The Witcher 2 Dark Mode Guide

To make things exciting and challenging, The Witcher 2 with Patch 2.0 adds a new difficulty level, Dark Mode. You can select this difficulty from the start screen. The gameplay is much closer to the Insane (the highest) difficulty, but with the choice of saving, which allows players to take breaks between hectic gameplay.

If you want to test out your skills, try Dark Mode and engage in challenging gameplay. Apart from much stronger foes and quests, Dark mode has an exciting addition of exclusive weapons and armor sets. Let’s continue with the guide on everything about Dark Mode.

What outfits/armor are available in the Dark mode?

The armors in the Dark Mode are part of the lore as they are linked to a dark legend. As expected, all these sets, individually or together, are the most potent sets that can counter the difficulty of this mode. Here are the three outfits that you can find in this mode.

The Blasphemer’s Outfit

The first outfit that becomes available early on in the game, chapter I, is the Blasphemer’s Outfit. To craft this outfit, you must visit the dwarf blacksmith Berthold Candeleria in Flotsam. There are several items that you need to make this six-piece armor set, and those are as follows:

Amethyst dust x4
Diamond dust x5
Yellow meteorite x2
Endrega hide x5
Endrega venom x2
Hardened leather x16
Nekker claws x8
Nekker teeth x9
Robust Cloth x20
Studded leather x 20
Silver Ore x12
Iron ore x16
Twine x5

In total, it takes about 1756 orens, 2314 including the crafting fee of 515, to make this entire suit. Following are the details for all four parts of the Blasphemer’s Outfit.

Armor	Defense	Effects	Cost
Blasphemer’s armor	+15	Vitality +40, Reduction of magic damage +22%, Resistance to burn +85%, Resistance to bleed +30%, and Resistance to poison +30%	564
Blasphemer’s armor	+1	Reduction of magic damage +5% and Resistance to bleed +5%	101
Blasphemer’s boots	+2	Blasphemer’s gauntlets	161
Resistance to poison +10% and Geralt’s maximum load +15	+2	Vitality +5	131

The Oathbreaker’s Outfit

For the second armor set, the Oathbreaker set, you’ll have to reach chapter II, as only then would this become available. As usual, this also has six components, two being swords. To craft this, go to the blacksmith according to your paths.

If you’ve chosen Roche’s path, go to Kaedweni camp and talk to the blacksmith Lasota. For Iorveth’s path, speak to blacksmith Mael in The Witcher 2 Vergen.

This armor set will cost you 3836 orens (in total, 5026, including a crafting fee of 1190), which is quite costly from the first one. Here is the list of all the items you need to craft it.

Amethyst dust x7
Blue Meteorite x2
Diamond dust x3
Draugir armor fragment x1
Essence of death x4
Hardened leather x18
Harpy feathers x6
Iron ore x16
Robust cloth x20
Silver ore x14
Studded leather x20
Timber x5
Twine x10

The four parts of the armor are:

Armor	Defense	Effects	Cost
Oathbreaker’s armor	+30	Vitality +60, Reduction of magic damage +33%, Resistance to burn +50%, Resistance to bleed +50%, and Resistance to poison +50%	1501
Oathbreaker’s armor	+2	Reduction of magic damage +10% and Resistance to bleed +10%	201
Oathbreaker’s boots	+3	Oathbreaker’s gauntlets	201
Resistance to poison +15% and Geralt’s maximum load +20	+3	Vitality +15	551

The Kinslayer’s Outfit

Last is the Kinslayer’s outfit, which is unlocked in Chapter III. It is the best armor set in the whole game and can only be made if you get the diagrams from Bras of Ban Ard in Loc Muinne. This set consists of six items, and collectively, they all cost 6306 Orens, which then exceeds 7931 after adding a crafting fee for each.

