100% Achievement Guide: The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt

This is a comprehensive 100% Achievement guide detailing a step-by-step walkthrough to take you from 0 all the way to 100%. If you are looking for a particular Achievement or Collectible, use Ctrl+F & type it into the search bar for more direct help.

I run support & debug help on all my guides. If you have any questions, problems, or find errors in the guide itself, do not hesitate to leave me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. Happy Hunting!

Introduction:

Achievement Breakdown: (53)
Story Related: (10)
Missable: (3)
Secondary Objectives: (14)
Character: (3)
Collectibles: (5)
Slay: (13)
Miscellaneous: (5)

The Achievement Breakdowns for Hearts of Stone as well as Blood & Wine will be included in the Sequences they are found in.

Only one full playthrough needs to be completed to earn 100%. To do this, we must start our game on Deathmarch! Difficulty. The initial learning curve is tricky, but after you start acquiring Levels as well as Witcher Armor & Swords, it becomes almost laughably easy.

On Deathmarch Difficulty, only Food & Swallow Potions heal Vitality – Meditating does not. Always be sure you buy out high healing Food Items whenever you are in towns. Save often!

Loot anything & everything. While most Weapons, Armor, & Junk can be sold we will need a vast collection of Crafting & Alchemy Ingredients for creating Potions, Bombs, Oils, Weapons, & Armor sets.

While not pertaining to any Achievements per say, there are three Endings to this game & how to unlock them is a little less then obvious & a bit annoying. There is a “good”, “interesting”, & “bad” Ending & how to earn them is saying positive or negative things to Ciri during four Main Quests near the end of the game. If you are simply roleplaying as Geralt or just choosing dialogue that makes sense to you, you could very well accidentally end up with the worst Ending without even knowing it! I will explain more later…

The Gwent card game plays a huge role in our 100% & will require you to get quite good at it. There are 169 Gwent Cards we will need to obtain for the Card Collector Achievement & some of them are Missable. But fortunately, not too many. Only Unique Gwent Cards count towards the Achievement – duplicates do not. However, there can be different looking Gwent Cards that share the same name that DO count. You’ll know that they are unique, because they will have a different image; duplicates will stack with previously owned cards.

We also have two different DLC Expansions to complete as well: Hearst of Stone & Blood & Wine. Hearts of Stone is a short expansion that takes place in the Novigrad Region whereas Blood & Wine takes place in its on brand new region, Toussaint. Both expansions have highly Missable regarding their Main Questlines so you will need to be careful as you play!

For those interested, here is an organized list of all the Achievements/Secret Achievements. This is how I derive my Achievement Breakdowns & the first reference I create before I begin my 100% journeys.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3162875051

If you previously completed the Witcher 2 & still have the saves, you are able to import your game. While we will not receive any Weapons or Armor unfortunately, our major decisions will cross over. Most decisions are inconsequential, however the most notable is if you chose a Save where you spared the final Boss; I highly recommend this.

Before You Play!: If this is your first time playing the Witcher 3, you will see a pop up for the new Red Launcher. There are some perks to creating an account (it’s a GOG Account) & you will receive a unique Armor set with Swords… if you already have a GOG Account just sign in. The gear will get out levelled pretty quickly.

Honestly… third party launchers on a site that already stores & launches your games is pretty stupid. I wish this trend would end.

*Guide contains major spoilers.

Sequence 1: Nightmares On the Trail

1. Kaer Morhen
2. White Orchard
3. Main Quests: Kaer Morhen, Lilac & Gooseberries
4. Unique Gwent Cards: 28/169
5. Achievements: 4/78
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Before we begin the game, be sure to tweak a few things in the Options – Gameplay tab. We are able to turn on some alternate Outfits for some main characters & get some new Gwent Cards; they do not contribute to the Card Collector Achievement. When you are ready to start, be sure to select “Fresh Start” & not begin a DLC solo Campaign; for Difficulty, select Death March! & do not turn it down so we can unlock the Walked the Path Achievement upon beating the Base Game.

Kaer Morhen:

Main Quest #1 – Kaer Morhen: Follow along with the Tutorial to the game & participate or skip what you desire.

When we reach the Combat Tutorial, be sure that you stick around in Free Training where we can safely & easily unlock a few Achievements.


Achievement #1 – What Was That?: Attack, Counter, cast a Sign, & throw a Bomb (in any order) in under 4 seconds.
Ready your Training Bombs & a Sign like Quen. Open up with a Counterattack against Vesemir, attack him with your Sword, throw a Training Bomb, then immediately cast Quen to unlock the Achievement.

Keep attempting until the Achievement unlocks; we have unlimited Bombs at our disposal.


Achievement #2 – Kaer Morhen Trained: Perform 10 effective Counterattacks in a row without getting hit or parrying.
This is another ideal time to attempt this Achievement since we cannot be killed. Hone in on Vesemir’s attacks, & Counterattack him 10 times for the Achievement; this is good practice for Death March! Difficulty.

Vesemir is actually pretty difficult however, & has a wide variety of attacks; his Swift Attacks can be challenging to Counterattack. If you cannot seem to last long enough for 10, keep this Achievement in mind as we enter White Orchard & attempt it on a lone Bandit who has a much more limited move set.

White Orchard:

Main Quest #2 – Lilac & Gooseberries: After our initial conversation with Vesemir, we will be attacked by some Ghouls. Though only Level 1, they will teach us what we are in for on Death March! Difficulty.

Quen is our staple; anytime you are in combat, Quen must always be on. Do not blindly spam attack either, feel out your enemies & fight defensively to survive. When they are defeated, follow Vesemir to the White Orchard township, & deal with an encounter with a Griffon.


Achievement #3 – Fist of the South Star: Defeat an opponent in a Fist Fight without taking any damage.
Before we do anything inside the White Orchard Tavern once we reach it, make a Save, then exit outside the front entrance to be accosted by some ruffians. Be sure you Save before leaving as you may need to reload a few times…

Speak with the Peasants, & do not choose the Axii dialogue, & instead engage them in a Fist Fight. One will then come to fight us on his own; defeat them without taking a single hit to unlock this Achievement. As always, do not spam attack… but since these are fists, be a bit more aggressive them you normally would; this guy is not too hard.

The other two will attack us after we defeat the first Peasant, but our Achievement will unlock as soon as the first Peasant is taken down without us taking a hit.

Gwent Player – Scholar: Return back into the Tavern now & speak with the group of Peasants playing Gwent at a table. Speak with the Scholar, & when we go to leave… he will introduce us to the best card game in all games, even better than Caravan. Gwent.

With our first Gwent match underway, we will unlock our starter base deck of Gwent Cards made up of Northern Realms & Neutral Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #1 – Foltest, King of Temeria (Leader): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #2 – Biting Frost: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #3 – Impenetrable Fog: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #4 – Torrential Rain: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #5 – Clear Weather: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #6 – Dethmold: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #7 – Trebuchet (1): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #8 – Trebuchet (2): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #9 – Ballista (1): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #10 – Ballista (2): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #11 – Ves: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #12 – Siegfried of Denesle: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #13 – Keira Metz: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #14 – Síle de Tansarville: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #15 – Prince Stennis: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #16 – Dun Banner Medic: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #17 – Sabrina Glevissig: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #18 – Sheldon Skaggs: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #19 – Blue Stripes Commando: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #20 – Poor Fockin’ Infantry: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #21 – Redanian Foot Soldier (1): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #22 – Redanian Foot Soldier (2): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #23 – Kaedweni Siege Expert: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #24 – Yarpen Zigrin: Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #25 – Emhyr var Emreis, His Imperial Majesty (Leader): Unlocked with
our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #26 – Francesca Findabair, Pureblood Elf (Leader): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #27 – Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt (Leader): Unlocked with our base deck.

Unique Gwent Card #28 – Zoltan Chivay: We will acquire this Gwent Card after we defeat the Scholar in the White Orchard Tavern in a game.

If you synced your Gwent – The Witcher Card game profile, the Roach Card we recieved is a DLC Card & does not count towards the Achievement.

A Miraculous Guide to Gwent: We will acquire this Book after defeating the Scholar for the first time that will give us a bit of a checklist for Unique Gwent Cards acquired.


Achievement #4 – Geralt & Friends: Win a round of Gwent using only Neutral Cards.
This is the earliest we can unlock this Achievement. Our Neutral Cards are the Weather Cards, Zoltan Chivay, & our DLC Card Roach. For this Achievement, be sure you have Zoltan in your hand.

Use the first round to exhaust as many (if not all) of the Scholar’s cards in the first round & still win. On the final round, play only those Neutral Cards & win the game.

If you cannot swing this, we can earn this Achievement at any point during the game when we get more & stronger Neutral Cards… Just be sure to attempt it on weaker Gwent opponents; it may also just happen naturally in game as well.

Sequence 2: The Death of White Lilies

1. White Orchard
2. Main Quests: Lilac & Gooseberries, The Beast of White Orchard, The Incident At White Orchard
3. Unique Gwent Cards: 31/169
4. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
5. Achievements: 7/78
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White Orchard:

Unique Gwent Card #28 – Decoy: While still in the White Orchard Tavern, speak with the Shopkeeper here to purchase this Gwent Card for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #29 – Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter: Purchased from the White Orchard Tavern’s Shopkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #30 – Catapult (1): Purchased from the White Orchard Tavern’s Shopkeeper for 50 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #31 – Foltest, Lord Commander of the North (Leader): Purchased from the White Orchard Tavern’s Shopkeeper for 50 Crowns.

We can also purchase another Blue Stripes Commando from her; very good for our Northern Realms Deck, but not needed for the Achievement.

Main Quest #2 – Lilac & Gooseberries: Speak with Gaunter O’Dimm in the Tavern to progress the Quest, & we will now be tasked with speaking with the Nilfgaardian garrison here.

Witcher Contract #1 – Devil By the Well: Go to the Notice Board in White Orchard, & we can find this Contract pinned to it. Be sure to collect it, as we will need it completed before we leave the “prologue”. I recommend collecting & completing the other Secondary Quests obtained from this Notice Board as well…

Speak with Odolan in White Orchard about the Contract to progress it to the abandoned acreage of Hovel.

Main Quest #2 – Lilac & Gooseberries: Before we do anything else, head up North to the Nilfgaardian Garrison to speak with the Nilfgaardian Officer there. To learn where to find Yennefer, we must first slay the Griffon that is harassing White Orchard...

Exploring White Orchard: Keep the objectives in mind for Main Quest #3 – The Beast of White Orchard, & we can begin exploring around the region as we go; in your World Map, toggle the Waypoint visibility to “All” to see all of the Undiscovered Locations in the area. I highly recommend discovering them all.

Loot, kill, & map. Remember to Save often, as it is very easy to lose lots of progress by accidents in combat!

Be sure to destroy the three Monster Nests found at the North & Eastern ends of White Orchard as well; they will be marked by ?. We need to destroy 10 Monster Nests with Bombs for the Fire In the Hole Achievement.

Main Quest #3 – The Beast of White Orchard: Collect the Buckthorn & track down the Griffon’s nest to learn more about what you are dealing with; hold off on speaking with Vesemir for now however, & we will save setting the trap to lure the Griffon for later...


Achievement #5 – Power Overwhelming: Have all 5 possible Place of Power bonuses active at the same time.
There are 6 Places of Power found in White Orchard; one is a double. Each bonus will last for 30 minutes, meaning we will have 30 minutes to ride around & visit all the Places of Power. This is easier than it sounds. I recommend starting from the Northmost Place of Power & visiting them in order South while riding Roach.



Beware the large Bear found at our final Place of Power; it is Level 6!

It is also important to note that using any Place of Power for the first time will also grant you a free Ability Point; always use them when you come across new ones… speaking of.

Sun & Stars: With our new found Ability Points, I strongly recommend spending the Point on the Sun & Stars Ability so that we can begin passively regenerating Vitality; this is very beneficial in early game.

Purchasing the Gourmet Ability is also very useful as well. These can be found in the General Tab of our Skill Trees.


Achievement #6 – Let’s Cook!: Learn 12 Potion Formulae.
This Achievement can be earned here in White Orchard if you explore all of the ? on the World Map & find Potion Formulae as random loot. We can also buy Formulae from Herbalists & other Merchants in the area as well.

By looting White Orchard, we should also be halfway to reaching the Bombardier Achievement for collecting 6 different Bomb Formulae.

Witcher Contract #1 – Devil By the Well: Before we kill the Griffon, we have a different monster to slay. For better preparations, go to the Abandoned Village at nighttime & not in the afternoon as the ghost will be absent. Investigate around, & we will determine that it is a Noonwraith.

For the Noonwraith entry, we can receive it from Tamira, the Herbalist.
Read the entry in our Bestiary, & investigate the village again for more clues of what binds the Wraith here. Drop into the well & swim to the bottom to locate an Ornate Bracelet that belongs to the Wraith; this is what we need to summon her.

Save, & make some preparations before the fight. To make the Noonwraith corporeal, we need to trap her in the Yrden Sign.

After the Noonwraith is slain, return to Odolan for our reward & complete the Contract.

Main Quest #3 – The Beast of White Orchard: When you are ready, go & speak with Vesemir to tell him what we have learned, & if you are ready, set off to set the trap.

Even Odds #1: For the Even Odds Achievement, we need to defeat two monsters we have a Contract on without using any Signs, Potions, Bombs, Blade Oils, or having Mutagens equipped in our Character tab. Using your Crossbow is fine! Though not an official Contract, the Royal Griffon does count towards the Achievement.

The Griffon is tough at this Level on Death March & it will not take too many hits for us to die, especially without Quen. Let Vesemir do all the heavy lifting while you fight defensively… The fight has two parts as the Griffon will fly away halfway through to a different location; be sure to Save before re-engaging it so you do not have to do the fight over.

Once it is slain, cut off the Griffon’s head with way too small of a knife & take it to the Nilfgaardian Officer to complete the Quest.

Main Quest #4 – The Incident At White Orchard: Return to the White Orchard Tavern, & meet up with Vesemir to leave to Vizima. Be sure to purchase anything you need from the Tavern Shopkeeper first…


Achievement #7 – Lilac & Gooseberries: Find Yennefer of Vengerberg.
Story Related. Instead of finding Yennefer, Yennefer will find us at the White Orchard Tavern & take us to Vizima, unlocking the Achievement.

Sequence 3: The Bloody Baron

1. Vizima
2. Velen: Mulbrydale, Inn At the Crossroads, Heatherton, Crow’s Perch
3. Main Quests: Imperial Audience, The Nilfgaardian Connection, Bloody Baron, King of the Wolves, Family Matters
4. Unique Gwent Cards: 37/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
6. Achievements: 8/78
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Vizima:

Main Quest #5 – Imperial Audience: After we sit in the bergère, we will be questioned by Morvran Voorhis. If you chose to simulate a Save at the beginning of the game, he will ask you a list of questions involving certain Characters; if asked if anyone died, say that they all lived to keep as many doors open in the game. While Roche does make an appearance in the game, Iorveth does not regardless of if you chose to side with him or not, which is very disappointing. If you imported your own Save from Witcher 2, we will not be asked any questions.

Have your audience with the Emperor of Nilfgaard, & speak with Yennefer afterwards to learn more.

My Rewards Chest: If you made a Red Account (GOG Account), then we can collect the bribes given to us by doing so from a Chest found in Yennefer’s quarters in Vizima. Be sure to collect them.


Achievement #8 – Bookworm: Read 30 Books, Journals, or other documents.
This Achievement will come naturally as we playthrough the game. If you are a looting fiend, you can unlock it by Vizima if you have been searching Bookshelves in White Orchard. Be sure to read the Books & Journals you collect too!

Unique Gwent Card #32 – Foltest, the Siegemaster (Leader): After our gear is returned, we have an errand to run before we leave set off to Velen. In the courtyard outside Yennefer’s quarters, we can find a Nilfgaardian Nobleman; he will have a ! over him on our World Map.

Speak with him, & we can duel him in Gwent. He is pretty tricky, so you will want to pull out all the stops & be sure you have your Deck specked out… as best you can anyways with the Cards we have. He has three Hero Cards, so you will want to keep dueling him until he only gets one… or none, in his hand.

As a Deck building tip, I would recommend having a Deck with 28-36 Cards in it max. Just because you can put up to 60 Cards in your Deck doesn’t mean you should; it just increases the chance of you getting weak Cards in your hand… You will want Decoys in your Deck so you can steal the Spies he places on your field as well!

Dueling him again will not award you with any more Unique Gwent Cards…

Velen:

Velen – Mulbrydale:

Notice Board: When your business in Vizima is complete, leave the palace & travel to the Hanged Man’s Tree in Velen. Ride down the road South towards the Inn At the Crossroads, & we will pass through the ruined village of Mulbrydale immediately below the Hanged Man’s Tree.

Here we can find a Notice Board in the center of town; we will get a new Secondary Quest from it as well as mark some new Undiscovered Locations on our World Map. Be sure to locate the Signpost here as well so we can Fast Travel back in the future…

Velen – Inn At the Crossroads:

Main Quest #6 – The Nilfgaardian Connection: Ride to the Inn At the Crossroads now & speak with the Innkeeper inside about Hendrik. He will give us a lead to go to Heatherton next.

Unique Gwent Card #33 – Commander’s Horn: Speak with the Innkeeper again & ask him what he has got for sale; we can purchase this Gwent Card for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #34 – Siege Engineer: Purchased from the Innkeeper at the Inn At the Crossroads for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #35 – Impera Brigade Guard: Purchased from the Innkeeper at the Inn At the Crossroads for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #36 – Nausicaa Cavalry Rider: Purchased from the Innkeeper at the Inn At the Crossroads for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #37 – Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard (Leader): Purchased from the Innkeeper at the Inn At the Crossroads for 50 Crowns.

Notice Board: Outside the Inn, we can find a Notice Board that will uncover some new Undiscovered Locations.

Witcher Contract #2 – Missing Brother: On the Notice Board, we can find a notice that reads Missing: Mikkel; collecting it will begin our next Witcher Contract. Enter back into the Inn, & speak with a peasant named Bruno for more details.

This is a very high Level quest & we will not be completing it for a bit…

Velen – Heatherton:

Main Quest #6 – The Nilfgaardian Connection: Continue Westward now to Heatherton to link up with Hendrik. When we arrive, we will discover the village has been decimated by the Wild Hunt. After speaking with a Survivor, go & investigate Hendrik’s home for anymore leads.

Check Hendrik’s boots for a Key to his basement; pull on a candle sconce to locate some hidden notes within his merchant’s ledgers.

After reading through all the notes, we will complete this Main Quest & unlock two more.

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Main Quest #7 – Bloody Baron: Without wasting time, carry on to Crow’s Perch. Ignore the Merchants & homes for looting right now & just head straight to the Bloody Baron. Speak with Baron to learn more about Ciri’s whereabouts… quite literally.

Ciri’s Quest #1 – The King of the Wolves: As we play as Ciri, you will realize we do not have access to Quen. For this Quest, it is not that big of a deal, but later ones be will much more difficult with its absence. She controls a little differently than Geralt, but the gist is still the same; there is no point in looting anything more then you have to as her Inventory is not consistent across her isolated Quests.

Follow Gretka back to her village, collect the ingredients to make the Beast Oil, & defeat the “King of the Wolves”.

Main Quest #8 – Family Matters: After our memory of Ciri, we will strike a deal with the Baron to look for his wife & daughter in return for more information on Ciri. By doing this, we now have full run of Crow’s Perch & it has now become our new base of operation for Velen!

Go to the wife & daughter’s rooms & use your Witcher Senses to search for clues. After finding some & speaking with the Baron, we will progress the Quest to speaking with the old pellar North of Black Bough.

Sequence 4: A Round of Gwent?

1. Velen: Crow’s Perch
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 4/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~45/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
6. Achievements: 8/78
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Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Random Player #1 – Fergus: When we go to leave the Baron’s home, stop outside the fort gates & we can find three merchants. One will be a Dwarf named Fergus & he is an Armorer.

Fergus is a “Random Player” meaning that the Gwent Card we receive from him upon victory is random. There are more Random Players in the game than there are Gwent Cards in the random card pool. By playing all Random Players we come across, you are guaranteed to collect all 50 of these Cards in the pool; consult the Miraculous Guide to Gwent in our Book tab to see how many Cards can be collected from Random Players… You can also cross reference the Random Card list in my Achievement Checklist found in this guide’s Introduction as well to see which Cards you still need.

Note that we will not always get a Unique Card & instead may also receive a duplicate of another Card instead from the pool.

A Random Player can only be dueled once to earn a Unique Card; all subsequent duels will award you with Crafting Materials or Junk Items.

Unique Gwent Card #38 – Villentretenmerth: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned from Fergus, you may earn a different one instead.

Random Player #2 – Yoana: We can duel the alternate Armorer near Fergus, Yoana, as well for a Unique Card. Yoana uses a Monster Deck & will award us one from the random cards pool.

Monster Decks are terrifying to fight in early game as they rely heavily on Muster. They are also Close Combat Unit focused making them very susceptible to Biting Frost.

Unique Gwent Card #39 – Renuald aep Matsen: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #40 – Cynthia: Head just across the street from Fergus, & we can find the fort Quartermaster; we can purchase this Card from him for 10 Crowns.

He also sells another copy of the Nausicaa Cavalry Rider.

Random Player #3 – Quartermaster: Lastly, we can also duel the Quartermaster for another chance at winning a new Gwent Card; he uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Card #41 – Vrihedd Brigade Recruit: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Notice Board: The Notice Board here in Crow’s Perch is full of important Quests we need to complete such as a Witcher Contract as well as Fists of Fury, Velen Players, & Horse Races. The latter three Secondary Quests are all required for Achievements…

The Witcher Contract – The Beast of Honorton is a DLC Quest & does not count towards the Geralt the Professional Achievement.

Random Player #4 – Merchant: In the lower tier of Crow’s Perch, close to the front entrance to the fort, we can find a lowly grocer Merchant who can be dueled for a Card; they own a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #42 – Filavandrel aen Fidhail: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #43 – Albrich: This Merchant also sells Gwent Cards as well. We can purchase this Gwent Card from him for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #44 – Zerrikanian Fire Scorpion: We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Merchant for 50 Crowns.

The Merchant also sells copies of the Impera Brigade Guard & Nausicaa Cavalry Rider.

Looting Crow’s Perch: Especially on Death March! Difficulty, it is good practice to loot anything & everything that is not nailed down in every settlement we come across. Not only can we restock on Food & get Junk to sell, but if you are lucky, you can stumble upon some rare caches & find Formulae, Weapons, Armor, or even Witcher School Diagrams.

We can find such caches in the Cave down the well within the Baron’s garden & in the attic of the stables…

Secondary Quest – Velen Players: To kick this Quest off, we can earn a Unique Gwent Card from the Bloody Baron himself; he has a Northern Realms Deck. He uses a lot of Spies, so be sure to have Decoys in your hand if you can help it.

Beating the Baron will unlock the next two Players for us to verse.

Unique Gwent Card #45 – Sigismund Dijkstra: Defeat the Bloody Baron during Side Quest – Velen Players.

Witcher Contract #3 – Shrieker: Before we leave Crow’s Perch, speak with the contract issuer about the specifics of this hunt if you collected it from the Notice Board. His name is Chet, & he will give us more details as well as suggest we speak to the son of the Shrieker’s latest victim. Speak with the boy to progress the Quest out of Crow’s Perch.

Next, go & investigate the site where the man was slain in the fields nearby.
Progress the Contract to the Shrieker’s Cave, but do not enter it just yet; it is a higher Level than us, & it is also a good candidate for the Even Odds Achievement.

Go around the backside of the Cave, near the tower to find the Burned Ruins Signpost so we can return here easily.

Secondary Quest – Races Crow’s Perch: We can find the starting line for the Horse Races just East of Crow’s Perch along the road. There are three Races we must beat; since these are our first, they are pretty easy. We need to defeat: Stuttering Matt, Iron-Arse Hans, & Black Bogdan.

The nice part about these Races, is we will discover new Locations in the process as we ride past them.

We will acquire the Racing Saddle after beating our first contestant which will help a lot. If you are struggling, a “pro” tactic to regain Stamina is to block your opponent’s way while you do it. Tilt Roach in front of their horses to catch them, regain your Stamina, then ride off again!

There are 11 Horse Races in total we need to complete across the three main areas for the Fast & Furious Achievement.

Note that there are 29 Monster Nests to be found in the Velen/Novigrad region. For the Pest Control Achievement we need to destroy all Monster Nests found in an Area. This would be all 29 in Velen/Novigrad or all 5 in Skellige. For our Achievement, we will obviously be earning this in Skellige later on, but don’t let that stop you from exploring!

Sequence 5: In Memory of Dea

1. Velen: Blackbough, Crow’s Perch, Inn At the Crossroads
2. Main Quests: Family Matters, A Princess In Distress, The Race
3. Random Players Dueled: 6/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~46/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
6. Achievements: 8/78
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Velen – Blackbough:

Random Gwent Player #5 – Merchant: We will have discovered Blackbough during our Horse Races. Head on over to it, & we can find a Merchant along the roadway immediately upon entering the town. We can duel him for a Card from the random pool; he has a Nilfgaardian Deck.

I earned an Impenetrable Fog from this duel; ideally, you won a new Unique Gwent Card instead…

Random Gwent Player #6 – Blacksmith: At the Southwest end of Blackbough, we can find the Blacksmith. Not only will he craft us Swords, but we can duel him for a chance to earn a Unique Gwent Card from the random pool; he has a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #46 – Griffon: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Velen: While in Blackbough, as we can plainly see, there is a Fist Fight event going on right beside where the Blacksmith is. Compete, & we will need to defeat Jonah.

For the Brawl Master Achievement, we need to complete all 12 Fist Fight events across the three main areas.

Main Quest #9 – Family Matters: Just North of Blackbough, we can find the pellar’s hut. Deal with his guests… & ask him where we can find Anna & Tamara. Before he will help us though, we need to find Princess.

Main Quest #10 – A Princess In Distress: With the Pellar’s Bell, search in the marked area & ring the bell to locate Princess. Wander around in the forest using Witcher Senses until you begin to hear her. Once you get close enough, we will see her health bar, & can now lead her back to the Pellar using the bell.

Princess will deliberately lead us to a Cave that has a Level 6 Bear in it that we will have to defeat; exploring the Cave can lead us to the Ursine Steel Sword (Master Crafted) Diagram…

Return to Princess & take her back to the Pellar.

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Main Quest #9 – Family Matters: With the Pellar’s help, we will now know the next step for finding the Baron’s family. It is the Baron who will help us, but on return to Crow’s Perch, we will find it ablaze.

Deal with the stable or not, & find the Baron. He will be plastered & we will have to talk some sense into him… with our fists. When he is down, take the Baron inside & speak with him about his lost child.

When you are ready, go with the Baron to where the child was buried & the Botchling will arrive. We will only have a few seconds to decide what we do with it; the default will be killing it. There are two ways we can go about dealing with the Botchling. The good way: bury it under the threshold & turn it into a guardian spirit. Or the bad way: kill it & harvest its blood. Either choice will have the same outcome of leading us to the Baron’s family, but the Botchling’s fate is yours to decide.

If you choose to turn it into a Lubberkin, we will need to defend the Baron from two different waves of Wraiths as we take the Botchling back up to the fort. These encounters can be difficult as there are a lot of them; you may want to drink Swallow & Thunderbolt if you have them prepared.

After the Botchling is buried, Meditate 24 hours & return to its grave site at midnight to find that it has successfully become a Lubberkin. Follow the Lubberkin out of Crow’s Perch, & it will lead us through all sorts of monsters until we reach the end of the trail at a fisherman’s hut. Speak with the fisherman inside to learn the full story of what happened.

Letter of Safe Conduct: Travel back to the Baron to tell him the news. Tell the Baron that Tamara is in Oxenfurt & agree to go find her so that we receive a free Letter of Safe Conduct that will allow us to pass through the Redanian blockade.
There are other ways of obtaining one, but this way is the most convenient… & cheapest.

Ciri’s Quest #2 – The Race: With half our bargain completed for the Baron, he will provide us with another story about Ciri. This is a lighthearted Quest, & fortunately we already have some good Horse Race practice under our belts!

Now we put a pin in Main Quest #9 & hold off until we explore some more. Finding Tamara is one thing, but locating Anna goes down slope fast & pits us against some terrible enemies…

Velen – Inn At the Crossroads:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Velen: Travel to the Inn At the Crossroads & we will find it much more bustling than it was on our first visit. Enter into the Inn itself, & we can find a Fist Fight event going on in the back corner.

