This build has unparalleled damage output alongside superior survivability. It requires a decently high level, but there are modifications one can make to bring the requirement down significantly and still get 90% of the effect. A playthrough with this build on Death March will start to feel like you are playing ‘Just the story.’
This build revolves around stacking Toxicity by using 4 decoctions + Superior Thunderbolt/Tawny Owl in combination with the Euphoria mutation, stacking crit damage alongside items and abilities ensuring near constant criticals, buffing stamina regeneration and using adrenaline points to have constant Quen to maintain full health, and stacking damage boost at full health. Basically, the idea is to deal massive damage to end fights quickly whilst ensuring full health with life steal (Ekimmara decoction) plus constant Quen and other means.
Easy to get earlier on and at the core of this build. With 4 decoctions it adds a 210% buff to both damage and sign intensity. This is increased temporarily to around 224% when you pop Superior Tawny Owl.
- Muscle Memory 5/5: Pure added damage for fast attack.
- Strength Training 5/5: Pure added damage for strong attack.
- Precise Blows 5/5: Critical boost for fast attack. The extra 75% CD is huge.
- Crushing Blows 5/5: Critical boost for strong attack. As above.
- Resolve 5/5: If you do take damage, ensures you keep adrenaline points to throw up a Quen with the yellow ‘Rage Management’ ability.
- Rend 5/5 (Combat): This already incredibly powerful single-target attack gets super-charged with this build. The critical hit chance boost allows you to proc the build’s huge critical damage every time on the first enemy from the first hit, plus a nice dose of extra damage for good measure. If your Rend timing is good, I would suggest this.
- Acquired Tolerance 3/3: Hugely important, as with most alchemy recipes allows you to run 4 decoctions simultaneously.
- Heightened Tolerance 5/5: Stops you becoming overdosed when you pop your decoctions.
- Tissue Transformation 5/5: Gives you an extra 4000 health for added survivability.
- Synergy 5/5: Depending on if you fully complete the build with optional skills, gives you an extra 150-195% attack power.
- Killing Spree 5/5: Basically ensures constant critical hits on any group of enemies.
- Cat School Techniques 1/1: With the levity rune on your armor, gives you a nice 100% critical damage boost and 20% fast attack damage boost.
- Metabolism Control: Gives another 30 Toxicity, which allows you to use potions alongside the 4 active decoctions Superior Tawny Owl should always be up with Superior Thunderbolt being used ontop of it for tougher enemies. Spamming Swallow, Blizzard or another potion to maintain the highest toxicity possible is recommended.
These add to the build, but if you want to reduce the level needed to complete it – by not having to shell out the last 40 or so ability points to unlock all those extra mutation skill slots – these can be skipped over as not integral. There will only be three remaining slots, but I offered multiple options to allow you to customize the build to your own playstyle. It is worth noting that each Combat Ability chosen here will add 15% attack power due to the Synergy ability.
- Razor Focus 5/5 (Combat): Boosts adrenaline gain for faster damage ramp up.
- Sunder Armor 5/5 (Combat): adds a debuff to strong attacks for use against tanky foes.
- Fleet Footed 5/5 (Combat): Adds invincibility frames to dodging useful for attacks that couldn't be dodged effectively.
- Hunter Instinct 5/5 (Alchemy): Adds 100% Critical damage vs the enemy types targeted by the equipped oil. [BUGGED SUBSTITUE FLEET FOOTED]
- Water Hag: Gives a 50% damage boost at full health, which should be near-always.
- Ekimmara: Gives life steal, which synergizes with the Invigoration runeword by granting extra damage on any overheal.
- Ekhidna: Gives health when using stamina, which synergizes with the Invigoration runeword by granting extra damage on any overheal.
- Succubus: Increases Damage by 1% every 2 seconds up to a 30% cap.
Four Greater Red Mutagens to maximize damage and the corresponding life steal.
Runes: Both swords should be given the ‘Invigoration’ runeword which gives up to +50% damage when at full health which, as said before, should be near constant. Added to the Water Hag decoction, this is a near constant +100% damage boost.
‘Aerondight’
- Each blow generates charges which increase sword damage by 10%. Charges are lost over time or when receiving damage. A fully-charged sword always deals critical hit damage.
- Killing a foe with a fully loaded sword will expend its charge to permanently increase the weapon's damage. Damage is increased by: 0 (to a maximum of 10 - increasing along with your character level).
‘Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword’
- +300 Armor piercing
- +30% Quen sign intensity
- +100% Critical hit damage bonus
- +20% Critical hit chance
- +15% Chance to cause burning
As you can see, all armor pieces are chosen to stack critical hit damage. The chest should be given the ‘Levity’ glyphword to make all pieces act as light armor and proc the +100% critical damage from the ‘Cat School Techniques’ ability.
- Manticore Chest: +25% critical damage and +10 Toxicity (also a nice 31% resistance to monster damage).
- Manticore Boots: +25% critical damage and +5 Toxicity.
- New Moon Trousers: +20% critical damage and +4% critical chance.
- Nilfgaardian Guardsman’s Gauntlets: +50% critical damage.
- +230% damage from Euphoria.
- +50% damage from Water Hag decoction.
- +50% damage Invigoration rune.
- +30% damage from succubus decoction.
- +20% damage from grindstone
- +295% critical damage (can be up to 395% on steel sword) w/ near constant criticals.
- +195% attack power from mutagens (depending on optional skills).
- +50% attack power from superior oils.
- +35% attack power from superior thunderbolt.
- +25% fast and strong attack damage.
- Up to +100% damage on monsters with a fully charged Aerondight.
- Constant Quen to soak up hits and avoid really any damage.
- +4000 Health from Tissue Transformation ability.
- +20% defense from armorer's table
- Life steal from Ekimmara decoction.
- Health regeneration from stamina use with Ekhidna decoction.
- 42% resistance to monster damage.
Nilfgaardian Empire (A tied round results in a win)
Emhyr var Emreis the Relentless (Draw a card from your opponent's discard pile.)
- 3 Decoy
- 2 Commander's Horn
- 2 Scorch
- 1 Geralt of Rivia (15, Melee)
- 1 Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (15, Melee)
- 1 Menno Coehoorn (10, Medic, Melee)
- 1 Letho of Gulet (10, Melee)
- 1 Tibor Eggebracht (10, Ranged)
- 1 Morvarn Voohris (10, Siege)
- 1 Yennefer of Vengerberg (7, Medic, Ranged)
- 1 Triss Merigold (7, Melee)
- 1 Mysterious Elf (0, Spy, Melee)
- 2 Black Infantry Archer (10, Ranged)
- 1 Heavy Zerrikanian Fire Scorpion (10, Siege)
- 1 Stefan Skellen (9, Spy, Melee)
- 1 Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen (7, Spy, Melee)
- 1 Villentretenmerth (7, Scorch, Melee)
- 1 Olgierd von Evervec (6, Morale Boost, Agile)
- 1 Siege Engineer (6, Siege)
- 1 Vattier de Rideaux (4, Spy, Melee)
- 2 Etolian Auxiliary Archers (1, Medic, Ranged)
- 0 Siege Technician (0, Medic, Siege)
- 0 Cow (0, Summon Avenger, Ranged)