KEY POINTS

  • Death March is the hardest difficulty level in "The Witcher 3"
  • All enemies have increased health and damage
  • Players must use every advantage they can get in order to survive

The Death March difficulty for "The Witcher 3" is extremely brutal. With the greatly increased health and damage values of enemies, players will need every single advantage they can get in order to survive encounters from even the most basic of enemies.

However, beating the game in this difficulty is needed for one of the achievements, and the sheer satisfaction of conquering such challenges makes Death March worth seeing through until the end.

Here are a few tips and tricks on how to survive Death March in "The Witcher 3."

Upgrade Often

Many battles in Death March are a test of endurance. Since enemies have more health, Geralt will need to spend more time whittling away at their HP bars. To make this easier, always look for gear and stat upgrades wherever possible.

One excellent early game upgrade is the Viper Silver and Steel swords, The blueprints for the former can be found in the basement of the White Orchard Cemetery's chapel, while the latter is tucked away in the Amavet Fortress Ruins.

Health Regeneration

Keeping Geralt's HP topped off is going to be expensive if players rely on food and potions alone, especially since Meditation does not heal in Death March mode.

To combat this, get the Sun and Stars perk from the General skill tree as soon as possible. This will let Geralt's HP regenerate passively when he isn't fighting.

Additionally, always light bee hives on fire with Igni to get some free Honey for healing purposes.

Concentrate Character Builds

Death March will leave very little room for experimentation when it comes to builds, so it's best to stack as many bonuses for one playstyle as possible. These could come in the form of skills or percentage stat increases from specific weapons or armor pieces.

The key is to min-max stats in order to deal as much as possible without sacrificing too much survivability and combat utility.

Always Use Quen

The Quen sign is a literal lifesaver. It'll block a single hit from any source. However, this only means that it can act as a safety net for when players accidentally miss a parry or a dodge.

Always use Quen before starting a fight and be mindful about re-casting it mid-battle while juggling other Witcher signs.

Witcher 3 - Viper Silver Sword
The Viper school's silver sword diagram can be found on a corpse in White Orchard Cemetery's basement The Witcher 3