Witcher 3 is one of the best action RPGs to come into the gaming world, but it can also be frustrating at times. Maybe it’s that random high vampire that continuously kicked your butt, or Caranthir’s just ruining your day. Here we are giving you our very own guide on how to deal with the bosses in Witcher 3 in hopes of making your life easier.
Main Story Bosses
1. Royal Griffin
Welcome to the first real fight of the Witcher 3, and a decent fight at that. It is unavoidable, so make sure you take your time and level up before diving into it. Make sure that when you start the fight, you have thunderbolt potions to boost attack power and grapeshot bombs. Aard sign will also be a must for this fight.
What to do: You will be given a crossbow which is needed to make sure the Griffin lands. It will spend a lot of time in the air, and a couple of shots will bring it down so you can land some hits. Make sure you use thunderbolt when it lands so that it is not wasted, and use the Aard sign to stun him otherwise he will fly back up pretty quickly. Try not to rush the fight, and don’t be afraid to use all the bombs in your arsenal. Once you know it is down to half health, it will fly off, but don’t worry, it does not go far, but it flies off to the mill. There you can kill it off pretty quickly.
2. The King of Wolves
This boss is the first boss you encounter with Ciri and an easy one at that. This will be fought during the questline Ciri’s Story: King of Wolves. Ciri plays similar to Geralt, but can not use signs, and there is no access to your inventory. However, she packs a punch, and her dodges are teleports, making her feel a bit overpowered.
What to Do: Since Ciri packs a punch, there’s no big trick. Just dodge as needed and wail on the beast. He will drop in no time.
3. Nithral
Nithral is a warrior part of the Wild Hunt and the first one you encounter in the quest Wandering in the Dark. Keira Metz will actually aid you in this fight to make it ten times easier using electric attacks to stun him. This fight can be annoying, so dodging is crucial, not to mention he will summon dogs as you take away chunks of his health.
What to do: While this boss hits hard, he most certainly hits slow. We recommend paying attention to his attack patterns to get your doges down on time and using the Yrden sign to slow him. Use Quen as needed to help protect against attacks. Keep a good stock of Swallow potions since you will be using these signs often. You will have to kill the dogs as summoned as well, seeing as the boss shields himself. The boss slowly heals as he is shielded, so take out the hounds as fast as you can to avoid prolonging the fight.
4. Ice Giant
This fight is not super difficult, but getting greedy can lead to your death. The giant is a two-part fight and packs a huge punch with his melee weapon. Make sure you try to save Forlan and Vigi during the quest to make the fight easier.
What to do: Using Yrden and Quen is a must so you can easily get a few hits in. Essentially for part one of the fight, you want to slow his movement with Yrden will avoiding his attacks and hitting him during openings. Make sure Quen is active when retreating to dodge an attack. Rinse and repeat until he is halfway down, then a cut scene will play. If you saved the two previously mentioned they will aid you in this part of the fight. The giant will have grabbed a ranged weapon, but it has significantly slowed his movements. Run in, deal some damage, and then retreat. You can usually get up to three hits in at a time. Eventually, you will have taken him out.
5. Crones
It’s time to destroy these child-eating abusers. They’ve had it coming since the start. Ciri is out for revenge. This fight can be annoying, but it’s easier than it looks. You will fight these three at the same time, and the best strategy is to take out one at a time and quickly, which is manageable playing Ciri.
What to do: Focus on Brewess first and foremost. She is the bigger one who is extremely slow compared to the other two. She will pack a punch, so try to dodge her attacks if possible and keep to her sides when attacking. Use Blink and sidestepping when you see the other two sisters come in to defend her. When attacking, use your new charge attack to capitalize on the damage. You can kill the next two in any order, but they are a bit quicker. Try to follow their attacks and dodge them with a blink, and kill one or the other immediately. Focus on one, and if you need to regenerate your health just run around the room and let it fill up.
6. Imlerith
This giant, mace-wielding menace is the second member of the Wild Hunt that you encounter during the mission of Bald Mountain. This guy can be particularly annoying since he deals a great amount of damage with his mace, uses a giant shield and utilizes the frost shield ability. Luckily, Geralt has a few tricks up his sleeve to counter these annoyances.
What to do: First and foremost this is another sign of heavy battle. Stock up on your potions like Thunderbolt and Swallow. Secondly, though he hits hard he hits very slow due to his size, so we need to use that to our advantage. Dip, Duck, Dive, and DODGE. We recommend having Igni and Yrden at the ready so we can melt and trap this guy.
