The Witcher FAQ/Quests

This FAQ is intended for the fans who have enjoyed, played and finished at least once, and are now wondering what quests, and other goodies they may have missed. In short, the FAQ is written for those that want to get more out of the game!
Note: I am assuming you more or less know how the game works, i.e. you learned the basics from playing . If you want to be informed of things that go beyond "just winning the game", keep reading.
The FAQ makes extensive use of The Witcher Wiki, mainly highlighting things of note. Should you miss specific details, feel free to check with the wiki, it is quite content complete.
== What Quests are there? ==
 is a complex game. This list will help you track down those few quests you may have missed or not completed for some reason. For an overview look into the List of Quests by Chapter (130 real quests total) on the wiki, where you can distinguish by
 Primary quests, Secondary quests, The Witcher trophy quests, and Contracts.
Alignment-related Quests: There are a total of six quests that can only be played if Geralt follows the appropriate path (Order, Scoia'tael, or Witcher/Neutral). Thus only two of the six quests can be played in one game run, see the Alignment dependent Quests? Q&A. Note that the quest Hot Potato may fail in Chapter II if you help the Scoia'tael in Chapter I (Coleman dies in The Hairy Bear inn).
Multi-chapter Quests: There are several quests that cannot be solved at the end of the Chapter they were started:
* Notably the quests related to becoming a professional dice player and legendary fistfighter.
* A particularly tricky quest, A Lost Lamb, begins in Chapter II and can only be finished in Chapter III.
* Collecting teeth for (Zahin Schmartz in Won't Hurt a Bit, Chapter III) can only be finished towards the end of Chapter IV. Be sure to visit him in the Executioner's tower!
* More quests that span chapters are those concerning Salamandra, Geralt's Identity, Witchers' Secrets, Berengar's Secret, the trophy hunt, some of Kalkstein's quests and Raven's armour.
== How to Look up Missed Quests? ==
The simplest way to find out what quests you missed playing through is to load up the final saved game in the save game editor, to then look into the Quests tab under Not Started.
For this to work, download and install the editor, see the The Witcher Save Editor? Q&A for details.
== Quests easily missed? ==
After a while you get a feeling for the game and how to talk to all the quest givers. Alas there are a few cases where these rules have been "broken", thus you may tend to miss the quest:
* The Rat from Coleman (at the Hairy Bear inn). If you supported the Scoia'tael in Chaper I, and talked to detective Raymond Maarloeve before you encounter Coleman at the inn in Chapter II, then he will be dead, and so will the quest.Difficulty: No way to guess at this correlation of events. Additionally the parcel delivery quest Hot Potato will actually fail!
* White Fang from Royal huntsman. The beast (Voref) is mentioned, but there is no quest that would let you remember or look up the quest. You have to go out and find the beast in the swamp first.Tip: Look around the Collapsed tower by night (though I have seen the wolf in the early morning too).Difficulty: The wolf roams around making it difficult at times to find.
* Medic in Distress from Distressed nurse (outside of St. Lebioda's Hospital, Trade Quarter).Difficulty: The NPC only shows up in Chapter III, when you concentrate on exploring the Trade Quarter, plus you will only find her from 12:00 to about 13:30. I "accidentally" killed the monster in Granny's cellar, wondering were to find the appropriate quest giver for it.
* A Long Way from Home from dwarf Yaren Bolt (in Lumberjacks' glade in the Swamp).Difficulty: After solving Flowers and Gold for him, you have to ask for another job, trouble is that line in the dialogue tree is already grayed out, so you have to guess at its existence.
* A Ghost Story from Thug (door opposite the Warehouse in the Slums, Trade Quarter).Difficulty: It seems the tricky thug only shows up after mid-night but before dawn (6:00). Interestingly the quest can be played in either Chapter II or III. Note this quest can yield a Romance card.
* Echoes of Yesterday from elf Yaevinn (on Druids' grove in the Swamp) at the beginning of Chapter III.Difficulty: You start off playing the Trade Quarter in Chapter III, and a visit to the Druids' grove will normally be the last place you revisit. And when you do, some other quests will probably already have removed Yeavinn from the grove.
* A Pilgrimage from Gramps (when first visiting the Swamp).Difficulty: If you take the quest, Geralt will still have a quite weak character build, so you may want to stop the quest (load an older save game), and start to explore the swamp first. Trouble then brews when you discover Gramp's hut and his darker side. This voids the quest.
 The more observant reader will note that some of these are the quests I missed on my first run. I also mention those quests I only accidentally stumbled into. (AEon)
 There are six quests that depend on the path Geralt takes, see next section.
== Alignment dependent quests? ==
There are six quests that can only be played if Geralt has followed the appropriate path:
== Rewards for Trophy Quests? ==
Trophy quests are a bit different than most of the other quests:
* For one they you are not required to complete the game, except for The Beast of the Sewers in Chapter II.
