Witcher 3 remaster max damage (Witcher 3 remaster one-hit sword build) is a setup built around melee combat, Cat armor, and Quen only as a last safety net. The Remaster gave us a fully reworked skill tree and with that everyone’s favorite builds broke apart. Some you can rebuild almost the same, some you cannot. You just have to get used to the new tree and adapt.
How the build works
This build is all about the sword and from my playthrough right after the Remaster launched I have to say Geralt as a heavy swordsman still works. It combines Cat armor, the right decoctions, and a skill tree spread that pushes mainly attack power, critical hits, and runestones in your weapons.
The build is aimed purely at offense, so the safety nets against death from the sword build go out the window. With this setup Geralt often kills most enemies in one or two hits, but he has little health, weak defense, and decoctions do not refill health the way they do on a more balanced variant.
What the build is good for
The build is great because you can focus almost only on melee weapons. For signs you mainly use Quen because Geralt starts with little health and armor and on higher difficulties it helps to block one hit. In this build that is his only safety net before death.
The right alchemy and decoctions give you a higher chance of critical hits and more attack power in a fight. Four attack decoctions usually push toxicity almost to the cap and the Euphoria mutation squeezes even more damage out of your sword and sign intensity.
With this build Geralt hits ridiculously hard. In the video you will see that he drops most soldiers in one hit. On this setup he is a killer. I do not play it myself, though. After one or two hits from an enemy Geralt is often dead and that does not entertain me much. Fights where you finish a golem, an earth elemental, and other tough creatures in two heavy blows do not feel fun to me.
What you need for the build
You definitely need the full Cat armor set and in my video that is the mastercrafted legendary Cat set. Six armor pieces again give you the full set bonuses.
For weapons use the greater Chernobog runestone, which raises attack power by five percent for each stone you slot. On armor put the Deflection glyph, which reflects all arrows. At least something protects you when everything else is pure offense.
You drink four damage-focused decoctions: Basilisk keeps your attack bonus until the fight ends or you take a hit, Water Hag raises damage by fifty percent at full health, Succubus gradually raises attack power in combat up to its cap, and Katakan adds ten percent to critical hit chance. I list recipes and more potions in the best elixirs overview.
In the skill tree add points as in the screenshot below and pick Euphoria as your active mutation, because each point of toxicity raises sword damage and sign intensity.
Video
In the video you will see Geralt fighting in the Nilfgaardian camp with this build and how fast he drops enemies, usually in one hit. You will also see how easy it is to kill him. It is on Death March with the setup above and no mods.
Max damage build on Death March in the Nilfgaardian camp, no mods.
Where next
A more balanced variant on the same armor is the sword build linked earlier in the text. More Remaster setups are in the build overview. I cover the game in The Witcher 3 review, and more guides sit on the game hub.