Steel Swords


Items Compendium

In a game of The Witcher 2 , you define Geralt as much by the equipment he uses as by the way you spend his talents or the story decisions you make. Items can be found hidden throughout the game’s world as loot, purchased from merchants, brewed through alchemy, or crafted from diagrams. Some items can be found in a number of different ways, depending on what point in the game you’re reached. You can also sell items freely back to merchants, though usually for little more than a handful of orens.

Note that not every item that appears in these lists can be obtained in a standard game. Items associated with the Blasphemer’s, Oathbreaker’s, and Kinslayer’s sets can only be obtained when playing in Dark mode. Other items, particularly certain swords, can only be obtained and used as part of Arena mode. In addition, while playing a standard game, some items become unattainable as a result of your decision to side with Iorveth or Roche at the end of Chapter 1. Consult the walkthrough to see which items are available at given points in a standard game. Consult the Dark mode and Arena mode guides for more information on those aspects of the game.

All item statistics presented in these lists are default statistics. There are certain skills you can give Geralt that will affect the apparent statistics of an item, such as the alchemy tree skill Catalysis intensifying potion bonuses while weakening penalties. Swords with rune slots can have their effects and base damage altered by inserting runes in the slots. Likewise, armor with enhancement slots can have its effects and base armor value altered by enhancement pieces. If the numbers you see displayed onscreen in your game radically disagree with what is in the guide, check to see if you have some skill or enhancement active.

In the game’s menu, items are separated into tabs. The “Items Compendium” chapter breaks items up in roughly the same way, though some categories are further broken down for the sake of clarity. For instance, in the game, all forms of armor are listed under the armor tab. In the guide, armor, boots, gauntlets, and trousers are listed separately so you can get a better idea of how a piece of gear compares to what else is available in that category. Likewise, the enhancements tab in the game lists all forms of enhancements, while the guide breaks this category into runes, armor enhancements, and oils. Finally, any item that contains an alchemical substance is listed in the alchemy category, while all other items used in crafting are listed in the crafting category.

Steel Swords

Steel swords are intended for use when fighting human and humanoid opponents in The Witcher 2 . Elves, dwarves, and other witchers count as humanoids for the game’s purposes. It is perfectly possible to fight monsters with a steel sword, but if you try you’ll find you do dramatically less damage than you would with an equally good silver sword.

Some steel swords grant additional bonuses in addition to simply damaging enemies. A sword may help reduce damage when you block a blow, have a chance of inflicting critical effects, increase your vigor, or speed up vitality regeneration. Note that in cases where a sword grants a passive effect, like extra vitality, the effect only becomes active when the sword is drawn.