* Then even though they are tracked as quests in the Journal, they only register after you killed the special monster, and have collected the trophy on the witcher's trophy hook.
* These quests are "hinted" at by the the appropriate quest giver, usually the Royal huntsman, but also Vincent Meis or Tobias Hoffman, by word of mouth. So you have to pay very close attention to what they are looking for and where you will find it.
* In the Chapters I to V, there are two trophy quests per Chapter, yielding a total of ten such quests.
For an overview of all quests and their rewards look into the Trophy quests list.
Why bother?
:Not only will you encounter interesting monsters that yield a lot of XP, but you will also earn quite significant amounts of orens. The persistent player will also get special rewards, like the very powerful Moon Blade, a silver sword, or the G'valchir, a steel sword. So, happy hunting.
 As part of The Flame that Cleanses, if you chose the Order path, White Rayla will challenge you to collect as many Scoia'tael (squirrel) tails as possibly. This could be considered a trophy quest. Even though you can "win" (get the XP), Rayla never really agrees that you beat her.
== What different Endings are there? ==
There are three endings to the game, and these are determined by Geralt's choices at critical points in the game. Thanks to flashbacks (series of still images, reminding the player of his past choices) the player is retroactively made aware of the forks in the story.
Basically Geralt has the choice to help the Scoia'tael, support the Order or try to walk the Witcher's (Neutral) path. For more details read the storyline. Depending on Geralt's choices the story pans out slightly differently, some NPCs may not reappear later in the game because they died, some choices will make later decisions impossible.
For a detailed overview of Geralt's choices and their consequences read the Decision Checklist.
== Following the Order path? ==
 In each chapter you should always explore all areas. Thus informed you should be able to make out what quests are pro Order / Siegfried and which are not. Obviously anything that helps the Scoia'tael / Yaevinn should be avoided (even transporting a letter).
 It seems the game is a lot less strict when if comes to supporting either side. You may well play minor pro-Scoia'tael quests, you should only avoid supporting them in Force Recon and Gold Rush, to stay on the Order path.
 At the end of Chapter IV, trying to save Alvin in the village of Murky Waters, you can still choose the "neutral" path if you tell Dandelion so.
See the Decision Checklist for hints.
== Following the Scoia'tael path? ==
 Again, explore all areas in the chapters, to then only play the quests that are pro-Scoia'tael and Yaevinn, avoiding helping the Order and Siegfried.
 It seems the game is a lot less strict when if comes to supporting either side. You may well play minor pro-Order quests, you should only avoid supporting them in Force Recon and Gold Rush, to stay on the Scoia'tael path.
 At the end of Chapter IV, trying to save Alvin in the village of Murky Waters, you can still choose the "neutral" path if you tell Dandelion so.
See the Decision Checklist for hints.
== Following the Witcher path? ==
 This is probably the most difficult path for any completist RPG player. You have to explore each chapter to then painstakingly avoid helping either the Order or Scoia'tael. Only taking on the quests you can morally support. Or so it would seem...
 As it turns out you can fully play e.g. the Order path (see the Following the Order path? Q&A), taking on some minor pro-Scoia'tael quests, but otherwise supporting Siegfried in the swamps (Force Recon) and at the bank in Gold Rush. But this path can still be turned "neutral", at the end of Chapter IV, if you decide to just grab Alvin and get out of Murky Waters (i.e. not helping the Order against the Scoia'tael). In Chapter V you will then be on the neutral path, e.g. get a different Romance card.
:: Alas, this does not work if you want to switch to the Scoia'tael path, your support of the Order voids that dialogue option with Dandelion.
So you can play the quests any way you want as a "neutral" witcher, right up to the decision at the end of Chapter IV.
Avoiding the quest Force Recon completely (you take no side), and possibly also ignoring to get involved in the bank robbery in Gold Rush (may not be possible), could keep the witcher "so" neutral, that he can decide what side to take at the end of Chapter IV (saving Alvin): Order, Scoia'tael, or Neutral path.
See the Decision Checklist for hints.
== Gameplay Alternatives? ==
The many gameplay alternatives in are among the more fascinating and interesting features of this RPG. Meaning, quite often there are several ways to complete a quest. Read: Replay Value! Below a list of situations with alternatives you might like to try out:
* Read the Decision Checklist detailing Geralt's important decisions and their consequences.
* Three Endings: See the What different Endings are there? Q&A for details.
* Most quests (too numerous to mention) have slight variations you can try out.
== The Mini-games? ==
There are several mini-games in . These are activated as part of the dialog tree when talking to NPCs. Activate the mini-game by clicking the available gameplay icon to the left of the numbered dialogue options:
* FistfightFor an overview read up on Fistfighting. For details on the relevant fistfighters in the game see the Fistfighters list.
