There are two sets of craftable Viper school gear in Witcher 3: two low-level swords, plus a full high-level armor & swords gear set added in the Hearts of Stone expansion. Both are themed around poison.
The level 1 & 2 viper swords are the best early-game weapons. Comparably speaking, the full level 39 Viper school gear set is not as powerful but still worth picking up. In this quick guide, we’ll explain how to obtain every piece of the early and late-game Viper school gear, including diagrams and required materials.
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How to get early-game Viper swords
You can craft the low-level viper steel and silver swords using diagrams found in White Orchard: the first Witcher 3 game area. For the Viper silver sword diagram, ride out to the Cemetery north of the Mill signpost in White Orchard.
Enter the crypt by using the Aard sign to break the door. The diagram is on a corpse inside the crypt building. You’ll have to fight one or two Wraiths here.
Meanwhile, the Viper steel sword diagram can be found in the Castle Ruins to the west of the Ransacked village signpost.
Once you have the diagrams, you’ll need to get the required materials.
Viper Silver Sword Materials
- Leather scraps x1 (can buy from the Nilfgaardian garrison blacksmith)
- Emerald dust x1 (loot from chests or buy from blacksmith)
- Venom extract x1 (loot from ghouls or get from dismantling weapons)
- Silver ingot x2 (buy 20 silver from the blacksmith and turn it into two ingots; find silver items to dismantle into silver ingots; or find silver/pure silver in chests)
You can easily get one silver ingot from the bandit camp northwest of Cackler Bridge. Inside the large tent, one of the chests contains a silver teapot that you can dismantle at the blacksmith to get a silver ingot.
Viper Steel Sword Materials
- Leather scraps x1 (can buy from the blacksmith)
- Emerald dust x1 (loot from chests or buy from blacksmith)
- Venom extract x1 (loot from ghouls or get from dismantling weapons)
- Iron ingot x1 (buy from blacksmith, craft on your own, or loot in the world)
When you have the materials, head over to the Nilfgaardian Garrison, where you can find an Amateur Blacksmith who can craft the Viper silver & steel swords for you.
The silver sword requires level 1, while the steel sword level 2, making them by far the best early-game Witcher 3 weapons. They have a small chance to poison your enemy and increase XP received from human and nonhuman enemies.
How to get the full Viper School gear set
The level 39 Viper set can only be obtained during the main questline of the Hearts of Stone expansion. Follow the instructions below to ensure you don’t miss any Viver school armor or weapon pieces.
Viper Armor Pieces Location
The four diagrams for the Viper armor (armor, boots, trousers, gauntlets) can only be obtained during the beginning of the Open Sesame quest, when you are inside Vivaldi’s auction house. They are sold by Countess Mignole. You won’t be able to come back so don’t miss out on buying the diagrams.
Viper Venomous Steel Sword Location
The Viper venomous steel sword diagram can be found inside Borsodi’s vault during the game Open Sesame quest, in the final room.
Viper Venomous Silver Sword Location
The Viper Silver sword can only be found if you choose the “Help Olgierd” option during the ending of the expansion. You can then find the sword directly (no diagram required) inside the shadowy realm that Gaunter O’Dimm puts you in.
From the starting area, go straight down, then across the bridge, and then go left down the path.
After following the path, you should see some stairs leading up to an area with a red glow around it; jump up the broken stairs and you will find the sword inside a rock.
Viper gear crafting materials
Here are all of the materials you need to craft the Viper gear set pieces.
| Set piece | Crafting Materials |
| Viper Steel Sword | Mastercrafted Feline Steel Sword x1 Leather Scraps x2 Enriched Dimeritium Ingot x2 Sapphire x1 Monster Blood x1 |
| Viper Armor | Mastercrafted Feline Armor x1 Infused Slyzard Hide x2 Enriched Dimeritium Plate x2 Monster Liver x2 Monster Heart x2 |
| Viper Trousers | Mastercrafted Feline Trousers x1 Infused Slyzard Hide x1 Enriched Dimeritium Plate x1 Monster Tongue x2 Monster Blood x2 |
| Viper Boots | Mastercrafted Feline Boots x1 Infused Slyzard Hide x1 Enriched Dimeritium Plate x1 Monster Bone x2 Monster Claw x4 |
| Viper Gauntlets | Mastercrafted Feline Gauntlets x1 Infused Slyzard Hide x1 Enriched Dimeritium Ingot x1 Monster Bone x2 Powdered Monster Tissue x1 |
Witcher Viper gear stats
The Viper witcher gear set provides high poison resistance and a chance to poison enemies. It’s the only Witcher School gear set with no set bonuses; however, its stats are still quite nice, especially if you prefer the idea of poisoning your enemies to death. Here’s a closer look at its stats.
Want to craft the Grandmaster Witcher gear sets? We’ve got separate guides for the Ursine, Griffin, and Wolven grandmaster sets, as well as the Manticore School gear.
Gleb has been playing PC games since the late 1990s and has always enjoyed RPGs the most (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, WoW, Dark Souls, etc.). He had tons of fun playing Witcher 3, so he made this website for discussion, guides, and other info related to the Witcher game, books, and cinematic universe. He travels the world as a digital nomad and spends his time working on website projects, practicing kickboxing, and telling people how awesome intermittent fasting is.