Sign up, & defeat Smithy to progress the Quest.

Speak with the Innkeeper, & we can purchase another copy of the Commander’s Horn Gwent Card if you desire.

Sequence 6: Not Just Any Witch...

1. Velen: Midcopse, Claywich
2. Main Quests: Hunting A Witch
3. Random Players Dueled: 7/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~49/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
6. Achievements: 10/78
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Velen – Midcopse:

Main Quest #11 – Hunting A Witch: For now, we will switch directions & follow a separate lead as it pertains to what happened to Ciri. You can go to Midcopse & listen in to some gossiping women of the location to find the witch… or just go straight to her home.

The witch is found at a building in between Midcopse & Blackbough. If you look on your World Map, there are two buildings Northwest of Midcopse & one Northeast; the witch lives in the house to the Northeast close to the bay.

The witch as it turns out is Keira Metz, an old friend of Geralts; Keira is also one of our Allies we need to bring to Kaer Morhen for the Full Crew Achievement, but that will happen later…

Speak with Keira during… spontaneous bath time? & she will tell us that she doesn’t know where Ciri is, but does know where a mysterious Elf who came looking for is. He is found in an old Elven ruin.

Don’t go with her to the ruin yet, & tell her that will meet up with her there later. We miss a Fast Travel opportunity, but it would be better if we went on foot; we are long overdue for more exploring, looting, & Secondary Questin’.

Notice Board: Return to Midcopse, & if you have not already done so, collect all the documents pinned to it to mark new Undiscovered Locations.

Witcher Contract #4 – Jenny O' the Woods: Amongst all the nonsense on the board, we can find a new Contract. Speak with Ealdorman Bolko for more details & then Agneta; this is as far as we will progress the Contract for now since it is Level 10.

The monster is found just Northwest of Midcopse & spawns at night so be weary…

Unique Gwent Card #47 – Morteisen: Now for the fun part, speak with the Merchant found close by the Notice Board, & we can purchase this Gwent Card for 10 Crowns.

We can also purchase another copy of the Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter & Poor Fockin Infantry. There is a weird glitch with the Fockin’ Infantry that makes the Cards stack funny making it seem like they are Unique even though the Card’s art is the same. They should be only worth 1 Unique Card, which we fulfilled in our starting deck, but just to be safe I recommend buying the extra copies of them we come across…

Random Player #6 – Merchant: The Merchant is also a Random Player we can duel for a Gwent Card from the random pool; he has a Monster Deck so be careful!

Unique Gwent Card #48 – Vreemde: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #7 – Armorer: Our next opponent, will be the Armorer found close by; he has a Nilfgaardian Deck.

This Armorer also sells both Maps by Edwin Greloff that will give us the locations of all six pieces of the Griffon School Gear.

Unique Gwent Card #49 – Arachas Behemoth: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Velen – No Man’s Land:

With Midcopse complete, we will hold off on going further South for Main Quest #12 – Wandering In the Dark. I strongly recommend exploring all Undiscovered Locations found on the landmass around Crow’s Perch. All areas around Midcopse, Blackbough, Heatherton, Inn At the Crossroads & other villages I will mention as we go…

Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the Undiscovered Locations will have enemies that are either way above our Level or just slightly above. Play to your skill level, & try taking on what you can. Regardless, it is good to get it all marked on our World Maps to know what things are & what to come back to. Exploring is a great way to earn more Crowns, get more Formulae, find Witcher School Diagrams, & even find rare Weapons & Armor.

Always Save your game after clearing an Undiscovered Location; you never know what waits for you at the next one, & re-clearing areas is always such a drag.


Achievement #9 – Triple Threat: Kill 3 opponents in one fight using 3 different methods (Swords, Bombs, Crossbow, Signs, etc.).
As we explore Undiscovered Locations, keep your eyes open for Level 5 or lower areas guarded by human enemies (Pirates, Bandits, Cannibals, Renegades, etc.)

When you find a good bunch, Save your game & get ready. The easiest three methods are going to be your Steel Sword, Grapeshot, & Igni. The Steel Sword is obvious, but for Bombs & Signs, whittle down the enemies health as low as you can & finish them off with a different method; you do not have to do each new method in a row, just as long as they are all done over the course of a single fight.


Achievement #10 – Bombardier: Collect the Formulae for 6 different Bomb types.
Bomb Formulae can be purchased from Herbalists when they have them in stock or earned as random loot when opening Chests. If you are diligent with your exploration, this is probably the earliest you will unlock this Achievement; there are 8 different types of Bombs in total.

If not, or you are not close yet, do not fret; we can purchase all of them from a specific Herbalist found close to Oxenfurt on the other side of the river. I will flag them down when we are in that neck of the woods…

Velen – Claywich:

We can find Claywich immediately South down the road from Crow’s Perch. There is a Gwent Merchant/Random Player in this village, but they are being hostage by Bandits & must be freed. Locate the Signpost for Fast Travel, & continue further down South to Oreton; we will return here after the Merchant is freed…

Sequence 7: Man of the People

1. Velen: Oreton, No Man’s Land, Claywich, Lindenvale
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 11/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~61/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 1/26
6. Achievements: 10/78
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Velen – Oreton:

Notice Board: Enter into Oreton & we can find new Undiscovered Locations by looking at their Notice Board.

Witcher Contract #6 – The Mystery of the Byways Murders: We can also collect a new Witcher Contract from this Notice Board as well. Head over to the Nilfgaardian patrol stationed in the village & speak with Milan Noran for more details on the Contract; it is above our Level, so we will hold onto it for now…

Random Player #8 – Trader: In Oreton, we can find a Trader who is a Random Player; he has a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #50 – Plague Maiden: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Velen Players: While here in Oreton, we can find a Boatwright that will play us in Gwent for a new Unique Card; he uses a Nilfgaard Deck. He is a difficult opponent & has two Hero Cards in his Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #51 – Letho of Gulet (Hero): Collected by defeating the Boatwright.

Velen – No Man’s Land:

The Claywich Merchant: Of our new Undiscovered Locations we can find two located just Northeast of Oreton. Continue past the Abandoned Site/Monster Nest full of Ghouls, & keep following the road along to the East where it will eventually lead you South across a bridge to an isolated island with an Undiscovered Location on it.

In the center of this island (where the ? is) we can locate a Person In Distress. Dispatch all the Renegades & free the Merchant using the Bandit’s Key we collect from the Renegade Leader where he will then head back home to Claywich.

The Merchant might be standing outside their cage… unlock the cage door for him to be freed still.

Velen – Claywich:

Random Player #9 – Merchant: Return to Claywich after freeing the Merchant from the Renegades & he should have set up shop here. We can play him for a new Card from the random pool; he has a Northern Realms Deck.

For whatever reason, the two people we rescue for Claywich are bugged; the Merchant & there is also a Barber we can rescue found Northwest of Midcopse & Southwest of Blackbough. They will be present, but we will be unable to speak with them. If this bug happens, Fast Travel to White Orchard, then return back to Claywich to get them unstuck.

Unique Gwent Card #52 – Dol Blathanna Scout (2): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #53 – Sweers: This Merchant also sells quite a few Gwent Cards as well; we can purchase this one for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #54 – Puttkammer: Can be purchased from the Merchant for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #55 – Black Infantry Archer (1): Can be purchased from the Merchant for 50 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #56 – Etolian Auxiliary Archer (1): Can be purchased from the Merchant for 50 Crowns.

We can also purchase another copy of the Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter Card from him as well.

Velen – Lindenvale:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Velen: For our third Fist Fight, follow the Quest Marker to Lindenvale. Speak with the Bookie, & defeat Fishgulper in a fight. Before the fight, Fishgulper will take us aside & ask us to take a fall for him. While this is a nice thing to do, we will lose the fight & ultimately fail this Quest in turn voiding our two associated Fist Fight related Achievements.

We can give him some Crowns after the fight however if you are feeling guilty.

Notice Board: Look on the Notice Board in the village to mark new Undiscovered Locations as well as collecting two new Witcher Contracts as well as an important Secondary Quest.

Witcher Contract #6 – The Merry Widow: With the Contract collected, speak with the Gravedigger in town for more details; this is a Level 10 Quest, for now leave the Cemetery be…

Witcher Contract #7 – Mysterious Tracks: Speak with the Hunter in Lindenvale for more details on this Contract; this is a Level 20 Contract we will leave until later on…

Random Player #10 – Blacksmith: Now for the fun part. Go to the village Blacksmith & we can verse him in Gwent; he has a Scoia’tael Deck.

I received a Clear Weather Card from this duel… no Unique Gwent Card this time.

Random Player #11 – Merchant: We can find another Random Player in Lindenvale, it is the Merchant; he has a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #57 – Grave Hag: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #58 – Rainfarn: This Merchant also sells quite a few new Gwent Cards; we can purchase this one for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #59 – Heavy Zerrikanain Fire Scorpion: Purchased from the Merchant for 50 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #60 – Etolian Auxiliary Archer (2): Purchased from the Merchant for 50 Crowns; this is a different variation from the first Etolian Auxiliary Archer we purchased & is Unique.

Unique Gwent Card #61 – Black Infantry Archer (2): Purchased from the Merchant for 50 Crowns; this is a different variation from the first Black Infantry Archer we purchased & is Unique.

We can also purchase another copy of Poor Fockin’ Infantry from them as well, which I recommend doing to be safe.

Sequence 8: Wind's Howling...

1. Velen: Benek, Crow’s Perch, Midcopse, Nilfgaardian Central Army Camp, Downwarren, No Man’s Land
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 13/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~66/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 2/26
6. Achievements: 13/78
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Velen – Benek:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Velen Players: To verse the soothsayer, we need to travel all the way Southeast across No Man’s Land to the village of Benek. Find the Old Sage & defeat him in a duel to collect this Card; he has a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #62 – Crone Weavess: Defeat the Old Sage in a duel to earn this Card.

Witcher Contract #9 – Phantom of the Trade Route: Before we leave Benek, we can find a Refugee with a ! over their head. Speak with him & we will receive this Witcher Contract; we will save it for later as always…

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Velen: It is time for our final Fist Fight. Travel to Crow’s Perch & we will find a new arena set up around the Baron’s manor. Enter it, & challenge the Sergeant to a fight for the championship & complete the Quest.

Velen – Midcopse:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Velen Players: We can also finally complete this Quest as well, & duel our final competitor. Go to Midcopse & seek out Haddy… he is a child. He has a Northern Realms Deck & is quite a challenging opponent, or can be anyways depending on luck.

Unique Gwent Card #63 – Vernon Roche (Hero): Defeat Haddy during Secondary Quest – Gwent Velen Players.

Unique Gwent Card #64 – Eredin, Destroyer of Worlds (Leader): We will receive this new Leader Card as well for completing the Quest itself; it would be earned from whoever our last opponent is.

Velen – Nilfgaardian Central Army Camp:

Notice Board: Now we make for the Nilfgaardian Central Army Camp which is located at the very far Southeastern corner & is marked by a Notice Board… the camp is pretty hard to miss on the World Map.

On this Notice Board, we can mark some new Undiscovered Locations as well as collect a new Witcher Contract.

Witcher Contract #9 – Patrol Gone Missing: Head inside the nearby tent & speak with Quartermaster Eggebracht for more details on the Contract. This Contract surprisingly is within our Level if you are around Level 5-6. We will complete it shortly…

Random Player #12 – Eggebracht: As it turns out, the Quartermaster is a Random Player for Gwent; he uses a Northern Realms Deck… which is weird, you would think he’d be using a Nilfgaardian one.

Unique Gwent Card #65 – Kayran (Hero): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Witcher Contract #9 – Patrol Gone Missing: Make your way to the patrols last known position & begin following the tracks into the forest using your Witcher Senses. As we get closer & closer to where we went, we will realize that it was a Draconid that killed them; it is a Wyvern.

Even Odds #2: This enemy is the perfect opportunity for our last kill for the Even Odds Achievement. Make a Save before the fight & do not consume any Potions or Decoctions, use any Signs, Bombs, or Oils for the fight; Food is of course alright as well as our Crossbow. We also cannot have any Mutagens equipped either, if you do, be sure to go into your Character tab & unequip them! Like the Griffon, the Wyvern might take to the air; shoot it down with the Crossbow!

Return back to the Quartermaster to turn in the Contract.


Achievement #11 – Even Odds: Kill 2 Monsters you have a Contract on without using Signs, Potions, Mutagens, Oils or Bombs.
Missable. This is a Missable Achievement as it is possible to complete all Witcher Contracts without unlocking this Achievement. There are many applicants to attempt this Achievement, however Contracts on Wraiths will not work as they are almost impossible to kill without Signs.

Not unequipping your Mutagens is the prime suspect for not unlocking/contributing to this Achievement. Remember to do so before engaging the Monster when working towards this Achievement… As we complete more Contracts, I will advise if they are good candidates or not for the Achievement.

Velen – Downwarren:

Notice Board: There is one final village to mark on this side of the continent found in between the Nilfgaardian Camp & Lindenvale. Travel the perilous road to Downwarren & look at the Notice Board to mark the last few Undiscovered Locations here; as of now, we should have every Undiscovered Location in Central/Southern Velen marked on the world Map.

Random Player #13 – Merchant: We can find a Merchant here in Downwarren that is a Random Player; he has a Monster Deck. It is important to defeat this fellow in a duel before progressing too far into the Main Questline… as something bad can potentially happen to Downwarren that will… displace the villagers & this Merchant… from life.

Unique Gwent Card #66 – Havekar Healer (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Velen – No Man’s Land:

Achievement #12 – Butcher of Blaviken: Kill at least 5 opponents in under 10 seconds.
With our business in the East complete, we can now begin making our way down South from Midcopse towards the Mage’s hideout. Along the way, there are multiple Undiscovered Locations immediately South of Midcopse that are full of Cannibals who are only Level 3.

At our Level, we should be able to blast through them without too much trouble. For this Achievement, we can use every advantage such as Oils, Bombs, & Signs. Save before attempting. If you cannot manage with your current equipment, do not worry. This Achievement does not expire & enemies will only get weaker & weaker as we get stronger; there is nothing stopping you from returning to White Orchard at Level 30 to fight Level 1 Deserters for this Achievement…


Achievement #13 – Can’t Touch This!: Kill 5 foes in a fight without taking damage (except for Toxicity) & without using the Quen Sign.

This Achievement is a bit trickier but follows the same rationale; these Cannibals again being the perfect victims. This time, you want to take it slow & fight them one on one if you can. Anything goes, but you cannot use the Quen Sign for defence. If you take any damage, reload & try again.

Again, this Achievement can be earned at anytime when you are a higher Level with better gear…

Sequence 9: Feminine Intuition

1. Velen: Elven Ruins, Midcopse, Fyke Isle
2. Main Quests: Wandering In the Dark
3. Random Players Dueled: 13/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~66/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 2/26
6. Achievements: 14/78
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Velen – The Elven Ruins:

Main Quest #12 – Wandering In the Dark: After you are done exploring & looting, it will finally be time to travel to link up with Keira Metz; we should be around Level 6 or 7 ideally... Travel to the mage’s hideout & follow Keira inside.

There is an arm load of hidden loot & Chests in these Elven Ruins, be sure to look around!

Continue on with Keira through the ruins after destroying the Rat Nests, following the signs that the Masked Mage left behind for Ciri, until we catch up with the Wild Hunt. Defend Keira as she closes the rifts to their realm. This section can be quite tricky if you are not prepared; be sure to have Swallow ready! There are three rifts that need to be closed & they will increase in difficulty as we close them; there are no Saves in between rifts & they must be closed in one shot which makes this a real test of endurance.

Defeat Nithral, & examine the Illusionary Wall at the end of this chamber to receive the Eye of Nehaleni to dispel it.

Secondary Quest – The Magic Lamp: Before we leave the Ruins, Keira will ask us for our help in searching for a Magic Lamp she was promised from the Elven Mage. We have the option to decline, but do not do this; do not exit out of the dialogue without accepting the Quest! We need to complete this Secondary Quest to unlock Keira as an Ally later on for the Full Crew Achievement as well as the Friends With Benefits Achievement!

Agree to help Keira & we will need to solve a little puzzle involving four statues. Facing the doorway we need to open, light the statues in this order: first on the right, first on the left, second on the right, & second on the left. Enter into the following room & collect the Magic Lamp for Keira.

Completing this Secondary Quest will unlock a few more for us to complete for Keira…

Velen – Midcopse:

Secondary Quest – An Invitation From Keira: Track down a Signpost & travel to Midcopse where we can then head over to Keira’s home.

Potion of Clearance: Keira is now a Merchant we can purchase Alchemy ingredients from. Of these Items, is a Potion of Clearance for 1000 Crowns. Not that you have to buy it right away, but it is a good idea to begin making a stockpile of a few of these; there are a few Achievements that we will require very specific Abilities to unlock them. We can use these Potions to respec our Ability Points. If possible, we will try to obtain at least two of them for those Achievements later on; one Potion to respec to get the Abilities, & then the other to return us back to our desired builds after the Achievements are unlocked…

Velen – Fyke Isle:

Secondary Quest – A Towerful of Mice: Speak with Keira & we will receive our next Quest from her to lift a curse on Fyke Isle. Sail to the island using Keira’s Boat, & carefully fight your way through the corpse eaters to reach the tower. While we explore the tower, use the Magic Lamp on the memories of the dead to listen to the ghosts; we can earn some great bonus Xp for doing this!

Locate Anabelle at the top of the tower & decide how you want to handle her request; agreeing to help her is actually the evil ending to the Quest while not trusting/attacking her leads to the… “better” ending.

Velen – Midcopse:

Secondary Quest – A Favor For A Friend: After the curse is lifted, return to Keira & we will be given a new errand to run for her locating a package that failed to arrive from Novigrad. Agree to help her & travel to Hangman’s Alley to search for it. Track down the remnants of the wagon & collect Keira’s ingredients.

Return them to Keira & agree to go on a little fairy tale date with her; whether or not you have sexy time with her is not a factor for any Achievements.

Velen – Fyke Isle:

Secondary Quest – For the Advancement of Learning: We need to return to Fyke Isle now to see what Keira is up to there. When we arrive, Keira will meet us outside. There are a few different ways this Quest can end, for the Full Crew Achievement we cannot kill her, or it will completely mess up our 100%!

Do not exit out of the dialogue either. Follow through with the dialogue not letting her seek out King Radovid & suggest that she “Goes to Kaer Morhen” to stay.

Kaer Morhen Ally #1 – Keira Metz: Tell Keira to go to Kaer Morhen at the end of Secondary Quest – For the Advancement of Learning to unlock our first of seven Allies.


Achievement #14 – Friends With Benefits: Complete the subplot involving Keira Metz.
This Achievement will be unlocked no matter what ending you pick to end Secondary Quest – For the Advancement of Learning.

Sequence 10: Oughta' Just Destroy It

1. Velen: No Man’s Land, Downwarren, Crow’s Perch, Midcopse, Lindenvale, Border Post
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 13/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~66/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 6/26
6. Achievements: 17/78
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Velen – No Man’s Land:

Achievement #15 – That Is the Evilest Thing…: Ignite the gas produced by a Dragon's Dream Bomb using a burning opponent. Do this 10 times.

By this point you should be around Level 8-10 if you have been exploring & completing other Secondary Quests. Before we continue on, we can do a little bit of clean up & get some extra loot. You should also have collected the Formulae for the Dragon’s Dream Bomb & hopefully crafted it. If not, be sure to check the inventory of Herbalists for the Formulae & the ingredients to make it.

Once you have it, make a point of working towards this Achievement; it is easiest done on lone enemies if you are worried about not having Quen active. Light an enemy on fire with Igni, & once they are ablaze flailing around, quickly throw a Dragon’s Dream Bomb at them so it explodes; you do not need to kill the enemy with it.

Be sure you do it in the right order, throwing the Bomb first then igniting it does not count!

Velen – Downwarren:

Witcher Contract #10 – Swamp Thing: Head to Downwarren now & you will see the Notice Board is re-highlighted. Scan it, & we can find this new Witcher Contract pinned to it. Travel Southwest into the swamps & speak with the Contract issuer. (Be wary the covenant for the Witches of Crookback Bog is close by in this swamp; they are found at the circle of three buildings in the center of the swamp South of Downwarren. Do not go there yet!)

Locate Leslev & ask for more details on the Contract; we will hold onto this one for now, though we are not too far off from being able to complete it.

Velen – No Man’s Land:

Achievement #16 – Fire In the Hole: Destroy 10 Monster Nests using Bombs.
This will come naturally as we playthrough the game; there are well over 10 Monster Nests in the game for sure… You may have unlocked this Achievement sooner if you destroyed the three Monster Nests in White Orchard.

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Witcher Contract #3 – Shrieker: Now that we are over the required Level for this Contract, we will go slay the Shrieker. Travel to the Burned Ruins & walk around its Northern side near the moat to find the Cave Entrance.

The Shrieker is a good applicant for the Even Odds Achievement if you have not unlocked it yet…


Achievement #17 – Shrieker: Complete the Contract on the Shrieker.
Slay the Shrieker, then return back to Chet in Crow’s Perch & turn in this Witcher Contract to unlock the Achievement.

Velen – Midcopse:

Witcher Contract #4 – Jenny O’ the Woods: Return to Midcopse now & scour the nearby fields for a trace of the Wraith. As we investigate, we will find some footprints that will lead us to remains, follow a dragging trail to a shallow grave for more clues.

Go to Ealdorman Bolko & ask him for more information on the victim & potential suspects.

Now go to the clearing, wait until nightfall & summon the Nightwraith, Zula, & defeat her; she is not a good candidate for the Even Odds Achievement.

Velen – Lindenvale:

Witcher Contract #6 – The Merry Widow: Travel to the cemetery outside Lindenvale & clear out the Ghouls that are rummaging around there. Behind the mausoleum, we can find a grave that smells of recent decay; we can follow the scent South, out of the cemetery towards a rancid hut where the monster has set up its lair.

Collect some skulls used as a Place of Power & return them to the cemetery to draw out the Grave Hag after dark. Defeat Mourntart; she is a potential candidate for the Even Odds Achievement.

Once the Hag is dead, return to the Gravedigger to complete the Contract.

Border Post:

Notice Board: For our final locations to explore in Velen, head North from the Inn At the Crossroads to the Redanian Border Post to find a Notice Board to mark the last Undiscovered Locations.

Witcher Contract #11 – Woodland Beast: We can collect this Witcher Contract from the Notice Board here. Speak with the Captain of the Guard close by for more details. This is a low Level Contract & can be completed right away. Go to the ambush site to investigate what we are dealing with.

Follow a set of footprints to their end, & we will be greeted by some Scoia’tael guerrillas. This Contract has multiple endings; choose whichever one is in your morality to end the quest.

Sequence 11: Height of Academia

1. Velen: No Man’s Land
2. Novigrad: Oxenfurt
3. Main Quests: N/A
4. Random Players Dueled: 17/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~73/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 6/26
7. Achievements: 18/78
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Velen – No Man’s Land:

Scavenger Hunt – Griffon School Gear: Head East along the coast from the Border Post & we will reach the coastal fortress of Hindhold. Inside, the fortress will be overrun by Endrega; there will be a Monster Nest at the top of the fort, but it will be for some Level 7 Harpies.

We can also find the Griffon Steel Sword Diagram in the tower close by the nest here at the fort; we need to collect the other five Diagrams for the Griffon set!

Make this a priority to collect the other pieces to the set. Once the Diagrams are collected, we can craft them to equip to unlock the Armed & Dangerous Achievement.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

Notice Board: There are multiple ways of collecting a Letter of Safe Conduct to enter Oxenfurt; we will have gotten one automatically from the Bloody Baron for pursuing his daughter. Enter into the township, & we can find a Notice Board in the market square to mark the last Undiscovered Locations in Velen as well as a few in Redanian controlled lands in what I refer to as the Eastern Expanse. We can also collect two more Witcher Contracts….

Main Quest #9 – Family Matters: While we are here in Oxenfurt, we can track down the Baron’s daughter, Tamara. Speak with her & learn what happened to her mother. Tamara will refuse to return with us, but at least we have found her safe & alive.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Playing Innkeeps: Track down Stjepan at the Alchemy Inn in Oxenfurt & duel him for a Unique Gwent Card; he has a strong Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #67 – Yennefer of Vengerberg (Hero): Defeat Stjepan at the Oxenfurt Alchemy Inn during the Secondary Quest to collect this Card.

Unique Gwent Card #68 – Dwarven Skirmisher (1): Purchased from Stjepan at the Alchemy Inn for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #69 – Vrihedd Brigade Veteran (1): Purchased from Stjepan at the Alchemy Inn for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #70 – Mahakaman Defender (1): Purchased from Stjepan at the Alchemy Inn for 20 Crowns.

Random Player #14 – Armorer: Above where the Notice Board is, we can find an Armorer’s store front. Enter inside, & we can duel the man for a Card from the random pool; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #71 – Elven Skirmisher (1): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #15 – Merchant: In the market square, we can also find a Merchant who will duel us as well; he will use a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #72 – Dennis Cranmer: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #16 – Blacksmith: Head over to the Southeastern side of Oxenfurt, in between the bridges going to the Novigrad Gate & the Oxenfurt Academy, & we can find a Blacksmith. He will use a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #73 – Stefan Skellen: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Witcher Contract #12 – The Oxenfurt Drunk: Speak with the Redanian officer, Nikolas Friedman down at the Oxenfurt harbor for more details on this Contract. Interview the witness & medic next to discover that it is a Vampire we are dealing with. A Katakan to be exact. Do not continue this Contract to the Inn & get drunk as this Monster is way beyond us…

Witcher Contract #13 – The Creature from the Oxenfurt Forest: For the next Contract, exit out of Oxenfurt through the Eastern gates & head across the bridge to speak with mercenary named Hans of Cidaris. This is as far as we will take the Contract for now though, do not examine the site of the attack.

Random Player #17 – Herbalist: If you look on your World Map where we are, you can see a structure with a wall around it just Northwest of our position outside Oxenfurt. Head up to it, & we can find an Herbalist we can duel for a chance at a new Card. He uses a Scoia’tael Deck; I earned an extra copy of Torrential Rain from this duel…

This is also that previously mentioned Herbalist we can purchase every Bomb type from as well as other Potion or Oil Formulae!

Velen – No Man’s Land:

Achievement #18 – Armed & Dangerous: Find & equip all the elements of one set of Witcher gear.

Follow through & locate all the pieces to the Griffon School set through Scavenger Hunt – Griffon School Gear; if you do not have the Quest, we can purchase the first & second maps from the Armorer in Midcopse. There are only three locations the Diagrams are found at; for the Silver Sword at Lornruk, we need to swim down into the sea below where the Place of Power is to find a hidden underwater entrance.

After the Diagrams are collected, we will then need to craft them; the Armorer & Blacksmith in Oxenfurt can do this. Lastly, we then need to be Level 11. Once we are, equip all four pieces of Armor & the two Witcher Swords to unlock the Achievement.

This can be done with any Witcher set… I strongly recommend crafting all Witcher sets we come across as they are the best Weapons & Armor in the entire game. Never sell pieces you craft as they are required to craft the next tier of Witcher gear afterwards.

Sequence 12: An Impossible Redemption

1. Velen: No Man’s Land, Inn At the Crossroads, The Orphans of Crookback Bog, Crow’s Perch, Downwarren
2. Main Quests: Ladies of the Wood, Family Matters, Out of the Shadows
3. Random Players Dueled: 17/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~74/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 7/26
6. Achievements: 19/78
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Velen – Inn At the Crossroads:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Playing Innkeeps: Travel to the Inn At the Crossroads, & we can verse the Innkeep who was not allowed to have his own name for a rare Gwent Card; he has a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #74 – Menno Coehoorn (Hero): Defeat the Innkeeper during Secondary Quest – Gwent Playing Innkeeps to collect this Card.

Velen – The Orphans of Crookback Bog:

Main Quest #13 – Ladies of the Wood: At long last, it is finally time to figure out what happened to the Baron’s wife. From Downwarren, begin heading South to the trail head & follow the trail of treats to the swamp encampment. Here we will find Gran & the orphans of Crookback Bog. Speak with them, & later speak with the boy named Travik after luring Gran away to learn of where we can find Johnny, someone who potentially saw Ciri.

Track Johnny’s footprints back to his home. When we find him, he will have lost his voice… literally. Follow Johnny through the swamp & he will lead us to where his voice was lost; it can be found inside a Harpy’s nest nearby up some cliffs.

