What skills should I invest in Witcher 3? The top 15 abilities to unlock first

If you‘re starting out in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you may be wondering what skills you should invest your hard-earned ability points into first. With over 250 abilities across 3 extensive skill trees – Combat, Signs, and Alchemy – it can be daunting trying to decide which skills will benefit you the most in the early game.

Based on my experience mastering Death March difficulty and 100% completing the game twice, I recommend investing early in these top 15 skills to maximize Geralt‘s damage, survivability, and flexibility:

1. Muscle Memory (Combat)
2. Strength Training (Combat)
3. Arrow Deflection (Combat)
4. Precise Blows (Combat)
5. Crushing Blows (Combat)
6. Undying (Combat)
7. Razor Focus (Combat)
8. Whirl (Combat)
9. Delusion (General)
10. Gourmet (General)
11. Active Shield (Signs)
12. Melt Armor (Signs)
13. Exploding Shield (Signs)
14. Magic Trap (Signs)
15. Hunter Instinct (Alchemy)

Let‘s take a deeper look at why these skills in particular are so useful to acquire early…

Core Combat Skills

The first 8 skills on the list fall under the Combat tree and represent core abilities that will directly improve Geralt‘s sword fighting and damage output.

Muscle Memory (1 point) – This should be your first unlock, increasing fast attack damage by 5% and strong attack damage by 10%. It‘s an obvious damage boost that makes fighting basic enemies much quicker.

Strength Training (1 point) – Similarly, grab this next for another 5% fast attack and 10% strong attack damage increase. Together with Muscle Memory, you‘ll shred through enemies.

Arrow Deflection (1 point) – Extremely valuable early on when fighting groups of bandits or ranged foes. Lets you deflect bolts and arrows back at the attacker, evening the odds.

Precise Blows (2 points) – One of the best skills for increasing your critical hit damage by 50%. Combine with high Crit chance weapons for devastating damage.

Crushing Blows (2 points) – Strong attacks will ignore 20% of enemy armor, letting you take down tougher, high armor targets faster. Works on humans and beasts.

Undying (2 points) – A potential lifesaver, giving you a 50% chance to return to combat upon losing all vitality. Great safety net in challenging battles.

Razor Focus (3 points) – Builds up your Adrenaline Points during combat so you can use more power sign and weapon abilities. Increases damage output.

Whirl (3 points) – Allows Geralt to spin 360 degrees while attacking all nearby enemies. Excellent crowd control skill against groups.

Investing in these Combat skills first will significantly increase Geralt‘s damage and survivability in melee combat during the early levels.

Flexibility Skills

The next 4 skills give you more options both in and out of combat:

Delusion (1 point) – One of the most useful skills period, unlocked with 1 point in Axii. Many dialogue options and non-violent solutions open up thanks to Delusion‘s Axii boost.

Gourmet (2 points) – Makes all food heal Geralt for 20 minutes rather than instantly. Extremely valuable early game when food is still a major source of healing between battles.

Active Shield (2 points) – Upgrading Quen lets it absorb damage whenever your Vitality drops below 25%, giving you a safety net.

Melt Armor (2 points) – Boost Igni sign intensity and gives it the ability to decrease enemy armor upon use. Very helpful against high armor foes.

These skills enhance Geralt‘s flexibility in handling different encounters and give more options in challenging situations.

Sign Support Skills

The final 3 sign skills provide excellent synergy:

Exploding Shield (3 points) – Causes Quen sign‘s shield to damage and knock back enemies when hit. Adds offensive power.

Magic Trap (2 points) – Turns any cast sign into a trap by placing it on a surface. Creative way to control the battlefield.

Hunter Instinct (2 points) – Reveals detailed enemy information like resistances, weaknesses, and loot when you drink certain potions. Knowledge is power!

With these sign bonuses, you can leverage magic to turn the tide of battle and better understand your foes.

In total, unlocking these 15 core skills requires 28 ability points, which you can acquire within the first 10 character levels. They represent the best bang for your buck early investments.

Let‘s compare the impact on your character‘s power at level 10:

Skill Investment Strategy	Attack Power	Defense	Flexibility	Total Points
Balanced Spread	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	28
All Combat	🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	28
All Signs	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢	🟡🟡🟡🟡🟡	28
Recommended	🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢	🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢	🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢	28

As you can see, by investing in a balanced selection of combat, sign, and general skills, Geralt becomes impressively well-rounded and powerful despite fewer total points.

This sets you up with a solid foundation to then expand upon for deeper specialization. Once these core skills are unlocked, you have more freedom to tailor your build.

Mid to Late Game Specialization

Once you have those essential 15 skills unlocked, you can start investing deeper into specific builds:

Pure Combat Swordsman

If focusing purely on weapon damage and melee combat prowess, expand on core skills with:

• Rend bleeding damage (Swordsman)
• Flood of Anger Adrenaline damage boost (Berserker)
• Undying Fervor invulnerability extension (Berserker)
• Counterattack damage bonuses (Swordsman)
• Razor Focus Adrenaline generation increase (Berserker)

Maximize your offense, defense, and crowd control abilities to become a true whirlwind of swords.

Sign Magic Wielder

To double down on Sign skills, build on your core with:

• Piercing Cold damage boost (Magic)
• Extended Magic Trap duration (Magic)
• Far-Reaching Aard for power and range (Magic)
• Expanded Axii influence radius (Puppet)
• Pyromaniac Igni burn chance (Pyromancy)

Control the battlefield with enhanced Sign intensity, range, duration, and crowd targeting.

Alchemy Expert

If you favor oils, potions, and bombs, invest further in:

• Acquired Tolerance for max toxicity (Acquired Tolerance)
• Synergy potion enhancement (Synergy)
• Steady Shot for crossbow stability (Marksman)
• Bomber perk for bonus bomb damage (Demolition)
• Poisoned Blades DOT damage (Poisoner)

Brew superior oils and potions to exploit any monster‘s weaknesses fully.

Once you have those core 15 skills mastered, feel free to spread your wings and specialize as you see fit. Geralt will be a force to be reckoned with.

Optimizing Early Ability Point Gain

Of course, unlocking skills requires ability points which can be scarce early on. Here are some tips to accelerate your ability point acquisition:

• Complete side quests – Nearly every side quest rewards points, allowing skills to grow faster.

• Find Places of Power – These magical sites grant free ability points, often 1-2 per location.

• Do witcher contracts – Monster hunts provide good XP and ability rewards.

• Clear ? marks – Exploring question marks can lead to mini-events with point rewards.

• Loot chests – Many treasure chests contain ability points among other loot.

• Gwent players – Defeat Gwent opponents to win ability points.

• Level up often – You gain 1 ability point each time Geralt levels up.

With a little exploration and knocking out side content, you‘ll have enough points to flesh out your top skills in no time!

Respec Option With Potion of Clearance

Don‘t fret about making suboptimal skill investments. Eventually, you can purchase Potion of Clearance recipes that completely reset your skill points and let you reassign from scratch.

But by focusing on those core 15 skills outlined above initially, you‘ll get the most value from your early ability investments in The Witcher 3‘s massive skill tree.

Master the essential combat, sign, and general skills first to empower Geralt quickly, then specialize further as you tailor your playstyle. Before you know it, no monster or bandit will stand a chance!

What skills have you found most useful early on in The Witcher 3? Share your thoughts and builds in the comments. Happy hunting on the Path!