Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

    Game » consists of 27 releases. Released May 19, 2015

    CD Projekt RED's third Witcher combines the series' non-linear storytelling with a sprawling open world that concludes the saga of Geralt of Rivia.

    Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Tips & Tricks - Spoiler Free!

    Avatar image for sterling
    Sterling

    4134

    Forum Posts

    2

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 4

    @militantfreudian: I noticed this last night. I got a really good set of armor from a chest. Then promptly died. It loaded the last auto save, which was right before the chest. I opened it again, same piece, but way worse stats. So I reloaded again, same piece again, but only slightly better than the worse set of stats. I figured good enough and moved on. Was kinda bummed I lost it with the crazy high stats it had, but didn't want to sit through the load screen any more than I had to. Plus nothing you ever find is as good as what you can make. At least thus far in my experience.

    Avatar image for bceagles128
    bceagles128

    788

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 3

    If you are at all interested in succeeding at Gwent (and all the associated quests), make sure you buy all the gwent cards from the inkeeperess at the tavern in white orchard as soon as possible. There is an event (glitch?) that will occur very early in the game which will result in her disappearing from the game forever and you will never be able to obtain her cards if this happens before you buy them. In particular, she has a leader card which removes all weather and without that card you will likely have a ton of trouble because the leader card in your base deck is useless

    Avatar image for shadowconqueror
    ShadowConqueror

    3413

    Forum Posts

    1275

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 1

    @bceagles128: It's not a glitch. She specifically says "don't come here again." Sucks that I didn't buy her Foltest card, as I thought I already had Foltest and didn't need it. I've been doing well at Gwent regardless.

    Avatar image for firecracker22
    firecracker22

    750

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 3

    Yeah, I think it's a penalty for the blood bath Geralt and Vesemir made. I've heard that happens, innkeepers vanish, if you piss them off or something in other taverns as well.

    Is there a card you need to win from the tutorial Gwent game? The scholar from Oxenfurt that teaches you Gwent? I played him and lost, and never tried again.

    Avatar image for tennmuerti
    Tennmuerti

    9465

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 7

    #105  Edited By Tennmuerti

    @firecracker22: Nah, you find a huge amount of other cards in the game, from merchants and winning them to make a bunch of decks.

    Avatar image for locorocker
    LocoRocker

    326

    Forum Posts

    780

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 4

    Does anybody knows if in the Velen area there are horse sacks better than the 70 weight one?

    Not in Velen as far as I know but once you get to the Putrid Grove in Novigrad during the Pyres of Novigrad quest the first merchant on the left will have +100 saddlebags

    Avatar image for crommi
    Crommi

    282

    Forum Posts

    72

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Use the trap sign when fighting wraiths, it prevents them from "phasing out" and negating your damage.

    Avatar image for locorocker
    LocoRocker

    326

    Forum Posts

    780

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 4

    you can use your crossbow underwater.

    Avatar image for tennmuerti
    Tennmuerti

    9465

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 7

    If you want to get into Gwent play everyone who can be played against at least once. Not just the special quest players. Everyone (with very rare exceptions) will give you a card when you beat them for the first time! Some can even give hero cards. Combined with cards from merchants and the special quest players you can make some strong decks really quickly.

    Also playing any crafters or merchants subsequent times after they give you the card they will throw in crafting materials in addition to the gold won.

    Avatar image for humanity
    Humanity

    21858

    Forum Posts

    5738

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 40

    User Lists: 16

    Vinny mentioned on the Beastcase that there is a way to quickly cycle between your Signs when in combat (on a gamepad) Is this real or was Vinny misremembering? I would love to be able to quickly switch between Quen and another sign. I tried targetting someone and trying to cycle signs with the d-pad but alas no luck, unless I was doing it wrong.

    Avatar image for probablytuna
    probablytuna

    5010

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    Anyone know what is the penalty of having 0% durability for weapons? So far I haven't seen any reason to repair my weapons when they can still do damage. Unless the bonus stats on the swords stop working or something?

