Woodland spirit choice (spoilers)

[zioste81]

The "In the heart of the woods" quest is interesting because I stll can't decide which is the better (less terrible) choice... I even saved it for the post-epilogue to think it over. ;)

My instinctive decision would be to kill the leshen, who is supposed to be a "mean, self-serving monster". Don't really like the repercussions on the village later though (you can't even punish the murderers in any way), and the quest log gives a somewhat contemptuous comment about your decision.

So, what did you do and why?

[DFogz]

I sided with the village elder. If the leshen was part of their villages hunting traditions I figured why should I get in the way and kill it?
Then of course the elder gets murdered by everyone and they turn on me, so I kill everyone AND to top it off I don't even get any damn leshen trophy or reward of any real value
If I could have done things differently I would.

[^DreeMax^]

BuzzardBee a écrit :

Let's put it this way, either way you go, people will die. So ask yourself, do you want to get the achievement done? If so, then you have to kill the leshen, get reward from Sven.

He will have archivement in any way, mission is not about kill leshen, it's about finish the quest.

[Aeternum]

Read the beastiary entry for the Leshen. That should help you decide. People don't always know what is best for them and let themselves be enslaved by more powerful entities.

[^DreeMax^]

BuzzardBee a écrit :

^FuN^ 3 Days Left a écrit :

He will have archivement in any way, mission is not about kill leshen, it's about finish the quest.

No, you need to kill it in order to get the achievement. Simply completing it by doing the ritual will not unlock it. Lots of people have learned that the hard way. That's why I wrote that.

That's really weird because I've actually got this archivement by ritual way, and only later I replayed to kill him.

[zioste81]

DFogz a écrit :

I sided with the village elder. If the leshen was part of their villages hunting traditions I figured why should I get in the way and kill it?
Then of course the elder gets murdered by everyone and they turn on me, so I kill everyone AND to top it off I don't even get any damn leshen trophy or reward of any real value
If I could have done things differently I would.

You can actually save the last elder, at least.

[FantasyFreak_UK]

I did the ritual and saved the village elder but didn't get the achievement. Think you must have to kill the Leshen to get it.
It is an argument of just achievement hunting versus actually playing the game how you want and without reading up on things beforehand.

[dnrob7]

DFogz a écrit :

I sided with the village elder. If the leshen was part of their villages hunting traditions I figured why should I get in the way and kill it?
Then of course the elder gets murdered by everyone and they turn on me, so I kill everyone AND to top it off I don't even get any damn leshen trophy or reward of any real value
If I could have done things differently I would.

They don't turn on you.. You can just walk away.

[TimeStreamer]

BuzzardBee a écrit :

^FuN^ 3 Days Left a écrit :

He will have archivement in any way, mission is not about kill leshen, it's about finish the quest.

No, you need to kill it in order to get the achievement. Simply completing it by doing the ritual will not unlock it. Lots of people have learned that the hard way. That's why I wrote that.

Well with the achievements being broken, no matter you do the achievement won't trigger anyway!

[[420]X2Kush]

I agree with dnrob7 - first time around I killed the beast, which had a pretty terrible ending, though did grant me the achievement. Second time around, for new game plus, I sided with the elder, then chose to walk away. I feel like this was the best ending possible for this quest, as the elder died with dignity, and the rest of the town lives. If people want to choose this but not do new game plus, you could kill the beast and get the achievement, then load your save and play it out the way you want.

[Elmer Fudd]

Games nowadays have transitioned to quests where there is no right or wrong answer. No good or bad. This is the case here. You have two choices which will end up in bloodshed.

First choice to kill the spirit ends in the village having to rid of a girl the Leshen has marked. Otherwise it has infinite respawns. Yes, stupid. No other way to rid of the mark? Afterwards the village idiots murder the elder.

The second choice ends in you killing the village idiots, or them killing the elder (plus others apparently in the background) and the leshen survives for all eternity apparently. The future outcome of that is never found out.

I would rather have a karma meter in the game, good or evil. Very simple logic and every quest has an outcome you like. The grey area is just annoying. I don't really like it when your only choice is to slaughter an innocent person.

[Smeuye112]

Elmer Fudd a écrit :

Games nowadays have transitioned to quests where there is no right or wrong answer. No good or bad. This is the case here. You have two choices which will end up in bloodshed.

First choice to kill the spirit ends in the village having to rid of a girl the Leshen has marked. Otherwise it has infinite respawns. Yes, stupid. No other way to rid of the mark? Afterwards the village idiots murder the elder.

The second choice ends in you killing the village idiots, or them killing the elder (plus others apparently in the background) and the leshen survives for all eternity apparently. The future outcome of that is never found out.

I would rather have a karma meter in the game, good or evil. Very simple logic and every quest has an outcome you like. The grey area is just annoying. I don't really like it when your only choice is to slaughter an innocent person.

I strongly disagree with the karma meter. The thing is, there is no good or bad in The Witcher. Most choices are gray so there's no way to divide choices on a simple good or bad spectrum.
I've often found myself playing to fill the karma meter fully to one side or the other in games which do have them. This feels to me like I HAVE to be good or bad and takes control away from what I actually want to do.

[redskor]

Wish you could fight Sven. The fact that you can't just all the more intensifies my suspicions that the devs might harbor some prejudice against religion, lol

[Rexxer]

My thoughts: if you miss the trophy, you won't have a complete trophy set. Get the trophy.

Toward that end, the least destructive means and best solution is:
(1) Align with Sven, but still talk to the Elder
(2) Talk Sven into banishing rather than killing the marked girl, Hilde
(3) Kill the Leshen, get the trophy
(4) Return and don't antagonize the peasantry, seeing as they already killed the elders and calling them murderers, however apt the title, will only incite more violence.

The elders by definition lived a long life and likely can no longer reproduce. Hilde was saved. And at least the younger generation, as proventially sociopathic as they are, have a chance at creating something new, and maybe their children will have a chance at living normal lives.

[Jimmy]

I killed it because they paid me to kill it and that's my job.

[Araphaenon]

redskor a écrit :

Wish you could fight Sven. The fact that you can't just all the more intensifies my suspicions that the devs might harbor some prejudice against religion, lol

While I find a somewhat critical attitude towards religion perfectly justifiable, I don't think that's what's going on here.

It has more to do with the fact that the elders are already dead, and neither does Sven attack Geralt, nor does he seem to pose a threat to those still alive, and it's not like without Geralt, the murders would go unknown to others, so it's not his role to judge. Recall, in the other ending when Harald is still alive, Geralt does have the option to protect him from Sven's gang.

I kind of also wanted to kill him in the end, but I also could understand why the developers might have left out that option.