On a similar note, make sure you use the decent glyphs you find, as some can be very useful, especially the ones with a higher chance to poison/stun/freeze. Fight tactically, don’t spam. Enemies in The Witcher 3 will only allow you to get a few hits in before pushing you back and causing you to stumble. Instead, time your attacks. Stagger, stun, freeze, burn might be good for crowd control but isn't that what aard and igni are for? The 'extras' that I believe add to the sword's deadliness (not necessarily in order of preference): increases critical damage, increases sign intensity, increases adrenaline points increases stamina. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But stun and stagger gives you a chance to instakill opponent on next hit while freeze does not #4 Showing 1-4 of 4 comments. 3 Dismembering is by no means an insta-kill. There are insta-kills in the game and it is by effect of weapons, though extremely rare (50 hours played and I have seen one). Dismembering occurs on a kill and a kill only, does not have an effect of an instant kill.
The weapon buff system in Witcher 3 is really complex and at times confusing -- especially to new players. There are ten runestones in the game with different buff options that may be applied to the three available slots in your weapons.
If you know which runestones are the best, then you will always have an advantage over your enemies. In this guide, you will find a few suggestions on the top-tier runestones in Witcher 3.
Best Runestones for Swords in Witcher 3
The art of combining runestones is something that comes only with experience. It very much depends on your build and the weapons you’re using. You will find that the combination of attack power and armor piercing works great for melee builds, while stun/stagger/freeze effects work best in sign builds.
Alternatively, you could focus on one runestone and buff your weapon with only that one, which either compliments your weapon’s stats or adds something new to it. In any case, below you will find the most universally acknowledged runestones in Witcher 3.
Tier 1: Chernobog Runestone
This runestone is practically universal, as it buffs the attack power of your swords. Any type of sword would want at least one slot dedicated to Chernobog, as some enemies may be immune to poison, freeze, and even stun effects. But no enemy will stand the sheer force of the attack power!
Sword Runes Witcher 3
Of course, it is best applied to swords with an already effective damage, such as the new silver sword from Blood and Wine DLC -- Aerondight.
Tier 2: Triglav and Devana Runestones
Triglav gives your weapon a chance to stun an enemy, while Devana inflicts bleeding. Stun is much better than stagger or freeze effects, as usually it lasts longer and will give you more time to finish off your opponents.
Devana is super useful against hard-to-kill monsters that possess a lot of health points. It will make them bleed, and thus lose life more hastily.
Tier 3: Svarog Runestone
Witcher 3 Stun Vs Stagger Man
The monsters are not the only enemies you will face in Witcher 3 -- there are also human enemies to be dealt with. Most of them wear some sort of armor, so having a Svarog runestone in your steel sword will be especially effective against them, as it enhances the armor piercing of your weapons.
Honorable Mentions
Since many bosses in the game are immune to stun, then having a freeze buff of the Zoria runestone would be more useful. If you’re using the greater one, then the effect may last even longer than that of the stun.
Lastly, if you like to use your spell signs often, then having the sign intensity Veles runestone on both of your silver and steel swords would be a great idea. Remember that you will get the bonus for your signs only when you’re using the appropriate weapon, and that is why putting Veles in both of your swords is the way to go.
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Witcher 3 Stun Vs Stagger Gun
Hopefully, this short advice will help you choose the best runestones for your particular build. And make sure to check out many other Witcher 3 guides here at GameSkinny:
jacozilla
Rookie
Witcher 3 Stun Vs Stagger Wood
This isn't a what is best thread - it's an observation / question regarding do these runes actually work -
I've only unlocked 2 slot witcher swords so I've added only 10% - two greater runes, but so far my observation is that:
A) 10% dmg pro runes - like poison, bleed, etc - go off all the time. Not constantly or anything - just saying in regular combat I regularly see the dmg proc effect and see the poison/bleed/etc dmg numbers floating over the monster as it ticks off. So good.
B) 10% disable runes - specifically the kinds I've tried - stager and stun - I've never once seen happen (with major caveat that since I don't know what it looks like when it does happen, perhaps I am just missing the signal that it happened as unlike dmg runes there are no number effects to easily tell.
-however, I saw a video posted by someone showing what stagger looks like on a wyvern he fought that had it chain staggered, and far as I can tell / recall, I've never yet seen my blows stagger anyone - monster or human. And for sure I've never seen the stun effect that is supposed to be like the axii disabled effect.
-whatever it is supposed to look like, I've never seen any opponent I fight take a break / get disabled in any way when using stagger or stun runes. My char screen does show that they stack, that two 5% runes give me 10%, etc - so I know the percent is being registered at least on the display value.
So my question is - do stun / stagger runes work for anyone? If so - what the heck does it look like when it goes off, because either I'm missing something really major or my game is bugged (always possible) and just never getting any stun / stagger rune to work.
If 10% = 10%, then adds more confusion because I would have expected to see stun / stagger effects at least once given how many times I see poison/bleed/ etc go off.