Melitele's Heart

Melitele's Heart is a quest in .
==Walkthrough==
===Prologue===
When wandering around the camp before the assault, you can meet "Newboy", a Crinfrid Reaver who has made a silly bet where he will not wear any armor during the assault. In his defense he says he found a magic item which should help protect him, but requests you have a look at it. If you agree but then persuade him that it might actually be cursed, he gives it to you (-10% armor) and decides to wear armor instead.
When you finally free yourself from prison, you bump into "Newboy", who tells you wearing armor saved his life. He offers to repay you by distracting the dock guards, allowing you to slip by.
If you allow Newboy to go into battle without his armor, he will be slain and you can find his body on the docks before you board the ship with Triss. (on the platform, right before the ramp/bridges leading to Triss, is where I found him)
Note: If during the above first encounter in the camp you tell him that it is magic, but you do not know what it does, "Newboy" will decide to wear his armor, but will not give up the amulet. He will survive the assault, but you will then have to kill him to get the amulet just before you board Vernon's boat at the end of the prologue. This is in contrast to what the game guide provided with the premium edition states. The guide tells you that he gives you the amulet as a keepsake, but he actually gives you About Dragons instead. He will still distract the guards for Geralt, but they can still be alerted, which forces Newboy to attack with them (to keep up appearances), and Geralt can then retrieve the amulet from his corpse.
===Chapter I ===
If Geralt arrives in Flotsam with the amulet in his possession, the quest can continue with Anezka of Lobinden. If shown the amulet, she will express interest in buying it for 50; Geralt will then automatically haggle the price up to 200. If pressed about why she is interested (persuasion check), she will reveal that it is in fact cursed and that she may be able to restore it. To do so, she requires the following ingredients:
Ingredients 	Means of acquiring (as of patch 1.2)
Troll tongue 	
*Loot from killing the troll in Troll Trouble
*Beat Sendler in Poker Face: Flotsam and choose she-troll head as reward
*Buy from Cedric
Endrega fetus 	
*Loot from Endregas
*Loot from Endrega cocoons
*Endrega fetus in this case refers to Endrega embryo
Arachas eyes 	
*Loot from killing the Arachas in Chapter I's The Assassins of Kings
**Can only be obtained if one chooses not to follow Iorveth straightaway to the next objective
*Buy from Cedric
Essence of death	
*Loot from killing wraiths in In the Claws of Madness
*Buy from Cedric
 In Cedric does not provide these ingredients.
Once these are collected and brought to her, she tells the witcher to meet her by a statue of Veyopatis at midnight. The statue can be found in the forest; it is a massive head with a somewhat cylindrical mouth and menacingly blank eyes.
Once there, she warns that you must defend her while she performs the ritual and you must hold off regularly spawning wraiths. You will be fighting three at any given time; when one dies, another spawns to take its place. Despite some beliefs, this event is not based on time, it is based on the number of wraiths killed. On Normal difficulty, it takes approx. 9-10 kills to end the fight. [Note from someone else: I killed a few dozens and lasted until dawn without the ritual succeeding.] Make sure she is performing the ritual while you fight. If she stops, the ritual has failed no matter how many wraiths you kill.
=== Tactics: ===
* Don't forget specter oil, unless you are following an all-Sign strategy
* It is possible to succeed by repeatedly casting Axii on one wraith, thus wearing down both it and another, and avoiding the third (whichever one isn't attacked by the hexed one).
** An alternative version of this approach is using fury traps. It's then only a matter of finishing the last ones off.
** See videos section for demonstration of this fight using only Axii and Quen
* Another possibility is to walk far enough away that the wraiths stop following, then back in when you are ready to take one down, then away again, and so on. This gives opportunities to regenerate Vitality and Vigor - just remember to check from time to time if Anezka is still busy. [this is by far the easiest: tumble away from them until they start running toward her; then walk toward her until the wraiths chase after you again; then slowly walk backward until they stop pursuing; then edge forward until one of the wraiths is targeted. Then use Aard and your choice of damage repeatedly until she says "I have done it."