    Avatar image for conmulligan
    conmulligan

    2292

    Forum Posts

    11722

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 11

    #113  Edited By conmulligan

    @humanity: You can cycle through spells by tapping left and right on the d-pad while holding down the left trigger.

    Avatar image for tennmuerti
    Tennmuerti

    9465

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 7

    #114  Edited By Tennmuerti

    @probablytuna: The penalty is that they do less damage. As the weapon degrades more and more the damage it does becomes less and less, it can be seen in the stats as a negative red number. Unless you mean is there an extra special penalty when at 0% on top of that? Then I dunno, never get to that point.

    Avatar image for humanity
    Humanity

    21858

    Forum Posts

    5738

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 40

    User Lists: 16

    Avatar image for probablytuna
    probablytuna

    5010

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    Is there a way to cancel a bomb throw/crossbow shot?

    Avatar image for tennmuerti
    Tennmuerti

    9465

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 7

    @probablytuna: Pressing the jump button (space) cancels the throw when using k&m, so probably the same with a controller.

    Avatar image for firecracker22
    firecracker22

    750

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 3

    Avatar image for r3beld0gg
    r3beld0gg

    475

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Just saw a tip on a load screen saying you can switch signs by holding L2 (PS4) and using left or right on the D-pad. I forgot to test it before I shut down, though. Still wish there was a way to quick swap between two signs, though. Like double tap L1 to switch back to a selected sign. Be useful to quickly throw up quen. Using the d-pad might be alright, though.

    Avatar image for dead_cell
    Dead_Cell

    96

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    Just saw a tip on a load screen saying you can switch signs by holding L2 (PS4) and using left or right on the D-pad. I forgot to test it before I shut down, though. Still wish there was a way to quick swap between two signs, though. Like double tap L1 to switch back to a selected sign. Be useful to quickly throw up quen. Using the d-pad might be alright, though.

    Yeah I can confirm that. I tried this yesterday in battle and it is only when in combat. It feels a little hard to switch with the D-pad while trying to dodge though, so I just use the menu usually myself.

    Avatar image for probablytuna
    probablytuna

    5010

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    @r3beld0gg said:

    Just saw a tip on a load screen saying you can switch signs by holding L2 (PS4) and using left or right on the D-pad. I forgot to test it before I shut down, though. Still wish there was a way to quick swap between two signs, though. Like double tap L1 to switch back to a selected sign. Be useful to quickly throw up quen. Using the d-pad might be alright, though.

    Yeah I can confirm that. I tried this yesterday in battle and it is only when in combat. It feels a little hard to switch with the D-pad while trying to dodge though, so I just use the menu usually myself.

    Huh, no wonder when I tried it it didn't work. It's not that useful when you can only do it during combat, I'd rather just use the radial menu as it slows down combat.

    Avatar image for poisonjam7
    poisonjam7

    540

    Forum Posts

    1838

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 27

    I'm sure most of you already know this, but you don't have to worry about which sword you need to draw for what enemy type - Geralt will do it automatically. Even if you draw the wrong sword and proceeds to fight an enemy with it, he will switch to the correct one after a few hits.

    Although I've run into a few encounters where he wouldn't draw either and I'm standing there trying to punch a pack of wolves to death. It wasn't very effective.

    Avatar image for humanity
    Humanity

    21858

    Forum Posts

    5738

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 40

    User Lists: 16

    Something I found out by accident:

    When you're on horseback, press and HOLD your attack button and Geralt will cock back his hand and the game will go into slow-motion.

    Before this I thought horse combat was a mess because I'd swing wildly hoping for the best.

