Aerondight is a legendary silver sword that has appeared in all previous installments in the franchise. In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the sword was added with the Blood and Wine expansion pack, where you need to prove your worth to the Lady of the Lake to get the Aerondight, much like how Arthur did for Excalibur.
Aerondight is the best sword you can get in The Witcher 3. It generates a charge to increase your overall damage output with every successful kill. At full charge, it gives you a guaranteed chance of landing critical attacks. Killing an enemy with a full charge also increases your damage permanently. This means Aerondight is an excellent weapon to scale in a New Game Plus playthrough.
Unlike other weapons in The Witcher 3, you cannot craft Aerondight. It has no diagrams. You also cannot loot it from a chest. The only way to get Aerondight is to complete There Can Be Only One, a secondary quest that you can start in The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine.
How to start There Can Be Only One quest
There are two different ways you can start There Can Be Only One side quest in The Witcher 3. The first way to start this quest is the same as starting a typical Witcher contract – the notice board. This particular quest can only be found on the notice board at the Gran’place in Toussaint with the “Test Yourself with the Trials of the Virtues” title.
Alternatively, you can also start this quest to get Aerondight by having a chat with the two knights at the Tourney Grounds, namely, Bors and Percival.
The quest involves meeting with the Hermit at the Lac Celavy Lake, located to the west of Corvo Bianco. Meet with the hermit who challenges you to prove that you possess all five of the chivalric virtues.
The chivalric virtues will be indicated on a set of stones by means of inscriptions. They can be found nearby on the side of the small lake and are as follows in short:
- Compassion
- Generosity
- Honor
- Valor
- Wisdom
Earning these five virtues in The Witcher 3 will depend on the choices you make in a variety of quests or encounters. Chances are that you might already have attained some of the virtues while playing the game.
Your choices are recorded when you show these virtues, which means you won’t have to prove the chivalric virtues from scratch. But if for some reason you did not prove any virtue during your playthrough, then there are other ways to do so.
There are several encounters in the Blood and Wine expansion pack as well as in the base game where you can make a specific decision to prove a virtue and get the Aerondight.
You actually have multiple opportunities to get each virtue in The Witcher 3 for There Can Be Only One quest, but the best and most efficient way to get all of the five virtues would be to complete The Beast of Toussaint, Blood Run, and The Warble of Smitten Knight quests.
Best way to prove Compassion virtue
Proving your Compassion is perhaps the easiest of all. The fastest way to show compassion is by sparing the Shaelmaar during the Beast of Toussaint quest.
It is important not to kill Shaelmaar, otherwise, you will fail to prove the Compassion virtue and will have to look for alternative means to prove it.
Alternatively, sparing the Basilisk during the Mutual of Beauclair’s Wild Kingdom quest or helping Roderick with his wound during The Hunger Game quest can also grant you the Compassion virtue.
Best way to prove Generosity virtue
There are many ways for Geralt to prove that he’s a generous person. Perhaps the easiest opportunity you get is after the Blood Run quest when you meet with the young boy.
You will have two different opportunities to show generosity with this kid. The first is when getting information on Dettlaff and tipping the boy for it.
The second opportunity to show generosity comes when the boy brings you a letter from your romantic interest Yennefer when you first arrive in Beauclair. Tipping the boy at full price, in either case, will grant you the Generosity virtue.
Alternatively, you can also get the Generosity virtue during the A Portrait of the Witcher as an Old Man quest by buying the painting at full price.
Best way to prove Honor virtue
Your opportunity to prove Honor in The Witcher 3 comes during the Warble of a Smitten Knight quest. The best way to do this would be to accept the duel against Prince Anseis during the Tourney.
Note that this duel will only be available if you choose to enter the tournament as Geralt of Rivia.
Other ways of doing honorable acts to prove Honor are keeping Vivienne’s secret during the same quest or returning the stones to the art curator during the Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Granite! quest.
Best way to prove Valor
Once again, the fastest way to prove Valor comes during The Warble of a Smitten Knight quest. To prove Valor, all you have to do is take part in and complete the tournament that comes with this quest – it’s as simple as that.
There are plenty of other ways to prove Valor as well, most of which require you to beat a powerful enemy, like Maestro, during the Raging Wolf quest.
Completing difficult Witcher Contracts can also count as proving your Valor.
Best way to prove Wisdom
You will have many opportunities to prove wisdom during quests as well, particularly in ones where you have to avoid confrontation or answer riddles.
Perhaps the best way to prove Wisdom comes during the Beast of Toussaint quest. This quest will allow you to kill two birds with one stone (metaphorically) since you also have a chance to get the Compassion virtue in this quest as well.
To prove Wisdom, you have to answer the riddle posed at the end of the quest correctly. The answer to that riddle is Greenhouse.
Alternatively, you can also prove Wisdom during the La Cage au Fou quest by lifting the curse off of the Spotted Wight.
Defeat the Hermit to get the Aerondight
Once you have proven all of the five chivalric virtues set forward by the Hermit, it’s time to return. Upon returning to the Lac Celavy lake, speak to the Hermit.
He will put you forward to one last challenge – defeat him in battle. If you fight him within the level requirement range, then you shouldn’t have any trouble. The Hermit mainly uses water attacks, which are pretty easy to dodge.
Once the Hermit is defeated, you will be deemed worthy to wield Aerondight! Shortly after, the Lady of the Lake comes forward herself and gives you the Aerondight Sword herself. Once you get the Aerondight from the Lady of the Lake, you will unlock the Embodiment of the Five Virtues achievement in The Witcher 3.
