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Chapter 1 Items
Chapter 2 Items
Chapter 3 Items
Runes and Reinforcements (weapon and armor upgrades)
Help with Crafting (and how to find ingredients)
Quest and Item help (a guide to several end game item quests)
(You can search for a specific item by using Ctrl + F on your keyboard)
Crafting
Many of the best items must be crafted. To do this, Geralt needs a schematic
for the item, and must take the ingredients specified in the schematic to a
craftsman NPC (pliers icon on the minimap). The most common 'bottleneck' items
are Silver Ore (for swords), Robust Cloth and Hardened Leather (armor),
Elemental Stones (runes), and Diamond Dust. ALL of these items can themselves
be crafted. The schematics are buyable from the merchant in Flotsam square and
other merchants later in the game.
Except Elemental stones, these items are buyable from merchants from very early
in the game. Keep in mind that merchants' stocks will regenerate with time
(some claim meditating will do this, but they definitely regenerate when you're
running around outside town). NPC dwellings are also a bountiful source for
crafting materials. It is best to plan ahead, though, for example have some
extra silver ore on hand at the end of Chapter 1 to forge a new sword at the
beginning of Chapter 2. Finally, these crafting ingredients are themselves
craftable, though doing so is often not cost effective.
Silver Ore:
- Buyable from most smith/craftsman merchants, e.g. the dwarf craftsman in
Flotsam
- Rare find in houses and containers in caves/mines (often with iron ore), also
rare loot from human enemy corpses
- Crafting silver ore is really not cost effective as it requires diamond dust
(plus cost of schematic). It's best to buy/hoard it.
Diamond Dust:
- Buyable from most alchemist or general merchants, e.g. the merchant in
Flotsam's town square
- Uncommon find in containers in houses and in the field (less rare than silver
ore)
- However crafting is definitely NOT cost effective as it requires 2 silver ore
Robust Cloth (NOTE: The schematic for this item is mislabeled 'SOLID Cloth')
- Buyable from some merchants, though more rare than the above
- Rare find from containers in houses and rare loot from harpy corpses
- Requires Diamond Dust to craft, but you may want to do this as it can be a
pain to find and you need a lot of it for certain armors
Hardened Leather
- Buyable from most general merchants, though limited stock available at once
- Uncommon find from containers in houses and in the field
- Cost effective to craft as it requires only Leather and Oil, which you'll
have plenty of
Studded Leather
- Same comments apply as for Hardened Leather, though rarer
- Crafted from Hardened Leather, similar to how Hardened Leather is crafted
from Regular Leather
- You shouldn't really need this until Chapter 3
Elemental Stones
- Required for crafting runes
- This is the one true bottleneck item early on
- Crafting requires a Gargoyle heart, not available until the late game
Endrega Saliva
- Required for Fire Rune crafting (8 per rune)
- Fairly common drop from endregas in forest outside Flotsam
- endregas also spawn in Act 2 near where you find Arbitrator
Nekker Heart
- Required for Ygg. Rune crafting (8 per rune)
- Common drop from Nekkers and Nekker Warriors throughout Chapter 1
- Nekkers spawn in Act 2 outside Kaedwani camp (past wagon with 3 Rotfiends)
and a horde of them in the forest outside Vergen, near the dwarven catacombs
On Inventory Management
There is a mod out there that reduces the weight of crafting items such as Iron
Ore and Leather to 0.1 pounds each. I highly recommend use of this mod to
avoid having to constantly visit merchants to sell off items. I like the
realism in Witcher 2's inventory system ' Geralt should not be able to walk
around carrying 20 swords and 10 suits of armor. You can argue he shouldn't be
to carry around 100 Iron Ores either, but to me convenience outweighs realism
in this case. Obviously it's up to you!
Notes on Alchemy
Alchemy serves a very different role in the Witcher games. In many RPGs,
potions are either a quick fix, or a resource to be hoarded for difficult late
game opponents. The Witcher 2 is pretty much the opposite case. Alchemy is
arguably most powerful in the early game. You can potentially have access to
the vast majority of potions, oils, and bombs early in Chapter 1, and most
ingredients are abundant. Early in the game potions and oils offer substantial
boosts to Geralt's abilities. Later, while alchemy is still useful, these
same bonuses are icing on the cake. Equally important, many alchemy functions
can only be performed outside of battle. Above all, alchemy needs preparation.
For veterans of the first game, the Witcher 2 makes several notable changes to
the alchemy system. Potions no longer require a 'base', just ingredients, and
can be created anywhere Geralt can meditate. However, Geralt can also no
longer drink potions in the heat of battle- potions must be consumed from the
meditation screen. Potions also have limited duration, and their timers run
when Geralt is in conversation. There is also one major boss fight where
Geralt absolutely cannot use potions, as no meditating is allowed beforehand.