Once he has his voice back, Johnny will help us locate Ciri by speaking with Gran on our behalf… & we will in turn speak with the Ladies of the Wood. In return for learning of Ciri, they will give us an impossible task. Note that if you went above & beyond exploring in the swamps, there is the potential you may have accidentally already completed this task; I will explain more below.

Secondary Quest – The Whispering Hillock: Go to Downwarren & speak with the Ealdorman. Now travel to the Whispering Hillock where we will encounter a very ancient evil; we can find the entrance to the Cave beside a marked Place of Power. We have two decisions to make regarding the ancient one’s fate: kill it or release it. Oddly enough, killing it for the Crones is the all around “good ending” for Downwarren & also for the Bloody Baron. Releasing the evil will doom Downwarren & trigger the “evil ending” for the Bloody Baron. Both decisions are chalk full of pros & cons, both technically suck though we do not have a choice. If you want to see both endings, you can make a Save here before deciding to reload to.

Main Quest #13 – Ladies of the Wood: Make your decision & we will return back to the Crones. It is here that we will meet the Crones in person… & learn the identity of Gran. The Crones will keep their end of the bargain & tell us a missing piece of the story for Ciri’s travels in Velen.

Ciri Quest #3 – Fleeing the Bog: As Ciri, we must escape from the Crones & Imlerith of the Wild Hunt. This is a very short Quest & we can essentially just sprint to the waypoint without needing to fight anything to complete it. This immediately segways into the events of the previous two Ciri Quests…

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Main Quest #9 – Family Matters: Return back to the Bloody Baron & tell him that we have found both his family members.

Ciri Quest #4 – Out of the Shadows: After we finish speaking with the Baron about his family, we can ask him for the final missing piece of Ciri’s travels in Velen. This can be a very difficult fight; we can only take three direct hits from the Basilisk. Take advantage of your infinite evade, & stay behind the Basilisk at all costs when you attack it.

When the Basilisk is knocked down to 8/10s its health, it will make off with the Bloody Baron & fly to the top of the Abandoned Tower. Begin climbing up some rocks nearby & we will trigger a cinematic to kill the Basilisk.

She will then leave to Novigrad…

Main Quest #9 – Family Matters: We now have a decision to make: help the Baron get Anna back, or let him try himself. Letting him try himself is another “bad ending” & will result in him getting killed in the attempt or die in the swamps before even getting there.

Agreeing to help the Baron will unlock a new Secondary Quest for us; it is optional & not required for any Achievements. Depending on how you decided to end The Whispering Hillock, the ending to the Secondary Quest & the fate of the Baron & his family will be either be bad, or very very bad…


Achievement #19 – Family Counsellor: Find the Baron's wife & daughter.
Story Related. We will unlock this Achievement after completing Main Quest #9 – Family Matters.

Velen – Downwarren:

Witcher Contract #10 – Swamp Thing: As our last order of business in Velen, we should be a high enough Level now to slay the “Swamp Thing”. Search the swamps near The Orphans of Crookback Bog & use the Eye of Nehaleni to dispel some illusionary rocks to find the monster’s tracks. Search more corpses & we can track a scent down to the Foglet, Ignis Fatuus

Dispel an illusionary rock formation to locate the Foglet’s lair & we will find the monster; this monster is a candidate for the Even Odds Achievement.

As of now, all current Witcher Contracts are too far beyond our Level. Wrap up any Secondary Quests or last minute exploration, & we will travel to the Novigrad region…

Sequence 13: Out of His Element

1. Novigrad: Farcorners, Cunny of the Goose, Seven Cats Inn, Glory Lane, Crippled Kate’s
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 21/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~85/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 7/26
6. Achievements: 19/78
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Novigrad – Farcorners:

Notice Board: Though it does not have an official Signpost, we can find the non-human settlement of Farcorners outside Novigrad to the South; there will be the Portside Gate Signpost here. Look at the Notice Board to mark some Undiscovered Locations as well as find two new Witcher Contracts.

Witcher Contract #14 – The White Lady: Speak with the widow in Farcorners for more details; it is Level 16, so we will hold onto it for a little bit though it is most likely going to be our next Contract to complete when the time is right.

Novigrad – Cunny of the Goose:

Witcher Contract #15 – Lord of the Wood: The other Witcher Contract we collected from the Notice Board will take us out of Farcorners a little ways down the road to Cunny of the Goose. Speak with the man named Brean for more details; this Contract we will save for later.

Notice Board: Look at the Notice Board outside the tavern for more Undiscovered Locations.

Random Player #18 – Innkeep: We can duel the Innkeep in the Cunny of the Goose for a random Gwent Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck & has multiple Hero Cards…

Unique Gwent Card #75 – Vattier de Ridaux: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #76 – Havekar Healer (1): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #77 – Young Emissary (1): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #78 – Scorch: We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 50 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #79 – Francesca Findabair, Daisy of the Valley (Leader): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 50 Crowns.

We can also purchase another copy of the Impera Brigade Guard.

Novigrad – Seven Cats Inn:

Notice Board: Head North up the road from the Cunny of the Goose, across a short bridge, & we can find the next Notice Board at the Seven Cats Inn.

DLC Quest – Evil’s Soft First Touches: When inspecting the Notice Board, we will encounter a man pinning a Witcher Contract to it. He will speak to us, & we will receive the first Main Quest in the Hearts of Stone DLC. This will be saved until after we have completed the Base Game & defeated the Wild Hunt…

Random Player #19 – Innkeep: Once again, we can duel the Innkeep in this tavern for a chance of winning a new Gwent Card; she uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #80 – Assire var Anahid: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #81 – Havekar Smuggler (1): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #82 – Mahakaman Defender (2): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #83 – Young Emissary (2): We can purchase this Gwent Card from the Innkeep for 50 Crowns.

We can also purchase yet another copy of the Impera Brigade Guard.

Novigrad – Glory Lane:

Secondary Quest – First of Fury Novigrad: Return to the Portside Gate & make your way into Novigrad. As soon as we enter, take a right, & follow the wall along down a set of stairs into Glory Lane where we will immediately see a fight circle. Speak with the Bookie & defeat Archibald O’Neill to begin our next Fist Fight tour.

Random Player #20 – Herbalist: In the center of Glory Lane, will be the master swordsmith Hattori’s smithy… umm, dumpling parlor. From here, head Northeast up the street & we can find a Herbalist’s shop along the waterside (but not accessed from that side if that makes sense. This Gnome Herbalist is a Random Player; he has a Scoia’tael Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #84 – Dol Blathanna Scout (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Crippled Kate’s:

Random Player #21 – Madame: Head North of the Herbalist to the other side of his shop to the waterfront, follow the waterfront along West & we can find Crippled Kate’s brothel; it can only be entered from the waterfront side. Not only can we plough some maidens, but we can duel the Madame for a new Card; she uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #85 – Ciaran aep Easnillien: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Sequence 14: How About Some Gwent?

1. Novigrad: Golden Sturgeon, Fish Market, Hierarch Square, Kingfisher Inn, The Bits
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 28/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~102/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 7/26
6. Achievements: 19/78
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Exploring Novigrad: Return back to the Portside Gate & we will begin our exploration of Novigrad, ignore the Main Quest to find Triss for now, & let’s do our Gwent hunting as well as picking up some Secondary Quest & Witcher Contracts…

I do recommend looting what you can… but be very careful, some of it counts as stealing & if Guards “kill” us they will basically take half of our Crowns. If there is only one Guard… you can kill them for no repercussions, but if you have drawn a crowd of three or more, the odds are not in your favor. Save often if looting.

Novigrad – Golden Sturgeon:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Novigrad: Cross over the Western most bridge over the canal & we will find the Golden Sturgeon. Enter inside & speak with Master Claytop to verse the “Piledriver”.

Master Claytop will pay us extra Crowns if we throw the fight; doing so will void our Achievement. Failure… is not an option.

Random Player #22 – Innkeep: While in the Golden Sturgeon, speak with the Innkeeper & duel them for a chance of earning a random Gwent Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #86 – Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #87 – Dol Blathanna Scout (1): We can purchase this Card from the Innkeep for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #88 – Mahakaman Defender (3): We can purchase this Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #89 – Barclay Els: We can purchase this Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #90 – Siege Technician: We can purchase this Card from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Notice Board: If you have not already done so, take a peek at the Notice Board outside the Golden Sturgeon to mark some new Undiscovered Locations along with a very important Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players & a new Witcher Contract.

Novigrad – Fish Market:

Witcher Contract #16 – Deadly Delights: With the new Contract from the Notice Board, go speak with the nearby Novigrad Guard in the Fish Market for more details; we won’t do this right away, but it is definitely in our more immediate Contracts to complete…

Random Player #23 – Merchant: Nearby our contact for the Witcher Contract, we can find a Merchant who is a Random Player; he uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #91 – Philippa Eilhart (Hero): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #24 – Blacksmith: We can also duel the nearby Blacksmith for a new Gwent Card as well; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #92 – Crone Brewess: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Hierarch Square:

Notice Board: Head North from the Fish Market to the next marked Notice Board to enter Hierarch Square. We can find two new Witcher Contracts on it & an important Gwent Card related Secondary Quest – Following the Thread; hold off on doing it for now as the Gwent Cards are in fact Missable if a wrong decision is made!

Random Player #25 – Marcus T.K. Hodgson: Across the street from the Notice Board, we can find the store called Books & Scrolls. Enter inside & speak with the proprietor Marcus T.K. Hodgson. Apart from a minor Quest we can do involving him, we can also duel him for a random Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck with many Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #93 – Imlerith (Hero): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players: In the Southwest corner of Hierarch Square, we can find the Dwarf banker Vimme Vivaldi. Speak with him, & we will be able to duel him for a rare Unique Gwent Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Vivaldi can also convert our foreign currency into Crowns as well…

Gwent Card #94 – Vesemir: Defeat Vimme Vivaldi in a duel to earn this Gwent Card.

While we can progress Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players to the Passiflora, doing so will glitch this Quest out; fortunately, it will not void the Card Collector Achievement if we do so. For safety’s sake, hold off on going to the Passiflora for now…

Novigrad – Kingfisher Inn:

Witcher Contract #18 – Doors Slamming Shut: Close by Hierarch Square, we can find the Kingfisher Inn. If you collected this Witcher Contract from a Notice Board, we can speak with Kurt Dysart for more details.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Playing Innkeeps: The Innkeep of the Kingfisher Inn is our next competitor for this Secondary Quest. Duel him to win his Unique Gwent Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Note that during a different Secondary Quest – Now Or Never, Oliver can die; his Unique Gwent Card can fortunately can still be collected from a box on top of a dresser inside the building next door of the Kingfisher.

Unique Gwent Card #95 – Tibor Eggebracht (Hero): Defeat Oliver in a duel to earn this Gwent Card.

Unique Gwent Card #96 – Havekar Smuggler (2): Oliver is also a Gwent Merchant & we can purchase some more Cards from him; this one costs 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #97 – Mahakaman Defender (4): Purchased from Oliver for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #98 – Vrihedd Brigade Veteran (2): Purchased from Oliver for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #99 – Havekar Healer (2): Purchased from Oliver for 50 Crowns.

Novigrad – The Bits:

Random Player #26 – Merchant: Leave the Kingfisher Inn & head Southeast down the street into The Bits. Close to the Tretogor Gate (Novigrad side not Farcorners) we can find a small food market with a Merchant who is a Random Player; they use a Nilfgaardian Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #100 – Gargoyle: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Novigrad: Continue with this Secondary Quest & it will lead us to Iron Mortimer’s location in The Bits. Defeat them to unlock our final opponent for Novigrad.

Random Player #27 – Merchant: From the courtyard where we fought Iron Mortimer, head immediately North of it to find two Merchants close to the Southern Gate; the one set up outside in the streets is a Random Player with a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #101 – Nekker (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #28 – Loan Shark: Across from the previous Merchant, we can enter into a building to find a Loan Shark who is also a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #102 – Ghoul (2): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Sequence 15: Gwent Anybody?

1. Novigrad: Nowhere Inn, Gildorf, Passiflora, Silverton, Temple Isle, Farcorners
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 35/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~111/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 7/26
6. Achievements: 19/78
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Novigrad – Nowhere Inn:

Random Player #29 – Innkeeper: Continue North down the street from the Loan Shark all the way to the end of it where the Vilmerius Hospital is found. From here, take a left down the street & we can spot the Nowhere Inn. Inside, we can duel the Innkeeper for a chance at a new Card; she uses a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #103 – Endrega: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Gildorf:

Notice Board: Our last marked Notice Board in Novigrad can be found in the Gildorf district. Access it to mark new Undiscovered Locations.

Random Player #30 – Merchant: Right in front of the Notice Board, we can find a Merchant’s shop. The Merchant inside happens to be a Random Player that uses a Nilfgaardian Deck with Hero Cards.

He also sells a second Potion of Clearance which could come in handy…

Unique Gwent Card #104 – Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Passiflora:

Secondary Quest – High Stakes: If you have not already acquired this Secondary Quest, you will upon entering the Passiflora. Do not speak with the Scribe & enter the Gwent Tournament! We will face the hardest Gwent Players in the whole game during this Tournament & if we lose, we will not receive Unique Gwent Cards & void the Card Collector Achievement. You cannot back out of the Tournament once you enter it either.

We will be saving this Secondary Quest until the very end of the game after we have collected every other Gwent Card so our Decks have the best potential…

Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players: Though we can verse Marquise Serenity as our next opponent for this Secondary Quest, do not do this! This Quest is bugged!

For now, hold off on dueling her & wait until we progress further into the Main Questline to unlock one of the other opponents; once they are defeated, it will be safe to verse Marquise Serenity.

Unique Gwent Card #105 – Dol Blathanna Archer: Though we cannot duel her, we can purchase these two Gwent Cards from Marquise Serenity as well, this one for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #106 – Mahakaman Defender (5): Purchased from Marquise Serenity for 20 Crowns.

We can also purchase another copy of the Catapult Card.

Novigrad – Silverton:

Random Player #31 – Blacksmith: From the Golden Sturgeon, head Northeast up into Silverton & we can find a smithy near its center. Here we can find a Blacksmith who is a Random Player; they use a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #107 – Frightener: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #32 – Merchant: Across the street from the Blacksmith, we can see a Merchant inside a building. To get there however, we need to head down the street to the left & go around to find the building’s entrance. Before we do that, after heading down the street left, we can spot a different Merchant in a shanty market who is also a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #108 – Elven Skirmisher (2): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #33 – Merchant: Now head back across the street to where we were originally headed to the Merchant across from the Blacksmith. We can duel this Merchant for a random Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #109 – Siege Tower: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Temple Isle:

Random Player #34 – Priest of the Eternal Fire: For our next Random Player, head North to Temple Isle across St. Gregory’s Bridge. Head to the center of the area to the Elector’s Square Signpost where we can find a Priest of the Eternal Fire who is an Alchemist. We can duel him for a new Card; he uses a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #110 – Riordain: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Novigrad – Farcorners:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Novigrad: Go to Farcorners & verse the Novigrad Champion, Durden the Tailer. Be sure to Save before attempting to fight him; he is actually quite difficult.

Defeating him will complete the Quest; all that is left is to complete the Fist Fight events on Skellige…

Random Player #35 – Elihal: Northeast of Farcorners will be a small island outside Novigrad with many outer bridges connecting to it (Gate of the Hierarch, Tretogor Gate, & Southern Gate). In between the Gate of the Hierarch & Tretogor Gate Signposts, we can find a Merchant named Elihal inside a house. Duel him for a chance at a random Card; he uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #111 – Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Following the Thread: Head to the end of the Farcorners island now & speak with the Novigrad Soldier outside the warehouse about the contract. Examine the crime scene & follow the monster’s tracks to its hideout across the river to the waterwheel.

On the upper floor of the waterwheel we will encounter Geralt’s Wolf School brother, Lambert, fighting an Ekimmara. Slay it, & agree to go with him to collect the reward where things will go South…

Note that if you progress this Quest to the Seven Cats Inn & speak with Lambert there, we will void a random Secondary Quest in Skellige called Flesh For Sale. It has no notable loot or Achievements attached to it, but if you wanted to complete it still, hold off on progressing this Quest until later.

Since it is inconsequential, & if you don’t care, head to the Inn & speak with Lambert to progress the Quest to Skellige where we will continue it later…

Sequence 16: Hunting Witch Hunters...

1. Novigrad: Hierarch Square, Putrid Grove, The Bits, Golden Sturgeon, Rosemary & Thyme, Passiflora, Silverton
2. Eastern Expanse: Vegelbud Residence
3. Main Quests: Pyres of Novigrad, Get Junior, Count Reuven’s Treasure
4. Random Players Dueled: 36/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~115/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 7/26
7. Achievements: 19/78
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Novigrad – Hierarch Square:

Main Quest #14 – Pyres of Novigrad: When you are ready & have completed all Secondary Quests, Scavenger Quests, Witcher Contracts, & looting to your desire it will be time to progress the storyline.

Go to Triss’s home in Hierarch Square… but she won’t be there. We will soon exchange some tense words with the Temple Guard Commander, Menge.

Now we need to speak with Beggars or locate a Thief to tail to find the whereabouts of the Putrid Grove.

Novigrad – Putrid Grove:

Random Player #36 – Merchant: Once we locate the Putrid Grove, enter inside the compound. Before we enter the den itself, look around in the compound & we can find a Merchant in a building near the entrance. We can duel him for a Random Card; he uses a Monster Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #112 – Forktail: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Main Quest #14 – Pyres of Novigrad: Enter into the den now & we will find Triss speaking with the King of Beggars.

Follow Triss around town as she completes some of her errands & help her with the “rat contract” to complete the Quest.

Not that we have the opportunity to pursue her at the moment, but be mindful of your dialogue choices with Triss if you wish to Romance her; there is no Achievement for doing this but adds a lot to the story… unless you are choosing Yennefer instead.

Novigrad – The Bits:

Main Quest #15 – Novigrad Dreaming: For our next lead, track down where the Oneiromancer is in The Bits. When we find her location, she will be trapped inside a nightmare that we will need to break. Once it is broken, speak with Corinne Tilly & she will ask to meet us at her room in the Golden Sturgeon.

Novigrad – Golden Sturgeon:

Main Quest #15 – Novigrad Dreaming: Head to the Golden Sturgeon to meet with Corinne. Answer her questions & complete the séance to learn of Dandelion’s involvement; we can find him at the Rosemary & Thyme.

Novigrad – Rosemary & Thyme:

Main Quest #16 – Broken Flowers: Go to the Rosemary & Thyme now & reunite with an old friend. Set the tavern straight with Zoltan, & search for a certain bard’s whereabouts. Read Dandelion’s day planner for leads on his mistresses to interrogate; ask Zoltan for more details if you need them, & set out to speak with them all.

To start, track down Molly of La Valette to have an encounter with a certain Nilfgaardian. Agree to go with them to the Vegelbud’s Residence.

Eastern Expanse – Vegelbud Residence:

Main Quest #16 – Broken Flowers: If you decide to race Morvran, choose the Zerrikanian Bay as it has very good Stamina.

Molly will be a dead end, but we now know where the Vegelbud’s live; we can return here later on to complete the Novigrad Horse Races…

Novigrad – Rosemary & Thyme:

Main Quest #16 – Broken Flowers: Speak with all of Dandelion’s muses, & return back to Zoltan to debrief to identify the muse-iest of them all… Priscilla. Go to the Kingfisher at night to watch her perform with Zoltan & speak with her after the show to learn more of Dandelion’s whereabouts.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Old Pals: After completing Main Quest – Broken Flowers, we can now verse Zoltan in Gwent to unlock this Secondary Quest; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #113 – Eithné (Hero): Defeat Zoltan Chivay during Secondary Quest – Old Friends to unlock this Gwent Card.

Novigrad – Bathhouse:

Main Quest #17 – Get Junior: Go to the Bathouse now & meet Dijkstra, or Sigi Reuven… deal with some uninvited guests with “a few” tucked away Weapons.

Novigrad – Passiflora:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players: Now that we have met Dijkstra, quickly return back to the Passiflora & we can now safely verse Marquise Serenity (if you have not already done so). She uses a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #114 – Morvran Voorhis (Hero): Defeat Marquise Serenity in a duel to earn this Card.

Novigrad – Bathhouse:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players: Now rush back to the Bathhouse to speak with Dijkstra again & we can now challenge him to a game of Gwent.

Unique Gwent Card #115 – Esterad Thyssen (Hero): Defeat Dijkstra during Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players to earn this Card.

We can still unlock this Card if we accidentally completed this Secondary Quest early… he uses a Northern Realms Deck. Defeating Dijkstra will re-initiate this Secondary Quest so we can now defeat the final opponent needed for it.

Main Quest #18 – Count Reuven’s Treasure: Speak with Dijkstra after the game & agree to help him with his special request. Drink the Pop’s Mold Antidote & progress through the sewers till you locate the end.

Return to Dijkstra later & investigate the Bathhouse pools with him & figure out what had happened. The Quest will now shift to us exploring the prime suspect’s home.

Novigrad – Silverton:

Main Quest #18 – Count Reuven’s Treasure: Go to Margrave Henckel’s home & solve the riddle upstairs using the wine bottle to enter the secret room & learn more about the heist.

Dijkstra & Triss will be downstairs waiting & we will concoct a terrible plan for getting the spy’s gold back…

Meet Triss at the Eternal Fire shrine at midnight & together make your way to the Witch Hunter barracks using her very risky plan.

How long you maintain the ruse is up to you. You can play along until the end… or you can give up immediately & kill literally everyone. Playing along until the end is better for Dijkstra as you will learn everything… but this can be hard to do, especially if Triss is your Romance. Not going along with things will make the Quest play out differently & you will lose favor with Dijkstra, but suffer not much fallout for “white knighting”.

If possible, at least make it to Menge so you can be sure he dies… Just know that any attempt to use Axii will fail; these are Witch Hunters after all. I will say this, Triss is less mad if you follow through with the ruse than if you decide to murder everyone…

Regardless of how things go, it will all lead to us needing to speak with Priscilla to locate the Doppler, Dudu. Once you escape, return to Dijkstra to tell him how things went; depending on what transpired will determine his mirth…

Return to Priscilla in her room at the Kingfisher Inn to report back & complete the Quest.

Sequence 17: Old Friends

1. Novigrad: No Man’s Land, The Bits, Harborside, Drahim Castle
2. Eastern Expanse: Temerian Partisan Hideout, Vegelbud Residence
3. Main Quests: N/A
4. Random Players Dueled: 36/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~121/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 10/26
7. Achievements: 20/78
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Novigrad – No Man’s Land:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players: Our last opponent for this Quest can be found outside Novigrad, Southwest from the Portside Gate. At the Quest Marker, we can find a new group of Scoia’tael set up, with a Merchant we can speak to. Duel them to complete the Quest & collect their Unique Gwent Card; naturally, he uses a Scoia’tael Deck with Hero Cards.

We can only verse this Merchant if we have previously defeated Dijkstra…

Unique Gwent Card #116 – Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (Hero): Defeat the Scoia’tael Merchant during Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players to collect this Card; one of the two best Cards in the entire game.

Unique Gwent Card #117 – Francesca Findabair, the Beautiful (Leader): We will also receive this Card by completing Secondary Quest – Gwent Big City Players.

Eastern Expanse – Temeria Partisan Hideout:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Old Pals: It is now time for us to go see another old pal as it was. After beating Zoltan, we can now go track down Vernon Roche at his hideout. Head there & we can find his guerrilla force & Ves too.

Unfortunately, at the moment for now at least, we don’t really have a lot to talk about. But we can verse him in Gwent for a new Card; he of course uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #118 – Saesenthessis (Hero): Defeat Vernon Roche in a duel during Secondary Quest – Gwent Old Pals.

The Quest will now progress to us needing to verse Lambert, fortunately, we have already met up with him but have missed the first opportunity to duel him. At the end of Secondary Quest – Following the Thread, we will get our second & final opportunity to duel him.

Novigrad – The Bits:

Witcher Contract #17 – An Elusive Thief: By this point, we should also be a high enough Level to polish off a couple of our Witcher Contracts as well. To start, we will head to the markets during the day to speak with Sylvester Amello about the Contract.

Follow the tracks the “Imp” left behind, & it will take us to its home. Literally. Search the house for a new lead to track it down; the scent of lavender. Follow the scent & chase down the “Imp” who is fortunately not very fast. It will pull a fast one on us, & we will have to fight ourselves to stop it ending with a decision about its fate.

Make your decision, & return back to Sylvester Stallone for our reward to complete the Contract. If you let the “Imp” live, we will only receive half the agreed upon reward but at least potentially feel better abouts ourselves…


Achievement #20 – The Doppler Effect: Resolve the Doppler problem in Novigrad.
Complete Witcher Contract – An Elusive Thief to unlock this Achievement.

Novigrad – Harborside:

Witcher Contract #16 – Deadly Delights: Go to the Harborside & we can find the Medic we were instructed to speak with for the Contract then go to the location the last body was found at in Glory Lane.

At Glory Lane, search around to find a set of horse hoofs… that belong to one that walks on two legs. Follow the tracks & they will lead us to good ol’ Crippled Kate’s. Speak with the Madame & use Axii on her to learn that our monster is in fact a Succubus.

Confront the Succubus & make your decision on what to do with it before returning to the Novigrad Guard for our reward.

Novigrad – Drahim Castle:

Witcher Contract #14 – The White Lady: For our last Contract, travel to Drahim Castle & investigate where the White Lady hides herself away; the bodies we find in the field will lead us there. Investigate the area to determine that it is a Noonwraith.

Return to Helma & ask her to lend us something to lure the Wraith out. Go back to where we found the bodies in the field, in the light of the sun, & complete the ritual to lure Luzi out. Kill her, & return back to Helma for our reward.

Novigrad – The Bits:

Secondary Quest – A Matter of Life & Death: This is an important Secondary Quest with Missable Unique Gwent Cards in it! Head to Triss’s home in The Bits & speak with her about a new problem. Agree to help her, & meet the Vegelbud servant in the Fish Market before agreeing to join Triss at a diversion ball the Vegelbud’s are holding.

Before we can go, we will need to stop by Elihal’s shop to buy some Masks; buy a full suit of dress-ware for yourself if you want to impress Triss.

Eastern Expanse – Vegelbud’s Residence:

Secondary Quest – A Matter of Life & Death: Enter the Residence with Triss & begin making your way over to speak with Ingrid Vegelbud. When we enter the upper courtyard where Triss exclaims for us to look around… do so, & we can find an ! in the center of the estate on a man named Croupier who is running a small Gwent tournament. Before you speak with him, Save your game; failing to win the tournament will void these Gwent Cards forever!

Unique Gwent Card #169 – Milva: Our first opponent will have a Nilfgaardian Deck with Heroes & of course a lot of Spies; defeat them to collect this Card.

Unique Gwent Card #120 – Vampire Bruxa: Continue on & defeat the next opponent for this Card; they use a Scoia’tael Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #121 – Dandelion: The last opponent will have a gross Monster Deck & give us this great Card, though not a Hero, very useful!

Should you fail any of the matches, you will need to reload your Save & redo them all. There is a lot of luck involved in the Cards you get; this will be our first real test of our Gwent Decks! Heart of the cards…

With the Cards collected, complete the rest of the Quest as you will…

Sequence 18: Beggars & Kings

1. Novigrad: The Bits, Oxenfurt, Temple Isle, Passiflora, Border Post, Kingfisher Inn
2. Eastern Expanse: Temerian Partisan Camp, Est Tayiar
3. Main Quests: Get Junior, Visiting Junior, The Play’s the Thing
4. Random Players Dueled: 37/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~123/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 10/26
7. Achievements: 20/78
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Novigrad – The Bits:

Main Quest #17 – Get Junior: Be it on your own or siding with Cleaver during Secondary Quest – The Gangs of Novigrad, go to the Junior’s casino & arena to search for his presence.

Speak with Dijkstra about the new news regarding Junior, & we will need to go speak with a contact at the Temerian Partisan Camp… Return to Roche for a more serious conversation & learn more about the regular whoreson. When we go to meet Roche’s contact… we will meet a very very dangerous man instead. But this man will give Junior’s location up.

Eastern Expanse – Temerian Partisan Camp:

Secondary Quest – An Eye For An Eye: After we speak with Roche’s contact, Roche will mention that he has something he needs help with. Speak with him back at camp, & he will ask us to help Ves.

