Witcher On The Path Guide - Next Gen

A simple, direct and efficient manual to keep it open as you play along, per area. Designed to get the best and most complete experience out of the game.
With tips and hints gathered from 2000+ hours of gameplay.
As SPOILER FREE as it can get. Suitable for all difficulties and Deathmarch.
Please consider rating it (thumbs up/down), in order to reach more people in need of help :)
Any feedback or commentary is welcome.

White Orchard

Welcome to Witcher 3 :) !!

The first tip for the whole game and perhaps the most important one, is:
TAKE YOUR TIME, DO NOT RUSH, EXPLORE EVERYTHING.

Map Tips

White Orchard is a mini world of the rest of the game.
Go to the notice board and begin the treasure hunts once you are level 2 so that you get the XP bonus asap.
It would be for your own benefit to explore the whole map and do 100% of White Orchard before killing the Griffin.


Gather all the Honeycomb in the map. You do that by using igni on Bee nests that hang from the trees. (buzzing sound to guide you to them)
Farm Arenaria and the rest of the herbs from the crop fields visible on the map and generally all the plants that you see everytime, while you explore.
You could farm blue mutagens also. There are nekkers Southwest of the Sawmill that drop them.
This map is the easiest way to activate all Places of Power sign buffs for a nice achievement. Better do it right before the griffin fight for extra sign intensity.
There is hidden loot in many places outside the "?" so use your witcher senses to check below bridges for instance.
Don't forget to loot the monster nests after you destroy them.

General Tips

Before approaching any battle use sign Quen, read Bestiary and dodge/roll whenever the enemy bar flashes red. If the enemy is big, you roll instead of dodge. Versus Wolves and Nekkers stay in your ground and hold parry. Igni does wonders to Wolves.
For the Griffin fight you have to use the Crossbow as the Griffin charges at you, in order to bring it down. Besides Quen, Igni and Aard work well. Roll behind it when you see that it's about to slash you with it's wings. Find the Patterns of attack.

Armors to the Dwarf Armorer unlocked by doing the "!" on the map. Swords to the Nilfgaardian Quartermaster.
(Blacksmiths buy from you crafting materials and Roach gear too at the best price).
Alchemy ingredients to Alchemists/Herbalists.
You only have to craft the Viper/Serpentine swords, keep the starting gear and Upgrade the chest piece to Warrior's Leather Jacket.
First skill you equip should be the Griffin School Techniques from the General (yellow) Skills, in order to buff the starting medium gear. Optional skill for unlocking extra exp dialogues: Delusion (1st blue axii skill).

Loot everything possible and gather everything in your stash(personal chest) until you finish all the question marks "?" from the map.

Always repair your armor and swords after every battle so that u pay less on repairs.
As you progress through the game you will be able to craft Repair Kits. That way you will not need to do that from an Armorer or a Blacksmith.

You should stick on Witcher and DLC gear throughout your whole playthrough. Witcher gear has the best overall stats and is the only gear that can be upgraded.
DLC gear is there to cover the level gaps between Witcher gear. Sell everything else. But before that, check on the dismantle tab if an item has precious crafting items. Always dismantle Jewellery and sell after that the items to the Blacksmith. In other words, Magic(yellow) Junk we stash and Master(blue) Junk we dismantle (except Fisstech that you sell to the inkeepers too).

You don't have to buy food. Stick on Swallow potion once you craft it and Gourmet General Skill.
Keep every food you loot. No need to sell it, except raw meat.
Use meditattion to heal if you are not playing Deathmarch/Blood and Broken Bones difficulty.

Keep all the animal hides in your personal stash you will find in the game, until Skellige.
Stash 6 Shirts that drop by killing bandits, in order to craft the rest of the Witcher armors easier.
Stash the Orens and the Florens that you gather from now on.
All alchemy items will replenish by the cost of 1 alcohol, when meditating. Start buying Mahakaman Spirit from the inkeepers. If not available, Alcohest.
Killing Bears whenever you find them is highly suggested for the Bear fat needed for oils and potions. They are a great practice for roll and cavalry attacks while on Roach.

Before selling or dismantling any Relic sword or armor, look if they have:

• Cured draconid leather
  
• Dimeritium/Glowing ore
  
• Dark Steel plates

Don't forget to craft all Potions/Bombs/Oils along the Path. You never know when you will be in need of them.

Before talking to Vesemir, in order to leave White Orchard, if you have enough money and if you are close to 4 level, you could go to the guy you saved in the beginning from the Griffin. Then, buy the Temerian Armor Set and equip Cat School Techniques (General Yellow Skill) for a more offensive fighting style. After that talk to the inkeeper to grab the gwent cards, only if you are interested in the mini-game.

Quests tips

Talk to the Nilfgaardian for the first time and then do everything else from the map.
Leave the "Killing the Griffin" part last; at least after you crafted/upgraded the gear mentioned above.
After completing the Contract: Devil by the Well, go back to Tomira and talk to her about it. Now it's a good time to sell to her all the honeycomb you have.
There is plenty of loot especially on the battlefield with the corpses during Missing in Action quest.

There is a ±9 level constraint rule to your every current level.
(Pre-Next Gen when the guide began it was ±5)
It gives you more freedom but it's easy to get lost still.

If you do any quest or kill a monster beyond that gap, you get the minimum exp = (max exp / 100). The best way to do the Quests, is to go from the lowest available to the highest and in that order:

• First Treasure Hunts
  
• Contracts for money and bonus exp
  
• Secondary Quests
  
• And last, the Main Quests

.

Vizima Palace/Gwent Tips

General tips:

After talking to Emhyr use your Witcher Senses and find a red brick in the yard glowing.
There is a guy that plays Gwent there too. He gives you the strongest Foltest Card available.

Loot and search all of Yen's Room after discussing with her.
That way you will get the two gearsets:

• Dol Blathanna Armor Set
  
• White Tiger of the West Armor Set

Gwent Tips:

A Miraculous Guide to Gwent book is your biggest help in the "Collect them all" Quest.
When you visit every village, talk to every person.
Check if they sell cards and if they play gwent.
Each one of them gives you one of the random cards with the first win and only once. The other times they give you random materials.

Your first Deck should be the Northen Realms. It's a deck that focuses on Siege units and Spies.
Use the minimum unit cards that you can. The less cards you have, the more chance they have to appear in your hands. So 22 Unit Cards only.

