The newly-released "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" title is so vast that players, even hardcore ones, need help in navigating and completing the game. And as with any other fantasy role playing game, one of the key points that gamers need to look into is how to brew potions. 

In "The Witcher 3," one of Geralt's combat specialties is potions. It is necessary for players to carry these concocted brews in their inventories, especially as the game progresses. During high-level fights, a potion in a player's inventory might spell the difference between life and death. 

Types of potions 

In Geralt's world, there are primarily three types of potions: those that enhance player stats; those that give special abilities; and those that disable and snuff out negative status effects. To correctly craft potions, players need specific amounts of specified ingredients, which can be found all over the vast areas in "The Witcher 3." 

Maximize effect 

In order to fully optimize each potion's effect, players need to use them before the beginning of a fight. Although they can be used anytime, there are time limits on the brew's effectiveness, and how long the effect lasts depends on how strong or weak the potion is. Also, only two potions at a time can be equipped, so if possible, players need to scout first their opponents in order to equip the best potion for the fight. 

Potion toxicity 

In "The Witcher 3," potions have slight drawbacks to them, called toxicity. Equipping a potion or two will add toxicity levels to Geralt's stats, totalling 100. If players take too much at a given time and exceed the toxicity level, Geralt's vitality will decrease, signalling that the character is being slowly poisoned. 

Decreasing the character's toxicity levels, or dropping it back to zero, can be done by buying or crafting White Honey potion.