She has gone to Mulbrydale to kill Nilfgaardian pillagers; defeat the Nilfgaardians with them to complete the Quest. This will also put us in Roche’s good books allowing us to recruit him as an Ally at Kaer Morhen later on… Ves must survive during this Quest or Roche will be voided as an Ally!

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

Main Quest #17 – Get Junior: With our new lead from Roche’s contact, it is now time to literally go get Junior. Go to his Oxenfurt hideout & fight your way through all his Thugs until you reach his manor.

When we find him… it will be bad. Geralt fortunately takes it in stride for us & we will learn of this whoreson’s connection to Ciri.

Novigrad – Temple Isle:

Ciri Quest #5 – Visiting Junior: Junior will reveal to us the next chapter in Ciri’s arc – how she came to see him with Dandelion. We will need to fight Junior, who can be trickier than you think to defeat. Fight your way out of Junior’s hideout.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

Secondary Quest – A Favor For Radovid: When we leave Junior’s hideout, we will be accosted by Radovid’s men. Follow them to the Mad King himself in the harbor & we will be given a new Secondary Quest.

Secondary Quest – Redania’s Most Wanted: Agree to help Radovid, & we will acquire this Secondary Quest. We need to complete this Secondary Quest as it is a pre-requisite to unlocking a very important Missable Achievement later on.

Secondary Quest – Now Or Never: Once we leave Radovid’s ship we will also now unlock this Secondary Quest. This is an important Quest we need to complete to unlock Triss as an Ally to recruit for Kaer Morhen, regardless of if you want to Romance her or not.

Meet Triss & help her devise a plan to get the hidden Mages out of Novigrad. Get to the Kingfisher Inn & clear out the path through the sewers for them to escape. If you decided to go & search for the lost Mages, Berthold & Annise, it will result in the current Innkeeper (Oliver) at the Kingfisher Inn to be killed. He will be replaced by an unnamed Innkeeper...

When we clear the harbor & everyone is about to leave, we have an ultimatum to make: ask Triss to stay or let her leave. Either will still result in us earning her as an Ally later for completing this Quest; asking her to stay with us & saying that we love her will complete the Romance arc with her & lock us into it for the rest of the game (barring you cheat on her with Yen when we go to Skellige…). If you plan to Romance Yennefer, obviously don’t profess your love to Triss; do not double dip, it ends very badly for Geralt!

Novigrad – Passiflora:

Secondary Quest – A Deadly Plot: After we complete Secondary Quest – Now Or Never, regardless of how we ended things with Triss, we will be confronted by Dijkstra. He will ask us to be exactly what we painstakingly proved ourselves not to be in Witcher 2… a Kingslayer. This important Secondary Quest is tied to its own Achievement that is highly Missable!

Go to the Passiflora to meet up with Dijkstra & our best friend from Temeria, & agree to help them! Not following through with this Quest voids the Achievement…

Novigrad – Border Post:

Secondary Quest – A Deadly Plot: Speak with the Redanian contact, Gregor, near the Border Post & then go on to find the shoemaker’s wagon. Track the shoemaker down in a Rock Troll Cave, & we will meet Thaler. Free him from the Trolls, then escort him back to his wagon to complete the Quest.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Playing Thaler: After completing the previous Quest, we can now play Thaler for a new Unique Gwent Card; the other best Card aside from Ciri to be exact… Thaler uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #122 – Geralt of Rivia (Hero): Defeat Thaler in a duel after completing Secondary Quest – A Deadly Plot to earn this Card.

Eastern Expanse – Est Tayiar:

Secondary Quest – Redania’s Most Wanted: Head to the Est Tayiar hideout in the Eastern Expanse now & link up with the Witch Hunters. “Assist” them in breaking into Philippa’s lair & finding some useful information on her whereabouts.

At the end of the dungeon, we will collect one of her Megascope crystals; either keep the gem for yourself or give it to Radovid to finish the Quest. Doing this is our final prerequisite in Act 2 to unlocking the highly Missable Secondary Quest – Reasons of State.

Novigrad – Kingfisher Inn:

Random Player #37 – Innkeeper: If Oliver died during Secondary Quest - Now Or Never, he will be replaced by an unnamed Innkeeper that we can duel for a random Card. If Oliver is still alive, we will not be able to get a new Card. This is not a big deal either way; there are more Random Players in the game than Card in the "Random Pool" & I include all their locations in the guide even after we unlock the Achievement...

Unique Gwent Card #123 – Dwarven Skirmisher (2): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Main Quest #19 – The Play’s the Thing: Deal with Junior, & report back to Priscilla with information on Dudu. To lure the Doppler out, we are going to need to create a new play with a message for him. Take the play’s script to Irina Renarde then go out to hire some dockworkers to be ushers for it.

Return to Irina, & let the play begin; if you want to do a good job playing yourself, you may want to rehearse some of your lines & read over the script. There are no penalties for messing your lines up, just some awkward coughs from the audience. Depending on what kind of play you decided to put on & which actors you chose, the events of the play will vary. Regardless, it will still result in us meeting up with Dudu & tell him of our very risky plan…

Sequence 19: A Divine Comedy

1. Eastern Expanse: Isolated Hut, Vegelbud Residence, Aleness, Yantra, Honeyfill Meadwork,
2. Novigrad: Rosemary & Thyme, Hierarch Square, Golden Sturgeon, Chameleon, Harborside
3. Main Quests: A Poet Under Pressure, Break Neck Speed, Destination Skellige
4. Random Players Dueled: 38/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~127/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 11/26
7. Achievements: 21/78
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Eastern Expanse – Isolated Hut:

Main Quest #20 – A Poet Under Pressure: When you are ready for the climax of our time here in Novigrad, meet Zoltan at the ambush site to intercept Dandelion’s transfer wagon. If Priscilla stays with you two, you are able to duel her in Gwent; there is no Unique Gwent Card we win from this.

When the fighting starts, Dandelion will be absconded with by a Witch Hunter on horseback & we will need to track them down. They will go far North to the Isolated Hut & we will need to sneak in through the hut’s cellar to get them.


Achievement #21 – A Friend In Need: Find & free Dandelion.
Story Related. Kill the Witch Huner that took him & rescue Dandelion to complete Main Quest – A Poet Under Pressure & unlock this Achievement.

Novigrad – Temple Isle:

Ciri Quest #6 – Breakneck Speed: With Dandelion rescued, he will tell us the full story of what transpired with him & Ciri. Flee an absolute army worth of enemies & get to the stables at the top of Temple Isle.

Novigrad:

DLC Quest – Envoys, Wineboys: After completing Main Quest – A Poet Under Pressure, we will receive this new DLC Quest from the Blood & Wine DLC. Go to any marked Notice Board to collect the Appeal to Sir Geralt note.

Blood & Wine is a high Level DLC; we will be completing it at the very end of the game after we finish everything else.

Novigrad – Rosemary & Thyme:

Secondary Quest – A Dangerous Game: Return to the Rosemary & Thyme to catch up with your friends, & we will see Zoltan being threatened by some men outside. When they leave, Zoltan will ask us for help paying off a debt to the King of Beggars, to do so, we will need to locate three Unique Gwent Card. This is an important Quest so Save often as we need these Cards to stay in our own possession!

Unique Gwent Card #124 – Isengrim Faoiltiarna (Hero): Go to find Zed & he will be dead in his home. Kill his assailants, & we can loot this Card off of one of them.

Novigrad – Hierarch Square:

Unique Gwent Card #125 – Fringilla Vigo: Return back to Zoltan with Zed’s ledger & we will now need to track down the two people the other Cards were sold to. First head to Hierarch Square to find Caesar with Zoltan. After drinking, search Caesar’s home & collect the Gwent Card from the secret room upstairs.

Novigrad – Golden Sturgeon:

Unique Gwent Card #126 – John Natalis (Hero): Now it is time to go see Ravvy for his Gwent Card. To earn the Card, we need to defeat his captor, Earl, in a Gwent match; Save before you approach them in case you fail; he uses a Nilfgaardian Deck but has no Hero Cards.

Novigrad – Rosemary & Thyme:

Secondary Quest – A Dangerous Game: Return back to Zoltan once you have the Cards; Save before speaking with him in case you mess up! We cannot part with these Gwent Cards… even though we are supposed to!

When we go to meet the buyer… we will find Zoltan’s harasser instead. Chase Duke down & retrieve Zoltan’s coin from him. When we return back to Zoltan, we will have an option for our reward: Crowns or Cards. You must choose the Cards as the reward!

Eastern Expanse – Vegelbud Residence:

Secondary Quest – The Great Erasmus Vegelbud Memorial Derby: If you have not already done so, we can return to the Vegelbud Residence to find new Horse Races to complete; they are unlocked as soon as we completed Main Quest – Get Junior. From the Signpost, head North up to the racetrack & speak with the Race Master to enter.

Be sure to defeat all three opponents; if you need to recover Roach’s stamina, steer her into the opponent so they cannot get past you.

When you win the Derby, we will need to speak with Cleaver afterwards back in Novigrad. He will give us a proposition to race in the Palio; we need to complete this Horse Race as it contributes to the Fast & Furious Achievement. Be careful though as the track is very narrow & it is easy to lose by accidentally riding too far out of bounds.

Novigrad – Chameleon:

Random Player #38 – Innkeeper: With Act 1 completed here in Novigrad, we can now complete some new Secondary Quests for Dandelion. Complete the Secondary Quests – Cabaret, & Carnal Sins to help Dandelion rebrand the Rosemary & Thyme as “Chameleon”.

Fast Travel elsewhere & return to the establishment to have a new Innkeeper here to play in Gwent for a Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #127 – Ida Emean aep Sivney: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Eastern Expanse – Aleness:

Notice Board: Clean up any Secondary Quests (barring High Stakes) & Witcher Contracts you like, & we can now go out to finish exploring the remainder of the Eastern Expanse. To start, there are three marked Notice Boards we should find first to reveal our final Undiscovered Locations. The first can be found in the village of Aleness; we should have found its Signpost already while we were horse racing.

Eastern Expanse – Yantra:

Notice Board: Our next marked Notice Board can be found at the village Yantra which is directly North of Novigrad out the Oxenfurt Gate.

Witcher Contract #20 – The Apiarian Phantom: On the Notice Board here, we can find a our last new Witcher Contract for Novigrad; be sure to collect it.

Eastern Expanse – Honeyfill Meadworks:

Witcher Contract #19 – The Apiarian Phantom: Travel down to Honeyfill Meadworks & speak with the Contract issuer for more information on what is ravaging their bee hives. Go to the site where a farmhand died, & follow the beast’s tracks along to its hiding lair in an unfinished home.

Enter inside the basement & we will fight a unique Hound of the Wild Hunt; collect your reward from the Halflings to complete the Contract. Easy.

Novigrad – Harborside:

Main Quest #21 – Destination Skellige: When you have finished the Secondary Quests, Witcher Contracts, exploration, looting, & Witcher gear crafting you want… it will be time for the final area of Act 1: going to Skellige.

Most of our leads on finding a swarthy captain will be dead ends except for one Captain Wolverstone found in the Golden Sturgeon. Pay him his steep fee of 1000 Crowns; when ready, set sail!

While out at sea, we will be attacked by Skellige Pirates. After they retreat, our ship will be rammed into some nearby rocks & wreck upon them & we will wake up some time later on the shores of Ard Skellig…

Sequence 20: Castaway

1. Ard Skellig: Kaer Trolde
2. Main Quests: Destination Skellige, The King Is Dead – Long Live the King
3. Random Players Dueled: 42/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~134/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 12/26
6. Achievements: 23/78
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Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Achievement #22 – Globetrotter: Discover 100 Fast Travel points.
Begin making your way North across the island to the Clan an Craite fortress, Kaer Trolde. Along the way, if you are following the main road, we can find a small camp with a Merchant in it that will sell us “Lonesome World Guides” to each of the Skellige Islands that will unlock new Signposts for us to Fast Travel to; these maps will unlock nine locations for us.

If you have not already unlocked this Achievement, these new locations will help; it is bound to unlock for us at some point during our travels across the Skellige Isles…

Main Quest #21 – Destination Skellige: Go to the Kaer Trolde Harbor to witness the end of King Bran’s funeral. We will also meet up with Yennefer & debrief with her what we found of Ciri in Velen & Novigrad.

Notice Board: Before we attend the late King’s wake, we can do some quick errands around town. First pop over to the Notice Board to mark some Undiscovered Locations on Ard Skellig as well as collect our final Fists of Fury Quest & a new Witcher Contract; Contract – Missing Miners is DLC & does not count towards the Geralt the Professional Achievement.

Witcher Contract #20 – Muire D’yaeblen: Speak with the shipbuilder, Bjorg down at the harbor for more details on this Contract; he will also give us the Contract having a ! over his head with or without the notice.

Speak with the two witnesses at the harbor as well, but we will hold off on investigating the locations where the Drowners were sighted for now.

Random Player #39 – Herbalist: Progress further along the harbor & we can find an Herbalist close by where the Notice Board is who will duel us in Gwent; he uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #128 – Toruviel: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Skellige: Approach the New Port Inn & we can see a Fist Fight event happening outside it. Defeat Valgard; do not throw the fight for him as it will not count towards the Brawl Master Achievement. He is tough though & may defeat us anyways… we can always try again.

Random Player #40 – Jonas the Innkeep: Enter inside the Inn now & speak with Jonas the Innkeep. We can duel him for a new Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #129 – Fire Elemental: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.


Achievement #23 – All In: Play three Hero Cards in one round of Gwent & win the match.
By this point, we should have a slew of different Hero Cards across all the four Decks. As we play through our Gwent games on Skellige, keep this Achievement in mind; you can also deliberately try for the Achievement as random chance plays into it with the Cards you get in your hand.

For grinding, make a Save, & keep reloading until you get at least three Hero Cards in your hand; you need to play at least three Hero Cards in a single Round during a Gwent game & win that Round.

Unique Gwent Card #130 – Botchling: We can also purchase three new Gwent Cards from Jonas as well; this one costs 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #131 – Earth Elemental: Bought from Jonas the Innkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #132 – Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt (Leader): Bought from Jonas the Innkeeper for 50 Crowns.

We can also purchase another copy of the Scorch Card if we want.

Main Quest #22 – The King Is Dead – Long Live the King: While we are at the Inn, stop in to Yennefer’s room nearby to pick up some “nice” clothing for Geralt to wear to the King’s wake. Put on your favorite look & make your way up to the castle to find Yennefer waiting outside. Note that if you plan to Romance her, Skellige is your time to put on the moves; if you Romanced Triss, do not put the moves on! You cannot get away with Romancing both of them & it will give you a very disappointing ending experience for Geralt…

Navigate the wake with Yennefer, then finish speaking with her in private. Go with her & sneak into Ermion’s laboratory to locate the unknown mask; defeat the Earth Elemental Boss & escape after the lab fills with gas.

Back at the wake, we will speak with Crach an Craite about Ciri & our tasks at hand in Skellige. Afterwards we will set everything up for our business going forward; we will save our new Main Quest – Echoes of the Past for a while later…

Random Player #41 – Armorer: Before we leave Kaer Trolde castle, we can locate the armory close the castle’s exit. Head over there & speak with the Armorer during business hours (there are potentially more than one so keep speaking with them until you find the right Armorer…). We can duel the Armorer for a new Card; they use a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #133 – Celaeno Harpy: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #42 – Blacksmith: Right beside the Armorer here at the castle will be a lone Blacksmith who is also a Random Player. Note that he is often bugged & you will not be able to speak with him. If this is the case, make a Save, then continue to Meditate until he will talk; he will not speak regardless of if it is night. The Blacksmith will use a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #134 – Ghoul (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Witcher Contract #20 – Muire D’yaeblen: With our primary business finished, we are now free to roam about. To start, let’s finish this Contract; head to the Drowner locations along the beach & follow a terrible scent along the coast to find their underwater lair.

It will turn out, our monster is a Water Hag. To lure her out, we will need to craft the Drowner Pheromones; the Potion can be purchased from the Kaer Trolde Herbalist. Return back to the lair, & drink the Potion to lure out Abaya. Once she is slain, return to the shipbuilder to collect our reward.

Sequence 21: Snow, Salt, & Cold Steel

1. Ard Skellig: Rannvaig, Blandare, Gedyneith Grove
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 44/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~136/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 12/26
6. Achievements: 26/78
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Ard Skellig – Rannvaig:

Notice Board: Now we go to explore the island of Ard Skellig. To start, head down South towards our first village, Rannvaig. View the Notice Board here to mark Undiscovered Locations as well as a new Witcher Contract.

Witcher Contract #21 – Missing Son: Speak with Odhen in town for more details on the Contact; this is our highest Level Contract to date & will be saved until later…

Secondary Quest – The Heroes Pursuit Kaer Trolde: Close to the Notice Board, we can find a Horse Race event; beat it to unlock two more found on Ard Skellig.

Monster Nest #1: From Rannvaig, if you used their Notice Board, we can spot an Undiscovered Location due Northwest across the water. Here we will find a Mucknixer Nest; destroy it with a Bomb.

Monster Nest #2: From the first Monster Nest, look at the Undiscovered Locations due immediately West. There will be two close by a small island: one in the ocean with the other closer to the island’s shores. Go to the point close by the island to find another Monster Nest in the form of a Siren den (the other location will be a Place of Power).

Ard Skellig – Blandare:

Notice Board: Head just East of Rannvaig & we can find another marked Notice Board in the village of Blandare.


Achievement #24 – Moo-rderer: Kill 20 Cows.
Here in Blandare, we can also find at least 8 Cows that spawn in a pasture close to the Signpost. We can kill these Cows then Meditate for 24 hours to respawn them; do this three times to unlock the Achievement.

This Achievement was introduced from the Hearts of Stone DLC. Cows spawn in White Orchard, the Eastern Expanse found East of Novigrad, & here in Skellige; you may have already killed a few Cows in your travels (or earned the Achievement).

Random Player #43 – Merchant: While in Blandare, we can find a Merchant who is a Random Player that we can duel; they use a Northern Realms Deck with Hero Cards.

Unique Gwent Card #135 – Vanhemar: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Ard Skellig – Gedyneith Grove:

Secondary Quest – Practicum In Advanced Alchemy: Northeast of Blandare, we can find the Druid sanctuary of Gedyneith Grove; if you obtained this Secondary Quest by speaking to certain Alchemists in Velen/Novigrad, you can follow the Quest Marker here. If not, follow the Quest Marker for our current Main Quest – Echoes of the Past to the Druid Camp (not speaking with Yennefer & Ermion) & follow the road further North to find it.

When we arrive, speak with the Master Herbalist Gremist & persuade him to let us be his apprentice. He will then task us with three objectives to complete for his ritual; completing this Quest will unlock Gremist to become a player in an important Gwent Quest…

Secondary Quest – Shock Therapy: While at the Grove, we can find an unnamed Druid with an ! over their head. Speak with them for a new Secondary Quest that will end with us earning a Unique Gwent Card.

Locate Egill, who will be marked as a Taciturn Druid, & scare him. There are three different things we need to do to scare/piss him off: use Aard on some hung up pots while he sleeps, use Aard on the nearby Bee Hive while he prays (during the day), & extinguish the Druid’s campfire after he lights it up. Once this is all done, he will break his vow of silence to curse us. Return back to the Druid to complete the Quest.

Unique Gwent Card #136 – Iorveth (Hero): Complete Secondary Quest – Shock Therapy to receive this Gwent Card. I’m so mad they never included Iorveth in the game…

Ard Skellig – Blandare:

Secondary Quest – Practicum In Advanced Alchemy: Return back to Blandare & seek out Fritjof. For him to go help Gremist, we in turn need to help him bring rain to Blandare. Defend him as he performs his ritual from more than a few Foglets, & we will complete task one of three for this Quest.

Random Player #44 – Herbalist: Head South down the road from Blandare towards an Undiscovered Location & it will be a Person In Distress. This person will be an Herbalist held captive by some Bandits. Kill them, & let the Herbalist walk over to an idle position so we can talk with them; they are a Random Player & use a Scoia’tael Deck.

I earned a Biting Frost Card from the Random Card Pool this duel & not a new Gwent Card…

Ard Skellig:

Secondary Quest – Practicum In Advanced Alchemy: Now it is time for us to find the Pimpernel. In the center of the marked area, we can find the remnants of Pimpernel; examining it will provoke a nearby Druid to come speak with us. Agree to help each other, & follow the footprints to different picked flowers until you are able to track the harvester’s whereabouts. When you find Ramund, we will need to make a decision about a Succubus we encounter; make your decision on who to side with, & collect your Pimpernel from the Succubus’s lair.

For the next part of the Quest, head up to the abandoned Distillery nearby. Enter inside it, & use search around for the Distillers Letter, some Mash found up a ladder, then use the distillery to make some booze. First put the Mash in the evaporator (the center receptacle), light a fire under it, wait for it to cook then extinguish the fire & pull the two nearby Levers. Collect the Skellige Spirit from the condenser; damn, I wish it were that quick to make moonshine…


Achievement #25 – Rad Steez, Bro!: Slide downhill uninterrupted for at least 10 seconds.
This is another Hearts of Stone Achievement that can be unlocked easily in this area. Leave the Distillery cave, & walk up the longest/steepest mountain slope you can find here to the top & make a Save. Slide down the slope for at least 10 seconds to unlock the Achievement; it may take some trial & error finding your run which is why Saving beforehand is important.

Ard Skellig – Gedyneith Grove:

Secondary Quest – Practicum In Advanced Alchemy: Return now to Gremist & wait for 24 hours to give him time to perform the… ritual. I am sure you can already see where it is going. Complete the Quest for no immediate reward; Gremist becomes a player for the Gwent Quest in Skellige now.


Achievement #26 – Dendrologist: Acquire all the Abilities in one tree.
Gremist also sells a whopping 8 Potions of Clearance. Make a Save before attempting this. If you are at least Level 20, use a Potion of Clearance to reset your Ability Points, then pick any Ability Tree to purchase all 20 Abilities in it. It will cost a total of 23 Ability Points; Places of Power will make this guaranteed to unlock. You just need at least one Point in all 20 Abilities, not have them all fully Upgraded.

Sequence 22: Kvitravn

1. Ard Skellig: Fayrlund, Arinbjorn, Holmstein, Kaer Muire, Fyresdal
2. Main Quests: N/A
3. Random Players Dueled: 53/50
4. Unique Gwent Cards: ~146/169
5. Witcher Contracts: 12/26
6. Achievements: 27/78
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Ard Skellig – Fayrlund:

Secondary Quest – The Heroes’ Pursuit Fayrlund: Head West now to the village of Fayrlund for our next Horse Race. Speak with the Race Master & complete the short race.

Random Player #45 – Merchant: In Fayrlund, we can find a Merchant who is a Random Player; they use a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #137 – Dwarven Skirmisher (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Random Player #46 – Blacksmith: We can also find a Blacksmith here as well who is a Random Player; they use a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #138 – Rotten Mangonel: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Witcher Contract – In the Heart of the Woods: At the edge of town, we can find some townsfolk gathered around a dead villager trapped in roots. Though this is a Witcher Contract, it does not contribute to the Geralt the Professional Achievement for some reason, but it does have its own unique Achievement!

Ard Skellig – Arinbjorn:

Notice Board: Head further West to the village of Arinbjorn on the coast & look at the Notice Board for some Undiscovered Locations as well as a new Witcher Contract.

Witcher Contract #22 – The Phantom of Eldberg: Enter into the nearby inn, & we will find the Contract issuer, Jorund. Speak with him about the Contract for more details.

Random Player #47 – Innkeeper: While we are here, we can duel the Innkeeper for a chance at a new Card; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #139 – Cockatrice: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Unique Gwent Card #140 – Thaler: We can also purchase four Gwent Cards from this Innkeeper as well; this one picked up for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #141 – Arachas (1): Purchased from the Innkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #142 – Crone Whispess: Purchased from the Innkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #143 – Fiend: Purchased from the Innkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Note that these Gwent Cards are actually Missable if we progress too far with our new Witcher Contract here; be sure to buy them right away!

Random Player #48 – Blacksmith: Head lower down into the village & we can find a Blacksmith here who is a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #144 – Havekar Smuggler (3): Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Skellige: Here in Arinbjorn, just outside town, we can find a fight circle where our next opponent is. Defeat Grim.

Ard Skellig – Holmstein:

Notice Board: Head down South now along the coast from Arinbjorn & we will reach Holmstein. As soon as we enter, we can find a Notice Board to mark some new Undiscovered Locations on our map.

Random Player #49 – Merchant: Head down to Homstein’s Port & we can find a Merchant here who is a Random Player; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #145 – Vampire Garkain: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Muire:

Random Player #50 – Armorer: From Holmstein, head up the hill to the East to the large fortress, Kaer Muire, which belongs to Madman Lugos. Here we can verse both the Armorer & Blacksmith for new Gwent Cards; the Armorer uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #146 – Wyvern: Can be earned from playing against any Random Player; this is the Card I earned for this duel, you may earn a different one.

As of now, we can no longer earn any more Cards from the Random Card Pool; there are only 50 Cards total including duplicate Weather Cards. There are more Random Players in the game however; if you missed some along the way, I will still include the remaining ones locations. Besides, Gwent is fun!

Random Player #51 – Smith: Right beside the Armorer, we can also duel the nearby Smith; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck with many Hero Cards.

Ard Skellig – Fyresdal:

Notice Board: For our final village on Ard Skellig, head South down to the other end of the island from Fayrlund. There will be a new Witcher Contract on the Notice Board as well; the Contract – Skellige’s Most Wanted is a DLC Quest & does not count towards the Geralt the Professional Achievement.

Witcher Contract #23 – Dragon: We can obtain this Witcher Contract from the Notice Board as well; speak to the village elder for more details. Investigate the bodies of the “Dragons” victims but do not go to investigate where they were found yet…

Random Player #52 – Merchant: Near the port, we can find a Merchant that is a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck.

Random Player #53 – Smith: While still at the port, we can find a Smith who is also a Gwent player across the beach from the Merchant; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Monster Nest #3: Since we looked at the Fyresdal Notice Board, we will have marked the last two Monster Nests we can find on Ard Skellig. For the next one, head to the small fort located West of Fyresdal; we will find a Harpy Nest.

Monster Nest #4: For the last Monster Nest, head East of Fyresdal to the Ruined Inn where we can find a Siren Nest to destroy.

Secondary Quest – The Heroes’ Pursuits Fyresdal: The start of this Race is closer to Blandare than it is to Fyresdal. Regardless, head to the Quest Marker & speak to the Race Master to enter & win.

Ard Skellig – Fayrlund:

Witcher Contract – In the Heart of the Woods: Head back to Fayrlund & investigate what may be the cause of the villager’s grief. It will be an Ancient Leshen.


Achievement #27 – Woodland Spirit: Complete the Contract on the Woodland Spirit.
There are two ways of completing the Quest, renewing the villages pact with the spirit or destroying it. Unfortunately, the Achievement will only unlock if you destroy the spirit; renewing the pact, though does complete the quest, does not complete the Contract & will void our Achievement.

Sequence 23: Lilac & Gooseberry

1. Ard Skellig: Arinbjorin, Gedyneith Grove, Kaer Trolde, Kaer Muire
2. Faroe: Harviken, Trottheim
3. Novigrad: Nowhere Inn, Gildorf
4. Main Quests: Echoes of the Past
5. Random Players Dueled: 54/50
6. Unique Gwent Cards: ~158/169
7. Witcher Contracts: 13/26
8. Achievements: 28/78
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Ard Skellig – Arinbjorin:

Witcher Contract #22 – The Phantom of Eldberg: Return to Arinbjorin & make your way over to Eldberg Lighthouse. Locate Mikkjal & use his Key to investigate the lighthouse & discover that he is cursed… & for good reason. Hold out against the Penitent until Mikkjal can light the lighthouse so we can kill it. Defeat the Penitent & decide what to do with Mikkjal to complete the Contract.

This Contract will escalate into an interesting, if not unfortunate, Secondary Quest.

Ard Skellig – Gedvneith Grove:

Main Quest #23 – Echoes of the Past: With all our side business & exploration complete on Ard Skellig, we can now continue with the Main Questline. Go to Gedyneith at the Druids Camp to find Yennefer & Ermion yelling at each other. Yen will do what she does… & does the bad thing anyways using the Mask of Uroboros & we must help her use it properly to learn what happened to Ciri.

