Here, we’ll look at a powerful Witcher 3: Remastered build focused on the Igni sign. Igni deals AoE fire damage to enemies in front of Geralt, potentially setting them ablaze and stunning them.
Igni can be powered up more than any other sign in the game (except perhaps Aard – see our overpowered Aard Build). Recreating this build lets you destroy most enemies in the game using Igni alone.
While you will need to be quite high level and have access to the Blood and Wine DLC to fully optimise this build, you can start creating it from the start of a new playthrough – Igni is already really strong with only a couple of skill points invested, and it’ll just get better from there.
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How to Use This Witcher 3 Igni Build
This Witcher 3 Igni build focuses on high Sign Intensity, combined with specific Igni buffs from Geralt’s skill tree and gear.
We used the Griffin School Armour set to gain even more Sign Intensity. When upgraded to Mastercrafted or Grandmaster tier, the armour enhances the Yrden sign, giving a massive 100% buff to Sign Intensity when Geralt stands in the area.
The build is usually played by placing an Yrden sign at the start of combat, standing within it and then spamming Igni on cooldown. Every second sign cast with the upgraded Griffin armour is free, so you can cast it very fast. The tuned up Sign Intensity gives massive damage to Igni and allows you to keep most enemies on fire and effectively stun-locked.
Earlier in the game, when you haven’t sufficiently upgraded the Griffin Armour, the build is instead played with a more hybrid playstyle, as Igni will still form the basis of your combat approach, but with plenty of sword work to fill the time when your stamina is recharging.
You can see this Igni build in action in the Gameplay section.
Witcher 3 Igni Build Armour and Weapons
To create this Witcher 3 Igni Build, we recommend using Grandmaster Griffin Witcher Gear.
You can craft the basic version of this armour early in the game, but you won’t get access to the fully upgraded version until much later. The basic version is still very strong relative to the enemies you’ll face at that point in the game, even on Death March difficulty. Keep upgrading it when you reach the required level for the next tier, and you’ll stay one step ahead of almost everything the game throws at you.
We need the fully upgraded (Grandmaster) version to maximise this build’s potential; however, it can work without it, but it just won’t be as strong. To learn how to obtain and upgrade the Griffin Armour, check out our Griffin Armour Guide.
Weapon and Armour Upgrades
Here are the recommended upgrades for your gear:
You can find the Runewright in the far northeast of the Novigrad and Oxenfurt region, near the Upper Mill Signpost, east of Brunwich village.
Witcher 3 Igni Build Skills and Perks
Some Skills are important to unlock and activate to maximise this Igni build’s potential in The Witcher 3.
First, in the Mutagen slots, put a Greater Blue Mutagen in three slots and a Greater Red Mutagen in the final slot. Remember to slot perks next to a Mutagen of the same colour for an additional bonus. You can loot these mutagens from powerful enemies or craft them in the Alchemy menu by combining several lower-quality mutagens.
To unlock and fully upgrade these skills for your Witcher 3 Igni Build, you need 39 Skill Points. There are two ways to get more skill points: each time you level up, you will receive one, and the first time you interact with a newly discovered Place of Power, you’ll also receive one.
We picked two Red skills and a Red Mutagen just to give us a basic amount of damage buffs for normal sword attacks, because there are a few enemies in the game who are very resistant to magical attacks, so in those cases we won’t find ourselves struggling because we put all of our resources into blue skills.
If you are Low Level:
If you are still early in your adventure, you won’t be able to unlock everything yet. In this case, I recommend prioritising the three red skills with a matching red mutagen, then get Griffin School Techniques, and then begin filling out your remaining slots with the suggested blue skills and blue mutagens, starting with Melt Armour and Delusion to start buffing Igni and unlock all of the Axii dialogue options. It’s also fine to use weaker versions of the mutagens when you’re too low level to find better ones.
Remember to fully upgrade your Skills; don’t just unlock the first tier!
Mutation for the Witcher 3 Igni Build
To unlock the Mutation system, you’ll need the Blood and Wine DLC and to complete the quest called Turn and Face the Strange.
For this Witcher 3 Igni Build, we’re using the Magic Sensibilities mutation. This is the first blue mutation in the tree, so it’s very easy to unlock, just requiring three Greater Blue Mutagens and three skill points.
This mutation allows your signs to critically hit, with the chance and damage scaling based on your Sign Intensity. With the recommended set up, we got a 52% critical chance on signs, with the critical hits adding 323% bonus damage. This effect greatly increases Igni’s damage potential.
Potions and Bombs for the Witcher 3 Igni Build
Here are the best Potions and Bombs for the Witcher 3 Igni Build:
Note that you can only use one Decoction at a time, because we haven’t invested in any alchemy skills for this build. An active Decoction also means you won’t be able to drink potions as often because of the high toxicity.
Don’t worry if you don’t have all of these right away. The basic and Enhanced versions of the potions are almost as good as the Superior version.
Gameplay Video of the Witcher 3 Igni Build
Here is a quick video about the Witcher 3 Igni Build. As you can see, the main play is to place Yrden at the start of combat and then spam Igni, which will easily take care of most enemies in the game. Use Quen to help you fight ranged enemies. Alternate Igni (firestream) usually isn’t worth it because it’s single-target only and doesn’t do much more damage than the regular Igni.