* Less safe but far quicker (Aard pick-offs can be very time-consuming) is to keep Quen up constantly and toss bombs: Grapeshot is the cheap option, but Dancing star (especially preceded by Dragon's Dream) will exploit wraiths' vulnerability to fire. Igni will of course ignite the Dragon's dream, but if safety is the larger concern, Quen is the better use of Vigor. Run/dodge around the group (focus on the area across the clearing from Anezka) and pick off the weakest wraith. Run/dodge to where you entered the clearing or at the opposite side; get out of range of pursuit. If you've taken damage, you can wait for recovery in these two spots. Rinse and repeat. As long as Anezka is still performing the ritual, you're okay. They will not attack her, and there is no apparent time limit. The only way to stop her from performing the ritual is to fight too close to her. Keep the fight away from where she is conducting the ritual. If she stops performing the ritual, and defensively puts her hands up looking toward the battlefield area, then the wraith onslaught will never end. This creates a situation of unending and decent experience if you wish to level up a bit more. However, you will not get the quest reward talisman. To finish the quest, and get the talisman, always fight in the far side of the field near the brush. Beating up 9-10 wraiths is about right. Pick them off with bombs, kiting, and waiting out of range if needed. Takes about 2 minutes if not hit or only hit when quen is activated. Quen is your friend here. Also, use your witcher's medallion to locate the nearby circles of Power before you engage in the ritual. After the fight, you may have to fight some endregas as she walks away. Keep following her; the opportunity to open a chat session will arise when there are no monsters in the area. Then you get your deserved talisman.
* There is a completely safe method that involves nothing more than Dragon's Dream and Dancing Star. After speaking to Anezka at the statue, when the wraiths start appearing, head south towards the cave under the waterfall, but don't go outside the area with the statue. stop just outside the range where the wraiths stop following you. from they snipe the two closest wraiths with the two bombs. Apply the same strategy as above. First Dragon's Dream and then immediately Dancing Star. Wait for the fire to go out before throwing the next Dragon's Dream at the same wraith. you will never have to kill the third wraith. After some 3-5 minutes Anezka will finish the ritual. You will probably need almost 20 bombs of each kind. Prepare 30 of each if you are worried. You should not need to enter combat with a sword at all.
* Another method is to isolate one wraith at a time. Start by attracting two wraiths to the point where they stop following you. Then roll quickly to the isolated wraith and repeatedly use swift blows to kill it. If isolated, a wraith is too slow to fight back or even to defend. Make sure you roll away if the other two wraiths gang up on you though. You should also use Quen at all times and Swallow before the battle starts.
Note that bombs are not required to do this, they simply expedite the fight.
Once the ritual is done, talk to Anezka and she will hand over the talisman, its magic restored. The armor penalty is gone and it now gives +1 Vitality Regeneration. As before, it does not need to be equipped.
== Journal entry ==
Prologue
:If Geralt tells Newboy the amulet is magical:
::In Foltest's camp, Geralt ran into the Crinfrid Reavers. Having lost his memory, the witcher no longer recalled the trouble this bunch of rogues had caused during the famous hunt for the golden dragon. As it turned out, Kennet, Desbrut and Boholt had recruited a new comrade. With great originality, they called him Newboy. The four were to join in the assault on La Valette Castle that day. The problem was that the drunken Reavers had bet one of Foltest's knights that Newboy would survive the battle while attacking solely in his trousers and shirt. A protective amulet they had plundered from a roadside shrine was to help him. Asked for his advice, Geralt told them the amulet was indeed magic, thus confirming the Reavers' conviction that Newboy would emerge from the battle unharmed and they would win the wager.
