Runestones are gear items in The Witcher 3 that can provide various buffs to your swords to give you a slight edge in combat. Every little bit helps you fight monsters, so runestones combined with weapon enhancements like weapon oils will help you easily slay monsters in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt.
If you are trying to figure out how runestones work in TW3 and where you can find all the crafting diagrams to get your hands on the best runestones, you have come to the right place.
How runestones work in The Witcher 3
In The Witcher 3, Runestones can be socketed to Silver or Steel Sword to acquire increased weapon damage or a permanent enchantment. However, one thing to remember before infusing a Runestone into a sword is that you cannot remove it once it’s infused. You have to destroy the weapon to remove it.
Runestones have three tiers in the Witcher 3.
- Lesser: The first and lowest tier of runestone is the Lesser tier. The lowest tier of the runestones only increases the effect by 2%.
- Basic: After that, the second-tier runestones have is Basic. Basic is the mid-tier of runestones which increases the effectiveness of a weapon by 3%.
- Greater: The best version of a runestone is the Greater runestone. The greater runestones will increase the effectiveness of a weapon by 5% in TW3.
Where to get runestone diagrams in The Witcher 3
Like the three tiers, there are three ways to get Runestones in the Witcher 3, and we will discuss them separately.
Purchasing from merchants
The first and easiest way of getting runestones in The Witcher 3 is to find different armorers and blacksmiths in the game and pay them to get the runestones. Going to other merchants in the game is not worth it, so just head to the blacksmiths and armorers to purchase the runestones.
If you want to save yourself some time and have ample gold to spend, buying runestone diagrams is the quickest and easiest way to upgrade runestones in The Witcher 3.
Treasure chests and quests
You will find different treasure hunt quests and chests as you progress through the game. There is a high probability of finding some runestones in them if you explore the surrounding areas.
Below are all the runestones in the game as well as some of the vendors that sell them. If you don’t want to buy a runestone diagram, you can also use the console commands to get a particular runestone in The Witcher 3.
| Runestone | Effect | Recipe | Merchant | Console Command |
| Lesser Dazhbog Runestone | 2% Burning | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Amber dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune dazhbog lesser |
| Dazhbog Runestone | 3% Burning | 2x Lesser Dazbog runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune dazhbog |
| Greater Dazhbog Runestone | 5% Chance to cause burning | 3x Rune dazhbog lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune dazhbog greater |
| Lesser Chernobog Runestone | 2%Attack power | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Monstrous essence | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Chernobog lesser |
| Chernobog Runestone | 3% Attack power | 2x Lesser Chernobog runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Chernobog |
| Greater Chernobog Runestone | 5% Attack power | 3x Rune elemental lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Chernobog greater |
| Lesser Stribog Runestone | 2% Stagger | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Amethyst dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Stribog lesser |
| Stribog Runestone | 3% Stagger | 2x Lesser Stribog runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Stribog |
| Greater Stribog Runestone | 5% Stagger | 3x Rune stribog lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Stribog greater |
| Lesser Svarog Runestone | 10 Armor piercing | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Monstrous saliva | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Svarog lesser |
| Svarog Runestone | 20 Armor piercing | 2x Lesser Svarog runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Svarog |
| Greater Svarog Runestone | 30 Armor piercing | 3x Rune svarog lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Svarog greater |
| Lesser Triglav Runestone | 2% Chance to stun | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Diamond dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Triglav lesser |
| Triglav Runestone | 3% Chance to stun | 2x Lesser Triglav Runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Triglav |
| Greater Triglav Runestone | 5% Chance to stun | 3x Rune triglav lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Triglav greater |
| Lesser Perun Runestone | 2% Adrenaline Gain | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Monstrous brain | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Perun lesser |
| Perun Runestone | 3% Adrenaline Gain | 2x Lesser Perun Runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Perun |
| Greater Perun Runestone | 5% Adrenaline Gain | 3x Rune perun lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Perun greater |
| Lesser Veles Runestone | 2% Sign intensity | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Monstrous dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Veles lesser |
| Veles Runestone | 3% Sign intensity | 2x Lesser Veles Runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Veles |
| Greater Veles Runestone | 2% Sign intensity | 3x Rune veles lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Veles greater |
| Lesser Morana Runestone | 2% Chance to Poison | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Emerald dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Morana lesser |
| Morana Runestone | 3% Chance to Poison | 2x Lesser Morana Runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Morana |
| Greater Morana Runestone | 5% Chance to poison | 3x Rune morana lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Morana greater |
| Lesser Zoria Runestone | 2% Chance to Freeze | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Sapphire dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Zoria lesser |
| Zoria Runestone | 3% Chance to Freeze | 2x Lesser Zoria Runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Zoria |
| Greater Zoria Runestone | 5% Chance to Freeze | 3x Rune zoria lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Zoria greater |
| Lesser Devana Runestone | 2% Chance to Bleed | 1x Runestone lesser 1x Ruby dust | Keira Metz and Quartermaster at the Nilfgaardian Camp | Rune Devana lesser |
| Devana Runestone | 3% Chance to Bleed | 2x Lesser Devana runestone | All blacksmiths in Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Skellige and Toussaint. | Rune Devana |
| Greater Devana Runestone | 5% Chance to Bleed | 3x Rune devana lesser | Eibhear Hatori and Keira Metz | Rune Devana greater |
| Pyerog Runestone | No effect just used in the crafting of “Dumplings runeword” | N/A | N/A | Rune Pyerog |
| Tvarog Runestone | No effect just used in the crafting of “Dumplings runeword” | N/A | N/A | Rune tvarog |
Crafting runestones using diagrams in TW3
Crafting runestones in The Witcher 3 is quite similar to weapon crafting. All you have to do is get its runestone diagram, head to the blacksmith, and get a runestone crafted. The only difference you will find is the diagrams for the runestones are not available at different places, and you have to buy them from various merchants.
Crafting always starts from the lesser variant of the runestones. If you want a basic runestone, you will need two lesser runestones to craft it. After that, for crafting the highest tier greater runestone, you will need two basic runestones.
The Alchemist we mentioned above also has the cheapest prices on runestones. While buying a runestone is always expensive than crafting it yourself with a diagram, if you don’t have the crafting materials you can always buy runestones for the lowest price from the Alchemist. Although he has a rotating inventory, if he doesn’t have something in stock, you will need to return it later.
How to use runestones in The Witcher 3
As you know, sockets on your weapon allow you to infuse the runestones to buff different effects in The Witcher 3. The best way to use the runestones is by determining the use of the sword. You must shortlist the enemies you will use the blade against before socketing the runestones to get the most out of the weapon.
In this way, you can deal more damage to the enemies. For example, if you are fighting enemies that are weak against fire, then using the greater Dazhog runestone is the best option you have in TW3. Just like that, shortlist the runestones by looking at their effect and the enemies you face.
