The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Preparing for battles with harder enemies The Witcher 3 Guide

This page of The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt has extensive tips on how to prepare for fights against strong opponents. They can be either bosses or stronger versions of "regular" monsters.

An example monster card - the game informs you of all his weaknesses

Battles with standard monsters usually aren't too troublesome (unless you're playing on highest difficulty level). But sometimes Geralt must face much stronger enemies that can be a great challenge. In such cases it is not recommended to rush into combat with no preparation. Below, you will find a list of most important activities you should perform before starting every harder battle:

1. Regeneration of health and preparation of potions and food supplies - Rules of health regeneration and how to keep Geralt in good condition has been thoroughly described on healing during fights page.
2. Using grindstone and crafting table - You will find them mostly in places where blacksmiths are. They will temporary increase your weapon and armor statistics.
3. Drinking potions that increase your combat abilities. In case of potions with very limited duration (like 30 or 60 seconds) drink them no sooner than when the battle begins.
4. Visiting the Point or Places of Power - Visit the Point of Power related to the sign that you will be using most frequently in the coming battle. You can also head to the Points related to various signs.
5. Reading the monster card in the bestiary - It's one of the most important steps. Checking the entry in the bestiary will allow you to see what weaknesses a monster has. Based on those information, place the proper oil on your sword, gather specific bombs and prepare the correct witcher sign. Important - A bestiary entry usually appears after you fight with a specific monster for the first time. Sometimes Geralt will find a book that tells him about a monster earlier, but it doesn't happen often. If you don't want to fight enemy blindly, you can use the hints from our walkthrough.
6. Checking the difficulty level of attacked monster or monsters, as well as preparing supplies - It's an important thing. Try to attack monsters that are on similar experience level as Geralt or not more than two levels higher (only if you play on standard difficulty level). DO NOT ATTACK monsters near which you can see question marks or red skull icon. They are much stronger and Geralt won't stand a chance against them.
7. Modification of the active skills set - As it was described in the Character development chapter, Geralt has a limited amount of slots for active skills. So pick the ones that will be most useful. For example, select the developed Aard sign skill if you plan to use it on the upcoming battle.