Igni will kill his frost armor leaving him vulnerable to some damage, and Yrden can be used to trap him as we dodge his deadly attacks. Another good use if you don’t want to waste potions are grapeshot bombs to melt his shield and samum to stun. This gives you the ability to preserve potions or items however you see fit. Rinse and repeat these methods until you dispose of him.
7. Caranthir
Caranthir is a high-ranking member of the Wild Hunt and part of the end of Witcher 3. During On Thin Ice, he will be the first of two fights you have to face. Unlike the other two fights, this guy is a full-on mage and you will have to try and take him on at a close distance as both Ciri and Geralt. Caranthir will hurl many spells at you and even summon a golem. Here is how to deal with him for both parts of the fight.
As Ciri the fight is much easier due to her teleportation abilities, while with Geralt it can be a bit more difficult since he lacks that Elder Blood goodness. Ciri can teleport away from his attacks and deal decent damage as the first part of the fight since she is in rage mode. Once the cut scene happens you will then end up in part two of the fight as Geralt.
Caranthir’s attacks will deal him a lot of damage and even slow him. You will want to dodge and keep close with an igni attack read to melt away the ice armor. Once that’s melted hit him a few times, rinse, and repeat until he summons the elemental. With this guy here you might be frustrated but it can actually be a help. If you position the golem perfectly between you it acts as a shield, and on the plus side, Caranthir’s attacks will damage it for you.
8. Eredin
The second part of the end fight for On Thin Ice will include a battle with Eredin. He is the king of the Wild Hunt, and not happy with you at all. He is the toughest and longest fight by far in the base game. Ereden will use a few magic attacks, such as exploding ice nodes that send shock waves and ice meteors. He is way faster than the other guys and hits harder as well. Patience, potions, dodging, and signs will be needed.
What to do: First and foremost have restorative potions for health and a few on hand for signs. Pay attention to how he attacks to find his patterns so you can dodge and close the distance. You will only really need Igni to melt away his shield, other than that the fight is filled with dodging. Pay attention to your surroundings for those nodes too, otherwise, you will surely die. Patience will be key for this fight because essentially you will dodge, use Igni, roll away, close the distance, and hit him a few times. Rinse and repeat this method until he finally dies.
Heart Of Stone DLC
1. The Toad Prince
This fatty can be a nuisance to deal with, especially with his poison damage. He also hits hard between his tongue and jumping slams. Kicks are another big attack if you linger too long in the wrong spots. This fight will be a potion-heavy and sign-needed fight.
What to do: You must bring potions such as Golden Oriole to grant immunity to poisons, White Raffard’s Decoction for healing, and of course thunderbolt to increase attack power. Cursed oil is good to increase damage for Geralt’s sword giving him a 10% damage increase per hit against the toad. This fight will be consistently dodging and jumping in to use signs to attack. Yrden is good to slow the movements with the trap, and Igni does some good damage against him. Quen is not bad to use since most of the toad’s attacks can land you in critical health, but we prefer you focus on dodging all together. With this arsenal in use, you should slowly and steadily win the fight.
2. The Caretaker
This boss fight is a literal leech that will suck the life from you. He will heal often and frustrate you. What is important is to be patient and not rush, and use some counters to keep him from healing.
What to do: Quen will help prevent the Caretaker from healing himself. He literally can’t suck the life from you. Igni will also deal some decent damage as well as having some grapeshot bombs. If you have Northern Wind he is actually susceptible to the effects, so use it when he has low health to prevent him from healing. Using these abilities and items, just follow his attack pattern with dodges and punish him when he leaves openings.
4. Wraith From The Painting
After defeating the Caretaker, you will enter the house and eventually encounter this wraith. However, it is no normal wraith and does way more damage. This fight seems annoying at first, but you can dominate it if you control your location.
What to do: First, keep the wraith centered and away from paintings at all times, otherwise it will enter one and heal itself if in critical health. Use Yrden to keep it slowed and trapped, and use specter oil to deal some lethal damage. Try not to take too much damage, but wail on it to kill it as fast as possible. Keeping it pinned by the door is usually the most effective way to take it out.
5.Ethereal
Fighting Ethereal can be done in two ways, one being the easier and slower method, the other being quick but high maintenance. This fight will consist of fighting the boss with six clones. We recommend the easier method if you aren’t a high enough level and do not have the whirlwind ability.