With that in mind, for the Nothern Realms Deck use:

• Tight Bond Units until you get all Nothern Realm Cards
  
• Medic Cards
  
• Siege Cards
  
• Hero Cards
  
• Decoys, Spies
  
• 1 Frost, 1 Clear Weather and 1 Commander Horn (Note: Cards Connected to your Leader Card Abilities do not have to be at your hand to work and activate, only at your Deck).

Keep the most powerful cards at the end and use Medics Smartly.
Don't use Scorch, use Villentretenmerth Card. It's not recommended because it can backstab you.
For Summoning Cards you need only one at your hand and the rest at your Deck in order for everyone to spawn

• Nilfgaardian Deck specialises on Brute Force and Spies while having no abilities itself.
  
• Monster Deck focuses on Close Combat Cards, Tight Bonds and Summoning Cards which can make them overwhemingly poweful and at the same time vulnerable to Frost and Villentretenmerth.
  
• Scoia'tael Deck Focuses on Medics, Tight Bonds and Ranged Cards

Velen

Map tips

The map can be overwhelming, so take your time.
Once you drop in there create a fine route while on horseback to go from village to village and get all the Notice Boards.
As you do that, visit merchants,blacksmiths and armorers on every village that you pass. That way you gather all the Witcher Maps that initiate the Treasure Hunts and all the gwent cards available and books that will contain bestiary entries with alchemy recipes sometimes+lore info.
Reminder: Guide to Gwent book from your Quest Items will help you keep on track.

You will find yourself on the road with exclamation marks "!" on the map. They are secondary small quests that give you a bit of extra exp and money (they don't affect anything,just extra content).
At that point all the "?" unlocked in the map are optional. I personally do them after I finish Blood and Wine.

You should go to the Nilfgaardian Camp Notice Board at some point located on the South side of the map. If you don't want to lose these small quests, prefer travelling on horseback.
In order to get inside the House of Respite you will have to wear the Nilfgaardian formal clothes you got earlier from Vizima Palace, or the Nilfgaardian set from the Quartermaster in Crow's Perch.
Search the house for exclusive helmet.

Crow's Perch can be explored for hidden loot. So embrace your inner AC and parkour the paths you might notice around you.

Quest tips

Once you gather all notices you will get on an overwhelming amount of the same level quests. Don't panic. You can do them in every order you will like to, but try to keep it according to the priority. If not, you could go from the smallest level of all of them to the bigger levels.
About the main quests the sequence on which one to do first, it doesn't matter.

On how Ciri's story progresses though, you first do the "find the Witch" and Ladies of the Woods related quests. Try to read and understand the book "She Who Knows". It will help u on your decisions later.
No matter the way u did them if you stumble upon "wait for events to unfold", you go and do the other one.
During the Reardon Manor Quest look for the underground storage cellar.
Before leaving Velen behind, go East from the village of Mulbrydale to initiate the Forgotten Wolf Gear quests.

Throughout the game the contracts, other quests and exploration, you will happen to find unique Relic Tier armor, steel and silver swords. You can store them, dismantle them or sell them. If you store them do not repair them cause of the cost. If you dismantle a few of them, prefer the ones that give you the items mentioned above. Otherwise, if you want to sell them make sure you do it later in Novigrad at Hattori for maximum profit.

General tips

As soon as you step in Velen, Aard the doors from the first village you stumble upon, so that you get a Master Crossbow once you are able to equip the Dol Blathanna(Thousand Flowers) gear.
If you gathered enough resources and have fully equiped your Roach, the horseracing can wait.
If not, then you should do just that, so that you win the games and finally upgrade Roach, before roaming the Velen Area.

Horseracing Tip:
Turn off Path to Objectives on the HUD configs while Horseracing and follow only the coloured line. If Roach gets tired get in front of the opponents to block their speed.

You will wear Thousand Flowers Set until you craft your first Witcher Set. If you want a more offensive gear you can go back to White Orchard and buy the Temerian Armor set and use Cat School Techniques, from the yellow general skills.

Once you are level 10 you should go for the Griffin Armor Treasure Hunt. Craft it and have it in your inventory to equip it as soon as you hit 11.
Having the White Tiger set is a good alternative if you are out of money, which you wouldn't if you already followed my guide.

The Inkeep at the Inn at the Crossroads and the Quartermaster of Crow's Perch are the only ones selling Mahakaman spirit.
For enhanced Tawny-Owl, a Venomous Arachas is spotted west-northwest of Toderas and another one South of Crookback Bog. At the Forest Hut another one will appear if you clean the small bandit camps in that area. Use Golden Oriole if you have it and Insectoid Oil.
Tactic: Aard or Igni, 2 strong attacks, roll behind, get close again and repeat.

The witch Keira and the Pellar are the best ones for alchemy stuff, for this part of the game.
The best inkeeper to sell your stuff is the one at the Inn at the Crossroads. Second alternative the Quartermaster at Crow's Perch.
You will find in the Baron's place a Grindstone and Workbench. Always do them for extra buffs before venturing the map. Be careful, them and places of power buffs disappear once you meditate.

Don't bother with Runes and Glyphs on all the Witcher Sets until you get 28-30 level.
Store all of them to your Personal Stash.

Oxenfurt/Novigrad

Map tips

Don't hurry going to Novigrad and follow the flow of the game. That is a good reason to have a good stop in Oxenfurt.
No need to do any "?" for now, but surely do every "!" you will stumble upon on this whole new area as you stroll around Oxenfurt.
After reaching Novigrad you should take a route again to take all the notice boards, except from the last one on the North-NorthEast on the map, because it is related to the Hearts of Stone and not needed now. It will unlock overleveled "?" on your map that are unnecessary, for now.
Once you get 19 level go to Devil's Pit, a round base on the map next to Hanged Man's tree. There you will initiate the Forgotten Wolf School Gear quest.
Before leaving for Skellige, make sure to go to all the Places of Power in the whole map.

Quest tips

Finish all Velen related quests and the Swamp Thing Contract before leaving Velen. That way as you progress in Novigrad, the week will pass in the meantime for the full sum and you won't need to meditate 7 days, or lose exp.
Before talking to Triss, do a stroll around Novigrad to get some limited time "!" quests.
Go to the Merchant at the Gildorf district shop, the one behind the noticeboard close to St Gregory's bridge and buy the "!" items to initiate a "cheesy" quest.