When we figure out where to progress to next on Hindarsfjall, choose not to go with Yen; we will travel there ourselves after doing a few more side tasks…


Achievement #28 – Environmentally Unfriendly: Kill 50 opponents using the environment (e.g. swamp gas, insects or objects).
This is a strange Achievement & the “e.g.” in the description accounts for a lot more than it describes. Chances are, you ideally earned this Achievement a while ago. If not, focus when possible killing enemies with Exploding Barrels, igniting swamp gas (or cave gas), poisoning enemies with swamp gas, using Bee Hives, knocking enemies down with Aard (killing with gravity).

Killing Bandits by knocking them off their horses with Aard is an instant kill & contributes to this Achievement; anytime you see them, & haven’t earned this Achievement, kill them this way for farming… Allegedly, knocking Harpies or Sirens out of the air with Aard & using a Finisher on them also counts.

Regardless, I would refrain from farming this Achievement & just waiting until the absolute end of the game after Blood & Wine; there is a very good chance it will unlock along the way & this Achievement is difficult to grind…

Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige Style: Since we have freed Ermion from being story locked, he is now available for us to duel him in Gwent. Speak with him after Yennefer leaves, & we can finally duel him for his Unique Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #147 – Leshen (Hero): Defeat Ermion in a duel for this Gwent Card.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige Style: After we defeat Ermion, we will unlock our next two opponents. Because we completed Secondary Quest – Shock Therapy, we can now duel Gremist for a new Unique Card; he uses a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #148 – Mysterious Elf (Hero): Defeat Gremist in a duel to earn this awesome Gwent Card.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige Style: Go to Kaer Trolde now & verse Crach an Craite in a duel who apparently surpassed his teacher, Ermion; Crach uses a Monster Deck.

We can also speak with Crach about the man Hammond who we are searching for in Secondary Quest – Following the Thread…

Note that there is a potential bug with versing Crach. Sometimes, if you are unlucky, when you go to speak with Crach to verse him in Gwent he won't acknowledge the Quest. Unfortunately, if this happens the only way to fix this is to actually beat Secondary Quest – King Maker & finish the plot line to place a new ruler on Skellige's throne.

Unique Gwent Card #149 – Draug (Hero): Defeat Crach an Craite in a duel to earn this Card.

Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige Style: With Crach defeated, he will recommend that we verse Sjusta the Tailer who can also be found here in Kaer Trolde. Head down to where the New Port Inn is, & we can find Sjusta’s shop; he uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #150 – Yaevinn: Defeat Sjusta in a duel to earn this Gwent Card.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Muire:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige Style: For our final opponent during this Quest, go to Kaer Muire & duel Madman Lugos for his Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #151 – Vampire Katakan: Defeat Madman Lugos in a duel to earn this Card.

Unique Gwent Card #152 – Emhyr var Emreis, The White Flame (Leader): We will earn this Gwent Card after completing Secondary Quest – Gwent Skellige style; the order of who we verse does not matter.

Faroe – Harviken:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Skellige: With our business now down on Ard Skellig, it is time to travel Southeast to the Harviken on the island of Faroe. Speak with the Fightmaster here & defeat Einar in a Fist Fight.

With the first three opponents defeated, we can now fight the Skellige champion on An Skellig.

Random Player #54 – Innkeeper: While in the village, enter into the tavern at the top of the settlement to find an Innkeep who is a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #153 – Ghoul (1): We can also purchase four new Gwent Cards from this Innkeeper as well; this one is 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #154 – Nekker (1): Purchased from the Innkeeper for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #155 – Harpy: Purchased from the Innkeeper for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #156 – Vampire Fleder: Purchased from the Innkeeper for 50 Crowns.

Random Player #55 – Blacksmith: Just down the hill from the inn, we can find a Blacksmith who is also a Random Player; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Faroe – Trottheim:

Secondary Quest – Following the Thread: Now, it is time for us to search for Hammond as Lambert requested us to. Head East across the island to Trottheim & we will need to fight off the Pirates that haunt the village. On some of their corpses, we can find Orders From Hammond, saying that he will be praying at a shrine close to the village.

Track him down, & kill him.

Unique Gwent Card #157 – Nekker (2): We can loot this Gwent Card off of Hammond’s corpse; be sure to collect it as it will disappear if we travel away!

Novigrad – Nowhere Inn:

Secondary Quest – Following the Thread: Return to Lambert all the way back in Novigrad & we can find him waiting for us at the Nowhere Inn. Join him, & put Karadin to rest once & for all.

Speak with him & decide his fate; kill or spare him (there won’t be any consequences other than dialogue).

Novigrad – Gildorf:

Secondary Quest – Gwent Old Pals: This is the Missable part of the Quest; as soon as we finish Secondary Quest – Following the Thread, speak with Lambert before he leaves! If Lambert despawns, we can only verse him later on once we go to Kaer Morhen or void the Card Collector Achievement.

Unique Gwent Card #158 – Triss Merigold (Hero): Duel & defeat Lambert in Gwent before he leaves Jan Karadin’s manor in Gildorf to collect this Gwent Card; Lambert uses a Scoia’tael Deck. Ironic that he should be the one to give us this Card…

Sequence 24: Helvegen

1. Hindarsfjall: Larvik, Lofoten, Freya’s Garden
2. An Skellig: Urialla Harbor
3. Main Quests: Missing Persons, Nameless, The Calm Before the Storm
4. Random Players Dueled: 61/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~161/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 14/26
7. Achievements: 32/78
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Hindarsfjall – Larvik:

Notice Board: With Faroe completed, we now set sail over to our next island, Hindarsfjall. In the main village Larvik, we can find a Notice Board to check for some Undiscovered Locations as well as a new Witcher Contract.

Random Player #55 – Innkeeper: Close to the Notice Board, we can find an inn with the Innkeeper being a Random Player; he uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Random Player #56 – Merchant: Head outside the inn, & we can find a Merchant who will also happen to be a Random Player; he uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Random Player #57 – Armorer: Near the main entrance to Larvik, we can find an Armorer who is a Random Player; he uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Random Player #58 – Blacksmith: At the back end of the village right beside where Clan Chief Donar an Hindar is, we can find a Blacksmith who is also a Random Player; this entire town plays Gwent?! The Blacksmith uses a Monster Deck.

Secondary Quest – Heroes’ Pursuits For the Glory of the Goddess: Now it is time to complete our final Horse Race of the game. Head just outside Larvik & we can enter into the last Heroes’ Pursuit race.


Achievement #29 – Fast & Furious: Win all 11 Horse Races in the game.
We will unlock this Achievement if we completed: Secondary Quest – Races Crow’s Perch, Secondary Quest – The Great Erasmus Vegelbud Memorial Derby, & the four Heroes’ Pursuits Secondary Quests.

Witcher Contract #24 – Strange Beast: Collected from the Notice Board in Larvik, speak with Thorleif near the entrance of town for more details on the Contract. Be sure to barter your price for this one, we get quite the hefty purse…

Speak with the Warriors who survived the first encounter with the beast. Go to the ambush site to investigate, then follow the monster’s tracks away to its lair; if you have it, drinking the Golden Oriole Potion will help inside the Cave. Get to the main chamber & kill Hagubman.

Hindarsfjall – Lofoten:

Main Quest #24 – Missing Persons: When your side business on Hindarsfjall is done, head over to the small harbor South of Lofoten Cemetery to meet up with Yennefer. Follow her to Lofoten & we will learn that the last person to have seen Ciri here is a man referred to as Craven.

He left to go fight Morkvarg in Freya’s Garden; this will start the Secondary Quest – In Wolf’s Clothing that we can simultaneously complete if you so choose.

Hindarsfjall – Freya’s Garden:

Main Quest #25 – Nameless: Go to Freya’s Garden & search around for what happened to Craven. Follow his footsteps from the sacred tree & we will drop down into an old well where his body will be.

Yen will then perform a terrible necromancy spell to revive Craven, & we will force him to tell us about Ciri.

Hindarsfjall – Lofoten:

Ciri Quest #7 – The Calm Before the Storm: Ciri will come to Lofoten via portal with the Mysterious Elf companion of hers. In this memory, Ciri spends a few hours recovering in Lofoten… with or without a towel. The memory ends with her needing to escape the village as the Wild Hunt has found her; the enemies are unlimited, kill two Wild Hunt Warriors to be allowed to leave…


Achievement #30 – Necromancer: Help Yennefer extract information from Skjall's body.
Story Related. We will unlock this Achievement after we complete Ciri Quest – The Calm Before the Storm & we finish debriefing with Yennefer on what to do next in Freya’s Garden.

Secondary Quest – The Last Wish: We will unlock this Quest after completing the previous one. Assist Yennefer in locating a Djinn to remove Geralt’s wish to keep the two of you together forever.

If you plan to Romance Yennefer, be sure to tell her so after the spell is removed… Just remember, you can only Romance Yen or Triss… If you Romanced Triss in Novigrad, you need to break things off with Yennefer here.

Regardless of how the Quest shakes out, completing it will make Yennefer available to help us at Kaer Morhen as an Ally.

An Skellig – Urialla Harbor:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Skellige: Travel now to Urialla Harbor on the island of An Skellig. Here we can find our final Fist Fight opponent, Olaf.

As it turns out… Olaf, well, he is a Bear. He is actually easier than it sounds; just stay behind him & don’t get greedy with your attacks.


Achievement #31 – Brawler: Defeat Olaf, the Skellige champion of unarmed combat.
Defeat Olaf during Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Skellige to unlock this Achievement.

We only have one more opponent to fight to become the new reining “Champion of Champions” of Skellige.

Random Player #59 – Armorer: Near the waterfront, we can find an Armorer in a building that is a Random Player; he uses a Nilfgaardian Deck.

Random Player #60 – Blacksmith: Close to the center of the village, we can find a Blacksmith who is also a Random Player; he uses a Monster Deck.

Random Player #61 – Innkeep: The Innkeep found in the Urialla Harbor Inn is a Random Player as well & uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #159 – Elven Skirmisher (3): The Innkeep is also a Merchant that sells Gwent Cards; we can purchase this one for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #160 – Arachas (2): Purchased from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #161 – Werewolf: Purchased from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Monster Nest #5: We can find the final Monster Nest in the Skellige Isles just West of Urialla Harbor at an Undiscovered Location; it is a Harpy Nest.


Achievement #32 – Pest Control: Destroy all 29 Monster Nests in the Velen/Novigrad region, or all 5 in Skellige.

We will unlock this Achievement after we destroy the fifth & last Monster Nest here in Skellige; it is much easier doing it this way than in Velen/Novigrad.

Sequence 25: Long Live an Craite!

1. Spikeroog: Svorlag, Hov
2. Undvik: Dorve Ruins, Clan Tordarroch Forge
3. Ard Skellig: Kaer Trolde, Gedyneith
4. Main Quests: N/A
5. Random Players Dueled: 64/50
6. Unique Gwent Cards: ~165/169
7. Witcher Contracts: 15/26
8. Achievements: 34/78
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Spikeroog – Svorlag:

Notice Board: Travel now to Svorlag on the isle of Spikeroog to check out their Notice Board to learn of the Undiscovered Locations here as well as a new Witcher Contract.

Random Player #62 – Smith: In Svorlag, the local Smith will be a Random Player that uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Random Player #63 – Innkeeper: The Innkeep is also a Random Player & uses a Northern Realms Deck; he is also sells Gwent Cards as well…

Unique Gwent Card #162 – Foglet: Purchased from the Innkeep for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #163 – Ice Giant: Purchased from the Innkeep for 10 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #164 – Vampire Ekimmara: Purchased from the Innkeep for 20 Crowns.

Unique Gwent Card #165 – Arachas (3): Purchased from the Innkeep for 50 Crowns.

Random Player #64 – Merchant: Down by the waterfront we can find a Merchant he is a Random Player that uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Witcher Contract #25 – Here Comes the Groom: Close to where the Merchant is, we can speak with the Contract issuer Kevan for more details.

Head to the cliffs where we can speak with his sister, Britt, about her side of the story & she will direct us to some Caves near the Southwest end of the island. Enter inside them & fight through the Drowners while investigating the monster; it is a unique Ekhidna. Find Nils’ body, & kill Melusine.

Return to Kevan to complete the Contract.

Spikeroog – Hov:

Secondary Quest – Fists of Fury Champion of Champions: Head to the Eastern corner of Spikeroog to the small village of Hov. Here we can locate the “Champion of Champions” & spare with them for the title.

Before we can, we need to first complete Secondary Quest – Master of the Arena; dispel the Wraith, Ulle the Unlucky. Just lose the fight to get rid of him.

Once we deal with the Wraith problem, we can officially challenge the Champion… a Rock Troll. Perfect…


Achievement #33 – Brawl Master: Complete all 12 Fist Fighting events in Velen, Skellige, & Novigrad.
If you have been following along with the guide, we will unlock this Achievement after completing the final Fist of Fury Quest.

Spikeroog – Svorlag:

Secondary Quest – Possession: Now it is time for us to assist Cerys in her pursuit of glory. Speak with Jarl Udalryk, & something will be wrong… Speak around the village for her location & we will be directed to speak with Bergthora. Speak with her now, to be directed to where her husband is along the Northern beaches.

Our next lead is up at the Udalryk family home. Investigate & we can find Cerys; help her collect the cursed sword, Brokvar, & break the haunting of Udalryk with her. Sail to the Jarl’s brothers resting place & place Brokvar with his remains.

It won’t work however & we will need to try something else. Choose whether to trick the haunt or kill it to release Uldalryk from the curse.

This is an important Secondary Quest to complete for the Kingmaker Achievement.

Undvik – Dorve Ruins:

Secondary Quest – The Lord of Undvik: Now that we have helped Cerys, we must also help her brother, Hjalmar. Travel to the isle of Undvik, & track down Hjalmar; we can find him at the Dorve Ruins at the Southeastern end of Undvik. Link up with him, & help him slay the Ice Giant.

This is the other important Secondary Quest to complete for the Kingmaker Achievement.

Undvik – Clan Tordarroch Forge:

Secondary Quest – Master Armorers: While here on Undvik, locate the set of High-Quality Smithing Tools for Fergus back in Velen. Travel to the Ice Troll caves to find them at the Clan Tordarroch Forge.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Secondary Quest – King’s Gambit: With both his children helped, return to Crach in Kaer Trolde. After speaking with him, the feast will be unpleasantly interrupted by some unruly guests. Choose to help one of the two children of an Craite to figure out the cause of all of this; note that whoever you assist is most likely to be named the new Ruler of Skellige…

Regardless of who you choose, you will assist them in uncovering the perpetrator.

When Crach goes to ride to Gedyneith, join him.

Ard Skellig – Gedyneith:

Secondary Quest – Coronation: Depending on who you assisted in the previous Quest, Hjalmar or Cerys an Craite will be named the new Ruler of Skellige.


Achievement #34 – Kingmaker: Complete the subplot about choosing Skellige's ruler.
Complete Secondary Quest – Coronation & help choose a new Ruler of Skellige to unlock this Achievement.

With that, we are officially finished our work in Skellige for now & completed Act I of the game.

43% Complete

Sequence 26: Killing Monsters

1. Velen: Lindenvale, Byways, Oreton, Benek, Crow’s Perch
2. Novigrad: Moldavie Residence, Cunny of the Goose, Oxenfurt
3. Main Quests: N/A
4. Random Players Dueled: 64/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: ~165/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 22/26
7. Achievements: 37/78
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Velen – Lindenvale:

Witcher Contract #7 – Mysterious Tracks: On our return to the Continent, we should be a high enough Level to polish off a bunch more of our Witcher Contracts. Head to Lindenvale & if you spoke to the Hunter in the village, begin searching around the forest. Follow the monster’s tracks then it’s scent to a Cave entrance; it will be too steep & we will have to find another way in or just climb above the entrance & jump into it (we are not supposed to do this, but it is definitely possible).

Once inside the monster’s den we will find it… already dead? We will determine that the monster’s killer is a Chort. Brew the newly obtained Chort Lure, & pour it around the den site to lure it to us; defeat the Howler & collect our reward from the Hunter.

Velen – Byways:

Witcher Contract #5 – The Mystery of the Byways Murders: Go & investigate the village of Byways & clear out the Ghouls. The villagers here won’t tell us why the Ghouls are here, so we must look around ourselves. Follow the signs to one of the residences, & the peasant Bytomir will reveal to us what is going on.

Enter down into the Elven Ruins below & we will locate the Ekimmara, Sarasti. Slay it & return to Bytomir.


Achievement #35 – Fearless Vampire Slayer: Complete the Contract on Sarasti.
We will unlock this Achievement during Witcher Contract – The Mystery of the Byways Murders after we slay Sarasti & speak with Bytomir in Byways.

Velen – Oreton:

Witcher Contract #5 – The Mystery of the Byways Murders: To officially complete this Contract, we need to let the Nilfgaardian Patrol Commander, Milan Noran, know what happened to collect the actual reward.

Velen – Benek:

Witcher Contract #8 – Phantom of the Trade Route: For our next Contract, locate the missing caravan then follow the trails to a set of Caves close to Benek. Here we can find two Refugees that will tell us a bit of what happened. Emerge out through the top of the Cave & we will discover two Wyverns each guarding a Monster Nest. Kill the Wyverns & destroy the Monster Nests, & then we will need to bait out a Royal Wyvern; kill it as well & return back to Benek for your reward.


Achievement #36 – Mutant: Fill all 4 Mutagen Slots.
We will gain access to our fourth & final Mutagen Slot at Level 28. If you have completed all Secondary Quests so far, explored everywhere, & killed most things, you potentially may be this Level by now.

If not, no rush, we still have two more Acts & two DLCs to go through… we need to be at least Level 35 to earn the Munchkin Achievement anyways.

Novigrad – Moldavie Residence:

Witcher Contract #18 – Doors Slamming Shut: Now we head East of Novigrad to the Moldavie Residence to investigate it being haunted. Venture further into the mansion & we will discover an ancient ruin that contains a powerful Earth Elemental. Find a way to get to it, free it, & defeat it.

Return to our Contract issuer, Kurt Dysart, in the Kingfisher to claim our reward.


Achievement #37 – Ashes to Ashes: Complete the Contract on Therazane.
Complete the Witcher Contract – Doors Slamming Shut to unlock this Achievement.

Novigrad – Cunny of the Goose:

Witcher Contract #15 – Lord of the Wood: Investigate around the Loggers Hut & follow a set of wagon tracks into the nearby forest. Once at the wagon, search around the site to determine that we are up against a Leshen. Search around for the Leshen’s spies to locate its Totem; destroy it to lure out the spirit for a sweet cutscene.

Kill the Leshen, & return to the Contract issuer, Brean Hotsch, at Cunny of the Goose for our reward.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

Witcher Contract #12 – The Oxenfurt Drunk: For our final Witcher Contract for now, speak to the locals about what has happened & investigate the scene of the attack to determine we are dealing with a Vampire. A Katakan at that.

Go to the Alchemy Inn, & get drunk to lure out the Katakan to attack us. Wander around the streets near the tavern, getting into a little bit of trouble along the way, to finally bait out the Vampire after our third shanty. Briefly fight it, then chase after it to a hut along the river where we can put it down. Go to the Redanian Officer, Nikolas Friedman, for our reward to complete the Contract.

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Secondary Quest – Master Armorers: If you collected the set of High-Quality Smithing Tools back on Undvik, deliver them to Fergus in Crow’s Perch. To craft the better armor, we will first need to collect a specific acid for Yoana; progressing the Quest this far will unlock our final Witcher Contract for us. Be sure to collect the Contract before pursuing the Archgriffon!

Witcher Contract #26 – The Griffin From the Highlands: Go to the Notice Board in Crow’s Perch & we can collect this new Contract. The Griffon can be found close to Heatherton search around & locate its nest; slay it. Easy peezy.

Take the Archgriffon Trophy to the Quartermaster back in Crow’s Perch to complete the Contract; we only have four Witcher Contracts left, but they are tougher so we will save them for a little bit longer.

Secondary Quest – Master Armorers: Take the Archgriffon Acid Gland to Yoana & help her prove to the Nilfgaardian General that she is the better smith. Now, we can have Master Witcher Gear crafted for us… though we need to be Level 34 to wear it…

Sequence 27: Doing Just Gwent, Thanks

1. Velen: Mulbrydale
2. Novigrad: Passiflora
3. Main Quests: N/A
4. Random Players Dueled: 65/50
5. Unique Gwent Cards: 169/169
6. Witcher Contracts: 22/26
7. Achievements: 40/78
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Velen – Mulbrydale:

Random Player #65 – Swordsmith: If you have not already done so, we can rescue a captured Swordsmith from a Person In Distress location just Southwest of Mulbrydale along the shoreline. Free them, & when they return back to the village, we can duel them in Gwent; they use a Monster Deck.


Achievement #38 – Killed It: Win a round of Gwent with a total strength of at least 187.
This Random Player… sucks, but in a good way for us, as they have a pretty awful Deck. This makes them a prime candidate for this Achievement as they have no Scorch & rarely ever use Weather Cards.

This Achievement is tricky, but not too hard & can be earned with most Decks with ease except for the Scoia’tael Deck as it is not their strong suit; not impossible, but way harder compared to the other three Decks. We also do not actually have to win the game, just win a round with over 187 strength, so we can Forfeit the game immediately if we do not have the right Cards in our hand at the start.

Cut out all fluff Cards like Weather & even some Hero Cards; the key to strength is the ability to buff them with Commander’s Horn or Bond. Unfortunately, we need a minimum of 22 Cards to play, so keep that in mind.

For Monsters, focus on getting as many Muster Cards as you can along with Commander’s Horn or Dandelion, without having too many “doubles”. For them, I would recommend a larger Deck but would require a lot of Forfeits due to the likelihood of getting doubles.

Nilfgaard is potentially the easiest, focus on filling your Deck with Spies & Bond Cards like Impera Brigade Guards, Young Emissaries, & Commander’s Horn.

I personally am a Northern Realms user, & though it took at least 8 Forfeits I managed to do it with Blue Stripes Commandos, Crinfrid Reavers, Catapults, & Commander’s Horn; Spies were still essential for more Cards to play.

Novigrad – Passiflora:

Secondary Quest – High Stakes: As of now, we should be all up to date with our Gwent Cards; 165 if you have been following along with the guide & defeated at least 50 Random Players. Our Gwent Decks are as strong as they can be (minus some new Cards added by the Hearts of Stone DLC, but they do not count for our Achievement). If you do not have all the Gwent Cards up to this point do not enter the tournament just in case! Make a Save before you enter.

When you are ready, go to the Passiflora & get ready for the hardest version of each of the four Decks to fight! This will be a test for even the strongest Gwent Deck.

Unique Gwent Card #166 – Foltest, The Steel-Forged (Leader): Our first opponent will be the Halfling, Bernard Tulle. Before we verse him, make sure you Save! Should we lose, we will need to reload as we will be kicked out of the tournament & not be able to collect our final Gwent Cards…

Tulle uses a Northern Realms Deck with only 22 Cards, hyper specialized. He has all the Spies, Heroes, & lots of Siege Cards (no Neutral Cards); bring some Torrential Rain or Scorch. Your starter hand could spell your downfall before you even begin; don’t be afraid of Forfeiting & reloading the game to get a better one if it won’t win you the game!

Secondary Quest – High Stakes: After our first match, miss “Sasha” will come speak with us. Agree or don’t agree to her proposition; we will be needing to win the tournament fair & square regardless for our Gwent Cards, so it does not matter.

Unique Gwent Card #167 – Emhyr var Emreis, The Relentless (Leader): Our next opponent, ironically, will be miss “Sasha” who uses an intimidating Nilfgaardian Empire Deck. Once again, Save before starting the match!

This is a very tough duel as she has all the Spies & Hero Cards (but no Neutral Cards). Her Deck focuses on Decoy’s to take your own Spies & resurrecting Spies back to the field.

Unique Gwent Card #168 – Francesca Findabair, Queen of Dol Bathanna (Leader): Unfortunately, we have to now jump straight into our third duel without being able to Save. This means, should we lose this match for whatever reason, we must reload & have to verse Sasha all over again…

Our next opponent is the Half-Elf, Finneas, who naturally has a Scoia’tael Deck. I find these Decks the least intimidating, but they do have the flexibility to place certain Cards in different rows depending on the need. Finneas has all the Hero Cards, but no Spies; I found he was the easiest to exploit with Weather Cards.

The Half-Elf is a sore loser when we defeat him though so be careful… we have to box him in his pointy ears… losing this Fist Fight will not disqualify us from the tournament.

Unique Gwent Card #169 – Eredin, Bringer of Death (Leader): With that debacle done with, we can now make a final Save before we duel our last opponent, Count Tybalt. True to form with the theming of the opponents Decks, Tybalt has a Monster Deck, & is rightfully the final contender. I hate Monster Decks…

Tybalt of course has all the Hero Cards, but no Neutral Cards, so he has no Spies. He does have Decoys though & will throw your own back at you. With how little Cards Tybalt has in his Deck, there is a great chance he will over-extend with his Muster Cards having doubles in his hand & exhaust it quick. Be reserved.


Achievement #39 – Gwent Master: Defeat Tybalt & win the Gwent Tournament held at the Passiflora.
We will unlock this Achievement as soon as we defeat Count Tybalt; there is still a bit more to complete during Secondary Quest – High Stakes, but it is well… secondary, now that we have what we really needed.


Achievement #40 – Card Collector: Acquire all 169 Gwent Cards available in the base version of the game.
If you have been following along with the guide, we will unlock this Achievement after earning our final four Cards during Secondary Quest – High Stakes.

If I am being completely honest… I am pretty sure some of the Cards included in the guide do not count. The problem is, there is no real way of knowing for sure with out so much proofing. I found it was just safest to collect every single non-stackable Card & call it unique; if nothing else, it helped you build the strongest Deck possible to win the tournament…

Though there are more Gwent Cards to be earned through the Hearts of Stone DLC & potential new Random Players to defeat, I will no longer record any more Gwent related information in the guide… that is, until we begin the Blood & Wine DLC…

Sequence 28: Reunion

1. Velen: Crow’s Perch
2. Kaer Morhen
3. Vizima
4. Eastern Expanse: Temerian Partizan Hideout
5. Novigrad: Chameleon, Bathhouse
6. Main Quests: Disturbance, The Final Trial, To Bait A Forktail…, No Place Like Home, Va Fail, Elaine, Ugly Baby, Brothers In Arms Velen, Brothers In Arms Vizima, Brothers In Arms Novigrad
7. Witcher Contracts: 22/26
8. Kaer Morhen Allies: 4/6
9. Achievements: 40/78
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Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Main Quest #26 – Ugly Baby: As of now, we can essentially complete all available Secondary Quests, Treasure Hunts, & Witcher Contracts (apart from our final four) available to us. When you are ready to begin Act 2, head to Crow’s Perch.

Track down the Sergeant & then the Stablemaster to take U.M.A. with you to Kaer Morhen… or try to; we will have an imperial delay…

Kaer Morhen:

Main Quest #27 – Disturbance: Before we go off leaving the castle, pop up the tower to where Yen is setting up her Megascope. Depending on your relations with Triss, there may be some awkward conversations & we may end up going for a swim if we piss her off. Speak with her to learn of all she needs to break the curse.

With her potatoquisitor device thing, follow the signal over to where Vesemir & U.M.A. are & it will lead us to some crates near them. Examine the crates to learn they are full of magical cancelling Dimeritium Bombs. Vesemir will move them, & we can return back to Yennefer.

Main Quest #28 – The Final Trial: We can find Lambert in the main hall of Kaer Morhen; yes, we are able to still verse him in Gwent if you still need to.

Speak with him if you have not already done so & ask him about the task Yennefer gave to him. Follow Lambert to the Circle of Elements: cross over the lake in a leaky boat, pass through Old Speartip’s cave, deal with the Rock Trolls, & empower the Phylactery at the Circle of Elements.

Return to Kaer Morhen with the Phylactery to complete the Quest.

Main Quest #29 – To Bait A Forktail…: Are final prep work to do before breaking the curse will be assisting Eskel in clearing out a Forktail infestation. Track his horse’s prints, his own footprints, then the smell of a Goat? to find Eskel.

By Forktail infestation… there is actually only one. Slay it, & collect its spinal fluid for the ritual. Return to Kaer Morhen to complete the Quest.

Main Quest #30 – No Place Like Home: Return to Kaer Morhen after all the individual Quests have been completed & we will discuss the ritual. But before we really get into it, Vesemir will try his own method, & take U.M.A. off into the mountains… which leaves everyone else here at the castle with nothing to do all night… see where this is going?

Spoiling nothing, I will just say that this Quest is great & very necessary; all I can say is go all the way & don’t be a stick in the mud for the best time!

