How does adrenaline generation for the heliotrope sign work?

Question

I'm playing a sign-oriented witcher this time and I just unlocked the heliotrope sign. But I haven't seen it in action yet as I'm not building up enough adrenaline to actually activate the sign. I didn't have this problem with a Swordmanship witcher, just hitting enemies was enough to charge up the sign.

For the heliotrope sign it seems to me that only magical damage increases the adrenaline bar, not damage caused by my sword. Even when I fire a few Ignis in row I don't get the bar completely charged.

How does the adrenaline generation for the heliotrope sign work exactly, is it only gained by sign damage or are there other factore? What are effective ways of increasing my chance to fill the adrenaline bar and activate the sign?

Answer 1

You'll need Combat Acumen at least to build Adrenaline through sword strikes. If you only have Magical Sense, you only get Adrenaline from signs.

Make sure you have upgraded your Igni or Aard to level 3, where it affects all enemies in an area. The more enemies you manage to get in the Igni or Aard blast, the more Adrenaline you will get. Reflecting damage from Quen too build up the gauge; I haven't tried Axll or Yrden yet though.

You can also increase your Adrenaline through sword strikes if you put points in Combat Acumen (you are able to use both the Heliotrope sign and the group finisher at the same time).