What to do: Use specter oil if you have it to boost your damage. We also recommend bombs, such as the grapeshot, dragon’s dream, and dancing star bomb. Use the Quen sign to protect yourself, and slowly take out one clone at a time. Counterattacks will be the key to winning the fights. If you want to take them all out and fast, use the Quen sign for protection and wait for them to get up. Use the Whirl ability or spam bombs at them until they all die.
Blood and Wine Bosses
1. Golyat
As you start this DLC, you will take on the Wineboys mission and head to Velen. As you enter Toussaint for the first time you will see Golyat terrorizing a knight. This brute deals slow but wide strikes with massive damage.
What to do: The strikes are seriously hard to dodge, but Quen will help you survive. Use Ogroid Oil on your sword to increase your damage and hit him carefully between his strikes. Otherwise, you can try to get the instakill by using a crossbow and hit him in that small opening where you see his eye. It is a bit more tedious but is possible for that rare achievement.
2. Bruxa of Corva Bianco
This fight is not particularly hard and can be done with patience and some items. Careful not to let them confuse you by using their speed to suddenly get behind you. She and others can also turn invisible and use a screaming AOE attack.
What to do: Using vampire oil, black blood potions, and moon dust bombs will help deal a crazy amount of damage to her and others that you will eventually encounter during this DLC. Use Quen when needed and Yrden to try and trap her to punish.
3. Shaelmaar
This arena fight can take forever if you don’t know what you’re doing. The shaelmaar has an extremely tough defense with his thick skin, making your damage insignificant at best. The trick is to knock him over and hit his soft underbelly.
What to do: You will need relict oil, samum, and to use Aard. Aard will help stun him, but that will not be enough o hurt him. What you need to do is lure him to use his roll attack to crash into the arena. This will knock him over so you can wail on him and deal a good chunk of damage. Dodge his attacks and repeat the process as he recovers.
4. Cloud Giant
This big guy fights similar to Golyat, using a giant hoe to utilize sweep attacks, but the catch is he also uses jump attacks that make him look like he’s falling through clouds. If you do not dodge in time, it can be lethal.
What to do: The catch is to lure him into one of the piles of metal. This will stun him long enough to get some hits in. Use ogroid oil to deal some extra damage, as well as Igni and dancing star bombs since he is weak to them. Rinse and repeat this method until he dies. Otherwise, you can fight him head-on, but it makes the fight way more difficult than it has to be.
6. Alpha Garkain
This fight will go the same way as normal Garkain fights, but he just deals a bit more damage. Just use vampire oil and samun bombs as you did with the other creatures. The samun bombs will stun it so you can pound him with a few hits.
7. Dettlaf van der Eretein
Detlaaf can be a nasty fight if you don’t know what you’re doing. We highly recommend you come prepared with the items listed so you can make the fight manageable. He deals some extreme damage, so patience and defense are key to winning.
What to do: Use vampire oil, superior for the 50 percent boost is the best way to go. Back blood is the best potion, but should not be relied on and will help chip away at his health. Quen will help keep your defense up and keep you alive for the fight. It also helps since he does not follow up on his attacks to get some hits in. Yrden will also help slow his if you can manage to lure him in. Make sure you keep on defense throughout the fight and only hit during the openings. Don’t get greedy, or you will die.
What to do End Fight in Tesham: Detlaaf will still be weak against the same items, but they can’t be what you rely on. When he uses a swarm of bats, back away as far as you can with maximum health, and dodge at the last second. You will struggle with the timing at first, but otherwise, you’re going to take a huge amount of damage. When he does the diving swoop, do not block just roll to the side. He will tackle you otherwise. His crash landing is one you want to roll to the side to as well, but don’t spam roll away. He will teleport upwards in red mist but there will be time to deal him some damage afterward. Don’t get too greedy though, otherwise, he will punish you. You must also avoid the red spikes on the ground because they will stun you.
Once he is in his third phase, you will transport him to a weird dimension. He is way easier here, but still packs a punch so be careful. Do not attack him, but look for the white organs around you and attack those. Only hit him to keep him at bay when necessary, heal as needed and use Quen constantly. Once you beat him, you will transport him back and need to hit him one more time to finish the fight.
8. Gregoire De Gorgon
This man has no weaknesses and can be a huge pain in the rear end. You can fight him during the Warble of the Smitten Knight quest.
What to do: The only necessary potions are for healing. He has no weaknesses. The best method is to dodge toward his back and hit. Keep patient and repeat this method. Use Quen to help reduce damage taken. You will eventually kill him, slowly but surely.
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