Main Quest #31 – Va Fail, Elaine: In the morning when Vesemir returns with U.M.A., we will attempt Yennefer’s risky ritual. Lift the curse & free whoever is stuck inside the Ugliest Man Alive.

Once they are free, we will finally know the location of where Ciri is; in the Isles of Mists on Skellige. The catch is the moment we take her from it, the Wild Hunt will know. Thus, we will take Ciri back to Kaer Morhen where we will be waiting for them; for the Full Crew Achievement we need to recruit all possible characters to come help us fight the Hunt before finding Ciri!

Main Quest #32 – Brothers In Arms Velen: This Quest will instantly complete as Keira Metz is our only person to recruit in Velen to help us fight. If it does not, you need to complete her Secondary Quests; if you killed her, it will void the Full Crew Achievement & essentially screw over your 100% at this point…

If you completed the alternate version of the Secondary Quest – The Fall of House Reardon located just North of Downwarren as well as Secondary Quest – Ghosts of the Past, we can recruit Letho of Gullet as an Ally. If he was killed in Witcher 2 (through the decisions you said in the Intro or by the Save you imported) he will not be able to join us; he is optional & is not required for the Full Crew Achievement.

Vizima:

Main Quest #33 – Brothers In Arms Nilfgaard: To start, we may as well get this out of the way. Head to the royal palace, maybe chat with our good friend Morvran Voorhis, & go to see his Imperial Majesty himself. Tywin Lannister cough* sorry, Emhyr var Emreis, the first of his name, the White Flame Dancing on the Graves of His Foes.

Unfortunately... this conversation will be fruitless as we do not trust “our good friend” as nearly as we pretend to.

Novigrad:

Kaer Morhen Ally #2 – Triss Merigold: If you completed Secondary Quest – Now Or Never, we should already have Triss slotted as a Kaer Morhen Ally. Shame we cannot speak with her again though…

Eastern Expanse – Temerian Partisan Hideout:

Kaer Morhen Ally #3 – Vernan Roche & Ves: Our next Ally is actually a duo, naturally we cannot acquire Vernon Roche without lovely Ves with him. Go to the Temerian camp & ask our good friend Veron for help; if you completed Secondary Quest – Eye For An Eye, & Ves did not die, he will automatically accept.

Novigrad – Rosemary & Thyme:

Kaer Morhen Ally #4 – Zolton Chivay: Now go to the Rosemary & Thyme & speak with Zoltan… that’s all we need to do to convince him to help.

Dandelion, though a backing track to our fight at Kaer Morhen would be great, will not be of use combat-wise & is not recruitable.

Novigrad – Bathhouse:

Main Quest #34 – Brothers In Arms Novigrad: Lastly, let us go see the old Temerian Spymaster, Dijkstra, & ask if he has any support for us. If you were very pro Dijkstra during our Quests for him, we will earn 1000 Crowns; if we left much to be desired… we won’t get anything.

His support is not required for the Full Crew Achievement.

Sequence 29: The Battle of Kaer Morhen

1. Ard Skellig: Gedyneith, Kaer Trolde
2. Undvik: The Isle of Mists
3. Kaer Morhen
4. Velen: Bald Mountain
5. Main Quests: Brothers In Arms Skellige, The Isles of Mists, The Battle of Kaer Morhen, Blood On the Battlefield, Bald Mountain
6. Witcher Contracts: 22/26
7. Kaer Morhen Allies: 6/6
8. Achievements: 42/78
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Ard Skellig – Gedyneith:

Kaer Morhen Ally #5 – Ermion: Now it is time to go to the Skellige Isles. Go to Gedyneith Grove & find Ermion, Like Zoltan, we need only ask for his help & he will offer it.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Kaer Morhen Ally #6 – Hjalmar an Craite: Go to Kaer Trolde & ask Hjalmer himself or Cerys if she is the Queen for assistance. Regardless of who is ruler or who we ask, it will be Hjalmer who will come fight for us at Kaer Morhen so long as we have resolved Secondary Quest – Coronation & one of the two of them have been crowned ruler of Skellige.


Achievement #41 – Full Crew: Bring all 6 possible allies to Kaer Morhen for the battle against the Hunt.
Missable. After we recruit Hjalmar, if we recruited the other five allies, we will unlock the Achievement. For the Achievement, we need to recruit: Keira Metz, Triss Marigold, Vernon Roche (with Ves), Zoltan Chivay, Ermion, & Hjalmar.

The mysterious (heavily spoiler ridden) character from Witcher 2 is optional & does not contribute to the Achievement.

Main Quest #35 – Brothers In Arms: Skellige: Lastly, speak with Crach an Craite, but he will not be able to join us. Instead, we will be given a new Steel Sword, Winter’s Blade.

Undvik – The Isles of Mists:

Main Quest #36 – The Isles of Mists: Before continuing, be sure you are finished most of your Secondary Quests, specifically: A Deadly Plot, A Matter of Life or Death, Now or Never, An Eye For An Eye, & Redania’s Most Wanted. Not completing these Quests will fail them & lock us out of earning the Assassin of Kings Achievement. Some other Secondary Quests may fail, but they are not tied to Achievement; if you are worried, then complete all that are available apart from DLC Quests, Witcher Contracts, or Treasure Hunts.

When you are ready to continue, it is time to plunge into the last portion of Act 2. Once we go to the Isles of Mists, we will be locked into the last three Quests of this Act (there is still Act 3 to do afterwards).

Any Boat will do to get us there, not just the marked ones. To save you the most time, Fast Travel to the Marlin Coast on Undvik & use the Boat found there. Then sail North along the coastline to reach the entrance in the sea underneath Tor Gvalch’ca. Regard the warning we are given, & make a separate Hard Save in case we need to reload, then proceed through the mists…

Follow the Firefly & it will guide us safely through the mist to a hut with some Dwarves inside it. Agree to locate the three missing crew members of their shipwreck; of the three, only Gaspard will be alive. With the crew “found” we will be allowed to enter the hut… & find Ciri.


Achievement #42 – Something More: Find Ciri.
Story Related. Complete Main Quest – The Isles of Mists to unlock this Achievement; I am a big crybaby & this scene made me tear up a bit.

Kaer Morhen:

Main Quest #37 – The Battle of Kaer Morhen: Begin the war council when you are ready & discuss the plans of defence. Since we recruited all allies, we have the most advantages to use against the Wild Hunt, which is fortunate on Death March! Difficulty.

We will have some optional decisions to make about some resources as well. For the lab, we can choose Vesemir’s potions or Eskel’s traps. The potions will give us single use consumable Swallow & Thunderbolt (on top of our own supply) while the traps will give us mines set up around the castle that will damage enemies. In the workshop, we can choose to fix the castle walls or clear access to the armory for some new weapons. Patching the wall will reduce the number of enemies that will be able to make it into the castle while getting to the armory will give you a new Silver Sword (most likely weaker than what you have). I recommend traps & fixing the walls…

Make your decisions, your final preparations, & join Lambert outside the main hall to commence the battle.

Cycle between Geralt & Ciri as we complete tasks throughout the siege; Ciri’s events are much harder since we have no Potions or Bombs to help us. Take advantage of slow periods for your health to auto-regenerate.

Main Quest #38 – Blood On the Battlefield: Reconvene post battle after driving the wild Hunt away, & come up with what the hell we are going to do next…

Note that there is important dialogue to be had with Ciri that pertains to the games Endings at the very end of this Quest when we speak with Ciri alone. Ciri will ask us for advice & we have two options (this is a time sensitive dialogue): Tell her to relax (Negative Point) or lift her spirits (Positive Point).

After this, Ciri will wake us up & want us to go after Imlerith; there is a time sensitive dialogue here as well. If you choose to go see the Emperor first, this will replace the "Good Ending” give you the alternate “Interesting” Ending that replaces the "Good Ending"; going after Imlerith first maintains the "Good Ending".

If you decide to go see Emhyr, there are two more choices to make. Accepting payment from Emhyr counts as a (Negative Point) & refusing it counts as a (Positive Point).

Finishing the Quest will enter us into Act 3, the final Act.

Velen – Bald Mountain:

Main Quest #39 – Bald Mountain: Go with Ciri to Bald Mountain to interrupt Imlerith’s party on the Sabbath. To get to the summit, we first need to persuade Thecla that we are worthy. Complete her challenge… defeat the gatekeeper & we will split up to deal with our opponents.

As Ciri, we will kill the Crones. This is an extremely difficult fight & you must play defensively. Focus on one Crone at a time. Whispess is best to kill first since she is ranged, then Weavess, with Brewess last. If you fall under half health, fall back & evade until you are restored. We have no Checkpoints so the entire fight must be done in one go!

For Geralt, we will kill Imlerith. He is tough, but with our arsenal of gear, he is no match for us. Be patient with his second phase.

Sequence 30: The King Is Dead

1. Novigrad: Chameleon, Crippled Kate’s, Gildorf, Bathhouse, Harborside
2. Ard Skellig: Kaer Trolde
3. Main Quests: Final Preparations, The Great Escape, Payback, Blindingly Obvious, Through Time & Space
4. Witcher Contracts: 22/26
5. Achievements: 46/78
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Novigrad – Chameleon:

Main Quest #40 – Final Preparations: When we reach the Chameleon, we will have to speak with four of our companions & complete side/Main Quests for them to help prepare for the next phase of our counter offensive.

Novigrad – Crippled Kate’s:

Main Quest #41 – The Great Escape: First on our list, let’s go see Yennefer at Crippled Kate’s along the canal. Speak with her unwilling contact, & we will begin concocting a strategy of how to break the Sorceress, Margarita Laux-Antille, out of Deireadh Prison. Speak with Zoltan if you wish, then meet Yennefer in Oxenfurt.

Enter into the elven ruins below Oxenfurt, & make your way through them to the secret entrance to the prison. Once inside, kill the Witch Hunters & collect the Cell Key from the Prison Warden to free Rita.


Achievement #43 – Overkill: Make an opponent suffer from Bleeding, Poisoning, & Burning simultaneously. Do this 10 times.
This is a simpler Achievement if you are using Witcher Swords equipped with Devana Runestones to cause Bleeding; Cat School Swords have permanent Bleed chance. Once you notice an enemy is Bleeding, quickly throw a Devil’s Puffball Bomb to cause Poison then a Dancing Star Bomb (or use Igni) to light them on Fire; do this 10 times on different enemies.

Alternatively, you can equip a Sword with three Rune Sockets a Devana, Morana, & Dazhbog Runestone but that is less guaranteed to work. Bleed is the best done with Runes or Sword effects while Poison & Fire is best done with Bombs & Signs. Work towards this Achievement as we complete Act 3.

Novigrad – Gildorf:

Main Quest #42 – Payback: Wait until morning, then go see Ciri in Gildorf next. Accompany her to visit a ghost from the past, Whoreson Junior… or so we think. Instead, we will see an old friend, Dudo. Next we will go to the Golden Sturgeon to thank a barmaid who helped Ciri. Lastly go to Farcorners to say goodbye to her friend Valdo.

Novigrad – Chameleon:

Main Quest #40 – Final Preparations: Now we will speak with Triss back at Chameleon to discuss the help from the Lodge. That help, comes in the form of one Philippa Eilhart terrifyingly enough; if you played Witcher 2, you will know all about how dangerous she is…

Novigrad – Bathhouse:

Main Quest #43 – Blindingly Obvious: This is an important Main Quest relating to the Assassin of Kings Achievement & can make it Missable if you choose wrong dialogue!

Make your way to the Bathhouse to see Dijkstra, & (Censored by Steam) will have hit the fan. Once we apprehend Philippa, Dijkstra will intercept us demanding that we hand her over. You need to give Dijkstra some intel on what Emhyr is after & persuade him in dialogue; we cannot force our way past Dijkstra (breaking his leg) or it voids the next Secondary Quest & our Achievement.

If done right, Philippa will overhear our plan to murder King Radovid & insert herself into the plan.

Novigrad – Harborside:

Secondary Quest – Reason of State: After completing Main Quest – Blindingly Obvious, we should have unlocked the final Secondary Quest in this subplot. Go to the warehouse on the harbor & hear out Dijkstra’s plans. Agree to help & play your part in the plan.

Go to Radovid’s ship & speak to him about capturing Philippa… the rest is history in the making.


Achievement #44 – Assassin of Kings: Take part in the assassination of King Radovid.
Missable. Complete Secondary Quest – Reason of State & go with Radovid to Phillipa’s hideout & turn the tabling tables against him to unlock the Achievement.

Though not tied to any Achievements, some troubling developments happen during the aftermath & you will need to make a decision about the future of the North & our friends.

Novigrad – Chameleon:

Main Quest #44 – Through Time & Space: Next on our list will be Avallav’h. Go to speak with him in the Ruby Suite of Chameleon & head with him to the meeting point. Follow him through the Portal into the realm of the Aen Elle to track down the Elf, Ge’els, an important advisor in the court of the king. Though, were it so easy… it will take a few attempts to get there.

Take Ge’els back to our realm, & he will dream of how the Aen Elle king was slain.


Achievement #45 – Xenonaut: Visit Tir ná Lia & convince Ge'els to betray Eredin.
Story Related. Complete Main Quest – Through Time & Space to unlock this Achievement.

Main Quest #40 – Final Preparations: When all side tasks have been completed, meet with Yennefer downstairs in Chameleon to hold council with the Lodge or rather, have them attempt to acquire Ciri for their own gain…

This is another decision we need to make for our Endings: Let Ciri speak with them on her own for a (Positive Point) or accompany her inside for a (Negative Point).


Achievement #46 – Munchkin: Reach character development Level 35.
We will be earning lots of Xp over the last few Main Quests; if you have been busy with Secondary Quests, you are bound to unlock this Achievement soon.

Novigrad – Harborside:

Main Quest #45 – Battle Preparations: When you are ready, meet our companions down at the Novigrad harbor to travel with them to Skellige… even though Geralt knows how to teleport there via Signpost witchcraft...

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Main Quest #45 – Battle Preparations: When we arrive in Skellig, we will be docked at the Kaer Trolde Harbor. Emhyr will have beaten us here & is preparing to invade the Isles. We have two new Main Quests we will need to complete to finish this one…

Sequence 31: Ithlinne's Prophecy

1. Ard Skellig: Blandare, Fyresdal, Rannvaig, Kaer Trolde, Ancient Crypt
2. Undvik: Marlin Coast, Tor Gvalch’ca
3. Hindarsfjall: Lofoten
4. Main Quests: Battle Preparations, The Sunstone, Child of the Elder Blood, Skjall’s Grave, On Thin Ice, Tedd Deireadh, The Final Age, Something Ends, Something Begins
5. Witcher Contracts: 24/26
6. Achievements: 52/78
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Ard Skellig – Blandare:

Achievement #47 – Hasta la Vista: Kill a Frozen opponent with a Crossbow Bolt.
Before we continue on, head to the Village of Blandare & go to the pasture full of Cows. Equip a Northern Wind Bomb (or craft them if you somehow never have yet) & throw it into the Cows to Freeze them. Quickly equip your best Crossbow, then shoot a Frozen Cow to kill them, unlocking this Achievement.

If you have the Blood & Wine DLC, we will have access to this Achievement.

Ard Skellig – Fyresdal:

Witcher Contract #23 – Dragon: Go now to Fyresdal & search the area just outside the Village from the signs of their “dragon”. Obviously, it won’t be a dragon, but a Forktail. Get some bait from the Fyresdal Ealdorman & lure the beast out to kill it.

Return back to Vagn once we kill “Dragon” & claim our reward; don’t be honest that it was only a Forktail, or our bounty will be halved…

Ard Skellig – Rannvaig:

Witcher Contract #21 – Missing Son: For our final Witcher Contract in Skellige, go to the ruined town of Boxholm & search the nearby castle ruins for trace of Odhen’s son. Here, we will find the Fiend, Morvudd; fight it, then chase it back to its lair close to Boxholm.

Slay it, & locate the remains of Odhen’s son before returning back to him to collect our reward.


Achievement #48 – Fiend or Foe?: Complete the Contract on Morvudd.
Complete Witcher Contract – Missing Son to unlock this Achievement.

Undvik – Marlin Coast:

Main Quest #46 – Veni Vidi Vigo: When your side business is done in Skellige, let us move on to the important matters at hand. First, head to Undvik, & prepare to sneak onto his “Imperial Majesty’s” ship under the cover of darkness. Avoid the lights, & swim aboard the flagship undetected; if need be, dive below the waters. Get to the opposite side of the flagship, & we can find a way onboard using the anchor.

Have a curt conversation with the Emperor, free Fringilla, & we will be on our way.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Main Quest #47 – The Sunstone: Now, we need the Sunstone. Speak with Crach at the Kaer Trolde Harbor where we can find Ermion. Go to Kaer Muire now, where ol’ Madman Lugos reigns, & we can find the druid. Diffuse the situation… & speak with the druid outside Holmstein.

Afterwards, speak with the Bard, Eyvind, in Arinbjorn & the pearl diver off the coast of Eldberg Lighthouse. Speak to the Bard, witness his whale… most likely not glean any information out of him. Go to the pearl diver next, & swim into the underwater cave to find him to find the location of a hidden cave they have never been able to enter…

On our return after speaking with our sources, we will be presented with a new Quest when debriefing our companions. Ignore it for now, & join Philippa at the Ancient Crypt.

Ard Skellig – Ancient Crypt:

Main Quest #47 – The Sunstone: Travel to the coastal entrance to the Ancient Crypt to join Philippa. Kill some monsters, have some awkward conversations, & complete a mirror puzzle to obtain the Sunstone.

Unfortunately, we have to backtrack our way out of these ruins when we are finished which can be confusing…

Main Quest #48 – Child of the Elder Blood: Now it is time to link up with Ciri & Yen as they snoop on Avallac’h at his laboratory. Sail or Fast Travel to his hideout on The Pali Gap Coast, & learn more about the mysterious Aen Elle’s motives.

We have another decision here to make for an Ending Point. After discovering all of Avallac’h’s notes, Ciri will be furious & we will have to make a decision: Tell her to calm down for a (Negative Point) or let her go for it & take out her anger for a (Positive Point).

Completing this Main Quest will segway into the next should you agree to join Ciri. As an aside, not going with Ciri gives you a (Negative Point) & going with her gives you a (Positive Point). These are our final actions towards the Endings…

Hindarsfjall – Lofoten:

Main Quest #49 – Skjall’s Grave: Go with Ciri to Lofoten & give Skjall some last rites & bury him.

Ard Skellig – Kaer Trolde:

Main Quest #45 – Battle Preparations: Return back to our ship at the Kaer Trolde Harbor & speak with Avallac’h. Now is the time for madness & disdain. Continue on, & we will enter the final section of Act 3 & beat the game.

Undvik – Marlin Coast:

Main Quest #50 – On Thin Ice: When you are ready, speak with Avallac’h once again to begin the battle.

Defeat Caranthir with Ciri’s help & chase after the Naglfar to find Eredin. Defeat Eredin. Eredin must be defeated in one go without Checkpoints; I recommend using the Ancient Leshen & Katakan Decoctions if you have them along with Thunderbolt & Swallow.


Achievement #49 – The King of the Dead: Defeat Eredin.
Story Related. Complete Main Quest – On Thin Ice & kill Eredin to unlock this Achievement.

Undvik – Tor Gvalch’ca:

Main Quest #51 – Tedd Deireadh, The Final Age: Avallac’h will have betrayed us. Once Eredin is defeated, we need to race to Tor Gvalch’ca with Yennefer & pursue the traitorous Aen Elle… but it isn’t that simple. Were it so easy…

White Orchard or Velen:

Main Quest #52 – Something Ends, Something Begins: Depending on the choices & dialogue you had made along our journey with Ciri, will be a crossroad of a final Quest. Follow the Quest through for your Ending… there are three different outcomes…

If you are in Velen at the Inn At the Crossroads, you got the Good Ending. If you are in White Orchard, you got the “interesting” Ending… & if you are in Crookback Bog, you unfortunately got the Bad Ending.


Achievement #50 – Passed the Trial: Finish the game on any Difficulty.
Story Related. Complete Main Quest – Tedd Deirdeadh, The Final Age & beat the Base Game to unlock this Achievement.


Achievement #51 – Ran the Gauntlet: Finish the game on the Blood & Broken Bones! or Death March! Difficulty levels.
Story Related. Beat the game on Blood & Broken Difficulty or higher to unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #52 – Walked the Path: Finish the game on the Death March! Difficulty level.
Story Related. If you played the game on Death March! Difficulty from the start & beat the Base Game, we will unlock this Achievement.

As of now, we can lower the Difficulty without fear if you choose to; personally, especially if you are wearing Mastercraft Witcher Gear… the game would be too easy on anything less.

66% Complete

Sequence 32: Hearts of Stone

1. Velen: Inn At the Crossroads
2. Eastern Expanse: Brunwich, Upper Mill, Zuetzer Castle, Kilkerinn Ruins
3. Witcher Contracts: 26/26
4. Achievements: 55/78
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DLC Breakdown – Hearts of Stone: (12)
Story Related: (2)
Missable: (4)
Collectibles: (1)
Slay: (3)
Miscellaneous: (2)

As of now, the Main Campaign has been completed & we have free roam. Certain Secondary Quests may have been failed if they were not completed along the way, the bulk are still available along with all Witcher Contracts & Treasure Hunts.

Before we begin the DLC, let us quickly go & complete our final two Witcher Contracts!

Velen – Inn At the Crossroads:

Witcher Contract #2 – Missing Brother: We should now be more than strong enough to finish this Witcher Contract. Go to Mulbrydale & head over to the mine close to the Redanian Border Post. Investigate the tracks outside (be sure to do this) & enter the mine to search around to find whatever has been killing all of these villagers we find inside.

The tracks will lead us a to a pool we can dive into & it will lead us to an Arachas’ nest. Destroy the eggs, kill Harrisi, & return back to Bruno at the Inn At the Crossroads for our reward.

Eastern Expanse:

Witcher Contract #13 – The Creature From Oxenfurt Forest: For our final Witcher Contract, examine the area East of Oxenfurt where the monster attacked a group of mercenaries. Follow a blood trail away from the scene & then head towards a large group of ravens circling an area ahead of us to locate the nest of an Archgriffon, Opinicus. Wait until nightfall for it to return to the nest, slay it, & head back to Hans Cidaris at his camp for our reward.


Achievement #53 – Geralt: The Professional: Complete all 26 Witcher Contracts.
We will unlock this Achievement after we complete all 26 Witcher Contracts. According to the Wiki, Devil By the Well does not count anymore for some reason, but I left it in the guide to be on the safe side…

The three free DLC Witcher Contracts (The Beast of Honorton, Skellige’s Most Wanted, & Missing Miners) do not contribute to the Achievement.

Eastern Expanse – Brunwich:

Notice Board: If you have not already done so, it is time to view the final Notice Board found at the far edge of the Eastern Expanse at Brunwich. Viewing the Notice Board will uncover all new Undiscovered Locations from the Hearts of Stone DLC.

Fallen Knight Camp #1: While we are here, head to the Undiscovered Location Northeast of Brunwich by the creek. Here we can find our first Fallen Knight Camp; we need to eliminate/loot all 8 Camps for the Wild Rose Dethorned Achievement.

Eastern Expanse – Upper Mill:

Merchant: Head back to the road & follow it further East around the lake, past Brunwich Chapel, towards a large windmill tower. Here we can find the Runewright & a Merchant. This Merchant will sell us important Ofieri equipment we need for the I Wore Ofieri Before It Was Cool Achievement.

We need to purchase the Ofieri Decorated Saber for ~1300 Crowns, Ofieri Tunic for ~1000 Crowns, Ofieri Horse Blinders for ~250 Crowns, & the Ofieri Saddlebags for ~250 Crowns as well.

We do not need to buy the Ofieri Crossbow. The Gwent Cards he has for sale do not contribute towards the Card Collector Achievement either in case you were wondering…

To collect the Ofieri Stock Saddle, speak with the Merchant about his Horse & we can race him to earn it.

Treasure Hunt – From Ofier’s Distant Shores: We will/can receive this Quest after we speak with the Merchant. We need to obtain his four missing Diagrams which he can then translate to sell the missing pieces of Ofieri Armor we need.

Eastern Expanse – Zuetzer Castle:

Fallen Knight Camp #2: Head South down the road to the next Undiscovered Location at some castle ruins where we can find another Fallen Knight Camp. We can also find the Untranslated Gauntlets Diagram for the Merchant here as well…

Be sure to kill all the Fallen Knights here before you leave!

Eastern Expanse – Kilkerinn Ruins:

Fallen Knight Camp #3: Continue down South from the last Camp to the next Undiscovered Location found at Kilkerinn Ruins to find another Fallen Knight Camp; kill all of them.

Eastern Expanse:

Treasure Hunt – From Ofier’s Distant Shores: Head to the location where our Ofieri friends were attacked near a lumber mill to find their wrecked caravan. Search around & follow some tracks to the thieves’ hideout… & the thieves will turn out to be the Fallen Knights we have already been fighting.

Search the Chest here after they are killed to find the Untranslated Armor Diagram & read the Letter With Orders to get the locations of some of their Bandit Camps with the remaining Diagrams.

Fallen Knight Camp #4: Follow our new Quest Waypoint just North of our position to a Fallen Knight Camp. Kill them & loot the Chest for the Untranslated Boots Diagram.

Fallen Knight Camp #5: Our next Camp can be found a little ways down South at the Undiscovered Location immediately South East of Est Tayiar. Kill all the Fallen Knights here.

Fallen Knight Camp #6: Follow the Quest Marker to the last noted Bandit Camp & kill the Fallen Knights we find here. Loot the Chest to collect the Untranslated Trouser Diagram.

Fallen Knight Camp #7: Head to the Undiscovered Location up the road East of this Fallen Knight Camp to find yet another at the end of the road. Kill all the Knights & be sure to loot their Chest as always.

Fallen Knight Camp #8: Our final Fallen Knight Camp can be found at the Undiscovered Location Northwest of Yantra. Head up the road Northwest to the Sarrasin Grange, & continue on through the woods to find the camp. Kill the Knights & loot their Camp.


Achievement #54 – Wild Rose Dethorned: Defeat all the Fallen Knights & loot their 8 Campsites.
After the last Fallen Knight is slain & you have gone & looted all 8 of their Campsites, we will unlock this Achievement. All their Bandit Camps should be faded out & not bold white otherwise you have not looted their Camp.

There is a Person(s) In Distress as well as an Abandoned Site that have Fallen Knights in them; these do not count towards the Achievement.

Eastern Expanse – Upper Mill:

Achievement #55 – I Wore Ofieri Before It Was Cool: Collect all available Ofieri Armor, Horse Gear, & at least one Ofieri Sword.
With the Untranslated Diagrams in hand, return them to the Merchant then Meditate for a day for him to get our things ready. Return on the morrow to collect the Diagrams from him; we must now Craft our remaining pieces.

Go to a Blacksmith & have them Craft the Ofieri Boots, Ofieri Gauntlets, & the Ofieri Sharovary. If you bought the Ofieri Tunic, Ofieri Saber, & own all the Ofieri Horse gear we will unlock the Achievement.

Sequence 33: The Indentured Witcher

1. Eastern Expanse: Garin Estate, Yantra, Von Everec Estate
2. Novigrad: Oxenfurt
3. HoS Quests: Evil’s Soft First Touches, Open Sesame!, Dead Man’s Party
4. Achievements: 57/78
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Eastern Expanse – Garin Estate:

HoS Quest #1 – Evil’s Soft First Touches: Now we can finally begin the DLC in full; we should have collected this Quest quite a while ago. Make your way through the Eastern Expanse to find the Garrin Estate in the Northern end of the area.

Enter the manor & look for Olgierd von Everec. After a bit of teasing, we will be taken to see him upstairs where we can discuss the Contract in the sewers.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

HoS Quest #1 – Evil’s Soft First Touches: Go to Oxenfurt now & head to the entrance to the sewers. Shortly during our stroll, we will encounter a very old friend of ours, Shani. Track the beast to its lair & slay it.


Achievement #56 – I’m Not Kissing That: Kill the prince cursed into a toad.
Story Related. We will unlock this Achievement as soon as we slay the Toad “Prince” in Hearts of Stone Quest – Evil’s Soft First Touches.

Eastern Expanse – Yantra:

HoS Quest #1 – Evil’s Soft First Touches: After the Toad “Prince” is dead, a whole lot of plot is going to happen. Once we come to on the beaches close to Cape Crane, we will need to link up with the “Master of Mirrors” in the village of Yantra at midnight. Speak with him, & we will hear the full extent of our “experience like no other”. Agree to help him.

