Prologue
Contents
WALKTHROUGH – PROLOGUE
The first portion of the prologue is pretty straightforward. Pick up the sword from the training dummy and start swinging. Remember the game uses a timed click combat system, so pay attention to the little sword icon changes to know when to chain your attacks. Tutorial windows will pop up to tell you what to do as well.
As soon as you can, go into options and make sure you turn show items names on, so you don’t miss anything that can be inspected. After the initial group of bandits is dead, follow your fellow witchers up the stairs.
After the scene, you are on your own. You will learn about the different combat styles as you go, so change them accordingly to what you are fighting. Again, there’s really only one way to go, so follow the bandit trail up the courtyard, onto the wall and towards an area with several archers near a siege cauldron. There will be a scene here where Geralt goes up the spiral staircase.
There will be some more fighting on the upper courtyard. Make your way to the gate and click on the turnstile to open it and let everyone else in. Vesemir gives you a Swallow and a Thunderbolt potion. Drink the Thunderbolt before talking to Leo to go inside.
Inside Kaer Morhen, keep following Leo and you will learn the third fighting style. Group fighting is great, especially later on in the game, so remember to develop that skill too. Keep following Leo until you reach the lab. After the scene, follow him again to the circle of stones and click on it to learn Aard – your knockback sign. Click it again to get a booster. Go back to where you came from and use it on the rocks to clear the way out by clicking the right mouse button.
Back outside, after the scene it’s time to choose who you’re helping. If you go with Triss, you go back to the lab and fight the mage. If you stay with Vesemir, you get to fight the Frightener.
If you go with Triss:
Savolla’s battle takes place inside a force field. First, there are a few bandits to get rid of. As for the mage, he teleports, so the best way to catch him is to cast Aard as soon as he materializes and then beat the crap out of him with your strong style. Triss also gives you an energy regeneration potion, so you can use the sign more often.
If you go with Vesemir:
First clear the bandits, then your job is to hit both siege cauldrons with Aard and ring the bell. Making noise stuns the Frightener, which means you can hit it for a while while the three items are making noise. You will have to do this a few times, back and forth from the cauldrons to the bell, to the beast.
No matter what you choose, Triss ends up hurt. Vesemir will tell you about meditation. You can only do it by the fire, and you use a flint to light it up. Meditating lets you rest and access the character development sheet where you use talents to improve your skills and attributes after leveling up. Click on the hourglass to meditate when done.
The next step is to find the ingredients to make a potion to heal Triss. Talk to Lambert. There should be some left around the castle, so it’s time to look around. Go through the kitchen and head up the stairs to the upper floor. There will be more bandits to fight and a few things to inspect. Make sure you don’t miss a thing. When you have cleared the top floor and found all ingredients, go back downstairs and talk to Lambert to get a recipe for the potion for Triss. Talk to Vesemir again to receive a new armor and sword, your medallion, celandine and a scroll. Read the scroll. Talk to Eskel as well (pretty much talk to everyone about everything to get more entries in your journal).
Go outside and click on the Frightener’s corpse to get what you need. Go back inside and meditate by the fire. Go into the alchemy menu and double-click the recipe Potion for Triss (or click mix below the ingredients) to make it. Click on the hourglass to meditate when done.
Triss is now resting in her room. Go to the upper floor and there will be a passage to get there (this is why you should have show all items turned on, you will see the door right away). Click on her and the “give gift” option will appear. Drag the potion to the hand icon to give it to her, then have a little chat. Depending on who you helped before, the dialog will be different, but you get to sleep with her either way.
You can also go to the armory and talk to Eskel to learn about fistfighting. Tell Triss you’re ready to go and you will attend Leo’s funeral and leave to the Outskirts of Vizima.
Checklist:
Books: The Book of the Swallow, Frightener’s Vision, Monstrum, or, a Portrayal of Witchers
Cards: Triss