The Witcher Walkthrough

Chapter 1

WALKTHROUGH – CHAPTER 1

Once you have control of Geralt, a bunch of barghests will appear by the gate. Kill them all and talk to Shani. Your next hint is to find the Reverend. Go to the inn and grab all the notes from the notice board. Inside, you can store your belongings with the Inkeeper and meet a bunch of colorful characters. The Antiquary sells books, Vesna has food and drink, you can alsochallenge Fat Fred and others for a fistfight. There is also a drunkard that you can beat in a drinking contest (about 5 weak drinks will do) to win a book about ghouls and graveirs. Outside, the dwarven blacksmith will sell you a Cinfrid Oil recipe for 35 orens.

Make your way north towards the cluster of houses and find the Reverend. If it’s nighttime, he will be in his house, in bed. During daytime, he is outside the church. He gives you five candles and tells you to light the five shrines in the area. You must do this at night, and every time you approach one, some barghests will appear. To place a candle on the shrine, click the shrine and use the hand icon as if you were giving a gift. Make sure you talk to the Royal Huntsman when you see him, he mentions a monster in the river.

Since the whole process had to effect, go back to the Reverend and let him know. He sends you to talk to the witch, Abigail. Talk to him about the Salamandra. You must gain the trust of three people, Odo, Mikul and Haren, before you gain his trust and tells you what you need to know. He gives you a ring, equip it so you can show it to these people when you see them.

Abigail’s hut is near the inn, so go back and have a chat with her. If you have the ten barghest skulls for the contract, talk to her about it for your reward. Any extras you can sell to her. She has another task for you, get five white myrtle petals. To be able to pick herbs you need to put a bronze talent in Herbalism and read the book Field Plants to recognize them. If you don’t want to wait to level up and get a talent, you can buy them from the Herbalist outside the inn. Come back with the white myrtle and leave Abigail alone while she makes a potion.

Leuvaarden at the inn also has a quest for you, find out what happened to his missing friend in the cave across the river, left of the mill. There are Echinops inside and you can’t see a thing, so use a Cat potion. You will find some human remains on the Sated Echinops. Go back to Leuvaarden and tell him what you found. Now you need to put the late friend to rest, and you can only do this if you have lit the five shrines. Talk to the Reverend about burrying the remains, and he says you can go to the church basement and place them in the sarcophagus. Go inside, down the stairs and do just that. The King of the Wild Hunt appears and after the conversation you fight Leo’s ghost. Go back to the inn to get your reward from Leuvaarden.

If you talked to Vesna before, you will find her being attacked by bandits. Help her out and then escort her home (near the Reverend’s). She will tell you to meet her at the mill at dusk and bring some wine. While you’re here, go towards the bridge, turn right down to the river shore and kill the drowners until you have three brains for the Reverend’s contract. You might also find the named drowner, Nadir, it drops the head for the Royal Huntsman’s quest – if not, it’s on the other side of the river, by the mill. Drowners only appear at night.

Keep going along the river until you get a scene wher a dwarf is being harassed by bandits. Help him out, since as it turns out, he is your friend. Some of the bandits will drop dice sets that allow you to play dice poker with NPCs who also play. Talk to Zoltan any time at the inn to learn the basics and play a game with him. You can also play a drinking game, it takes 7 weak drinks to win a diamond from him.

Go into Haren’s house (facing the river) and show him the ring, otherwise he won’t talk to you. He asks you to kill some drowners by the river, east of his house. Kill the eight drowners and you will see some elves and dwarves appear. The Scoia’tel want Haren’s cargo and you can either kill them or let them take it.

If you kill them, Vivaldi will be arrested in Chapter 2 and you have to bail him out. If you let them go, Coleman (the Fisstech seller) will be dead. Whatever your decision, go back to Haren and finish your quest. If you talked to Zoltan at the inn and learned the basics of dice poker, tell Haren Zoltan sent you to play against him. You can also meditate there.

Go to the Vizima gate during the day and talk to Mikul by showing him the ring. He wants you to kill the ghouls in the crypt, so that will open the entrance, but you need to go in at night. Inside, you will find a dead girl holding a glass vial. Take it with you. Kill all the ghouls inside, and you should obtain the three ghoul blood for Kalkstein’s contract. You will also find the Igni sign. Go back out to Mikul for a battle on the bridge. When you go back to the crypt, the blockage has been cleared and you can go further in. There are a few walls that can be broken, and behind one there’s a larger ghoul, Ozzrel. Take this head to the Royal Huntsman for another reward and return to Mikul. Talk to him again to find out he also used to play dice. Tell him Zoltan sent you and he will play. He also gives you a package to deliver at the Hairy Bear Inn in Vizima.

You’ve wasted more than enough time for Abigail to make the potion, so go back and talk to her. Alvin will make a few revelations and Abigail will give you Berengar’s notes.

Go west from the inn to find Odo’s house. Show him the ring and he will have a few drinks and ask for your help with his garden. It turns out you’re too drunk to walk, let alone fight, after this conversation, so just walk away from his house and the Echinops and meditate at the nearest campfire. You will probably have to fight a few barghests, but they’re not a big deal when drunk. Meditate for an hour and go back to Odo’s house to kill the two Echinops. Use Igni on them and keep chaining your attacks. Go back inside to claim your reward. If you mention Zoltan sent you, you can also play dice with Odo.

And now that you’ve earned all three men’s trust, go back to the Reverend. He tells you where the Salamandra hideout is, and that you must get a key from Olaf, the innkeeper. Go back to the inn to find a dead Olaf and Shani surrounded by bandits. Help her out and loot the key. Go to the hideout, one of the locked houses on the way to the cave and get ready to fight some more. When you’re done, go through the trapdoor.

In the cave, you need to kill yet more bandits and save the children. Use Aard on the wall near Alvin to go on and you will find Abigail on the other side. You can get to know her better to get her card. Once you walk outside, you are confronted by the villagers, who want her killed. It’s up to you to judge her actions. If you find her innocent, you will fight the villagers and Abigail will help you against the Beast. You will also see her again in Chapter 4 as the Murky Waters healer. If you take the villagers’ side, they will kill her and fight the Beast with you.

The Beast appears with a few Barghests, not a big deal. Use group style to get rid of them, then switch to strong to kill the Beast. You will get a Letter of Safe Conduct so you can enter Vizima. Before you go, talk to Shani at the inn, then head to the gate by the mill. Mikul turns you over to the guards.

Checklist (see respective chapters for more info):

Books: An Invitation to Magic, Against Nonhumans, Arrest Warrant, Barghests, Basics of Alchemy, The Book of Animals, Book of the Tawny Owl, The Conjunction of the Spheres, Fairytales and Stories, Field Plants, Hellhound’s Soul, The History of the World, Ithlinne’s Prophecy, Monstrum, or a Portrayal of Witchers, Recent History, Subterranean Plants, Swamp Monsters, The Tome of Fear and Loathing, volume I, Zerrikanian Alchemy

Cards: Vesna Hood, Abigail, People of the Outskirts (Peasant Woman)

Contracts: Barghest (10 skulls), Drowner (3 brains), Ghoul (3 blood samples)

Trophies: Nadir, Ozzrel