Eastern Expanse – Garin Estate:

HoS Quest #1 – Evil’s Soft First Touches: Return to see Olgierd at the Garin Estate, & we will receive the next two Quests in the DLC to complete – Olgierd’s first two requests…

These two Quests each have a Missable Achievement each so pay attention!

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

HoS Quest #2 – Open Sesame!: To start, we will do the “easy” request; before beginning it be sure that you have at least 1000 Crowns to spare! Go to Oxenfurt & head to Borsodis’ Auction House. Enter inside, & let the bartering begin… though we will need to kill some time doing Geralt’s least favourite activity. Socializing.

Note that we can acquire a Missable DLC Gwent Card from Hilbert if we defeat him in a Gwent duel. If you plan to follow through, be sure to make a Save beforehand in case you lose or get a bad hand.


Achievement #57 – Shopaholic: Buy all 3 items put on the block at the Borsodis' Auction House.
Missable. When the auction begins, we must be prepared to bid on all three items that are put on the block; the total of all of them will be 680 Crowns. Be warned making a bid is a timed event, so be sure to be quick about it when prompted.

The first item we must buy is Count Romilly’s Figurine which is a bronze statue of a raven – keep on making bids until we can buy it for 300 Crowns.

The next item will be an esteemed painting of the artist Van Rough, with an original piece called “Starry Night Over the Pontar”. Once again, make your bids until you buy it for a mere 30 Crowns.

The final item will be the Professor’s Spectacles – the infamous man himself. It can be bought for a bid of 350 Crowns & can actually be worn in our Mask Slot.

When all three items are purchased, there will be an intermission at the auction, & we will earn our Achievement.

HoS Quest #2 – Open Sesame!: With that business taken care of, it is now time for us to get back to why we are really here. Speak Horst about acquiring his relatives house… & it won’t go well. After we collect ourselves off the street & stretching our muscles, we will be introduced to our new partner in crime, though we won’t catch his name.

HoS Quest #3 – Dead Man’s Party: While we are still here in Oxenfurt, we may as well go track down Shani at her clinic. Speak with her to help us out with Olgierd’s second request about showing his brother… dead brother… the time of his life.

Hos Quest #2 – Open Sesame!: Now travel across the bridge out of Oxenfurt to the East to see the Master Herbalist… who will be in the middle of some business with a few Fallen Knights. Intercede, & then speak to him for some Yarrow Extract… to then meet with the Stranger in the basement to discuss the heist to receive three sub-Quests we need to complete.

Complete the Quests, choosing which of the four candidates you want for your team as well as coercing the cook to assist us, then return back to the Herbalist’s Hut to finalize the details. If you are ready… commence the heist.

There are no Achievements involved with the heist, though it can go smoothly or less than so depending on who your brought along & some of your decisions… regardless, follow it through, & obtain Maximilian Borsodi’s House. Take it to Olgierd at the Alchemy Inn to complete the Quest.

Eastern Expanse – Von Everec Estate:

HoS Quest #3 – Dead Man’s Party: Meet Shani outside the Von Everec Estate & we will immediately be asked to attend a wedding for her; for the Let the Good Times Roll! Achievement, we must agree to go with her!

For Olgierd’s brother, enter the mausoleum & spread the incense throughout it once you find his tomb. Meet the whole Von Everec family & we will get a little bit physical with them before we will meet Vlodimir. To give him the “time of his life”… he will posses us… & we will take him with us to that wedding… Oh boy, this will be interesting indeed.

Sequence 34: Till Death Do Us Part

1. Eastern Expanse: Brunwich, Von Everec’s Estate
2. Novigrad: Oxenfurt
3. HoS Quests: Dead Man’s Party, Scenes From A Wedding
4. Achievements: 59/78
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Eastern Expanse – Brunwich:

Achievement #58 – Let the Good Times Roll!: Participate in all 10 of the activities at the wedding.
Missable. Make your way over to where the wedding party is being held at Brunwich. Borrow some clothes, meet the newly weds, & we can then partake in some wedding activities. There are 10 different ones in total & for our Achievement we need to complete all of them. After we complete 7/10 we will drag Shani into the barn for a dance & Master Mirror will appear; speaking with him will end our free roam at the wedding & void our Achievement! Participate/complete all 10 activities before you go to speak with him.

Make a Save before you begin completing the activities just in case something goes awry so you can reload if the Achievement does not unlock!

The 10 wedding activities are:

• Speaking with a Man & a Woman in the center of the yard & locating the fire swallower.
  
• Drinking at a table near two Women.
  
• Speaking with a Woman up near the main house.
  
• Going up to the hay loft of the barn & sit down on a pillow to converse with Shani.
  
• Drinking with some Dwarves on the lower floor of the barn.
  
• Dancing to the band on the lower floor of the barn.
  
• Speaking with some Townsmen near the pig pen & chasing some pigs around in the muck; win or lose. I recommend not using Axii as we will be caught cheating, but you are able to if you want. We will also get into a bit of a misunderstanding with some Wikerson brothers & cousins…
  
• Speaking with a Woman beside a large tree near the pond.
  
• Speaking with a Townsman & going for a swim in said pond to collect a fair maid’s slipper from the bottom. There are three down there so be sure to grab the right one… or all of them to be safe.
  
• Playing Gwent with some Halflings at a table outside.

When all 10 activities are completed, in any order, go to speak with Master Mirror, & go to the barn for the capping ceremony to conclude the evening. Vlodimir will then pen us a letter to give to his brother Olgierd to prove we sowed him a good time. Master Mirror will then dispel the ghost… rather unpleasantly.

Finish speaking with Shani, & then Master Mirror, & afterwards we will unlock the Achievement.

You can leave or stay a bit longer; sleeping with Shani is optional, & will not interfere with your Romance with Triss or Yennefer like Kiara didn’t.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

HoS Quest #3 – Dead Man’s Party: With Vlodimir’s letter, return back to Olgierd at the Alchemy Inn & report that we have finished his second task.

HoS Quest #4 – Scenes From A Marriage: Now, we ask Olgierd what his third & final task is.

Eastern Expanse – Von Everec Estate:

HoS Quest #4 – Scenes From A Marriage: There are two Achievements associated with this Quest & they are Missable.

Enter the estate grounds & begin searching for a way inside. Defeat the Caretaker, who is a pain (it is a Relict) & take its key to the manor. While in the manor, be sure to collect the Painting of Iris & Olgierd as we will need it later. Navigate to the bedchamber after defeating a Wraith & we can find Iris’ body. Bury her outside in the courtyard close to her easel. Say some kind words at her burial, & place that Painting we collect on her grave to perform the summoning ritual. Iris will appear & summon a painting we will be sucked into…

The Painted World of Iris von Everic:

HoS Quest #4 – Scenes From A Marriage: When we enter the Painted World, we will need to search around the estate to recreate all 8 Nightmares available. 7/8 are Story Related, but there is one that is not & must be completed for an Achievement. The Nightmares must be manually located through our Witcher Senses.

Nightmare #1 – Unwell At the Gazebo: Missable. Approach the gazebo Nightmare dead ahead of us & we can find a Painter’s Palette on a bench across from where Olgierd is sitting & can place it onto the small table beside him. Next collect the Book, The Spirit From the Steppe, & place it in Olgierd’s hand to complete the gazebo Nightmare.

This is the only Missable Nightmare we need to recreate; all others are Story Related.

Nightmare #2 – A Toast At the Fountain: With the gazebo safely done, we can now follow all the lit up Nightmares & follow them through. For the fountain in the center of the courtyard, collect the Glass & place it into Iris’ hand to complete the Nightmare.

Nightmare #3 – Family Dinner: Enter inside the manor now & go to the dining room. Light the two candle sticks closest to the family on the table while leaving the furthest one unlit & light the fireplace to recreate the Nightmare.

Nightmare #4 – Blood Stains & Ink Stains: Go upstairs now & go to the bedchamber. Collect the Bloody Towel off of the floor & place it on the large table where Olgierd is to complete the Nightmare.

Nightmare #5 – Secrets: Now head into the next room where Iris is painting Olgierd’s portrait. Collect the Glass & Bowl of Fruit then place the Grapes on the left, Goblet in the middle, & Apples on the right on the table beside Olgierd to complete the Nightmare.

Nightmare #6 – Flaming Anger, Ice Cold Regret: Follow where Olgierd went into the room across the way go to his study. Collect the Chalk & set of Beeswax Candles to set up around the pentagram in the center of the room. Place the Candles on the circle surrounding the pentagram to complete the Nightmare.

Nightmare #7 – Broken Vows: After escaping the burning study ran to find safety from the frigid cold of the Winter Painting in through the cellar found in the lower courtyard. In the cellar, collect the Marriage Contract & the Mug; place the Contract in the hand of Iris’ father & the Mug in Olgierd’s to complete the Nightmare.

Nightmare #8 – Anhedonia: For our final Nightmare, we will return to the dining room. Collect the Food Tray to place into the Caretaker’s hands, the Large Bowl to put in front of the Dog, & the Small Bowl to place in front of the Cat to complete the Nightmare.


Achievement #59 – Curator of Nightmares: Recreate all 8 of Iris' Nightmares in the Painted World.
Missable. This Achievement will unlock after the 8th Nightmare has been completed. The only reason it is Missable, is if you failed to complete the first Nightmare at the gazebo before venturing on into the manor.

Sequence 35: A Pact Undone

1. Eastern Expanse: Von Everec’s Estate
2. Novigrad: Oxenfurt
3. Velen: Temple of Lilvani, Crow’s Perch
4. HoS Quests: Scenes From A Wedding, Whatsoever A Man Soweth
5. Achievements: 63/78
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Eastern Expanse – Von Everec Estate:

Achievement #60 – When It’s Many Against One…: Provoke all 6 of Iris von Everec's Nightmares into fighting you at the same time & defeat them.
Missable. With the Nightmares witnessed, we will enter the parlor & need to fight off Iris’ Greatest Fear… the many deaths of Olgierd. One will attack us, but there will be five others standing nearby waiting.

For this Achievement, you need to quickly rush around & attack the dormant five so that we are being attacked by all six Olgierds at the same time. Once they are all agrro’d we need to defeat them all! We will be auto-locked on to the main Olgierd & it can be challenging to attack the ones on standby. Try getting behind them & put them in front of us & the main Olgierd to strike them. The Achievement will unlock after they are all killed if we fought them all at the same time; we cannot kill any of the Olgierds before they are all aggro’d!

This can be extremely challenging on Death March! Difficulty & you may want to set it lower…

HoS #4 – Scenes From A Marriage: Once we defeat all the Nightmares, we can finally speak with Iris to receive the Violet Rose to bring back to Olgierd. Exit the Painted World to complete the Quest.

Novigrad – Oxenfurt:

HoS Quest #5 – Whatsoever A Man Soweth: Meet Olgierd’s contact at the Alchemy Inn… but first we will meet with Master Mirror. Relay to Olgierd’s man what Master Mirror told us, & we will be on our way to the temple.

If you want, you can check in on Shani’s new leads on Olgierd as well.

Velen – Temple of Lilvani:

HoS Quest #5 – Whatsoever A Man Soweth: Get to the Temple of Lilvani now to meet Olgierd. Before we get too close, make a Save! This Quest has a couple different Endings, so in case you don’t like yours, you can reload & try something different.

Meet Olgierd & decide to either help him or let Master Mirror take his soul. Should you play against Master Mirror, we need to manually search for the answer to his riddle in this dream realm; it can be found in the manor at the top of the hill by using Aard to blow open a wall to fill a fountain with water. The answer is in your reflection.


Achievement #61 – Pacta Sunt Servanda: Finish the Hearts of Stone expansion.
Story Related. We will unlock this Achievement after completing Hearts of Stone Quest – Whatsoever A Man Soweth.

Velen – Crow’s Perch:

Achievement Mop Up: Before we carry on into the Blood & Wine DLC, we can quickly mop up some easy straggler Achievements. Farming these will require the use of a Potion of Clearance to respec our Abilities; you will want a second one to respec yourself back to your original build once we are finished. Since we already beat the game on Death March! Difficulty as well, I strongly recommend dropping the Difficulty down to Just the Story! in Options – Gameplay if you have not already done so to make this go faster.

Use a Potion of Clearance & purchase/max out these 12 Abilities:
Combat – Arrow Deflection 2, Lightning Reflexes 1, Anatomical Knowledge 3
Signs – Delusion 3, Puppet 3, Far Reaching Aard 3, Aard Sweep 3
Alchemy – Heightened Tolerance 3, Acquired Tolerance 3
General – Metabolic Control 1, Steady Shot 1, Trick Shot 1

Use the rest of your Ability Points on whichever you prefer to round your build out.


Achievement #62 – Return to Sender: Kill 3 opponents with their own arrows.
To start, we will do the simple ones. The best place to farm this Achievement I found… is actually using the respawning Baron’s Henchmen beside the Crow’s Perch Signpost; we need the Arrow Deflection Ability equipped.

Kill the one wielding a polearm first then quickly back away from the crossbow wielder so he doesn’t switch to his sword. To redirect his bolts back at him, we need to perfectly time our Parry to essentially Riposte the projectile back at him. Once they are dead, simply Meditate to respawn them until we kill the crossbow wielder three times with his own bolts.


Achievement #63 – Can Quit Anytime I Want: Be under the influence of 7 Potions or Decoctions at the same time.
For this Achievement you will need the Metabolic Control, Acquired Tolerance & Heightened Tolerance Abilities maxed out to Level 3. Equip them & our current Toxicity Threshold should be at least 150-200. For this Achievement, drink as many low Toxicity inducing Potions as you can; Decoctions are less favourable as they have a minimum of 50 Toxicity.

There are many different combos of Potions we can drink for the Achievement. An example combo would be drinking: Swallow (20), Thunderbolt (25), Cat (15), Blizzard (20), Maribor Forest (20), Golden Oriole (25), & Petri’s Philter (25) for a total of 150 Toxicity.

Sequence 36: Those Poor Pirates

1. Faroe: Trottheim
2. Achievements: 66/78
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Faroe – Trottheim:

Now for the grindy Achievements. For our farming location, we will go to Skellige & head to Trottheim on Faroe. From here, head Northwest along the road near the coast from the village to the North end of the coastline. Here, we can find two Pirates that respawn infinitely… meaning they are the perfect enemies to grind “Slay” Achievements with. Shout out to KleptoJack from TrueAchievements for this strategy!




Run to where the Marker is on the Screenshot & we should find them standing near the cliff edge. If they are not here, wait a few seconds at the spot, then either run up the road towards the Harpies or back down to town, wait a few more seconds, then return to the spot. Rinse & repeat until you can make out the Pirates; if you can, do not alarm them so we can make a Save here.

The Pirates can be respawned just by walking away & returning back to their spot; you do not need to waste time Meditating which what makes these Pirates so ideal to farm.


Achievement #64 – The Enemy of My Enemy: Use the Axii Sign to force one opponent to kill another. Do this 20 times.

For this Achievement, you will need the Puppet Ability equipped. Using our respawning Pirates, cast Puppet on one & have them kill their partner under the effects of the Sign. Rinse & repeat 20 times to unlock the Achievement. Drinking the Ancient Leshen Decoction as well as Tawny Owl Potions can make your Stamina regenerate faster so you don’t need to wait around.

Once the first Pirate is dead, look at the Humpty Dumpty Achievement below for what to do with the second Pirate… When the Pirates are dead, begin walking back up the road towards the West & they should instantly respawn. If they do not respawn immediately, you may need to run back & forth to the spawn point to eventually trigger them again…


Achievement #65 – Humpty Dumpty: Kill 10 opponents by knocking them off somewhere high with the Aard Sign.
For this Achievement, we need to blast our respawning Pirates off the cliff edge with Aard & have them fall to their deaths. You can evade to dodge the Pirate to get his back to the cliff edge or just Parry/Counter their attacks to push them towards it, then blast them over the edge with Aard. Rinse & repeat to unlock the Achievement.

You can technically just use un-upgraded Aard for this Achievement, but having the Far-Reaching Aard & Aard Sweep Abilities makes it much easier.

We can also use this spot to farm the Triple Threat Achievement, Can’t Touch This! Achievement, Kaer Morhen Trained Achievement, That Is the Evilest Thing Achievement, Overkill Achievement if you still need to unlock them!


Achievement #66 – Master Marksman: Kill 50 human & nonhuman opponents by striking them in the head with a Crossbow Bolt.
Now for the grindiest of our farming Achievements. For this one, we will need the Lightning Reflexes, Anatomical Knowledge, & Steady Shot Abilities equipped. You can also equip the Trick Shot Ability as well to makes things a bit faster. Be sure the Difficulty is reduced down to Just the Story Difficulty. Equip your best Crossbow (Ursine Crossbow is one of the best, if not the actual best in the game). You can use speciality Crossbow Bolts if you want to, but with all this set up, regular bolts should be fine. Remove your Swords as well so we can only use our Fists for melee.

Go to our Pirates, & give them a punch or two to drop their health down to a third. Evade into a comfortable position, then manually aim your Crossbow point blank into their face to kill them. For me, two punches was too much but one punch was not enough. I had to punch the Pirate, shoot him with the Crossbow, THEN shoot him in the Head to kill him. A bit more tedious.

The camera/controller may shake when you perform a Critical Hit, but that does not necessarily mean that it was a Headshot kill. The best way to know, especially if you all shot one bolt into the Pirate is to actually look on their dead body to see where it is sticking out of…

It took me from 7:00am to 1:00pm (in game time) to farm this (I forgot to see how long it actually took, less than an hour though for sure). This is not actually too bad to farm once you have a rhythm.

With these Achievements unlocked now, do not respec back to your original build just yet. We will need all our acquired Marksmanship Abilities to earn the David & Golyat Achievement at the beginning of Blood & Wine!

85% Complete

Sequence 37: Blood & Wine

1. Velen: Stonecutter’s Settlement
2. Toussaint: Dulcinea Windmill, The Cockatrice Inn, Corvo Bianco Vineyard, Tourney Grounds, Castel Ravello Vineyard, Plegmund’s Bridge
3. B&W Quests: Envoys, Wineboys, The Beast of Toussaint
4. Skellige Gwent Cards: 7/38
5. Achievements: 68/78
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DLC Breakdown – Blood & Wine: (13)
Story Related: (3)
Missable: (4)
Collectibles: (4)
Slay: (1)
Miscellaneous: (1)

Velen – Stonecutter’s Settlement:

B&W Quest #1 – Envoys, Wineboys: When all your remaining business & catch up is done in the mainland, it is finally time to begin our final DLC Expansion.

Be warned, there are a couple Missable Achievements in this DLC we need to watch out for… Try not to complete too many Secondary Quests off the start until we unlock Secondary Quest – There Can Only Be One; to earn five Virtues, we need to make specific decisions during Quests & if we complete too many we might void a Missable Achievement.

Go to the Stonecutter’s Settlement & rendezvous with the Toussaint knights, who will actually be old friends.

After they settle their business here, they will read us the personal request from the Duchess of Toussaint. Agree to take this Contract & ride with the knights to Toussaint.

Toussaint – Dulcinea Windmill:

Achievement #67 – The Witcher’s Gone South: Travel to the Duchy of Toussaint.
Story Related. We will arrive in Toussaint during a gorgeous panoramic cutscene that will almost immediately get interrupted by the Cyclops, Golyat. When we gain control of Geralt at the start of the Boss fight, we will unlock this Achievement.


Achievement #68 – David & Golyat: Kill Golyat with a Crossbow Bolt to his eye.
Missable. Now it is time for a bit of a stressful Achievement. You NEED to have all the Abilities we used during the Master Marksman Achievement equipped as well as have the game set to Just the Story Difficulty.

As the Achievement says, we need to kill Golyat by shooting him directly in the eye. Doing this will instantly kill him no matter his current health, so we do not have to worry about whittling him down at all. If Golyat is killed before you can perform this, either by yourself accidentally or from your allies, you must reload the last Autosave!

There is a slat of wood directly in front of his eye. Get up close to him, evade his attacks, & stand beside him at an angle so you can see past that slat. Manually aim your Crossbow point blank at him & fire it under that wooden slat to hit him dead center in the eye killing him instantly & unlocking the Achievement.

With this done, you can return the Difficulty to whatever you prefer as well as freely using a Potion of Clearance to return back to your optimal build.

Toussaint – The Cockatrice Inn:

B&W Quest #2 – The Beast of Toussaint: Before we go exploring Toussaint, let us progress to an adequate point in the DLC Questline first. Ride with Milton to the riverbank just below the Cockatrice Inn & investigate the site of the latest “Beast” attack. When we learn what we can out here, head up to the inn & question the patrons for more information.

Skellige Card #1 – Clan Drummond Shield Maiden (1): After progressing our Quest, it is time for a little diversion. Go speak with the Innkeeper, & we can duel them in Gwent to earn this new Skellige Deck Card. He uses a Skellige Deck.

Skellige Card #2 – Crach an Craite (Leader): We will acquire the first Leader Card for the Skellige Deck after obtaining any Skellige Card to unlock access to the Deck.

Secondary Quest – Never Fear, Skellige’s Here: Upon obtaining the Crach an Craite Leader Card for the Skellige Deck, it will grant us two new Gwent related Quests. Unlike our Gwent hunts in the Base Game, the developers were kind enough to give us a Quest Waypoint for each individual Gwent Card we need to find.

For the I Have A Gwent Problem Achievement, we need to acquire all 38 Skellige Gwent Cards; 19 will come with the Base Deck we can acquire, so we only actually need to collect 19 individual Cards.

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Belgaard: Outside the Cockatrice Inn, look at the Notice Board & accept all the Notices off it. From this stack, we will receive this important Secondary Quest that has a Missable Achievement attached to it. Do not initiate this Quest yet without further guidance!

The other Secondary Quests we receive are inconsequential & can be completed at your discretion.

Toussaint – Corvo Bianco Vineyard:

B&W Quest #2 – The Beast of Toussaint: Go to Corvo Bianco, now just Southwest of the Cockatrice Inn. At the villa, things won’t be going well & we will have a different Boss to fight; use Moon Dust to stop their invisibility.

After we have a new lead in the case of the Beast, head to the Tourney Grounds next…

Toussaint – Tourney Grounds:

Skellige Card #3 – War Longship (1): At the Tourney Grounds, we are able to obtain four new Skellige Cards. First, speak with Innkeeper close to the lake’s edge at the cantina. Duel her in Gwent to receive this Card. She uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Skellige Card #4 – Skellige Storm (1): Just South of the cantina close to the Signpost for this area, we can find a Barber. Duel them to receive this Card; they use a Skellige Deck.

Skellige Card #5 – Young Berserker (1): Head across the pavilion now over towards where the Blacksmith is stationed at. Duel them to receive this Card; they use a Skellige Deck.

Skellige Card #6 – Skellige Storm (2): Around the corner from the Blacksmith, we can find the Armorer. Duel them to receive this Card; they use a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Hold off from speaking to Palmerin at the Tourney Grounds for our current DLC Quest, & let’s make a couple pit stops to the North first. Speaking to Palmerin will enter us into an important part of the DLC Questline needed for a Missable Achievement.

Toussaint – Castel Ravello Vineyard:

Skellige Card #7 – Clan Brokvar Archer (1): From the Tourney Grounds, head Northwest up the road, crossing the river, & reaching Castel Ravello Vineyard. Follow your Quest Marker for Secondary Quest – Never Fear, Skellige’s Here to an Herbalist that we can duel for this Card; she uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Toussaint – Plegmund’s Bridge:

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Belgaard: If you took the Quest from the Notice Board outside the Cockatrice Inn, we will be able to head over to Plegmund’s Bridge where an auction is being held. Here we will meet two protoganists: Liam Coronata & Matilda Vermentino. The Wine Wars Questline has multiple Quests involved, is a tad complicated, & will end in us earning a Missable Achievement.

Speak with Liam, & he will offer us the Coronata Quest – be sure to accept it.

Next, Matilda will gesture us over & offer us a Quest of her own, the Vementino Quest. Be sure to accept this one as well; you can be way more liberal with your bartering with your Witcher Rate on this one… The key to us earning our Achievement is simultaneously completing specific problems for each Quest.

Make a Manual Save right now in case we mess up! The Achievement can be a bit buggy!

Sequence 38: Geralt the Sommelier

1. Toussaint: Flovive, Francollarts, Abandoned Storehouse, Plegmund’s Bridge, Belgraad
2. B&W Quests: N/A
3. Skellige Gwent Cards: 9/38
4. Achievements: 69/78
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Toussaint:

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Vermentino: To start, we will first assist Matilda; we can see five Quest Markers set in a circle around the Castel Ravello Vineyard area. Work clockwise, completing the problems (you can technically do them in any order). The first problem should be at a Guarded Treasure found Southeast from Castel Ravello Vineyward. Kill the two Archespores here & we can loot the Letter On Elegant Stationary. Read it. This is crucial for our Achievement!

Complete the other four problems but do not turn in this Quest to Matilda Vermentino! Doing so will make her win the barter to own the Belgaard Estate & void our Achievement.

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Coronata: Now, we have to complete the five problems that are plaguing Liam Coronata. At the far Eastern most problem, we can find a Guarded Treasure with some Archespores in it. Kill them then examine a body in the center of the area to find the Orders On Elegant Stationary.

Complete your remaining problems, but once again do not turn in this Quest to Liam.

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Deus In the Machina: With both strange Letters found during the Wine Wars Quests, we will unlock a third Quest. Switch to it & we will have to travel all the way to the South end of Toussaint; consider stopping along the way for more Gwent Cards…

Toussaint – Flovive:

Skellige Card #8 – Cerys (Hero): From the Cockatrice Inn, travel along the Eastern side of the lake down to the village Flovive. Go to the Barrel & Bung Inn & duel the Innkeeper for this Card; she uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Toussaint – Francollarts:

Skellige Card #9 – Ermion (Hero): Ride down South now to the town of Francollarts & go to the Scarlet Cardinal Inn to verse the Innkeeper in a duel; she uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck. She is actually pretty difficult.

Skellige Card #10 – Clan Drummond Shield Maiden (2): Now go to the South end of town & we can find an Armorer that we can duel. He uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Toussaint – Abandoned Storehouse:

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars the Deus In the Machina: From Francollarts, make your way down South to the location that our collected Letters mention. In the lower garden below the Abandoned Storehouse, we can find a red door cut into the side of the hill. Use the key to get inside, & search around for any clues.

Collect the Stocktaking Report & read it to learn of someone who has been producing Archespores.

Toussaint – Plegmund’s Bridge:

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars the Deus In the Machina: With this new found evidence, we can now safely return to Liam & Matilda back at Plegmund’s Bridge & speak with them. Having named the one conspiring against them, Liam & Matilda will join forces & co-own Belgraad; this is the key step to our Achievement as we will not earn it if only one or the other gets Belgraad.

Go with them to see their new estate.

Toussaint – Belgraad:

Secondary Quest – Wine Wars Belgraad: We will then be asked to help assist them in restoring Belgraad; we can once again be pretty liberal with haggling our reward.

Like the other Wine Wars Quests, we have to solve the five problems plaguing the Belgraad estate. The Missable part of this Questline is over with & we can finish this Quest without fear.

Complete the five problems for the Belgraad estate then return back to Liam & Matild to turn in the Quest. The key though, is the surprise that Liam will say is awaiting us when we return to see them for our efforts…


Achievement #69 – The Grapes of Wrath Stomped: Help unite the warring vineyards & have a wine named in your honor.
Missable. Once we have completed Secondary Quest – Belgraad, camp out at the vineyard & Meditate for a whole three days in imagined luxury drinking wine & enjoying the countryside. After three days have passed, speak to Matilda & Liam & apparently they will have produced an exceptional wine that is to be named in our honor (& of our choice). Choose the name, & we will unlock this Achievement upon completing the Quest.

If only Matilda or Liam (not both) acquired Belgraad, we would not have a wine named in our honor & not earned our Achievement.

Sequence 39: Molto Bene

1. Toussaint: Beauclair Port, Beauclair Hauteville, The Gran’s Place, Lac Célavy, The Adder & Jewels Winery, Beauclair Lolivier Square
2. B&W Quests: N/A
3. Skellige Gwent Cards: 17/38
4. Achievements: 69/78
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Toussaint – Beauclair Port:

Skellige Card #10 – Skellige Storm (3): Before we progress the DLC Questline, let us enter into the city of Beauclair & explore about. From the Tourney Grounds, we can head to the Northeastern quarter along the waterfront & obtain two Cards.