:If Geralt tells Newboy the amulet is not magical:
:: In Foltest's camp, Geralt ran into the Crinfrid Reavers. Having lost his memory, the witcher no longer recalled the trouble this bunch of rogues had caused during the famous hunt for the golden dragon. As it turned out, Kennet, Desbrut and Boholt had recruited a new comrade. With great originality, they called him Newboy. The four were to join in the assault on La Valette Castle that day. The problem was that the drunken Reavers had bet one of Foltest's knights that Newboy would survive the battle while attacking solely in his trousers and shirt. A protective amulet they had plundered from a roadside shrine was to help him. Asked for his advice, Geralt expressed doubt about the amulet's protective properties and discouraged the Reavers from undertaking their daring escapade. Newboy reasonably decided to don his armor.
:Upon emerging from the dungeon, Geralt ran into - you guessed it - Newboy. The Reaver remembered that the witcher's advice had saved his life and responded in kind. He offered to draw away the guards blocking the way to Vernon Roche's vessel.
:With Newboy's help, the witcher managed to sneak aboard unmolested. And so the advice he had offered the Reaver in passing had now saved his own life.
:If Geralt tells Newboy the amulet is magical, but doesn't know what it does, and then kills Newboy before getting on the ship: 
:The witcher was not careful enough, and a fight broke out despite Newboy's help. Thus, the false amulet's owner, having heeded the witcher's advice, ultimately died by his hand.
Chapter I
: Travelling can be educational. In Flotsam, Geralt learned that the talisman he had considered to be worthless actually had power and a name. Anezka could restore its abilities by performing a magical ritual, but she needed ingredients: the tongue of a troll, the eyes of an arachas, the fetus of an endrega, and the essence of death.
: If Geralt doesn't complete this quest before choosing Iorveth's path during the quest "At a Crossroads: Scoia'tael" or entering the grounds of Loredo's residence during the quest "Death to the Traitor!" (the quest fails):
:: The witcher's attention was drawn to other, more important matters, and he gave up on solving the mystery of Newboy's talisman. A mystery he would never return to again.
: If Geralt sells Newboy's talisman to Anezka:
:: Newboy's talisman came a long way and finally ended up in the hands of Anezka from the village of Lobinden. Geralt got a tidy sum of orens for it.
: Collecting fragments of monster corpses was quite normal for our hero. Geralt traveled the length and breadth of Flotsam and its surroundings and found all the ingredients. Even so, obtaining a troll's tongue was no simple task.
: Geralt searched the surroundings of Flotsam far an wide and found all the ingredients, though getting a troll's tongue was not easy. He gave the components to Anezka. The girl agreed to meet the witcher at the altar of Veyopatis in the middle of the forest. She said she'll be there every night, for she'd be able to perform the ritual releasing the talisman's power only there, in the moonlight.
: Geralt arrived at the meeting place and Anezka began the rite. however, the witcher would not watch the ceremony in peace. He had to defend the girl from wraiths drawn to a source of magic like moths to a flame. They were the ghosts of the dead from the times when humans only started to colonize the Pontar Valley and faith in Veyopatis was strong.
: Thanks to Anezka's abilities and Geralt's persistence, the ritual was not interrupted and calmly came to an end. The talisman's power was awakened and the witch gave the witcher the powerful artifact named Melitele's Heart. Future events would show how helpful the amulet's protective aura.
== Notes ==
* Considering the effort required to restore the talisman to its full glory, the value of the reward for this quest is questionable as the +1 regeneration only works outside of combat. The only real benefit is losing the armor penalty which can also be achieved by selling it to Anezka or just ignoring the quest altogether.
== Videos ==
File:Battle_for_Melitele's_Heart_(The_Witcher_2)_Full_HD
File:Melitele's_Heart_Full_Story_(The_Witcher_2)_Full_HD
== Gallery ==
Meliteles-heart.png|Crinfrid Reavers
witcher2-anezka-ritual-02.png|Veopatis statue
witcher2-anezka-ritual-01.png|Anezka performing a ritual
de:Meliteles Herz
es:El corazón de Melitele
fr:Le cœur de Melitele
it:Il Cuore di Melitele
ru:Сердце Мелитэле
Category:The Witcher 2 quests
Category:Pages with tables