The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I have been to Kaer Morhen but not yet taken Ciri there. I did get to dress up in Yen’s clothes and make a drunk call to a sorcerer, among other things.

Looks like the game is setting things up for a battle royale with the Wild Hunt, which I interpreted to be the climax of the game. Shouldn’t surprise me to learn that there is still a ways to go.

Also, just curious if you guys had a favorite armor/weapon setup? I’ve been doing the diagram hints for the Witcher sets and pretty much exclusively using them, swapping out as I level into the upgrade. Can’t tell that I have a favorite but I kind of like the Wolf set as kind of a jack-of-all-trades thing.

Like I said, I don’t want to spoil anything about the plot, but yeah, there is still a good chunk of content ahead of you!

I just liked the look of the Cat school armour and stuck with that. Did all the armour quest lines though just for completionist reasons.

You actually drunk dialed Hierarch Hemmelfart, the “pope” of the Eternal Fire cult, while he was shitting.

Wolf and Ursine ftw!

I started with Cat school, then switched to Ursine and never really went back (well, a short while with Viper while in Toussaint). Ursine for armor and Ursine for swords.

That was my first play-thru. This time I’m trying to do what Geralt would do (WWGoRD), which means I’m going to be using Wolf school gear all the way, once I get to that level. For now I’m forced to use the style-less Griffin armor.

Don’t skip exploring Kaer Morhen the first time you arrive. There are a fair number of things to do, in spite of it being a small area. Plus the landscape is very nice.

Oh, so the dude that those halflings gave me a painting of for clearing our their hunting lodge? I didn’t pick up on that, or that he was on the shitter at the time. Why would a non-sorcerer have a magical communication device though? You don’t have to have magical power to use them? And his name is really Hemmelfart? I thought people were mocking him when they called him that.

I think Griffin is my least favorite, something about that green and gold color scheme just rubs me the wrong way.

Yeah I don’t remember that either, but then again I burned the Church of the Eternal Fire to the ground at first opportunity so…

Geralt doesn’t kill innocents, but I went out of my way to cause every trouble I could for Eternal Fire people.

Not to mention that it makes Geralt look like he had too many donuts for lunch.

Yeah, but I went all Griffin because I used signs so much. By the time I finished the first DLC, I could set up Yrden circles that would really weaken any enemies enough to be able to easily finish them off. Loved seeing them hit with lightening bolts over and over and over…

Yes that’s him. He also calls guard to bring him paper…
Why does he have a megascope? Probably to illustrate the usual hypocrisy of the church. And yeah his name is Cyrus Engelkind Hemmelfart.

Argh, I am headed out of town in a couple days and I’m so close to finishing up the game, I think. Got through the assault on Kaer Morhen and, just like you guys said, there was still a lot left to do. But at this point I’ve killed one of Eredin’s lieutenants and convinced another not to support him, so I think I’m about set for endgame. I like the way all the disparate parts of the game’s various plots are coming together at the end, but I wish there was more Zoltan and Dandelion, they just want to hang out at their bar. Guess I can’t blame them for that.

One more thing: I find it kind of hilarious that after spending the entirety of the second game fighting to clear his name of being a regicide, Geralt in this game just says ah fuck it, sure I’ll help you kill your king.

And I did it! Wrapped up the final battle with Eredin and the Wild Hunt just now. I appreciated that they didn’t end up going the sudden, inevitable betrayal at the very end though they made it look very much as if they were. And I had beefed up my Geralt so much that the final battles were kind of trivial, but I still don’t regret playing on lower difficulty, there was just so damned much combat.

So anyway, I ended up Ciri headed off to inherit the Nilfgaardian throne, and Redania retaining a piece of its independence as vassal state to the empire. Of course I couldn’t let Dijkstra kill Roche, he’s too awesome and he and Ves had just backed me up at Kaer Morhen, I couldn’t turn my back on them! As far as Ciri goes, sounds like the witcher ending for her would have been cool, but I think that while the parting is bittersweet for the two of them, Ciri is probably a good fit for the throne and should at least be safer there.

I’m going to take a break here, jump back in with the two expansions in a few weeks maybe, don’t want to burn myself out. I’ve damn near broken the bank upgrading my armor sets, got wolf and cat up to mastercrafted and they are pretty awesome. I think I’ll have to get bear upgraded too but at the moment it and griffin are staying at superior until I find more cash. But overall this was a good experience, with the downside contrarily being it was so damn long and so damn big (that’s what she said). Folks probably think it’s crazy but I think I still liked The Witcher 2 for its tighter overall campaign. And I’ve never found an armor set in 3 that looks as awesome as the Oathbreaker set from dark mode in 2.

Huzzah!

Nice! Heart of Stone is basically the biggest, most expansive side quest the game has to offer. Do it when you’re ready to spend 10+ hours on a quest similar in scope to the bloody baron. It’s amazing.

Blood and Wine is basically another full game which looks amazing, but is more of the same (not meant as an insult). Like a better looking Velen. Play Blood and Wine when you’re ready to wrap up the story forever.

Yeah I’ve been warned about the size of the expansions, that’s mainly why I’m taking a bit of a break. Don’t want to burn out. What I’ve read about them is intriguing so I am looking forward to getting back into it.

I think you should do Blood & Wine first, to carry the new mutations & grandmaster armour into Hearts of Stone- otherwise they are wasted late in the game.

That’s an intriguing thought. But it’s been suggested to me that Blood and Wine makes for a pretty natural endpoint for Geralt’s adventures.

Yeah don’t listen to Appleseed. Sure mutations and what not are nice but not worth fucking up the order of the story. Blood and Wine is the ending. And if you do all sidequests, it is basically Witcher 2-length game so you will still get some use of those new features.

You can just do those sub quests early so they’re available for the bulk of Blood and Wine, though the kickoff of the mutations one is not all that obvious at first.

It’s actually worth noting that B & W becomes rather linear once the main quest gets to a crucial moment, so I recommend doing all the side quests pretty early.

I’d save Blood and Wine for the end, if for no other reason the end of Blood and Wine was, for me, a very nice wrap up and ending for Geralt in general. I won’t say more but there was a final scene that just felt “right” and satisfying and which provided nice closure to the series.

My second time through in Novigrad and I’m seeing a fair bit of new stuff. More so than I thought I would, considering I thought I played like a completionist last time.

I do agree with everyone who suggests Triss doesn’t have as much story as Yennefer. I’m trying to focus a bit more on Triss this time and the dialogue just isn’t there. I wonder if this time I’ll end up alone.