It is widely regarded as the most overpowered Sign due to the 'Enhanced Quen Sign' talent, which adds extra shield duration and reflects a portion of the damage back on the attacker, along with 'Venting' talent which reflects the damage to multiple foes. Quen has been redesigned to be used in conjunction with sword fighting. It can also be used to ignite the many fire sources (torches, braziers, etc) in the game. Empowered with the proper +Sign damage talents and items, Igni becomes a powerhouse from about mid-game on. The talent 'Enhanced Igni Sign' adds the incineration effect to the Sign, area effect ability, and allows Geralt to turn enemies crispy before they can even touch him. This Sign is very similar to the one in the first game in the way that it becomes very powerful once proper gear and talents are acquired. Overall, this is a great Sign for swordfighters as it allows 'free' heavy sword attacks. Should they be caught, they'll also suffer minor damage. Yrden can be further upgraded with talents 'Enhanced Yrden Sign', which grants Geralt to place up to two or three traps at a time, and 'Glyph Enhancement' which links the placed Yrden traps and prevents foes from moving between them. It has a certain chance to fail versus large and resistant creatures, but it can still trap just about anything if you're persistent. Its primary function is to encase or trap a foe and allow you to obliterate it with strong attacks while it sits helpless. Yrden has seen a significant improvement over its functionality in the first game. In the first game it was extremely useful, but in The Witcher 2 it requires some player skill and a couple of talents to get the most bang out of it. Finally, Aard blends well with the environment as it can be used on occasions to push enemies off the walls, cliffs, and into the water.

The chance to stun the opponent also rises with the 'Energy Flow' talent. Aard also does minor damage and can be used as an area-of-effect spell once Geralt maxes out the 'Enhanced Aard Sign' talent. Stunned enemies can get finished in one blow, while knocked down enemies won't be able to parry for a few seconds (approximately two blows).

Essentially, it's used to stun or knock enemies down. This Sign hasn't changed a whole lot from the first game. Here's a closer look at the Signs and their functions: If you specialize deeper into the mage talent tree you'll also receive Heliotrop Sign. All of the Signs appear again in the second game, Aard, Yrden, Igni, Quen and Axii with same or similar functions. Their maximum potential still depends on your character build, but all of the Signs have been made useful in some way. The Sign system in The Witcher 2 was clearly changed to scale much better over the course of the game than what we saw in the origianl title.

Witcher 2 heliotrope sign