The total items needed for all parts of the armor and the weapons are:

Blue Meteorite x2
Dragon scales x1
Elemental Stone x4
Essence of death x2
Gargoyle dust x9
Hardened leather x28
Harpy feathers x8
Harpy saliva x2
Iron ore x18
Leather x4
Robust cloth x26
Silver ore x14
Studded leather x8
Timber x4
Troll tongue x1
Twine x12

The hardest part to find for Kinslayer’s build is Dragon Scales. Here are several places where you can find Dragon scales in The Witcher 2 Dark Mode:

Look inside Philippa’s house (Loc Muinne).
The Operator may have it on him. Loot him to find out.
During Of His Blood and Bone quest, look inside Dethmold’s chest in his tent.

The four armor parts are as follows, along with their specific items and prices.

Armour	Defence	Effects	Cost
Kinslayer’s armor	+40	Vitality +100, Reduction of magic damage +40%, Resistance to burn +70%, Resistance to bleed +70%, and Resistance to poison +70%	3501
Kinslayer’s armor	+3	Reduction of magic damage +15% and Resistance to bleed +15%	271
Kinslayer’s boots	+4	Kinslayer’s gauntlets	301
Resistance to poison +20% and Geralt’s maximum load +25	+4	Vitality +25	631

Which weapons are exclusive to Dark mode?

With each outfit, there are two weapons included. One is Silver, while the other is a Steel sword. Here are the rest of the details regarding all six swords present exclusively in the Dark mode of The Witcher 2.

Sword	Damage	Effects	Cost	Part of Outfit	Items to Craft
Anathema	20-25	Bleed +15% and Instant kill chance: +1%	401	The Blasphemer’s Outfit	Iron ore x4, Silver ore x12, Timber x3, Yellow meteorite x2, Nekker teeth x4
Ultimatum	22-28	Bleed: +30%, Instant kill chance: +2%	401	The Blasphemer’s Outfit	Iron ore x12, Hardened leather x2, Timber x2, Diamond dust x1, Nekker teeth x5
Virgin	35-45	Poison: +20%, Instant kill chance: +2%	751	The Blasphemer’s Outfit	Iron ore x2, Silver ore x14, Timber x2, Diamond dust x2, Essence of death x2
Black Unicorn	32-45	Bleed: +20%, Vigor regeneration in combat: +10%	631	The Oathbreaker’s Outfit	Iron ore x14, Hardened leather x2, Timber x3, Blue meteorite x2, Amethyst dust x5
Weeper	50-55	Poison: 30%, Instant kill chance: +3%	801	The Oathbreaker’s Outfit	Iron ore x2, Silver ore x14, Timber x2, Blue meteorite x2, Elemental stone x4
Mourner	52-60	Bleed: +40%, Instant kill chance: +3%	801	The Kinslayer’s Outfit	Iron ore x16, Leather x4, Timber x2, Gargoyle dust x3, Essence of death x2

Not only are these swords exclusive, but they also have an animated effect in the game. When drawn, all of the swords would desaturate your screen, giving it more of a vampiric and rustic feel. The background sound would also change to a dark rhythm, adding to the already present overall dark visual.

Each sword has different effects and can be crafted separately or as part of the outfits. If you have a diagram of each of these swords, then you can craft them. You can also choose only to craft the sword of any of the sets as that takes much fewer items and orens than crafting a whole outfit.

Unfortunately, this would rob the sword of the fun effects mentioned above, as those can only happen when the whole outfit and the corresponding sword are wielded.

Tips to beat The Witcher 2 Dark Mode

Dark mode falls in the harder difficulty level, which can pose a challenge sometimes. To help play through it quickly, here are some tips to follow.

The beginning parts are the hardest, as players are not used to the challenging gameplay. Try to be as safe as possible by relying on block and guard whenever necessary.
While fighting small monsters like nekkers, harpies, etc., try not to get surrounded. If there’s a chance for this, dodge and throw a bomb to scatter them and then fight. Look for an opening and only then hit. Two slashes can fit easily in the window while attacking.
Use bombs as much as you can for small fights against humans or animals. Don’t let any enemy come near you, as damage may be much more fatal than you expect.
Quen Sign works best during boss fights because it increases the effect of Vigor for much more effective blocking.
Save up for armor sets as early as you can so that you don’t have to worry about defense later on during boss fights. This is the most important tip, as you are basically in this mode to explore the different armor sets.