* Dice PokerYou will need a set of dice, to be found in Chapter I, and Geralt's old dwarven friend Zoltan Chivay to learn the game, to then face off against the players listed in A Game of Dice.
* DrinkGeralt can take quite a lot of alcohol, so as long as he starts off sober, and has enough alcohol in his Inventory, he should dink any opponent under the table. To get sober again drink the Wives' Tears portion or meditate for a few hours. These contests let you win favor with the drunk NPC. You may also gain, often rare, items or additional valuable information.
* Romance cardsGeralt's escapades are technically not mini-games or quests, but they are a challenge and collectible in form of cards, read the romance cards for details.
 Remember to quicksave before you start playing the mini-games. This lets you "undo" painful defeats.
== Breaks in the Game? ==
The obvious "breaks" in the game happen between Chapters. Usually you will not be able to return to previous parts of the game. Alas it is not always clear when the Chapter change will happen, though there are hints:
* Prologue – Chapter IFinish off everything you want to do at Kaer Morhen before you visit Leo's burial.
* Chapter I – IIFinish most of the quests (except quests like the dice player and fistfighter that span chapters) before you visit the Salamandra's hideout in the Outskirts. Because after that almost everyone in the Outskirts will either gone or dead.
* Chapter II – IIIShowdown with Azar Javed and the Professor at the Mage's tower. Geralt becomes unconscious, wakes up in Triss' house in the Trade Quarter.
* Chapter III – IVWhen Triss tells you about teleporting you into the Salamandra base, she warns you that this may change many things. So ensure you have finished all the other Chapter III quests first.
* Chapter IV – VAfter killing Dagon things on land will have changed, the villagers have been taken hostage. Again, ensure that you have finished most quests before killing this beast.
* Chapter V – EpilogueOnce you board the boat at the landing near the Old manor house, you will no longer be able to access Old Vizima or the Swamp cemetery.
== The Autopsy outcome? ==
You should be aware that depending on how curious and well informed Geralt is, three different suspects may result from the Anatomy of a Crime investigation:
* Ramsmeat will attack you when you implicate him.
* Kalkstein if implicated seems to laugh it off, calling Geralt a "fool". Does not seem to have other negative side effects, though.
* Azar Javed is the real criminal, job well done.
== Inviting Party Guests? ==
When you talk to Shani later in Chapter I, she tells you of a party she is planning to organize (Old Friend of Mine), inviting Geralt, telling him to bring a friend. You may have guessed that one of the guests to invite is Geralt's old dwarven friend Zoltan. If you are a bit daring you may also have guessed that Carmen can be invited. Interestingly even Siegfried can be invited. Even though one of the nuns at the hospital would love to party, you cannot invite her, alas.
 The "heavy" drinking at the party will make Wives' Tears convenient to have.
== Signs and Wayfarer's stones? ==
During the game you will encounter several Wayfarer's stones. These are magic portals that require a combination of Igni and Aard Signs to be activated.
These Wayfarer's stones can be found in Chapter V spread out in the cemetery swamps: One in the old Mine, one in the southernmost refugee camp cave (Agnes of Glanville's lair), and one in the cemetery crypt (Saint Gregory's tomb).
Alas the trial and error method of "unlocking" them can be quite tedious, here a few tips:
First off note that the combination you need to find requires three and only three Signs.
* Before you cast any Sign on the stone, quicksave the game. Then cast three Signs (there are a total of 8 combinations to try out) should nothing happen, quickload, and try the next combination.
** the game always remembers the first, and second Signs you cast. So leaving the cave will not reset any previous "junk" you cast. Technically you would always need to count to three, to avoid the effects of previously un-reset Signs in the combination. Thus the tip to use quicksave / quickload.
* You do not need to power-up the Signs, a simple will do. And you do not need to touch the stone while Sign casting either.
* Once you have the working combination, write it down, or you may have trouble exiting the place you were teleported to.
 I was able to figure out the combinations by trial and error and a lot of luck. Alas it is not really clear that the stones require three Signs to activate, so the player is basically forced to blindly experiment. IMO, a mildly annoying gameplay mechanic. (AEon)
== Finding Alina's Mirror Shards? ==
When you get to the point of trying to save Alina's afterlife, you will need to look for the shards of her mirror. Since Geralt can almost never climb up external stairs on buildings, you may have missed the steps leading up to the top lookout of the Ruined Mill in the Fields. Here you will find one of the mirror shards.
== Wreath of Immortelles use? ==
If you helped the Hermit in the Fields in Chapter IV, you can choose the Wreath of Immortelles as a reward. After the dead Alina is at peace with her afterlife, you can also save Celina (now a nightwraith) by giving her the Wreath of Immortelles. (Though this did not trigger a quest phase.)
== Use of a specific Quest Item? ==
You may have collected quite a few quest items while playing the game, but forgot what they are for? If so, simply look them up in this complete list, sorted by Chapter: see Quest Items
Category:Subpages