    Avatar image for halodude442
    halodude442

    75

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    If you haven't crafted anything and are around level 4-5 once you get to Velen, after White Orchard, there are two swords (One Silver, the other Steel) that are pretty great and easy to obtain. They are found on a small island directly south of Fyke Island. Both are Relic (orange i think) quality and the steel one looks pretty cool

    Avatar image for sessh
    Sessh

    3499

    Forum Posts

    12278

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 8

    @humanity: Oh, now I finally understand why people were saying the horse combat wasn't bad at all. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

    Avatar image for locorocker
    LocoRocker

    326

    Forum Posts

    780

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 4

    Any tips for unarmed combat? having a hard time defeating enemies in hand to hand

    Avatar image for sessh
    Sessh

    3499

    Forum Posts

    12278

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 8

    #127  Edited By Sessh

    @locorocker: Just parry/counter constantly and when you are facing multiple opponents setting them on fire with Igni helps a lot and is effective in splitting them up.

    Avatar image for docgroove
    DocGroove

    26

    Forum Posts

    4

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 4

    You can use the R stick to switch between your inventory panel and that of a merchant.

    Avatar image for nardak
    Nardak

    947

    Forum Posts

    29

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 4

    Also remember that you can use strong attacks in hand to hand combat which do a lot more damage than the light attacks. A really effective way to do hand combat is to dodge backwards when the opponent swings at you and then do a couple strong attacks. Have found out that it is much more effective than dodging to the side of the opponent since sometimes the opponents still manage to hit you if you dodge to the side.

    Avatar image for fetchfox
    fetchfox

    1835

    Forum Posts

    219

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    @nardak: You can also riposte in hand to hand, making the opponent open to some real haymakers.

    Avatar image for walkertr77
    WalkerTR77

    1811

    Forum Posts

    3076

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 5

    User Lists: 4

    You can jump straight to meditation from the radial menu (i.e L1 then square on PS4).

    Swiping up on the PS4 touchpad will take you directly to the world map while holding it opens the inventory.

    Monster specific mutagens (i.e. Griffin mutagen) are best used in decoctions rather than in upgrade slots. Farm lesser mutagens of the same colour and combine them in the alchemy menu to craft better mutagens that grant higher bonuses in upgrades. When using them like this make sure to equip abilities of the same colour as the mutagen to enhance the effect.

    Beehives can be destroyed with agni to loot honeycombs. As others have said these sell for a good price to herbalists. An area called Lucian's Windmill, directly southeast of Glory Gate in Novigrad has a bunch of apiaries where you can gather around 10 at a time. First you get the honey, then you get the women, then you get the power.

     For clarity. Match like colours for a bonus.
    For clarity. Match like colours for a bonus.

    Avatar image for chaser324
    chaser324

    9415

    Forum Posts

    14945

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 15

    #133  Edited By chaser324  Moderator

    One thing I didn't notice until I was well into the game is that you can use the right stick to jump around to different panes in the menus. For instance, right/left on the stick will switch between your inventory and a merchant or between your Gwent cards and your active deck, and up on the stick will take you back to the top tabs when in your inventory. It works basically everywhere, and it's made navigating menus far faster and easier.

    EDIT: Oops. @docgroove just mentioned that above. Still an extremely convenient tip though, so it's worth pointing out again.

    Avatar image for humanity
    Humanity

    21858

    Forum Posts

    5738

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 40

    User Lists: 16

    @sessh said:

    @humanity: Oh, now I finally understand why people were saying the horse combat wasn't bad at all. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

    Yah now that I know you can go into slow motion it's actually pretty fun to line up the hits while in full sprint.

    Avatar image for fancysoapsman
    FancySoapsMan

    5984

    Forum Posts

    2

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 13

    Apparently going full speed on the horse won't drain its stamina if you're just following the road (just double the run button).

    Avatar image for shadowconqueror
    ShadowConqueror

    3413

    Forum Posts

    1275

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 1

    #136  Edited By ShadowConqueror

    Any tips for unarmed combat? having a hard time defeating enemies in hand to hand

    Honestly, the best way I've found to beat enemies in hand to hand is just to dodge (O or B, not the X or A roll) to one side when they attack and then hit them back. You can get 2-5 hits in before they try to attack you again. I've beaten enemies 10+ levels higher than me without taking a single hit just using this technique. Trying to reposte in hand to hand with get your ass knocked out more often than you'd like.