Once finished Novigrad Dreaming. talk again to Rudolf de Jonkheer so that you initiate the countdown of getting paid for making available the house again, if you choose this option.You will talk to him again just before leaving for Skellige, and he will pay you as he promised.
Between that quest location and the Rosemary and Thyme there is a Hafling Herbalist that you might've bought burdock earlier depending what you chose to do. Go back and buy the Northern Wind Recipe among others u might want to.

In Broken Flowers quest, talk to Zoltan first before you leave Rosemary and Thyme.
After the end of Count Reuven's Treasure, go for a walk and some new "!" will appear in Novigrad and the Outskirts of Novigrad.
At 16 level, initiate the "Of Swords and Dumplings" quest to unlock Hattori as early as possible and not lose exp. You can now use whatever repair kit you have at your stored relic swords or armors and sell them to him for a fat coin boost. From now on, he will be the best guy to sell every sword and armor to. If he runs out of money, I explain the alternate ones in General Tips.

Do the Zoltan quest first, before A Matter of Life and Death with Triss. This way you do both the Statuette quests, before making her temporarily unavailable.
During the "A Matter of Life and Death" explore all the Masquerade Party. Before you play the small Gwent Tournament manual save before the first time and then Quicksave after every win. And don't forget to loot all the food from the tables scattered throughout the whole residence.
After "A Matter of Life and Death", look for new "!" in Novigrad.
At the Portside Gate you will see guards having a burning Pyre. You cannot see the person but there is one. Save him and aard the flames.
East of Mulbrydale, is the Devil's Pit. This quest should be your last one to do before leaving for Skellige, at level 21-23 depending the difficulty.

How to not fail Gangs of Novigrad and Get Junior:
Wiki and Reddit posts are unfortunately outdated for next gen. The following way mentions the ways to have no red marks once completed. It might change with any update patch.

• First of all, you never mention his name at any option, otherwise you will fail.
  
• You first go to his house. After that you go to Cleaver and refuse his quest.
  
• You go to the arena. Proceed to the whole thing. Say Thank you when the time comes. DO NOT READ ANY NOTES THAT YOU WILL PICK UP. Lot's of fights and pretty smooth until the end of the sequence. You can kill Juniors Bandits and loot them, with the help fo the dwarves.
  
• Go back to Cleaver and accept his quest.
  
  
• You go to the casino GWENT APPROACH. Do not talk to the dwarves waiting yet. You get in there with Axii or bribe. You play Gwent until you get invited to the special room. The fight breaks and then you leave the room. DO NOT TALK TO THE HAFLING THAT IS TIED UP. Once you leave the room the casino bandits will trigger hostile. Gather them all up and use Northern Wind or samum bombs. Rush downstairs again as fast as you can and leave the casino. You talk to Cleaver's dwarves now and you attack again. The casino will reset and u can attack. After that talk/free the Hafling. You can do that new small quest whenever u want.
  
  
• You go to the casino, AGGRESSIVE APPROACH (It's more straight forward but you will lose money). After the Arena you straightforward talk to the dwarves and rush together. Things happen the same way.
  
  
• Go to cleaver and get your reward. ONLY after completing Gangs of Novigrad read the notes. Then go to talk to Dijkstra and proceed with the questline.

General tips

Armorer and Blacksmith in Oxenfurt are great for crafting the Griffin gear and the best until your quests guide you to Novigrad. Be sure to get some Witcher Gear maps from them and Gwent Cards from the Oxenfurt inkeeper.
You could also go to the barber and style Geralt to your own taste.

Best Armorer in Novigrad is the "Top Notch Swords" one in the Main Square, behind the Pyres. if he isn't there meditate 1 hour.
Best Blacksmith is the one in the Fishmarket until you unlock Hattori. Beware, the other Blacksmith is an Amateur and will have awful prices.
Best Inkeeper is the one at the Kingfisher, because of how much money he always has. All the other ones are fine aswell.
Don't ever take a loan from Vivaldi. Now you can finally exchange all the Orens and Florens that you have in your stash.

You can craft and try with Feline at 17 level, or wait until you get the Enhanced Griffin at 18 and the Forgotten Wolven at 20.
For Forgotten Wolven armor, dismantle Necrophage hide since its the cheapest.
White Tiger gear is not reccomended because of the stats. If they change the type to Heavy so that the vitality bonus makes sense, only then it will be the best early game Heavy Gear Set until Skellige.
Leaving the Witcher Armor as a matter of preference and playstyle, you should definitely craft all the swords as you level up so that you always have the best damage output advantage.

As you progress through Novigrad you will unlock the first Repair Kits to buy from Hattori and the central Armorer. As explained earlier, they are cheaper than repairs from Blacksmith/Armorer. The important bit about them is that if you use them to repair the loot from Contracts before selling that loot, they will sell at a higher price if repaired. So by the end you will have even more money.
Remember to Stash all the Witch Hunter's Dimeritium Shackles found in the game and not sell them.

Skellige

Map tips

Lots of loot on the shipwreck you began the map at. On the South side of the beach, you will find the Captain's Body with your 1k crowns and sometimes even more. After you finish the funeral and the feast later of King Bran, you are free to search all the notice boards.

Maps for Skellige to buy are kinda useless, given their price.
You can search the monster nests on this map to easily get the achievement of Pest Control.
(They are all on the land areas)

Quest Tips

Wear the Dark brown/Golden stripes doublet and the breeches with straps wrapped around the legs for Yen.
You can wear the Elegant Courtier's set if you still have them. The important part is to unequip everything else first, equip the doublet all at once and don't unequip it after. Otherwise it might bug and Yen will not give you a compliment. Always fist fight Madman Lugos to get extra exp.
Once you finish the quest, talk to Crach as he leaves and ask about Hammond. After that follow him inside the feast and listen to everyone in that room with your witcher senses on till the animations from everyone go on a loop. You will get 80-100 exp depending the difficulty.

If you want to get and try the first heavy gear, you can buy the Undvik Set from Kaer Trolde Armorer until you craft the Ursine.
You can buy the Undvik Roach Gear from Kaer Trolde Blacksmith and go do the Horse Races and get the Zerrikanian gear. Skellige Crossbow is optional for the complete aesthetics.
Zerrikanian and Undvik horse gear are the two best in the main game with 5 stamina difference. So it depends on your taste.