In the Beauclair Port, enter into the Butcher’s Shop & we can duel the Butcher for this Card; he uses a Skellige Deck.

Skellige Card #11 – Mardroeme (1): Across the street from the Butcher, next door, we can find The Belles of Beauclair. Enter inside & we can duel the Madame here; she uses a Scoia’tael Deck.

Toussaint – Beauclair Hauteville:

The Trial of Generosity: Near the center of Beauclair, at random locations, a boy will potentially run up to us & deliver a Letter. Before he leaves, we are able to give him a 5 Crown tip. Do so, & we will complete our first of five Trials.

There are five other ways to earn the Virtue of Generosity during Secondary Quests: Equine Phantoms, Beyond Hill & Dale, A Portrait of the Witcher As An Old Man, Mutual of Beauclair's Wild Kingdom, & Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away.

Secondary Quest – Turn & Face the Strange: The Letter we receive will grants us this important Secondary Quest. Completing this Quest will set us on the path to unlocking the Weapon “W” Achievement.

Skellige Card #12 – Young Berserker (2): For Secondary Quest – Never Fear, Skellige’s Here, we will just start at the top of Beaulcair & work our way down through the city. Our first stop will be at the Tailor’s Workshop to duel the master tailor, Pierre, for this Card; he uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Toussaint – The Gran’s Place:

Notice Board: Before we go any further into Beauclair, let us quickly go to the Notice Board to pick up another very important Secondary Quest.

Secondary Quest – Master, Master, Master, Master!: We will unlock this Quest from reading the Contract – Grandmaster Armorer from the Notice Board. This is an important Secondary Quest pertaining to finding the locations of Grandmaster Witcher Diagrams needed for two different Achievements.

Secondary Quest – There Can Only Be One: We will also unlock this Quest from reading the Test Yourself With the Trials if the Five Virtues notice. Before we do anything more, to be safe, let us progress this Quest to where we need to complete the five different Virtues so we do not miss any accidentally.

Toussaint – Lac Célavy:

Secondary Quest – There Can Only Be One: Travel to Lac Célavy & speak with a Hermit found meditating in the central pond on the isle. He will tell us we need to fulfill the five Virtues of Toussaint: Valor, Honor, Wisdom, Compassion, & Generosity.

We should have the Trial of Generosity already done, & depending on how much extracurricular side questing you may have done, you might have unknowingly completed others.

Toussaint – Beauclair the Adder & Jewels Winery:

Skellige Cards #13 – Olaf: Now let us get back to the task at hand, from the Gran’s Place Signpost, head Southeast through Beauclair to the Adder & Jewels Winery where we can find a Sommelier that we can duel for this Card. He uses a Skellige Deck.

If you are just following your Quest Marker & it says you are above it in the middle of the street, you need to drop down to the lower street to get to the winery.

Secondary Quest – Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Granite!: Directly above the Adder & Jewels Winery, we can spot a ! where an Art Curator is shooing citizens away. Speak with him & listen to his woes about a set of stolen granite balls. Agree to help him & investigate the area; we can find a piece of caught cloth stuck to a trellis down the stairs to the left.

Follow the scent left behind by it & it will take us up the street close to the Knights Dormant Square. Here we will encounter the man Hughes… slaying the dragon so to speak. Speak with him about the granite balls, & he will be the one who took it; we will then need to deal with a gentleman who will interrupt us first.

Deal with him, & continue speaking with Hughes; as a plot twist though after hearing him out, you must let him keep these magical balls. Of the three dialogue options, be sure to tell him “Fine”.

The Trial of Compassion: We can complete our next Virute by letting Hughes keep the balls so he is fit enough to continue diddling. That makes us 2/5 Virtues already done.

The other options for completing this Virtue are during: The Beast of Toussaint, The Hunger Game, Capture the Castle, Big Game Hunter (a great Quest), Mutual of Beauclair's Wild Kingdom, & Equine Phantoms. It can also be acquired during Witcher Contract – The Tufo Monster.

Toussaint – Beauclair Lolivier Square:

Skellige Cards #14 – Mardroeme (2): Continue down further South through the city & go into the Herb Store. Here we can speak with an Herbalist we can duel for this Card; she uses a Skellige Deck.

Secondary Quest – Master, Master, Master, Master!: Just across the street, we can find Lazare Lafargue’s Workshop. Enter inside & speak with Lafargue to learn of the locations of Grandmaster Witcher Diagrams. Fortunately for us, they all will have Quest Markers going to them making collection easy; we need to find all 30 Diagrams for the Turned Every Stone Achievement.

Speak with Lafargue about the locations of each of the five Witchers & we will receive five different Treasure Hunt Quests…

Skellige Cards #15 – Clan Dimun Pirate: In the next building beside our Grandmaster Blacksmith, we can enter a simple general store. Speak with the Merchant & duel him to collect this Card; he uses a Monster Deck.

Skellige Cards #16 – Kambi: Head further up the street & we can enter an Armory where we can duel the Armorer for this Card; he uses a Northern Realms Deck.

Skellige Cards #17 – Light Longship (1): Head up the street now past a festival square where we can find the Perfumery & a Merchant that we can duel for this Card. He uses a Skellige Deck.

Sequence 40: From Rags to Riches

1. Toussaint: Beauclair, Knights Dormant Square, The Pheasantry, Lebioda’s Gate, Tourney Grounds, Beauclair Palace, Beauclair Hauteville, Corvo Bianco Vineyard
2. B&W Quests: The Beast of Toussaint, Blood Run
3. Skellige Gwent Cards: 38/38
4. Achievements: 72/78
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Toussaint – Beauclair Knights Dormant Square:

Skellige Cards #18 – King Bran (Leader Card): Next, head up the street to the Ducal Camerlengo (yes if you approach old man Hughes door along the way he will be back to diddling again) & speak to the Camerlengo. For our current needs, duel him in Gwent for this Card; he uses a Nilfgaardian Empire Deck.

Toussaint – The Pheasantry:

Skellige Card #19 – Draig Bon-Dhu: Lastly, go to the Pheasantry tavern & duel the Innkeeper for our final Card; she uses a Monster Deck.

Skellige Cards #20-38 – Skellige Base Deck: Now finally, in a bit of a backwards order of things, we will go to collect the actual Base Deck that contains the other half of the missing Cards we need.

To receive it, pass through the lower floor of The Pheasantry to the outdoor patio & we can find the Count Monnier who will tell us of an upcoming Gwent Tournament. Agree to sign up for the Tournament, & the caveat to signing up is only being able to use the Skellige Deck… good thing we already got every other Card.

Agree to enter the Tournament playing as Skellige, & Monnier will provide us with the Skellige Base Deck.


Achievement #70 – I Have A Gwent Problem: Collect all 38 cards in the Skellige Deck.
If you have been following along with this guide, we will unlock this Achievement after acquiring the final 19 Cards to the Skellige Deck from speaking with Count Monnier.

After two days, we can complete the Tournament; doing this is a way to fulfil the Virtue of Wisdom, but it is optional & there are other ways we can do this as well.

Toussaint – Lebioda’s Gate:

Secondary Quest – Turn & Face the Strange: As our next task of import, we may as well complete this new Secondary Quest we acquired. Go to Orlémurs Cemetery & find the grave of Tomas Moreau. It will be robbed, so we will need to use our Witcher Senses, check the Old Map of Toussaint we got in our letter previously, & set out to the professor’s laboratory found in the lake through a portal in the center of some ruins.

Pass through the ruins, when you get to the multi-portal room, just go to the portals where the statue in the center is facing. Get to the lab, find the Giant Centipede Eggs, & begin the experiments anew. Take off your gear, & we will go full Captain America & get even more stronk!


Achievement #71 – Weapon “W”: Develop a Mutation.
With the Quest complete, make a Save as you may want to reload after unlocking the Achievement. Go into your Character tab & we can now see a glowing “Y” icon in the center of our equipped Abilities. Enter into it & we can see our Mutagen Development tab. There are many many Mutagens we can develop & explore, but for our purposes, select any of our three options of Magic Sensibilities, Deadly Counter, & Toxic Blood. We will need two free Ability Points & two Greater Mutagens to the corresponding colour; use a Potion of Clearance if you need the Points.

Researching any of the three starter Mutagens will unlock the Achievement. If you needed to use a Potion of Clearance, feel free to reload your Save afterwards.

Toussaint – Tourney Grounds:

B&W Quest #2 – The Beast of Toussaint: We now do not have much left else to do that is very pressing, so we can finally go & see Palmerin at the Tourney Grounds. We will follow him into the arena & witness a knight fail at fighting a captured Shalemaar. We must drop into the arena to save him; sparring the Shalemaar will give you the Virtue of Compassion if you do not already have it.

Briefly meet with the Duchess herself, receive our very own vineyard, & learn a crucial lead in the Beast’s next victim…

Toussaint – Beauclair Palace:

B&W Quest #2 – The Beast of Toussaint: Ride with the Duchess to the Beauclair Palace & go to the palace garden. We need to collect two clues to find the victim’s location: a Golden Fish & a Unicorn. Use Axii to quickly calm the Unicorn as it runs away, though we will need to deal with some hunter’s who will try to fight us afterwards.

For the Golden Fish, just dive down into the lake & use your Witcher Senses to locate it; there are multiple potential fish on bobs that are red & silver, but only one is gold. We can find the Golden Fish in the far Southwestern corner of the marked area; if you search more than two wrong coloured Fish, the Golden Fish will be stolen & we will have to get it back.

The Trial of Wisdom: Once we have both clues, return back to the Duchess. For the Virtue of Wisdom, we must guess the correct location of the victim on our first try – the correct answer is the Greenhouse. Saying this first will award us the Virtue.

We can also acquire the Virtue of Wisdom from Secondary Quests: La Cage au Fou, A Knight’s Tales, Father Knows Worst, But Other Than That, How Did You Enjoy the Play?, & To Everything – Turn, Turn, Tournament!

Toussaint – Beauclair Hauteville:

B&W Quest #3 – Blood Run: Go to the greenhouse & we will find the Beast of Beauclair! Chase after them to an old warehouse in Hauteville, & we will need to drive it off or at least try to as we will be rescued by yet another old friend…

Toussaint – Corvo Bianco Vineyard:

Secondary Quest – No Place Like Home: Ignore our next B&W Quest & especially ignore Secondary Quest – The Warble of A Smitten Knight for now! Travel to our newly rewarded vineyard at Corvo Bianco instead. Finally, we now have a base of operations… & access to our Stash.

Speak with our Majordomo, Barnabus-Basil, & get a full tour of the vineyard.


Achievement #72 – Playing House: Use all 9 available options for developing Corvo Bianco.
When we arrive at the estate at the end of the tour, we will be able to purchase upgrades for it from B.B. We can perform a general refurbishment to the estate for 5000 Crowns, then purchase an Armor Repair Table for 1000 Crowns, & a Grindstone for another 1000 Crowns.

Meditate for three full days for the upgrades to complete then return to B.B. for the next round. For the estate, purchase: a new bed for 1000 Crowns, another set of Weapon Racks for 500 Crowns, another set of Armor Racks for 500 Crowns, & refurbish the Guest Room for 1000 Crowns. Now for the vineyard grounds, purchase: the Stables for 2000 Crowns & lastly the Herb Garden for another 2000 Crowns.

Meditate for two full days for the last upgrades to complete & we will unlock the Achievement. It will cost us a total of 14,000 Crowns to purchase all upgrades. We are showered with loot & Crowns in this DLC; if you do not have the Crowns, do some Secondary Quests or Witcher Contracts.

Sequence 41: Rise, A Knight

1. Toussaint: Tourney Grounds, Lac Célavy
2. B&W Quests: N/A
3. Achievements: 74/78
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toussaint – Tourney Grounds:

Secondary Quest – The Warble of A Smitten Knight: This is an extremely important Secondary Quest where we can earn some Virtues as well as unlock a highly Missable Achievement. Make a Manual Save before we begin just in case things go wrong!

At the Tourney Grounds, go to find the Guillaume & speak to him about a lady who is cursed. To help him break the potential curse, we will need to enter the tourney in his stead.

For the A Knight to Remember Achievement, we need to be victorious in the tourney’s three events: horsemanship, marksmanship, & fencing. Winning the tourney will also grant us the Virtue of Valor while we can earn the Virtue of Honor in an encounter after the horse race. Complete Guillaume’s training in each event & if you have not already done so, be sure to collect some Toussaint horse tack for the best stats; at least a new Saddle, there are a lot of epic looking choices to pick from.

When ready, enter the tourney officially, choose your vow (it is inconsequential), & we will begin.

Our first event will be the marksmanship competition; make a Save before approaching! Play a friendly game of Gwent with Sir Palmerin or don’t; the sun in our eyes we are warned of isn’t all that threatening. For the event, you must shoot as many red targets as you can; shooting blue targets will give your opponent points! You must shoot your nine targets before your opponent can shoot theirs; should you fail, reload your Save.

Once that is done, conduct your search of Vivienne’s tent with Guillaume. Afterwards the second event will start; it is of horsemanship & the hardest in the tourney in my opinion. Make a Save before reaching the grounds. There is no way, even with the best Saddle, to make it around the entire track without getting extra time. Try your best to hit as many of the different targets as you can; you may need to, purchase/equip the Lightning Reflexes & Trick Shot Abilities to help with the Crossbow targets. Even without Abilities, I actually found the Crossbow targets easy to hit… striking the Steel Sword targets in the head I found much more difficult. Do not slow down time by drawing your Sword prior, it is easier riding right into them & attacking as soon as we are on top of the Sword targets.

The Trial of Honor: After the race, we will feast with Guillaume at the “after party” that night. Depending on the Heraldry you chose, a different Knight will take issue with you & either challenge you to a mounted duel or to a Fist Fight. To earn the Virtue of Honor, you must accept the challenge & defeat them. If you fail you must reload; if you are doing the mounted duel, you are able to use Food & Swallow to heal your Vitality!

Other ways we can earn this Virtue are through Secondary Quests: Till Death Do Us Part & Father Knows Worst. We can also acquire it during Secondary Quest – Warble of A Smitten Knight if we keep Vivienne’s secret from Guillaume once we learn of it…

Secondary Quest – The Warble of A Smitten Knight: Return back to Guillaume for more booze, & the lady Vivienne will make a final speech for the night. When she goes to leave, follow her to her tent, then follow the yellow oriole away from Beauclair up the streams to the Northwest. It will lead us to a grove where we can then find Vivienne & we will learn about her curse.

If you did not already earn it, we can acquire the Virtue of Honor by not telling Guillaume about Vivienne’s curse when we arrive back at the Tourney Grounds.

Regardless of how you handle Guillaume, you must continue on & complete the tournament for our Missable Achievement & to earn our final Virtue!

The Trial of Valor: In the morning, we will have our final event of the Tourney to complete, the duels. The first duel will be a fray, 5v5. Our allies can be eliminated & obviously so can we; we cannot Signs or our Crossbow, but can use Potions like Swallow & Thunderbolt. Defeat all five opponents.
Once this is done, we will have to face off with the previous year’s grand champion, Gregoire de Gorgon. He is pretty slow & easy to Evade, though if he does hit you it will deal a lot of damage (Difficulty depending). Again, we cannot use Signs but we can use Potions!


Achievement #73 – A Knight to Remember: Obtain a flawless victory in all three competitions during the knights' tourney.
Missable. We will unlock this Achievement upon defeating de Gorgan & receiving the final honor of tourney champion if we earned first place in all three events.

Complete the rest of Secondary Quest – The Warble of A Smitten Knight as you choose.

Toussaint – Lac Célavy:

Achievement #74 – Embodiment of the Five Virtues: Be given Aerondight by the Lady of the Lake.
Missable. With all five Virtues complete, it is time for us to return to Merlin… I mean, the Hermit, back at Lac Célavy. If you are missing a Virtue, now is a time to acquire them. Use the Witcher Fandom Wiki for help if you are unsure of the requirements for the given Secondary Quests.

https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/There_Can_Be_Only_One

The Hermit will tell us we need to prove our worth through combat to acquire the sword in the lake. Defeat the Hermit & we will receive the sword of Sir Lancelot, Aerondight, & unlock our Achievement… this is hands down the strongest Silver Sword in the whole game!

Sequence 42: Let the Truth Speak

1. Toussaint: Mère-Lachaiselongue Cemetery, Trastamara Hunting Cottage, Tesham Mutna, Beauclair Port, Beauclair Palace, Beaucliar Hauteville, Dun Tynne
2. B&W Quests: La Cage au Fou, Where Children Toil Toys Waste Away, Wine Is Sacred, The Man From Cintra, Capture the Castle
3. Achievements: 76/78
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Toussaint:

Achievement #75 – Turned Every Stone: Find all 30 Grandmaster Diagrams for each Witcher School.
So we can enjoy the Armor, let us go & painstakingly complete all five Scavenger Hunt Quests regarding the Wolf, Cat, Griffon, Bear, & Manticore Witcher Schools. We have Quest Markers leading us to each piece to make it easy; for the most part the six pieces of each set are lumped close together.

As a side note, getting the Feline Diagrams can be difficult as we will fight a literal army of Bandits at Arthach Palace. The pieces to the Manticore set, are the most spread out & we will need to individually find them all at different locations.

As soon as we collect the last of the 30 Diagrams, we will unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #76 – Dressed to Kill: Unlock the bonus for equipping all the Witcher gear elements from one School.
For the Achievement, you will need to craft the Chest, Gauntlets, Trousers, Boots, Steel Sword, & Silver Sword for a Grandmaster Witcher set & wear them all; we only need to craft one full set of Grandmaster Witcher gear, not all six. Depending on how up to date you are with your Witcher gear, this can either be a an expensive or very expensive Achievement for you to earn.

The easiest & cheapest by a long shot to make is the Manticore set. Though it does not say so in the name, the base Manticore set counts as Grandmaster.

If you plan to do this for a different Witcher set instead, this is very very expensive & may require you to side quest/loot areas for more Crowns to afford it all. It cost me almost 50,000 Crowns to afford all the Enriched Dimeritium Ingots & Plates to make the Grandmaster Ursine set!

Toussaint – Mère-Lachaiselongue Cemetery:

B&W Quest #4 – La Cage au Fou: Now, we will end this plot involving the Beast of Beauclair. Go to the cemetery & meet our old friend there to discuss how we will track down the Beast.

For one of the ingredients we need for the Resonance Potion, we will need to deal with a Spotted Wight; we can kill it, or cure its curse to achieve our needs of obtaining its saliva.

Toussaint – Trastamara Hunting Cottage:

B&W Quest #4 – La Cage au Fou: Go to the Spotted Wight’s lair & wait in the basement for it to return to tend its cauldron. Again, you will have the option to either get it over with & kill the Wight, or to try to lift its curse. If you are lifting the curse, you have three options of how to eat the soup with the spoons, by trading spoons, or without them; you must eat the soup without spoons!

Toussaint – Tesham Mutna:

B&W Quest #4 – La Cage au Fou: When you have what you need, return back to our friend at the cemetery & we will travel to the ancient vampire fortress, Tesham Mutna to acquire the last ingredient for the ritual. We will need to fight off waves of different Necrophages & Scurvers that arrive; this can be challenging depending on your current Difficulty…

Return to the cemetery hideout out, & we will perform the ritual at last.

Toussaint – Beauclair Port:

B&W Quest #5 – Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away: After witnessing the Beast’s last memories, we will need to retrace its steps in Beauclair.

Toussaint – Beauclair Palace:

B&W Quest #6 – Wine Is Sacred: After investigating the Beast’s hideout, we must report back to the Duchess of our findings thus far. The leads we find will take us to Castel Ravello Vineyard & we will need to do some… royal wine tasting… & the plot will thicken as we learn of the alias of our blackmailer to the Beast.

Toussaint – Beaucliar Hauteville:

B&W Quest #7 – The Man From Cintra: To locate this blackmailer, we will need to infiltrate a high society party in Hauteville. We do not to wear optional clothes… but I will say & did test, that we can wear Vlodimir von Everec’s Ornate Robe if you kept it from Hearts of Stone & it does count as “appropriate”. Fantastic.

Toussaint – Dun Tynne:

B&W Quest #8 – Capture the Castle: At the night’s end at the party, we will have blown this case wide open & have a good idea who the primary culprit is behind unleashing the Beast on their murders.

When we go to the meeting point with the Captain of the Ducal Guard, we will be shown a “point of no return” warning. Be sure to make a Manual Save here; there are two different Endings with Achievements & we can only earn one. We will have to reload our game to unlock the other one…

Storm the castle, deal with Count Roderick, & locate where The Cintrian & his hostage are… but things get complicated real (Censored by Steam) fast.

Sequence 43: Fidelis et Mortem

1. Toussaint: Beauclair Palace
2. B&W Quests: The Night of Long Fangs, Beyond Hill & Dale,
3. Achievements: 78/78
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toussaint – Beauclair Palace:

B&W Quest #9 – The Night of Long Fangs: After a short time jump, the Beast will make good on his threat & Beauclair will be assaulted by a Vampire army. Defeat the first Bruxa we fight & our old friend will propose us two options: we deal with the Beast, or we help him. This is where our two Endings diverge. To keep doors open, tell our friend that we do not know what to do when asked. Now, we make our first Save! This is our holdout Save if something should go wrong, do not Save over it!

To start, we will locate Damien & ask him where Syanna is being incarcerated. When you find him, be sure to press him for the location of her whereabouts & not concede. Once we learn of it, make a separate Save here after speaking with the ravens! This is divergence point 1 of 2! Carrying on leads to one Ending while seeking Orianna leads to an alternate spin on a different one…

B&W Quest #10 – Beyond the Hill & Dale…: After our separate Save is made, go & meet the old friend we summoned to the Beauclair Palace. In the palace playroom, use a Key tucked behind a painting to enter into the mystical world inside a wardrobe… Narnia?

Narnia will be more like Fable-Land, as we will need to follow the yellow brick road to find Syanna & the Wicked Witch of course. Maybe Bigby Wolf will be here? To make the Witch vulnerable, you need to blast her out of the air with Aard as she dumps molten butter at us while her shields are down.

To escape, we need to locate the three Magic Beans. Before we plant them though, it is extremely important we complete the optional objective for speaking with the Girl Who Sells Flint! Before you speak with her though, make a Save as this is divergence point 2/2 for the two Endings; it is best to locate the three Beans first & save her objective for last. Go to Grand Mamma’s House, Longlock’s Tower, & see the Three Little Pigs for the Magic Beans.

For the “Bad Ending”, speak with the Girl Who Sells Flint & we will need to take Syanna’s Ribbon back from her. Play a round of Gwent with her & win to get the Ribbon (or just buy it for 500 Crowns).

With this done, plant the Beans, kill the Cloud Giant, & escape Fable-Land through the well. There is no consequence for letting Syanna have her way with you…


Achievement #77 – Last Action Hero: Be decorated with the Order of Vitis Vinifera.
Story Related. Once we escape Fable-Land, we are in the home stretch. Take Syanna to meet with the Beast, & because she has the Ribbon, the Beast will not be able to kill her. Defeat the Beast with the help of our old friend; phase 2 of the fight is the hardest in my opinion.

With that done, there will be a brief time jump. Complete B&W Quest #11A – Pomp & Strange Circumstance to unlock our Achievement… to get the most out of the Ending I highly recommend you accompany our old friend to see the Bootblack as it adds more to the Ending… but ultimately won’t change its outcome.

What happens post ceremony is all up to you… Make a Save before reloading in case this is your preferred Ending. In my opinion, this is the worst Ending.

Should you choose to, reload back to when we first saved at the beginning of The Night of Long Fangs & go down the path where we choose Orianna over Syanna. We will still end up with this same Ending, though gain some new lore/insight on Vampires…


Achievement #78 – Kling of the Clink: Serve time in Toussaint.
Story Related. For the “Good Ending”, reload our Save back in Fable-World before we spoke with the Girl Who Sells Flint & do not speak with her at all – leaving without obtaining the Ribbon. Complete the Quest as normal, but this time, the Beast will kill Syanna. You can now either kill the Beast for the same boss battle or let it go (it won’t change the Ending), &… we will time jump with us in prison two weeks later – unlocking our Achievement.

This Ending is bitter sweet… but also more ideal depending on how you felt about the first one. Worse for Geralt but ultimately better for the good of the Duchy.

Regardless of how it ends… we will have a very sweet conclusion with our chosen Lover of the Base Game to end things off. & they lived happily ever after…

Conclusion:

Witcher 3 is an absolute story telling masterpiece & is one of my favourite games of all time. It is so easy to get lost in the world, & don’t even get me started on Gwent. Even on the hardest Difficulty, 100% is not all that difficult but can take quite a while depending on how much of a completionist you are. 100% took over 200 hours, but I had basically been completing every single Secondary Quest I got; it most likely will only take you 120-160 hours. Still quite the time investment to be sure, but not difficult nor be a chore.

If this guide helped you achieve 100%, rate the guide or let me know in the comments. Helps me know if I am doing things right!



100% Complete
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[Cynic 0055]

Hey maxxxx-f96, I didn't know you could do that stuff early & assumed it could only be done during the Main Quest. In games like this I usually structure things to always prioritize Side Quests/exploring over Main Quests which was my initial rationale, but in a story heavy game such as Witcher that also takes priority.

I agree with your Quest arrangement & will move things around to reflect that; thanks for pointing this out!

[maxxxx-f96]

To be honest, exploring the White Orchard before talking to the head of the Nilfgaard garrison is a dubious idea.

If you accidentally find a griffin's nest without Mislav, you lose 300+ experience points and the dialog with him. If you found a griffin bait before talking to Tomira, you also lost content/experience points.

I don't see much point in postponing the conversation with that commander, it's better to deal with the preparation for the griffin hunt first. Then clear the map (fulfilling the witcher's contract along the way), sell all the unnecessary stuff, make swords of the Viper School and buy a Temerian armor set (though I'm not sure you have enough money for all 4 items at that time).

And after all this, go with Vesemir to set a trap for the griffin.

At least that's how I see the situation. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Drofnad]

This guide was amazing! Thank you so much for all the info!

[Cynic 0055]

Hey Darkero, fortunately Now Or Never will not fail until Act II; you need to complete it before finishing Main Quest #34 - Brothers In Arms: Novigrad which comes after beating Skellige.

Alternatively, Yennifer's Romance is done during Secondary Quest - Last Wish & it must be completed BEFORE you beat Skellige in Act I.

So you are able to save Now Or Never until the final Main Quest in Skellige & have acquired Last Wish. Then you can make your decision on who you would like to Romance; definitely do not choose both, as you would lose so much of the story & nice moments for your Geralt!

[Darkero]

Yo! First of all thanks for this guide!

I tried to play this game a lot of times without any guide but i always dropped it bc i feel overwhelmed but with your help it is being a wonderful journey.

Also... I have a question. Im almost at the part where you can set the romance with Triss on the quest "Now or never" but I didnt see anything about Yen.

Since It is my first time, can I skip this part right to Skelige and come back to finist this quest once I decided?

I know you can see both romances, but I dont want the "romance bad ending" by cheating them.

Thanks for your time!

[BLMO]

Have just finished and got 100% after following this guide for the last three weeks. Extremely clear and balanced with story achievements mixed with the combat / grindy ones in between. Highly recommend.

Thank you.

[Lennix]

I just wanted to take a moment to say a huge THANK YOU for your incredible Witcher 3 achievement guide! It was super easy to follow, incredibly well-structured, and helped me complete the game efficiently while still fully enjoying every aspect of it. Your guide not only made the achievement hunt smooth and stress-free, but it also ensured I didn’t miss out on any content along the way. You’ve put together something truly fantastic, and I (along with many others, I’m sure) really appreciate the effort you put into it. Keep up the amazing work!

Cheers! 🎉

[Rangerul]

Thanks for the amazing, in-depth guide! I got the platinum and it wasn't hard at all thanks to your guide

[Floth]

Okay thank you so much, im gonna do this way than.

[Cynic 0055]

Hey Floth, that is a good question, & if you are willing to go through all that effort of beating the game twice I would actually 10/10 recommend it; Witcher 3 is a story telling master piece. I do my best not to be too spoilery... but as you can see from the guides length it has to cover basically everything.

I did some quick research & found that you can unlock everything on NG+ (including beating the game on Deathmarch Difficulty). One to note it that while mostly everything carries over, your Gwent Cards won't so you'll have to go through & re-collect them all.