I'm mainly played a sword specialist witcher and did a good job on hard mode. But I wanted to try the sign tree for another run. My question is how good is this tree and how do you handle multiple mobs. Does Aard work as an aoe to push then away?

Will I need 2 talents in roll distance and 2 talents in limiting back damage fromt he swrod tree? What is the bread and butter spell? As a sword witcher you can cast the quen sign (beefed up) and go toe to toe till it's about gone, roll away, recast it and finish off the mobs.

it just seems to me as a sign witcher I want to fight at range for the most part casting signs. So any advice will be appreciated.

I didn't really like the spellcasting tree, but that's just how I like to play. I found myself still using more the swords than the signs, which sucks when you have all the other talents on the other way. And I really didn't find that fun to use the Heliotrope sign, compared to Whirlwind.
This is however just personal preference.

I can tell you that fully upgraded Aard is a beauty, I always take at least 2 points even when going full sword tree. Yes, it acts as a AoE pushback.

My spellcasting run was done mostly using Aard and Igni. Axii never used beside during the first levels, and fully upgraded Quen felt like cheating and made the combat dull (still in my opinion).

Also Yrden is great when you have +Sign Intensity talents, a lot of stunning. With that I could beat the Draug in less than 30 seconds, I jawdropped.

you will want 2 points in roll distance.

you'll also want to maximize number of vigor, and sign intensity. after that, put 2 points into igni and you'll be fine. AoE burning that can be spammed 6 times = dead mobs. anything tougher can be quen'd up for, and the extra intensity means you can tank a lot of damage.

I specialise in magic builds :P

The reason I'd recommend against Aard (even though it's really really good), is because if you're beelining for Heliotrope, you have to choose it over destructive magic.
(Although the actual sign damage boost isn't all that important, the max vigor boost from the second point is awesome)
Quen suffers from the issue of preventing vigor regeneration, which most magic builds will have in abundance. This isn't actually a problem once you get high enough level though, due to heliotrope (which is a slow time bubble).

Now for a lot of the game you'll have to rely on using swords, bombs, and possibly tawny owl potions, as the limiting factor will be how much vigor you have.
However, once enough bonuses stack up, you'll start to have enough juice to effectively control the battlefield.

Ok, for witcher training, I recommend:
Energy Regeneration 2/2 Parrying 2/2 Fortitude 2/2
While dagger throwing (for its own sake) and arrow redirection (for mutagen) are really good, the payoff early game isn't worth sacrificing the other talents.

As for the magic tree, I beeline for Igni 2/2 choosing destructive magic over aard or axii, and then heading for power control 2/2 via energy flow.
After that, I pick up the second point in sense magic, followed by the second point in destructive magic.

I start investing in swordsmanship here, going for footwork 1/2 and schemer 1/2.

After this, I'm undecided on what the optimum path is.
At a guess, probably second points in magical vigor and energy flow, before beelining along the swordsmanship path all the way to combat acumen(? the group finisher one). Finally, the second point in schemer.

The point of whirlwind is that it combos with heliotrope like a beast, allowing you to kill 3 foes while simultaneously casting the heliotrope bubble .. AND regenerating your vigor while the animation plays.

Finally, I can post links to some videos of my build in action ... but I'm not going to do that unless you're already familiar with Iorveth's path ... 'cos of spoilers.

^^ Danceofmasks has some really good advice.

I highly recommend you consider using this mod if you want an especially good Magic experience:

http://www.witchernexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=44#fileanchor

Actually I think currently that the alchemy tree might work even better with a magic build, due to the vigor regeneration bonuses when poisoned and the automatic adrenaline generation when poisoned.
I always had huge problems filling the adrenaline bar when playing as a caster/sword hybrid, while with Alchemy it seems like one could spam heliotrope after heliotrope...

If you want to specialize in all: Points in alchemy for more ingredients, rolling from the swords tree, and then just fill up the magic tree.

Sadly, you can't be a magic only witcher. Magic has mainly a supporting role in combat.

I'd suppose if Geralt was a magic only witcher that would make him a sorcerer, and that would not fit into the lore of the original written novel story.

I chose a Mage on my third playthrough , and it really does no matter where you put your points as long as you have at least Quen level 2 , all vigor points ( 7 vigor is achievable , 1 in training tree , 3 in magic tree , and 1 vigor through Maribor forest ) , and the heliotrope , as well as concentration mutagens to boost

Sign intensity is worth it if you use ignii a lot ( enemies are incinerated for a bit longer ) , otherwise if you use mainly Quen and Aard , better go for venting and sign damage

If you make a "pure" witcher mage , the difficulty is in act 2 when you are impersonating Seltirk before the Draug fight , with 0 points in swordmanship , this is the hardest moment in the game by Far with a pure mage since you can't use magic nor potions , in harder difficulties , it is a nightmare


Hence i would advise you to never go pure mage but rather choose a specialty in magic (let's aard ) and boost all the damage and sign intensity , get all vigors + heliotrope , then go invest a few points swordmanship (particularly the vigor regen ... the riposte and the ability that makes you able to lose only half a vigor when blocking , so in effect , it doubles your vigor when you don't use sign , very useful )


In any case , the most powerful build i had was when going alchemy mainly + swordmanship , i had 10 mutagens with doubled power , as if i had 20 greater mutagens , add to that the uber potions and oils as well as the massive vigor regen and beserk bonus of the alchemy tree , ( with just 6 to 8 points in sword , you can still stack the +dmg talent of alchemy+sword tree and the vigor regen which makes you completely Overpowered when you add , trophies , superior armor and weapons into the equation , not to mention bombs (zerrikanian sun for crowd control , poisoned daggers for bosses or traps )


My pure mage was the weakest of all my 4 playthroughs so far , first time i did a balanced character sword + magic , second time i did a pure swordsman , third time a pure mage , my fourth with mainly alchemy + sword was the most baddass because of the mutagens and bonus of alchemy+sword stacking and drinking 4 very powerful potions all the time with improved oils as well .

However , if Alchemy build is the most powerful when you want to min+max , it is also with the Pure mage , the most difficult to play before you hit level 20+ , because it is only when you apply all the mutagen and upgraded your tree deep enough that you become powerful (rather late in fact ) , whereas with my pure swordsman , it was easy all the way , from the start to the end of the game

no, it's not. you can't dodge or roll or anything, sure. just hold E and use a quick attack when you can squeeze one in. mainly just hold E and you'll barely take any damage.

Gotta go with Ianis on this.

If you are playing on Hard, the fights leading up to Draug are slow and rather difficult without 2/2 Parry, 2/2 Position and at least 1/2 Riposte.

I agree. I was a pure mage at this point and thought I was going to have to cheat or quit the game it was so hard. I eventually learned that you can just hold E down and just take hit after hit it seemed. Also, I noticed he regenerated health pretty fast if you could kite them.

your vigor comes back so fast it's ridiculous. just hold E and quick attack when you have a window. doesn't even matter how many guys you have hitting you. try to not get surrounded, but as long as you're blocking, you'll just tank the damage. you don't even need points in the swordsmanship tree, just the necessary 1 point in blocking from the training tree.

I thought the Seltkirk portions were reasonable (was specializing in Alchemy with 2 points in Position - no extra vigor) but I died a few times in the earlier battle where you were fighting the flagbearer and 3 soldiers within a circle of flame.