At Echoes of the Past go grab the Yrden Place of Power above the Druids Camp before approaching Yen and Ermion. You either do "Nameless" and "in Wolf's Clothing" together, or separately.
If you choose separately, go to the noticeboard in Larvik first, clear all the quests(there's an easy to miss"!") and then go to Lofoten. Talk to everyone in Lofoten before proceeding. In both cases as soon as you enter the garden in Wolf's Clothing, create a manual save. Quest can break/bug easily. Explore garden to the fullest. If you went to the Garden with Yen, you can talk to her once she says she can't hear you for some extra dialogue.

At the Lord of Undvik Quest once on the boat, open maps and create a pin where it tells you dock. Once the trail breaks into 2, pin that spot and grab Hornwall Horn. Follow the one that goes North and come back to the pin to follow the second trail. After the fight, loot the cave first and meet Hjalmar later at the port.

As you leave go towards southeast of Holmstein's Port, to that small part of beaten path on the map. Approach the ship on the shore once you find it.
Do the "The Phantom of Eldberg" contract after the "King's Gambit" quest. If you do it before, things happen. Create manual saves if you are curious.

During King's Gambit, create a manual save when you are at the main hall. If you choose Cerys, don't forget the Place of Power. If you choose Hjalmar, don't trust the map and use witcher senses. It's misleading and was never patched.

You should do all the quests/contracts that are until 23 level and then leave for Velen.

General Tips

Best Blacksmith and Armorer are the ones in Kaer Trolde.
Blacksmith at Kaer Trolde is bugged sometimes, meditate next to the guard and below the roof for one hour. The option to talk will appear again.

Best Alchemist is the Herbalist in Kaer Trolde and Yolar at Gedyneith for Potions of Clearance. After King's Gambit, it's Yolar in the caves below the oak tree and the Master Alchemist Gremist from "Practicum in Advanced Alchemy" once you finish the quest. Grab all the Alchemy recipes they have.

All the Inkeepers at Skellige sell all the Mahakaman Spirit and the alcohol needed to craft White Gull. You will need 43 White Gull for all Superior Alchemy and +-100 Mahakaman Spirit until you finish Blood and Wine. Dismantle 10 Wolf and 10 Bear for crafting materials. And now it's the time to get your money back by selling all those hides you gathered so far and will from now on.

Hornwall Horn that you find during Lord of Undvik will be your friend for the Sirens & Ekhidnas once you get it. Hattori and Kaer Trolde Blacksmith have Relic Exploding Bolts. Both will help you a lot on looting the "?" at the sea and using the boat safely. They unlock at 23 level and after together with Master Armor/Weapon Repair Kits. Use the crossbow only when you use the boat, for damage and accuracy boost.

You can stay with the enhanced Griffin until you get the first set of Ursine/Bear Gear. Before you leave for Ugly Baby you can do the Treasure hunts for Superior Griffin and Enhanced Ursine.

Ugly Baby / Kaer Morhen

Map tips

Not much to do in this map, but you can do it all at once. You can easily search the map after you finish Ugly Baby. You have to explore the map on your own, no noticeboards this time.
To go back safely to the Circle of Elements you will have to try to climb up with sword attacks and roll up to the hill.

Quest tips

If you haven't already, go finish "Following the Thread" and "Black Pearl" quests in Novigrad.
In Velen you can finish the "Master Armorers"quest before talking to the Sergeant

In Kaer Morhen here are some hidden quests that begin with exploring the map. In the fortress to save you some time, search:

• The bed thrown out of the window
  
• Room/Cell in the middle courtyard and to the west of the grindstone
  
• At the base of the tower where Yennefer is, the book Monstum Volume 2.

Quest tips

For story purposes, you can finish all the Kaer Morhen quests the first time you go there.
While doing the quest with Eskel, after the monster fled go in the east of the site where there are Thunders and dark clouds, to begin a hidden quest.

Congrats, once you found out who Uma is you are finally free to get all diagrams of Forgotten Wolven and Wolven gear.
Make sure to gather all the Master's Armor and Weapon Kits that are placed in Kaer Morhen courtyards.

Plenty of Arenaria on this map, so keep your eyes open.

There is a Mastercrafted Wolven Armor chest at the end of the The Witchers' Forge quest.

First Build / Mutagens Farm

You should be 25-30 level by now. This means that it's the time to make your first build and get to Superior Tier Witcher Gear. Below are few examples of builds. For more details and complete Build go to the Bonus Content Category at the end of the Guide.

• 1. Cat gear -> Glass cannon + Fast attacks + Attack Power (Cat School Techniques)
  
  
• 2. Griffin gear -> Signs build + Stamina regen (Griffin School Techniques)
  
  
• 3.Ursine gear -> Tank + Strong Attacks + Adrenaline Gain (Bear School Techniques)
  
  
• 4. Wolf gear (Forgotten included) -> Jack of all trades + Combat/Signs Hybrid builds (Griffin School Techniques and Focus)
  
  
• 5. One that I use cause it works with every Witcher Gear (as long as I use the correct School Techniques) and use the first 4 Potions mentioned below.
  
  
• Alchemy Tree skills at that point in the game are only for hybrid builds, that boost Ursine,Cat and Wolven (School Techniques + Metabolic Control or Battle Frenzy).
  Recommended Superior Potions for the Consumamble Slots: Swallow, Thunderbolt, Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl, Maribor Forest, Blizzard. White Raffard's for emergency.
  Recommended Decoctions: Succubus, Water Hag, Ekkimara, Troll

Reccomended Runes for Witcher Sets:

• for Feline: Greater Chernobog or Greater Devana
  
• for Griffin: Greater Veles
  
• for Forgotten Wolven: Greater Veles if aard/yrden Build or Chernobog if Combat/Signs Build.
  
• for Wolven: Greater Devana, Greater Perun, Greater Veles together or Greater Chernobog
  
• for Ursine: Greater Perun or Greater Chernobog.

Places to get the Runes:
Pellar with Goat Princess in Velen, Hattori & Fishmarket Blacksmith in Novigrad
For Glyphs, ignore them until you fully unlock Runewright in Hearts of Stone or use 3 Greater of your favourite sign on the chest piece.

