How to level up fast in The Witcher 3
We explain the quickest way to level up and gain experience in The Witcher 3 in this guide.
Levelling up fast in The Witcher 3 means Geralt can keep pace with the the increasingly difficult contracts and side quests that become available as his journey progresses.
Even if you're not keen on doing much side content, it's important to keep Geralt powerful through frequently gaining experience to keep him able to use the best gear.
In this guide, we'll show you how to level up fast in The Witcher 3
How to level up fast in The Witcher 3
You gain XP in The Witcher 3 by doing all manner of things: completing quests, killing enemies, winning games of Gwent, completing horse races and pretty much any activity you can think of that's tied to the main story or side quests. That being said, there are numerous actions you can take to speed up how quickly you gain experience along the way.
Equip Witcher swords
These weapons can be found across the game with numerous variations and upgrades, and they're identifiable by the green text in their name. These always offer bonuses to experience gained from killing enemies, sometimes as much as 20 percent.
Equip the correct trophy on Roach
Killing most of the game's major monsters and bosses will give you a trophy that you can display on Roach's saddle to gain various bonuses, some of which confer additional experience. Completing the Devil by the Well contract in White Orchard will give such a trophy, one of the earliest available in the game. These don't interfere with Roach's saddlebags either, so you can equip both.
Don't ignore side quests and Witcher Contracts
The game assumes you're doing some amount of side activities in how it scales to you. Keep an eye on notice boards in any new locations you go to, and try to do at least two contracts or major side-quests for every story mission.
Don't bother with missions you're over-levelled for
If rapid advancement is what you want, doing missions you've exceeded the recommended level for isn't going to help you. The game's XP formula means that being more than five levels higher than a mission gives you only the smallest amount of experience as a reward.
How do I farm experience in The Witcher 3?
There is no known way to farm or glitch experience in Witcher 3, though there have been methods in the past that CD Projekt Red have patched out, the most well-known one involving spinning in circles while shooting drowners with crossbows (it was less exciting than it sounds). Consequently, those who want to make themselves more powerful will have to do so legitimately, albeit with the tricks we labelled above and farming monster nests wherever possible, or with mods if you're playing on PC.
Whether you're just starting The Witcher 3 for the first time or need a refresh after a long time out of the saddle, check out our Witcher 3 walkthrough for all the essential info, including how to get the best ending and which quests you should actually do in the wide, open world.