Upgrades in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt refer to enhancement stones that can be slotted into Weapons and Armor with sockets. These primarily come in the form of Runestones for Weapons and Glyphs for Armor. There are several a variety of Upgrades of each type, providing different passive effects such as adding a chance of burn or freeze opponents or deal increased damage, as well as giving a boost to Sign intensity. Furthermore, each type of Upgrade stone has three tiers, with the higher tiers increasing the potency of the effects granted. Runestones and Glyphs are typically found as loot from Monster Nests but can also be purchased from Merchants or crafted via Blacksmithing and Armorsmithing.
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The Witcher 3 Upgrades Overview
Runestone and Glyph Usage
Some Weapons and Armor can come with up to 3 Upgrade Slots which can be socketed with Runestones and Glyphs, respectively. Rarer equipment will tend to have more of these Upgrade Slots available at once.
Runestones and Glyphs are special items that grant various bonuses to Weapons and Armor.
These bonuses include granting a chance to burn opponents on hit, increase the intensity of Geralt's Signs, increase the rate at which adrenaline is gained and more. Each type of Upgrade stone comes in 3 tiers: Lesser Runestone/Glyph, Runestone/Glyph and Greater Runestone/Glyph, with higher tiers increasing the potency of the bonus granted.
Runestone and Glyph Socketing
Runestones can be socketed onto your Weapons by Blacksmiths for a small fee and the same is true for Glyphs but with Armorers. Similarly, only Blacksmiths and Armorers can remove your socketed Runestones and Glyphs. However, this process will destroy them while keeping your equipment intact. On the other hand, if you wish to reacquire your upgrades, you can have them dismantle your equipment.
While higher tier Runestones and Glyphs can be found as loot or purchased from Merchants, they can be quite rare. An alternative to acquiring these higher tier upgrades is to have a Blacksmith or Armorer craft them for you using two units from the previous tier of the same type, provided you have found the appropriate Crafting Diagrams. For example, you can craft a Chernobog Runestone using two Lesser Chernobog Runestones. In turn, you can then use two Chernobog Runestones to craft a Greater Chernobog Runestone.
Runewords and Glyphwords
The Hearts of Stone DLC introduces new upgrade types in the form of Runewords and Glyphwords. These are essentially Weapon and Armor Enchantments that grant more substantial effects than those of Runestones and Glyphs. Only one Runeword can be imbued onto each Steel Sword and Silver Sword, and only one Glyphword can be imbued onto Armor. This is only applicable to equipment with 3 empty slots as these upgrades will use up all 3 slots, preventing you from socketing more Runestones or Glyphs onto the same piece of equipment. Naturally, this makes the Chest Armor piece the only valid candidate for Glyphwords. However, these Runewords can often change your playstyle drastically or complement your preferred skillset, making them well worth the exchange.
In order to unlock Runewords and Glyphwords, you must first embark on a quest to help the Runewright in Upper Mill in Brunwich. Afterwards, they can be crafted by the Runewright by using varying amounts and types of Runestones or Glyphs, with more powerful Runewords and Glyphwords requiring more materials as well as a monetary investment for the Runewright's services.