Mutagen Farm

For mutagens, you will need to farm at that point the skellige shores shown below. From Giant's Toes till the end of Regdill shore, the small lake, and from Elverum Lighthouse till the stairs that get you to Holmsteins Port. For the monsters to respawn, go to Vizima Palace, meditate one day and begin again. A job 15 min tops. You can craft from Alchemy all the Greater Mutagens you will need.


There are some Endrega Drones at Gedyneith Forest and Yustiana Grotto Forest too that drop mutagens.

Isle of Mists / KM Battle

Map Tips

You are free to roam the map again. You should travel to Temerian Palace first and from there to Novigrad and leave Skellige for last.
The Isle of Mists has plenty of loot to get, so look at the quest in the wiki(Suggestions) to see the map with the loot.

Quest Tips

If you did every quest to the level order mentioned earlier you won't fail any quest after Isle of Mists.
Do every quest that is until level 26, first in Velen/Oxenfurt/Novigrad and then in Skellige.

At "High Stakes" quest do a quicksave between your every win, so that you won't have to do the gwent games repeatedly. Go to the circus near Carsten(North Oxenfurt) if you miss any cards. Go to the large island, East of Oreton(Velen) and save the Person in Distress. It's a Gwent merchant in Claywitch. These two are the headache of the game to find them.

Do all Treasure Hunts that are until 30 Level (Superior tier). You should be around that level to craft the Superior Witcher Gear that you like.

Do every Quest that has no Suggested Level from everywhere. The Horse races might bug and The Truth is in the Stars fails (among others that if you followed this guide they won't fail).

General Tips

This is your final chance to buy the E3 Swords of Destiny/Promotional Trailer Swords from the "Top Notch Swords" Armorer at the Novigrad Main Square. Selling them back to him, saving the game, reloading and buying them again, will make them scale at your current level.

Before going to the Isle of Mists

Empty your whole inventory and stock up with 4 Weapon Repair Kits and 4 Armor ones. Buy and have 20 Relic Exploding Bolts, either from Hattori or the Kaer Trolde Blacksmith. (Don't forget to meditate where I said earlier if he's bugged)

Battle of KM Tips

At Kaer Morhen you can talk and discuss with everyone. Staying still to some of them for a bit initiates small chitchat. Don't forget to talk to Ciri. She is at the balance poles where you dreamt of her as a child.

After the planning, loot some stuff around there. They have free White Gull sometimes and herbs.
Talk to Ciri before leaving and manual save as soon as you are ready.

The most important thing is to follow exactly what the quest says all the time in order to not fail any part, because it's really fast paced.

During the fight, don't drink Decoctions because they reset after every sequence. Regular Potions are ok, because they have charges. Superior Blizzard will make everything easier.

As Ciri listen carefully and DO NOT IGNORE THE MESSAGES THAT GIVE YOU ADVICE ABOUT THE NEW ATTACKS UNLOCKED. Otherwise you won't play as her at full potential.

Don't forget to loot the Corpses as Geralt, because loot. If the extra Dimeritium bombs bug, drop them.

Final Preparations

Quest Tips

In Bald Mountain, after getting the Defier's Oren, go up from the side where the Fiend was. After being Ciri and you are Geralt again go all the way back to were you killed Fugas. You will have to try to run and jump from the right side of the obstacles, in order to get up there. Get his loot that has the key. Next, go to where Ciri went and proceed until you loot the battle scene and proceed further to get a nice Forgotten Vran Sword to sell to Hattori, along with all the Wild Hunt swords you looted from the battle previously. You go back up the usual way. Only with the key you looted earlier u can go back and proceed to kill Imlerith. After that, tell Ciri to stay a bit longer and go back to the fighting scene and eat the Magic Acorn for 2 extra skill points.

At The Great Escape Quest, Axii the guy running. After talking to Margarita for the first time, go all the way back to where u jumped. Accross from there, open that door. Once you get the cell key, open the others first and keep Margarita's for last . You can either escape from the same way the prisoners escaped or from the gap in the yard. You can try to catch up the guy going to the alarm and bell with Nothern Wind and Axii, but it won't change any outcome.

At the Through Time and Space quest, don't forget the Aard place of power in the poison whale fossil valley. Follow the path that goes below and straight to the other side. At the White Frost city, use Superior White Raffard's, Swallow, Ekhidna decoction, even food if you don't have the other. If you see a campfire, lit it and it will heal you. You can try to find all notes in the houses for extra info, including going up to the lighthouse tower.

After these, finish whatever Secondary Quest, Contract and Treasure Hunt is left in Velen/Oxenfurt/Novigrad. While doing the Missing Brother, search the cave thoroughly to get a bit more extra exp.

General Tips

Reminding you to not try to get your money back from Yoanna, her prices are as if she was an Amateur Armorer. Take every single penny Hattori has. Now it's the time to craft anything Mastercrafted that you can't and their Treasure Hunt isn't in Skellige. The reason for that is it's less tedious. You will craft the rest once you go to Skellige, by fast travelling back to them. If you plan to craft Mastercrafted Ursine, dismantle 1 Wyvern or Basilisk Hide for the carapace. They are the cheapest ones. For Ruby and all the other materials, try to see if you can dismantle anything before buying them. It's also expected to craft Dimeritium ingots and not buy them, unless you run out of crafting materials. Now it's also the time to dismantle all the Witch Hunter Shackles you found in your playthrough.

If you began Hearts of Stone, move to it's own category.

Map Tips

For Feline Set, inside the cave Nothern of Novigrad, if there is no Golem or Elemental spawned I suggest to meditate one hour or quicksave and reload the game.

Battle Preparations

Quest Tips

Do anything else that is until 28 level, then do the Final Preparations quests.

• Veni Vidi Vigo:
  
  Dive 80 meters approximately away from the target. Go lower than the lights. It's the middle ship and the only one with anchors. The anchor from the front right side of the ship will have a Use. Do it fast.
  
  
• Sunstone:
  
  After you clear Kaer Muire, you can let Ermion wait and loot the whole place if you want to.
  After that talk first to the bard and mention Ermion and then go to the pearl divers.
  Upon returning you can go with Ciri and Yen first.
  Before going, empty your inventory and keep only the gear you equip. You will need as less weight as possible. Inside the huge cave there is enough loot and hidden loot that will make you encoumbered, most of the time.
  I highly advise to use a boat to go there and go across the site, on a moderately big island and upon returning on a bit right on that small Cape, for two hidden "!".
  Upon finishing the quest the second part of one of the "!" will appear on your road to Rogne.

