Welcome to White Orchard, Witcher. Whether you’re stepping into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the first time or returning for the next-gen update, your early-game start matters. It sets the tone for your experience, your combat efficiency, and your gear progression for the next several levels. In this guide, we’ll walk through a perfectly optimized early-game path to set you up with excellent gear, useful recipes, and futureproof upgrades—all right from the beginning.

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Step 1: Your First Armor Upgrade – Warrior’s Leather Jacket

Begin your journey at Woesong Bridge and head toward the tavern. Pass it, continue left, and find the blacksmith named Willis. Complete his quest (which involves recovering his tools from a local bandit camp). Once done, you’ll gain access to his crafting menu. Here, you can upgrade Geralt’s starting Kaer Morhen armor into a Warrior’s Leather Jacket—a simple but solid defensive boost for your first hours.

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Step 2: Buying the Temerian Set

Return to Woesong Bridge and speak to the merchant you met in the game’s intro (the one saved from the griffin). He sells the full Temerian Armor Set: jacket, pants, boots, and gloves. While it’s a bit costly early on, it’s worth grinding for. This set provides a complete and stylish early defensive package.

Tip: Complete side objectives in White Orchard—bandit camps, question marks, hidden treasure—to gather coin fast.

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Step 3: The Viper Sword Set – Best Early Weapons (Until Level 8)

You’ll want the Viper swords next. These green-tier relic swords are excellent starting weapons that will serve you until level 8. First, head to the Mill, near one of the White Orchard Places of Power. There, loot the recipe for the Viper Steel Sword. You’ll need to fight a wraith, so be sure to use Yrden to trap it in corporeal form.

Next, travel to the Ransacked Village east of Woesong Bridge. Continue down the main path toward an old ruined structure—watch for a bandit camp. Inside one of the chests here, you’ll find the Viper Silver Sword diagram.

With both diagrams in hand, go to the Nilfgaardian Garrison and speak to the quartermaster. He can craft both swords for you. These two blades are top-tier for early-game damage and come with poison effects and rune slots.

Note: If you’re playing New Game+, they’ll appear as “Legendary” versions but functionally remain the same relative to level.

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Step 4: Royal Palace Next-Gen Armor Set (Optional, Next Area)

After White Orchard, you’ll head to Vizima’s Royal Palace. In Yennefer’s quarters, you’ll find a chest containing the White Tiger of the West armor and Thousand Flowers weapon set. These next-gen items are high-level—usually level 54 or 58—so unless you’re in New Game+, you’ll need to level up significantly to use them. Still, they’re worth grabbing for later.

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Step 5: Grab the Moonblade and Headhunter

Once you reach Velen, you can continue optimizing gear before level 10:

• Moonblade Silver Sword: Head between The Hangman’s Tree and Crossroads Inn. In the nearby water (Spoils of War marker), use a found key to open a submerged chest. This silver sword offers solid bonuses for early fights.
• Headhunter Steel Sword: Northeast of Hangman’s Tree, on an island west of Oxenfurt, complete a blood trail quest and claim the Headhunter sword—level 4 with great stats including armor piercing and crit damage.

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Final Thoughts: Gear Up, Explore, Enjoy

By following this route—Warrior’s Jacket, Temerian Set, Viper swords, and early bonuses from Moonblade and Headhunter—you’re giving Geralt the perfect launch into the world. This setup prepares you for everything through level 8–10 and keeps you competitive until you begin upgrading to full Witcher gear sets.

Want to go deeper? Check out a full beginner guide to White Orchard or dive into mods to enhance your visual setup like seen in this walkthrough. However you continue, this early-game path ensures Geralt looks good, hits hard, and survives his opening trials with flair.

Thanks for reading—and see you on the Path.