All Upgrade Items in The Witcher 3
Quick Search of All Upgrades in The Witcher 3
Name | Type | Effect |
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Runestone | 2% Chance to cause burning |
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Runestone | 3% Chance to cause burning |
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Runestone | 5% Chance to cause burning |
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Runestone | +2% Attack Power |
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Runestone | +3% Attack Power |
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Runestone | +5% Attack Power |
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Runestone | +2% Chance to cause stagger |
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Runestone | +3% Chance to cause stagger |
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Runestone | +5% Chance to cause stagger |
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Runestone | +10 Armor piercing |
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Runestone | +20 Armor piercing |
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Runestone | +30 Armor piercing |
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Runestone | 2% Chance to cause stun |
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Runestone | 3% Chance to cause stun |
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Runestone | 5% Chance to cause stun |
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Runestone | +2% Adrenaline point gain |
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Runestone | +3% Adrenaline point gain |
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Runestone | +5% Adrenaline point gain |
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Runestone | +2% Sign Intensity |
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Runestone | +3% Sign Intensity |
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Runestone | +5% Sign Intensity |
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Runestone | 2% Chance to cause poison |
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Runestone | 3% Chance to cause poison |
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Runestone | 5% Chance to cause poison |
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Runestone | 2% Chance to freeze |
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Runestone | 3% Chance to freeze |
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Runestone | 5% Chance to freeze |
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Runestone | 2% Chance to cause bleeding |
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Runestone | 3% Chance to cause bleeding |
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Runestone | 5% Chance to cause bleeding |
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Runestone | None; used in crafting the Dumplings runeword |
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Runestone | None; used in crafting the Dumplings runeword |
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Glyph | 2% Aard Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 5% Aard Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 10% Aard Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 2% Axii Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 5% Axii Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 10% Axii Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 2% Igni Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 5% Igni Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 10% Igni Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 2% Quen Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 5% Quen Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 10% Quen Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 2% Yrden Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 5% Yrden Sign intensity |
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Glyph | 10% Yrden Sign intensity |
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Glyph | +2% Resistance to Bleeding |
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Glyph | +3% Resistance to Bleeding |
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Glyph | +5% Resistance to Bleeding |
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Glyph | +1 Vitality regeneration |
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Glyph | +2 Vitality regeneration |
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Glyph | +3 Vitality regeneration |
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Glyph | +33% reduction in item durability loss |
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Glyph | +50% reduction in item durability loss |
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Glyph | +100% reduction in item durability loss |
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Glyph | +1% Resistance to elemental damage |
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Glyph | +2% Resistance to elemental damage |
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Glyph | +3% Resistance to elemental damage |
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Runeword | Any food consumed regenerates 100% more Vitality, but everything tastes like pierogies. |
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Runeword | Fatal blows dealt with your sword give 0.1 to 0.25 Adrenaline Points. |
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Runeword | When at maximum Vitality, any Vitality regeneration turns into added damage (up to +50%) on your next strike. |
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Runeword | Once they reach their maximum level, Adrenaline Points steadily decline until they reach 0. During this time Vitality and Stamina regeneration are accelerated and Toxicity declines more quickly. |
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Runeword | Armorer's Table and Grindstone bonuses never expire. |
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Runeword | Each unblocked blow increases potion duration time by 0.5s. |
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Runeword | Each fatal blow dealt restores 25% of your Stamina. |
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Runeword | After you cast a Sign, an Adrenaline Point is consumed and your next sword attack is charged with the power of that Sign. |
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Runeword | Increases the range of Whirl by 1.1 yards and Rend by 1.9 yards. |
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Glyphword | All equipped armor items are treated as Medium Armor. |
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Glyphword | Enemies affected by Axii will be affected for 2s longer for each blow they land. |
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Glyphword | Armor deflects all arrows. |
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Glyphword | Hitting enemies with Aard reduces their Stamina by 50%. |
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Glyphword | When a trap set by Yrden hits an enemy, an Yrden glyph is placed at that position. |
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Glyphword | Enemies set alight by Igni explode when they die and ignite nearby foes. |
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Glyphword | All equipped armor items are treated as Heavy Armor. |
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Glyphword | Enemies set alight with Igni have a 25% chance to ignite other enemies within a 2 yard radius. |
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Glyphword | All equipped armor items are treated as Light Armor. |
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Glyphword | When an opponent influenced by Axii dies, the effect transfers to a nearby target. The effect's duration increases by 2 seconds for each blow the affected target lands. |
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Glyphword | When you enter combat, there's a 100 percent chance you will automatically get a Quen shield without using any Stamina. |
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Glyphword | Gives a 30% chance of returning a portion of damage received to the attacker. |
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Glyphword | Igni's basic attack strikes all opponents in a 360-degree radius, but no longer applies the Burning effect. |
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Glyphword | When an enemy affected by Axii dies, the effect transfers to the nearest target. |
What does that mean exactly?
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