During on Thin Ice you can explore the around camp and find Ciri practicing.

General tips

Before letting Avallac'h know everything's ready, do whatever is left that is above 28 level. be sure to have Mastercrafted gear equipped if not already. Use even a Potion of Clearance if you want to make your build better. And don't forget to equip Superior White Raffard's at your consumables no matter your build.

Something Ends, Something Begins

If you are in White Orchard and it's not Winter, you should visit Tomira and explore the village a bit for new insights.

Congratulations, you finished the main game.

Hearts of Stone

Evil's Soft First Touches

In the Oxenfurt Sewers Battle use Yrden, Igni or Dancing Star and Northern Wind. Use Superior Golden Oriole.
At the burning house try to save the man they want to decapitate for an epic battle.

Dead Man's Party

Loot the catacomb before you leave the place.
During the wedding leave the Shoe Fishing Pond Contest for Last. Do every activity for achievement.
During Midnight Clear, give Shani the Rowan branch, no matter if you want to romance her or not.

Open Sesame

During the Auction, be sure to talk to see what the old lady has and get the Viper Armor Set. Buy everything from the Auction.
During the heist loot everything you find inside there.
No matter the choices and decisions you made, before leaving loot the whole Safehouse..
It's your only chance to get the Viper Venomous Steel Sword and the Relic Ofieri Crossbow.

After completing the quest, go back to the circus near Carsten and below the stage there is a hidden loot unlocked. After that dismantle Count Romilly's figurine.

Scenes From a Marriage

Find all clues around the house, before going in.
Use Superior Northern Wind for the Caretaker and Reliever's decoction for the Wraith on the Paintings. Don't forget to loot the Caretaker.
Unlock all 7 memories by searching the whole place and at the end Aard all 6 Iris Worst Nightmares before you start killing them for achievements.

Whatsoever a Man Soweth...

Talk to Shani first as soon as it is available. Once finishing the quest, extinguish all the candles around the professor.

If you let Gaunter take his soul, the rewards sound and look good but are meh. The Saddle (Caparison of Lament) is the best of them.
It's mostly a punishing decision, if you think he deserves it.

If you challenge him:

• Kill the Foglets with Blizzard.
  
• Turn right from the Well.
  
• Continue further and follow the left turn as the road follows.
  
• Kill the Hym again with Blizzard and get the Viper Venomous Steel Sword.
  
• Continue across the broken bridge and ignore Shani.
  
• Go to the right and grab all the loot.
  
• Continue North as the road goes to avoid monsters and rush inside the house.
  
• After the end of the hall, find the fountain, examine asap and Aard the rocks.
  
• After the realm enjoy the last reward.

At this point you either explore the "?" unlocked from Hearts of Stone or proceed to Blood & Wine Expansion.

Blood & Wine Part 1

Envoys, Wineboys

Before leaving for Toussaint tell them that you will think about it, go and loot the clues of the Beast on the table and the loot from those killed outside. No matter your build, I highly suggest to keep the Viper Gear, until your Quests in Toussaint reach level 40. Otherwise keep Superior Golden Oriole in your Consumables slot. Then you can leave.

The Beast of Toussaint

For the Golyat fight swing sword once, press dodge and shoot with the Crossbow. It should hit the eye and unlock achievement. After the fight loot the body.

Do all clues, read the Bestiary, drink Superior Black Blood.
If you use signs try to Yrden and then Aard the enemy inside the circle. Otherwise you need to use Superior Moon Dust.

In the Arena fight throw Grapeshot or Samun to the metal bars/doors. That monster behaves like a blind bull.
At the garden the answer is Greenhouse. You can try to help the woman crying on a small bridge. Go to the end of the waterfall and spam loot key and give it to her.

The Beast has the same mechanics as Olgierd. So once it teleports, try to counter attack and then Strong attack as it's staggered. All the other times dodge and try to hit quickly. Superior Dancing Star helps.

After the fight go, up the stairs towards the Camerlengo(knight helmet icon on the map), to initiate Turn and Face the Strange. After that ttalk to the Camerlengo and grab all books for Bestiary entries, if you want to. Once you are done with all of that go back to the Greenhouse to get your friend's Hare Mask.

Now you are free to roam the map and gather all noticeboards, as always.
Note: From the Noticeboards, if you grab and read them one by one Geralt comments about most of them. If you don't care, grab them all at once.

There are a few "!" on the map and hidden "Vintner's Contracts". Beaten paths on the map get you to them.
The rule from the lowest level available to the highest exists here too.
You will benefit a lot with the Viper Armor Set and the Superior Golden Oriole from all the Quests that are below 40 level (Grandmaster Gear).

• Turn and Face the Strange

  
  
  Plenty of loot underwater. Once at the end grab all crystals first, then go to megascope. Use yrden when the centipedes try to crawl up on your feet and one dodge back. Only one egg is needed.
  
  
  
  

• No Place Like Home and Paperchase

  
  
  Go to the house first and start upgrading it.
  Once you go to Lafargue (Grandmaster Smith) and get the Quests, Paperchase unlocks from the Vineyard owner, Behind Lafargue across the two Master Tier smiths.
  Later, where u will grab Flowers or Perfume, grab all Transmutation and Alchemy Recipes missing from the Alchemist/Merchant. He is the best Alchemist in the game
  
  
  
  

• The Warble of a Smitten Knight

  
  
  Practice as much as needed. Use only default Crossbow Bolts. Charge straight to the puppets, hold attack and release as close as possible for a sure hit. Participating as Geralt of Rivia is the preferable option for something else.
  You can loot all the tents to get letters and info. Finish the Tourney. In the end no matter your options, once the quest is done go back to your tent.
  
  
  
  

• Big Game Hunter

  
  
  At the end of it ask about his daughter. After that do "There Can Be Only One" Quest.
  In order to farm it's damage you need to be OP but not much, so disable Mutations.(Choose the
  middle Mutation)
  You get 10 hits on monsters and once you kill as its max charged it increases the damage.
  
  
  
  

• Wine Wars: Belgaard

  
  
  Do both Coronata and Vermentino. Go back together with all the prisoners you might encounter. Don't forget to return to the spots to loot the places. Talk to them after you finish "Wine Wars: The Deus in the Machina".
  
