tree improves adrenaline generation, this skill is essential.

Signs Builds

Signs are the Witcher 3’s equivalent of magic. As in any RPG, concentrating on magic will make you vulnerable at close-quarter combat, but it does have its advantages. You have two options: become a wizard who deals significant damage to a single target, or specialize in casting area-of-effect skills. Both build still require you to use swords, but their focus is on casting magic.

Single-Target Signs Builds

This build specializes in casting spells at at one target at a time, and protecting the caster from enemy damage. You will first need to max out:

Melt Armor (Igni): Permanently weakens enemy armor.
Exploding Shield (Quen): Pushes enemies back when the shield explodes.

Firestream (Igni): Fires a continuous stream of fire in the desired direction.
Active Shield (Igni): Allows maintaining an active shield that drains stamina. Absorbed damage restores vitality.

Adrenaline Burst: Casting signs generates adrenaline.
Rage Management: If stamina is too low, you can use adrenaline points to cast signs.

Area-Of-Effect Signs Build

Far-Reaching Aard (Aard): Increases Aard range.
Sustained Glyphs (Yrden): Increases Yrden duration, number of traps.
Delusion (Axii): Stops the target from moving closer.

Aard Sweep (Aard): Strikes all opponents in a radius.
Magic Trap (Yrden): Damages and slows all enemies in the radius. Destroys projectiles.

Adrenaline Burst: Casting signs generates adrenaline.
Focus: Adrenaline points increase sign intensity.

Alchemy Builds

Poisoned Blades (Oil Preparation): Chance of poisoning the enemy with oiled blade.
Steady Aim (Bomb Creation): Slows time even more while aiming bombs.

Protective Coating (Oil Preparation): Gives protection against the enemy type vulnerable to the oil.
Pyrotechnics (Bomb Creation): Bombs that don’t do damage now do 30 damage.
Refreshment (Brewing): Each potion you drink heals 5% of your health.