    Avatar image for chaser324
    chaser324

    9415

    Forum Posts

    14945

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 15

    #137 chaser324  Moderator

    Trying to reposte in hand to hand with get your ass knocked out more often than you'd like.

    I've actually had a lot of success with riposte in hand-to-hand - it got me through both the Velen and Novigrad fighting circuits while well under the recommended level. In group fights riposte can be a little risky unless you can single out particular enemies, so in those cases, you definitely should consider using dodge more often.

    Avatar image for r3beld0gg
    r3beld0gg

    475

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #138  Edited By r3beld0gg

    @probablytuna said:@dead_cell said: Yeah I can confirm that. I tried this yesterday in battle and it is only when in combat. It feels a little hard to switch with the D-pad while trying to dodge though, so I just use the menu usually myself.

    Huh, no wonder when I tried it it didn't work. It's not that useful when you can only do it during combat, I'd rather just use the radial menu as it slows down combat.

    I haven't tried it yet, I'm about to sit down and play in a bit, but it seems like I would prefer it. I dislike slowing down the fight to go to the radial menu and have sometimes messed up selecting the sign I want. Quick L2-Left-R2 to get quen back up just sounds nicer to me.

    @humanity said:...When you're on horseback, press and HOLD your attack button and Geralt will cock back his hand and the game will go into slow-motion...

    @docgroove said:You can use the R stick to switch between your inventory panel and that of a merchant.

    I really wish the game did a better job of telling the player about things like this. These are great tips, but they really shouldn't be something you have to learn outside of the game. I'll add this to the horse tip, though, in case anyone missed it. You can calm your horse with Axii if it's fear gets high. Actually, it's the only sign you can arm on horseback, so just press R2.

    I'll throw in one more tip, though it may already be here. In fact, I'm sure it is, but upgrade quen! I have the first two rows of quen maxed and it's actually almost OP. The first row makes your shield explode after it fails, knocking back enemies. Some enemies may even be stunned or knocked down. The second row lets you create a shield bubble by holding R2 (PS4). At the max level, you use no stamina to hold the shield up and every hit heals you for a generous amount. Then, when it breaks, the enemies are knocked back for you to escape (assuming the first upgrade is still active). This also works just by releasing R2, so you can break an enemies guard. Great way to heal during a fight without using potions or food.

    Avatar image for edgaras1103
    edgaras1103

    796

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #139  Edited By edgaras1103

    What about quest structure? I am lvl 14 and main story quests are lvl 6 or so, the contracts and side quests lvl 20 - 25. Should I do side content even it is higher level? I don't want to finish main quests quickly. Help guys.

    Avatar image for r3beld0gg
    r3beld0gg

    475

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    What about quest structure? I am lvl 14 and main story quests are lvl 6 or so, the contracts and side quests lvl 20 - 25. Should I do side content even it is higher level? I don't want to finish main quests quickly. Help guys.

    I've found this to be an issue as well. I'm level 9 and have outleveled several of my secondary and main quests, while others are for much higher levels. I wish there was a better system for sorting your quests since you can get so many and I'm sure a bunch of them will be left behind. It's a shame because you really can't tell when a quest is a simple fetch type quest or when it could lead to something more interesting. I really hate that you can be right next to a quest objective, but it doesn't show on the map. Switching back and forth from quest log to map is a bit annoying when trying to decide what to do next.

    I will say this, I have found that just because you are well under the recommended level does not mean that you can't do the quest. In some RPGs, the red skull would mean that you can't kill the enemy. Like the game will have you doing 10% damage while receiving 500% or something. I've killed creatures way higher level than myself just by using upgraded quen (healing shield) and dodging a lot. Stick and move.

    If you're 14, I don't see why you should be afraid of 20-25. Anything within 10 levels of you isn't a real issue.

