How to get the Witcher 3 Viper School Gear: Complete Guide

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.

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

  1. Leather scraps x1 (can buy from the Nilfgaardian garrison blacksmith)
  2. Emerald dust x1 (loot from chests or buy from blacksmith)
  3. Venom extract x1 (loot from ghouls or get from dismantling weapons)
  4. 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

  1. Leather scraps x1 (can buy from the blacksmith)
  2. Emerald dust x1 (loot from chests or buy from blacksmith)
  3. Venom extract x1 (loot from ghouls or get from dismantling weapons)
  4. 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.

countess

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.

Location of the chest with the steel sword diagram.
Location of the chest with the steel sword diagram.
vipersteelsword

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.

Cross the bridge after leaving the starting area
Cross this bridge after leaving the starting area and go left

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 Silver Sword Location
Venomous Viper Silver Sword Location
vipervenomoussilversword

Viper gear crafting materials

Here are all of the materials you need to craft the Viper gear set pieces.

Set pieceCrafting Materials
Viper Steel SwordMastercrafted Feline Steel Sword x1
Leather Scraps x2
Enriched Dimeritium Ingot x2
Sapphire x1
Monster Blood x1
Viper ArmorMastercrafted Feline Armor x1
Infused Slyzard Hide x2
Enriched Dimeritium Plate x2
Monster Liver x2
Monster Heart x2
Viper TrousersMastercrafted Feline Trousers x1
Infused Slyzard Hide x1
Enriched Dimeritium Plate x1
Monster Tongue x2
Monster Blood x2
Viper BootsMastercrafted Feline Boots x1
Infused Slyzard Hide x1
Enriched Dimeritium Plate x1
Monster Bone x2
Monster Claw x4
Viper GauntletsMastercrafted 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.

viper witcher gear stats
Stats of the full Viper school gear

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.

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