  
• To get money for all Grandmaster Sets you will have to farm Hanse Bases. Preferably Mont Crane. Kill everyone except the Leader at the top. Go far from the Castle or deep in the tunnel from GM Griffin and everyone will respawn.
  Manticore is the cheapest to craft if money is the issue. Monster Stomach for the Wolven will be looted as you kill Giant Centipedes you find. They are also your main source of Greater Mutagens so once you find them on a place that is respawnable, pin the map with Skull Icon so that you revisit for the mutations later.

La Cage au Fou

There is a spoon that unlocks a hidden quest on the ground floor. In Tesham Mutna loot everything you find, you won't be able to go down there again. After finishing the quest go to the Mill at the East of Corvo Bianco on the map, in order to initiate another hidden quest.

The Man from Cintra

Before doing anything, go back to Fort Astre(ambush site) to loot everything you killed and the cart. For the Masquerade wear Olgierd's Robe (Relic tier Ornate Robe/Boots+Hunting(starting) trousers) or go and buy the Elegant Beuclair Set. Worn Masks will be removed no matter what.

Blood & Wine Part 2

Capture the Castle

It's the only cutoff point that goes straight to the ending.
Go and do "There Can Be Only One". It's the best Silver Sword in the game. Add slots from Ofier dude. Create a Manual Save and have 4 Amateur's Armor Repair kits and 2 Journeyman's Weapon Repair Kits before going to Damien. After that everything else is unavailable until you finish the Main Story.

The Night of Long Fangs

You can meet both Damien and Orianna. While doing that you can kill a lot of Vampires around the city. Create another Manual Save after going to both and before talking to the crows, in order to have the freedom to do all endings.

After that point no matter what you choose, explore the places the game takes you to the fullest. Each "Beyond Hill and Dale..." and "What Lies Unseen" have unique Sets of gear.

At the first one explore the whole map before planting the beans. Aard the Witch when she charges and focus on the Broom. After the wolves go right at the snowy village to get the Noticeboard first. Eat the Golden Egg once you get it. Whatever Junk and Four Leaf Clovers you find, sell them to the Flint Girl. Try to get the Ribbon.

At the second one, try to find and pickup whatever you dropped first. Look for the Hen Gaidth Set and the Cantata after. Be careful on what you ask the Unseen Elder and don't talk a lot.

After that point it all depends on the path you choose. During Tesham Mutna if you fight, drink Superior Black Blood at least, no matter your build.



Now that you finished the game you can go back to:

• Bram from White Orchard sells an Upscaled Temerian Set
  
• Quartermaster from Crow's Perch sells an Upscaled Nilfgaardian Set
  
• Kaer Trolde Armorer sells an Upgraded Undvik Set the best armor vs humans. Second only to Toussaint Knight's Tourney Armor Set (Relic Crafted) that you get if you do the "?" in Toussaint (Hanse Bases too)
  
• Explore and do all "?" from the maps and sell everything back to Lafargue. For Skellige Sea's "?" do them all and then sell all so that you save the back and forth time.

Knight for Hire Tips:

Do the "?" around and leave Hanse Bases for last. Leave Mont Crane for last s
If you see a Knight in Rescue "?" do it immediately.
Let the Torcher turn on fire so that you get more bandits=more loot.

Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword with Severance, Undvik Set Or Tesham Mutna/Hen Gaidth Sets. Bear School Techniques, Protective Coating, Griffin Decoction, Full Moon Superior Blizzard will help you. Check Builds below for more.

Bonus Content: Best Builds

The best Mutations are :

• Euphoria and Piercing Cold at the 2nd stage of Mutations.
  
• Conductors of Magic, Mutated Skin at the 3rd stage.
  
• Metamorphosis at the 4th stage. (You will need to sacrifice CoM and Mutated Skin in order to unlock it)

I highly suggest after 48 Level to use Item Levels Normalized Mod, which is not mine but only Honourably Mentioned, because Endgame is not balanced.

Feline/Manticore(Light Armor) - Euphoria Build
(Combat/Alchemy Hybrid, Glass Cannon playstyle)

• Decoctions for
  
  • Max Toxicity: Ekkimara, Troll, Succubus, Grave Hag, Blizzard
    
  • Max Health Regen(Invigoration): Ekkimara, Water Hag, Troll, Thunderbolt
    
• Runes: Greater Chernobog OR Severance, Invigoration
  
• Glyphs: Greater Mending, Deflection for Feline/Levity for Manticore
  
• NG+ Extra Slot: Anything on Combat/Alchemy Trees

Forgotten Wolven/Griffin (Medium Armor) - Piercing Cold Build
Yrden/Aard Focused Playstyle, 6/6 Sets Required


This build is a bit tricky to work. you will need:

• Superior Maribor Forest [R]
  
• Superior White Honey [F]
  
• Superior Blizzard [T]
  
• Superior Petri's Philter[Y]

You spam RF RF RF TY, Yrden and then spam infinitely Aard for 12 sec

You can change the Igni Sign Intensity with Adrenaline Burst General Skill.

• Decoction: Ekhidna, Ancient Leshen(only NG+)
  
• Superior Potions (for Alt. Skill): Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl, Maribor Forest, White Raffard's
  
• Runes: Greater Veles
  
• Glyphs: Greater Aard
  
• NG+ Skill Slot: Acquired Tolerance

Griffin (Medium Armor) - Conductors of Magic Builds
Pure Mage Playstyle, 6/6 Set required.


Hybrid Playstyle, 6/6 Set required.

• Decoction: Ekhidna, Ancient Leshen(only NG+)
  
• Superior Potions: Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl, White Raffard
  
• Runes: Greater Veles
  
• Glyphs: Entanglement or 2 Greater Igni, 2 Greater Quen, 2 Greater Yrden, or Eruption and All Greater Igni if you really want the Continent to Burn.
  
• NG+ Skill Slot: Aard Sweep or Puppet or Acquired Tolerance

Medium Armor - Hybrid Builds
6/6 Set Required only for Griffin

Fast attacks:

Strong Attacks:

• Decoctions: Water Hag or Succubus, Ekhidna
  
• Superior Potions: Swallow, Thunderbolt, Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl
  
• Runes: Greater Veles or Greater Chernobog
  
• Glyphs: Entanglement, 3 Greater Igni, 3 Greater Yrden
  
• NG+ Skill Slot: Anything from Combat/Alchemy

Part 2




Note: Fast Attack Skills can be replaced with the 4 Strong Attack Skills on all builds.
For Signs you apply the ones you use the most. Igni benefits only from it's last 2 skills.