    I'm mostly doing my main quests and just sprinkling in the side stuff when it's in the area. I know I'm going to miss content, I just have to accept that.

    Avatar image for veektarius
    veektarius

    6420

    Forum Posts

    45

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 11

    User Lists: 1

    I'm pretty deep in, but I've found that even as I pass level 20 I just can't make any sense of how I can make good use of the skill trees. It seems like I have neither enough skill points nor enough skill slots to get very far in any of them unless I commit totally to only one of them. Is this correct or will I be running into a whole bunch of places of power down the line?

    Avatar image for poisonjam7
    poisonjam7

    540

    Forum Posts

    1838

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 27

    @docgroove: Thank you!! I was getting so fed up with cycling through all my inventory slots just to get over to the merchant menu.

    I have a question for you guys: What is the silver monocle for? It's in my quest items but I don't know which quest it's for. I think I got it during one of the early quests - the one with the frying pan lady.

    Also, I picked up something called a "valuable fossil" somewhere else. Is it just junk or is there someone special that needs it? It only sells for 1g, which I don't consider valuable at all. Is the name just misleading?

    Avatar image for probablytuna
    probablytuna

    5010

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    I'm pretty deep in, but I've found that even as I pass level 20 I just can't make any sense of how I can make good use of the skill trees. It seems like I have neither enough skill points nor enough skill slots to get very far in any of them unless I commit totally to only one of them. Is this correct or will I be running into a whole bunch of places of power down the line?

    My advice is to stick with a few skill trees/paths and max those out (for example choose either light or strong attack for physical, then one or two sign trees). Don't spread yourself too thin because then you won't have enough points to master any. If you're not happy with the points you've put in you can always respec by buying the respec potion (forgot the name of it but it's mentioned on the thread I think).

    Avatar image for ares42
    Ares42

    4558

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #144  Edited By Ares42

    @docgroove said:

    You can use the R stick to switch between your inventory panel and that of a merchant.

    Oh lord, thank you!

    Another loading tooltip I just had that also made this game much more enjoyable, you can actually toggle off/on pretty much any UI element on the main screen in the options (and you can also change the size).

    Avatar image for nardak
    Nardak

    947

    Forum Posts

    29

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 4

    #145  Edited By Nardak

    @veektarius: How many points of interest have you explored?...Think i have found over 25+ places of power which give you a free ability point. Mind you this will still not enable you to unlock that many ranks but you can unlock a bit more stuff that way.

    You still have to choose in what you want to specialise in.

    Avatar image for shirogane
    shirogane

    3647

    Forum Posts

    132

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 3

    Secondary quests actually have an effect on the main story and what happens in it. So try to do them if you care about that. It's real nice having stuff happen or npcs saying stuff about things that happened in a totally unrealted quest.

    Avatar image for terminatorz
    TerminatorZ

    115

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Apparently going full speed on the horse won't drain its stamina if you're just following the road (just double the run button).

    Whaaaaat? Cool!

    Avatar image for mike
    mike

    18011

    Forum Posts

    23067

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: -1

    User Lists: 6

    #148  Edited By mike

    If you're playing on PC with a controller, holding the Start button acts as a World Map shortcut. Same as swiping up on the PS4's touch pad, and of course holding in Start on the Xbox One controller.

    Avatar image for bombedyermom
    bombedyermom

    439

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Axii. All day every day. buff the conversation perk ASAP, as you not only have the prompt to do so all the friggin time, but it's a nice little batch of xp each time, and can get you out of some annoying fights later in the game. Also, on higher difficulties turning an enemy on his friend he will often one shot them (or be one shot'd), so yeah.

    Axii. Axiiiiiiii.

    Avatar image for avantegardener
    avantegardener

    2491

    Forum Posts

    165

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 11

    Hold down your Attack button while on horse back to slow down time and aim your attacks.

    Sorry if that was mentioned already, but it appears to never be mentioned in the tutorials (I may have missed it), I just read on reddit.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.