This article teaches you how to use Sign magic in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Geralt of Rivia makes use of the following five magic abilities throughout the game: Aard, Axii, Igni, Quen and Yrden. In order to use each form of magic, you must have a full Stamina Meter in most situations, otherwise you will need to level up to use adrenaline points. In addition, it’s best to choose and then activate the magic you want before fighting, particularly against bosses.
During combat Geralt’s Stamina Meter slowly refills. Exit combat and this meter refills much quicker. Now that you know this, read on to learn how to best utilize each form of magic.
Aard Sign Magic
Use Aard Sign magic to unleash a wave of telekinetic energy that knocks down Geralt’s weaker adversaries and pushes stronger foes backwards. In addition, Aard proves useful for getting rid of toxic gas, destroying damaged walls and removing other obstructions blocking your way.
If you manage to knock someone down with it, immediately hit this enemy with an execution to finish the fight. You’ll know this is possible if there’s an attack icon above the intended target. From there, simply press the correct button while in range to emerge victorious.
When you encounter multiple foes at once, Aard lets you push them away and cherry pick the targets you wish to kill first. However, you’ll need to level up Aard to make it extremely effective.
Axii Sign Magic
This form of magic allows Geralt to control people’s minds. During the first part of the game, level up his Delusion ability to give Axii Sign magic a boost. You will be able to steer conversations in Geralt’s favor to bring down the cost of something or avoid fighting altogether. Delusion level two will help you manipulate plenty of characters in The Witcher 3, but we prefer to go one step further with Delusion level three.
While battling enemies on horseback, use Axii Sign magic to get inside the horse’s brain, forcing the animal to throw its rider. Now you’re able to quickly run up to this stunned opponent and go for a one-hit kill.
For enemies standing on their own feet, Axii will prevent them from advancing for a limited amount of time. This brief pause allows you to replenish Geralt’s health or walk behind someone to pull off an execution. Over time you’re able to level up Axii Sign magic to increase the duration of its effects.
Igni Sign Magic
Transform Geralt into a firestarter with Igni magic. Use this powerful ability to light torches, ignite flammable items and set things (or enemies) ablaze; you can even burn beehives for looting. There are so many uses! Blow things up by lighting toxic gas, stun opponents or cause them to run away in pain.
Remember, enemies weak to fire will absorb the most damage from Igni Sign magic. Otherwise it won’t be nearly as effective. In addition, avoid standing too close to toxic gas to eliminate the chance of Geralt taking damage from the explosion. Obviously the more you level up Igni, the better it’ll be at helping you destroy adversaries susceptible to it.
Quen Sign Magic
It’s easy to hack enemies without dodging. This is where Quen Sign magic comes into play. It creates a temporary shield around Geralt, and will absorb one strike from opponents equal to Geralt’s level, bosses included. Combine this with dodging (paying close attention to Geralt’s Stamina Meter) and you’ll cut down on the number of health items used.
Beyond this, Quen lets you take down higher level opponents, thus gaining access to gear and treasure you normally wouldn’t acquire early on in the game.
When dealing with high level foes, hit them with a single quick attack and then dodge to safety while keeping Quen active. Should you fail to get out of harm’s way, Quen will protect Geralt momentarily until you recover. Keep in mind this strategy will result in longer battles against tougher opponents.
Basically, you should equip Quen whenever you feel a battle is about to commence, and activate it before each boss fight.
Yrden Sign Magic
This is the closest you’ll come to experiencing The Matrix in The Witcher 3. Yrden magic creates a circle around Geralt. Whoever (or whatever) enters this circle slows down, giving you a chance to quickly defeat enemies, especially when fighting multiple baddies at once.
Use Yrden when squaring off against Wraiths or similar creatures that love to disappear and then reappear. So long as the target is in the circle, it won’t go anywhere.
Create the circle between Geralt and his target so the enemy must travel across its length. Since Geralt moves towards the enemy with each swing, this lets you score lots of hits before he travels outside of the circle due to forward momentum.
Leveling up Yrden causes the effect to last much longer, but we feel it’s the weakest magic in Geralt’s arsenal. Few monsters move fast enough to rely on Yrden, and you already possess superior forms of magic to defeat these creatures, from lighting them on fire with Igni to blasting them with Aard. This is still a good method for dealing with crown control, however.
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