• Decoctions: Water Hag, Ekkimara for Combat/Alchemy/Signs. Optionally Ekhidna or Ancient Leshen for Combat/Signs
  
• Superior Potions: Swallow, Thunderbolt, Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl
  (Forgotten Wolven/Griffin Potions will work for the Combat/Signs build)
  
• Runes: Invigoration, Severance, Preservation
  
• Glyphs: Deflection or Protection, Favourite Signs, Greater Mending
  
• NG+ Extra Skill Slot: Quen Discharge, Protective Coating.

Heavy Armor (Ursine-Undvik-B&W sets) - Tanky & Aggressive Builds

(1)Tanky playstyle


(2)Aggressive Playstyle

• Decoctions: (1) Griffin, Troll, Ekkimara, Succubus & (2) Archgriffin, Water Hag
  
• Superior Potions: Thunderbolt, Full Moon, Maribor Forest, Blizzard (Max Adrenaline=Spam Rend)
  
• Runes: (1) Preservation, Prolongation & (2) Severace, Elation
  
• Glyphs: Greater Mending
  
• NG+ Extra Skill Slot: (1) Endure Pain, Rend & (2) Fleet Footed

Alternative Ursine - Quen Hybrid Build: 6/6 Set Required
Works with Euphoria and Conductors of Magic.

• Decoctions: Ancient Leshen+Ekhidna for CoM, Ekkimara+Water Hag for Euphoria
  
• Superior Potions: Thunderbolt, Maribor Forest, Petri's Philter, Tawny Owl
  
• Runes: All Greater Veles for CoM
  
• Glyphs: All Greater Quen for Euphoria and Balance for CoM(swap to Griffin School Techniques)
  
• NG+ Extra Skill Slot: Tissue Transmutation

Feline/Wolven/Viper/Manticore - Metamorphosis Build
Crit. Dmg/Bleeding or Poison DoT/RNG Decoctions Build, 6/6 Set Required for Wolven,Feline, Manticore. For Viper Set go to Note below.

You will need a Potion of Restoration from Toussaint Transmutation Alchemist

• Decoctions: Katakan, Water Hag
  
• Superior Potions: Swallow, Thunderbolt, Maribor Forest, Blizzard, Cat (only at nights)
  
• Runes on both swords: Greater Morana for Viper and Greater Devana for anything else.
  
• Glyphs: Greater Mending, Deflection for Feline/Levity for anything else
  
• NG+ Extra Skill Slot: Anything on Combat/Alchemy Trees

Note: For the Viper set it's the same Build but change the Combat Skill Crippling Strikes, with Alchemy Skill Poisoned blades. For the swords of the Viper Set you need to find the unofficial Grandmaster Viper swords in Toussaint Map which are:

• Gesheft Silver Sword(Crafted), Monster Cave North of Basane Farm:
  
• Belhaven Blade Steel Sword(Crafted):
  

Bomb Build - Manticore

• Decoctions: Cockatrice, Water Hag
  
• Superior Potions: Maribor Forest, White Honey
  
• Runes: Preservation, anything
  
• Glyphs: Levity, Greater Mending

[/list]


Crossbow Build - Feline
Relic Exploding Bolts from Hattori and Kaer Trolde Blacksmith.

• Crossbow: Toussaint Crossbow(Magic)
  
• Decoctions: Succubus, Water Hag
  
• Superior Potions: Thunderbolt, Maribor Forest
  
• Runes: Greater Chernobog
  
• Glyphs: Deflection, Greater Mending
  
• Bombs: Superior Nothern Wind or Moon Dust

The End

Congatulations, you made it to the end. I hope you will easily manage the emptiness this game gives you after you finish it.


BEGIN NEW GAME+ AT 55-59 LEVEL, DEPENDING ON YOUR DIFFICULTY

My Witcher 3 Spotify Playlist

Witcher On The Path[open.spotify.com]


That was all. I hope the guide helped you on this long journey that is Witcher 3 :)
I would like to thank all feedback throughout the years.

Until the next Witcher game, take care and good luck on The Path Witcher!!!

[worm_master]

@OP If ya addressing me, i didn't lose any XP, completing wine wars at level 15 awarded at least 600 EXP(I was on Death march)
You wouldn't notice the EXP from wine wars, if u were the right level,

[Vandelgard]

Still you lost exp, unless you used mods. I understand what you are saying nonetheless.:)
Take a look at the builds then, I'm sure u might find something in there.

[worm_master]

@OP that's fair dude I'll also mention some players, well some players are a little more "advanced" then ya run of the mill, I.E completed Of swords and dumplings at level 3,.
Your guide is no good to me since I'm well ahead of the curve

[Vandelgard]

Yes I thought of it, thing is the best merchants are directly connected with the quests and where you are in the game. Hence the reason if you noticed that per area and point in the game I have the best ones available. The guide was not made to be read as a whole at once. You can literally begin it at the point you are in the game and only that part will be necessary. No need to read from the start even.

[worm_master]

@op did u? I honestly didn't see it, guess it means i wont be the only one.

Maby you could * it an put a brief description in the start. Something like main text, then bigger * So-an so in Toussant sells all recipes.

Or maby with a bit of work(you done loads already Thanks dude) make merchants a separate Chapter, that way folks can scroll to what they want, rather then having to read though the entire guide.

Id be more then willing to compile the merchants for you, make it easy on you.

I only mention this because i'm the type of player who wants specific info at a specific time, and has a habbet of "finding my own way", i'm not the only player with this flaw hahahahaha

[Vandelgard]

Also by following the guide you find all potion alchemy recipes by the end of the main game, so it's no worries about that in general.

[Vandelgard]

It's the same Alchemist that sells both of what you mention. I have it written on the No Place Like Home and Paperchase section. Thank you I will write it more clear now. :)

[worm_master]

Neat guide, i got something to add, from personal experience, you didn't mention the Alchemist in Toussant who sells all the reagents, I.E Rubido, and the top tier bombs and potion recipes, neither did u mention the merchant that sells you mutagen conversion formulas.

[Isek]

great guide,you break down the game and the mechanics really good10/10

[Vandelgard]

Thank you for reading the guide fren.
The guide has reached 100% completion now. Anything more added will ruin things.