Cockatrices are a type of Draconid creature that can be found in The Witcher 3. Draconid type monsters are a sort of dragon breed, characterized by their abilities to fly and their rather large size, and the Cockatrice is no different. The Cockatrice gets its name from its rooster-like head and its feathered wings.

• Weak to: Grapeshot, Draconid Oil, and the Aard sign

The first Cockatrice you will likely encounter in The Witcher 3 is called Shrieker by the local townsfolk. A Witcher Contract can be accepted from a man in the village surrounding the Bloody Baron's castle in Velen.

Attack Patterns

Upon entering combat with a Cockatrice, one will quickly realize their attack patterns are much the same of the Griffin fought in White Orchard. When up close to the beast, they will generally lash out with either wing in a wide arc, or peck at Geralt with its sharp beak. It is important to note that a Cockatrices attacks will also apply the bleed debuff to Geralt, causing a modest amount of damage.

If Geralt is some distance away from the Cockatrice, it will perform a lunge to cover the distance and attempt to ram Geralt, causing a good chunk of damage and stunning him for a short period. The Cockatrice will also perform the "pounce" move, similar to a Griffin. It will fly into the air as if to disengage, but instead drop back to the ground in an attempt to land on Geralt to inflict damage.

When flying, the Cockatrice will occasionally swoop down to try and lacerate Geralt with its vicious talons but is easily dodge.

• Note: The Bestiary makes mention of avoiding the tail of a Cockatrice as it could be used to whip around and inflict damage on Geralt. However, when fighting the Shrieker, the monster made no such attack and its tail proved harmless. Whether this is the case for all Cockatrices is unknown at this time.

How to fight

While the Cockatrice can hit pretty hard and cause a good deal of bleed damage to Geralt, its attacks are fairly easy to dodge. It is recommended to stay try and stay on either side of the monster, hit it with a quick attack once or twice, roll towards its back to dodge its wing slice, rinse and repeat. If you remain relatively close to the Cockatrice and perform this strategy, it will remain on the ground for most if not all of the fight. However, in the event it does take off into the sky, a quick shot from the crossbow will bring it back down, stunning it momentarily to allow for one or two hits if Geralt can get to it quick enough.

As mentioned above, Cockatrices (and most other flying creatures) are vulnerable to the Aard sign. Casting this sign can be helpful as it will briefly stun the monster, allowing one or two hits from a Witcher's silver sword before it recovers and attempts to fight back. One drawback to casting the Aard sign on the Cockatrice however is that, no matter where you are in relation to the monster, when it is hit with the sign, it always seems to instantly turn and face Geralt. This makes it more difficult to get critical hits from hitting the monster from behind, and allows it to more easily strike once it has recovered from the stun.

From personal experience, it seemed to work better using the Quen sign and performing the aforementioned strategy. This allowed me to focus on getting to the side or behind the monster in order to attack, and gave me more leniency when dodging the monster's swipe attack.