The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's combat system allows players a great deal of freedom regarding the ways in which they take down their foes, and Adrenaline Points are a huge part of combat, so this guide will provide a full overview of everything that can be done using Adrenaline Points, and some tips to help players make the most of them.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt allows players to generate Adrenaline Points whenever they successfully land an attack on an enemy. These points will slowly drain whenever Geralt isn't attacking, encouraging players to stay on the offensive if they want to take full advantage of Adrenaline Points. They are displayed beneath his stamina bar as a separate red meter.
Building Adrenaline Points
Adrenaline Points are gained whenever Geralt attacks an enemy, and most combat branch skills also increase the rate at which they are gained, in addition to the basic effects of the skill. The largest boosts to Adrenaline Point gain come from the following skills:
- Muscle Memory increases Adrenaline Point gain by +5% at level 5.
- Precise Blows boosts Adrenaline Point gain by +5% at level 5.
- Strength Training raises Adrenaline Point gain by +5% at level 5.
- Crushing Blows raises Adrenaline Point gain by +5% at level 5.
- Fleet Footed raises Adrenaline Point gain by +5% at level 5.
- Adrenaline Burst raises Adrenaline Point gain by +5% and allows players to generate Adrenaline Points by using Signs.
- Lightning Reflexes raises Adrenaline Point gain by +3% at level 3.
Most other combat branch skills will raise Adrenaline Point gain by +1%, so all combat branch skills can be useful for boosting Adrenaline Point gain. A valuable skill for improving Geralt's Adrenaline generation is "Attack is the Best Defense," which allows Geralt to gain small amounts of Adrenaline from Parrying, Counterattacking, Dodging, and Rolling.
"Razor Focus" allows him to enter combat with one free Adrenaline Point while also boosting point gains from sword attacks by +5%, making for another incredibly valuable Adrenaline building skill. "Advanced Pyrotechnics" will allow Geralt to generate a small amount of Adrenaline from hitting enemies with bombs too.
Using Adrenaline
The ways Geralt can spend Adrenaline are largely determined by what skills he has unlocked. By default, Battle Trance allows Geralt to slow down time after slaying an enemy, gaining the ability to ignore stamina costs while time is slow if he has three Adrenaline Points. Battle Trance also automatically spends Adrenaline Points to recover Vitality if Geralt's Vitality hits zero, assuming there are points available to spend. Geralt also gets a 10% damage bonus for every Adrenaline Point he has, which can make aggressive play very rewarding.
Special Attacks
Rend is an unlockable special attack that allows Geralt to perform a downward chop that ignores armor and deals extra damage based on the stamina and Adrenaline Points spent to use it, and can be found in the Combat skill tree branch. Also in the Combat skill tree branch is the Whirl special attack, which allows Geralt to perform a spinning AOE attack that consumes Stamina and Adrenaline to keep the spin going and keep dealing damage.
Other uses for Adrenaline
Adrenaline Burst and Flood of Anger are both excellent skills for players who enjoy using Signs, since Adrenaline Burst lets Geralt generate Adrenaline by casting Signs and Flood of Anger lets him spend 3 Adrenaline whenever available to automatically upgrade a Sign to the highest level with all bonuses as he casts it. Flood of Anger also raises Sign intensity by 25%. Rage Management allows Geralt to use Adrenaline to cast Signs when he doesn't have enough Stamina, making Signs even more readily accessible.
Hunter Instinct from the Alchemy branch allows players to raise their critical chance against the targeted enemy by 20% when Adrenaline is maxed out, Focus allows Adrenaline Points to increase Weapon Damage and Sign Intensity passively, and Metabolism Boosts lets Geralt use his Adrenaline to reduce the toxicity of imbibed potions by 33% per point.
All in all, Adrenaline can be used to enhance Signs, Direct Combat, and Geralt's ability to use Potions, making it a valuable tool for all builds.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