NOTE: Consuming potions increases Geralt's toxicity level, shown as a semi-
circular bar to the left of the health gauge. This has NOTHING to do with
poisoning, which can occur from enemy attacks in combat, or intoxication,
which is just a screen blurring effect after Geralt drinks alcohol. The
later alchemy skills confer bonuses when Geralt has potions active, not
when he is drunk or poisoned in combat.
Grapeshot Bombs
Schematic: Purchasable from merchants, try Cedric
If you're having trouble with Nekkers or grouped enemies, these are your best
friend. Seriously. Best of all, these can be made from Nekker hearts and
Endrega venom, both of which you probably have a ton of in your inventory. If
you are struggling with combat early on in the game, do yourself a favor and
use these.
Swallow
+1 to Vitality regen
Your basic 'health potion'. Again the ingredients for this are rather common.
No reason not to have one of these up and running anytime you walk into a dark
cave or monster nest, or anywhere you expect to be fighting.
Virga
+20% Armor
+75% resistance to Bleed, Poison, Incinerate
-25% chance to inflict Bleed, Poison, Incinerate
Schematic: Buyable from merchant in Flotsam Square
By far the best part about this potion is the 20% armor bonus. For those who
don't know, armor equals damage reduction. This is a great help for bosses,
who can take down Quen quick and are mostly immune to critical effects anyway.
Rook
+10% Sword damage
Schematic: Buyable from merchants in Flotsam and Lobinden
It may not seem like much, but these damage bonuses from potions and oils add
up. Here again the ingredients are very common. Ideal for group fights where
you want to take down weak enemies as quickly as possible.
Wolf
+15% chance to inflict Bleed, Poison, Incinerate
Schematic: Buyable from merchants in Flotsam and Lobinden
Note that for crit bonuses to kick in, Geralt needs to be using a weapon or
sign that is capable of inflicting the effect. This isn't a huge bonus, but
once you've got those fire runes working this can be useful against groups.
Also potentially good with AoE Igni.
Tawny Owl
+to Vigor regen, in and out of combat
Schematic: In Chapter 1, lootable in hidden cave reached during Incence
Formula quest (possibly a quest reward if you side with the shady merchant)
AKA Gatorade for mages. Seriously, Vigor regen is your biggest issue as a sign
user. Also unique in that the formula takes some effort to obtain. The quest
referred to above begins by speaking to a shady merchant on a lower-level
walkway at Flotsam's Harbor. You'll see it in merchant inventories later on,
though.
Petri's Philter
+7 to Sign Damage
Schematic: Buyable from merchants, Chapter 1
AKA Red Bull for mages. The sign damage bonus is substantial, almost like two
more moon runes. Signs in this game do little damage at the start- mages need
quite a bit of help from equipment and skills to match the damage output of a
good sword user. A must if you plan to rely on Aard or Igni for damage.
Falka's Blood, Hanged Man's Venom, Necrophage Oil, Specter Oil
+10% melee damage (Falka's) OR
+20% melee damage vs specific enemy type
Schematic: Buyable from merchants
I'll mention all the oils at once. Oils are shorter duration than potions but
can be used directly from the inventory screen, including in battle. Falka's
Blood is available from the start while the formulas for the rest may be
purchased (try the herbalist in Lobinden). The first two enemy specific oils
are definitely worthwhile, as there are long sequences where you fight
exclusively against human opponents (Hanged Man's Venom) or Nekkers and
Rotfiends (both of which are necrophages).
Cat
-10% melee damage
Nightvision
Schematic: Available from the beginning of the game
Cat is situational and mentioned here for two reasons. First, it has
changed since the first game. Cat in the Witcher 2 causes everything besides
creatures to appear in bright greyscale. Enemies are displayed in bright
orange/red and can be seen through walls and other solid objects up to a
certain distance. Think detective vision in Batman: AA in grey instead of
blue. This potion is also useful at a certain point (or points) when Geralt
needs to flow a blood trail as a part of the main story.
Gadwall
-40% melee damage
+2 to vitality regen in combat, +3 to vitality regen out of combat
Schematic: On merchants throughout the game
If you follow Roche's path, you will eventually have to make this portion to
complete part of the main story. Fortunately, when you get to that point a
merchant who sells the formula is sitting on a bench right outside the tent.
Other than that, maybe good for mages who rely exclusively sign damage.
Witcher Weapons, Armor, and Items Guide: Quest and Item Help
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