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Best Witcher 3 side quests [NO SPOILERS]

J

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
PLEASE NO SPOILERS

I am working my way through The Bloody Baron questline and like others have said - it's quite good even early on. I've got my copy of W3 set on easy, as I am focusing on the narrative and general adventuring of it all. Also, Gwent.

The game is pretty massive and I'd like to make sure I look into all the best side quests, which is where you come in. If you could post your favorite W3 quests, and where I find the start of it (and maybe what the suggested level is), I'd really appreciate it. I've found a small list online, which is as good a start as any:

  • Of Swords and Dumplings (Novigrad, northern city)
  • Towerful of Mice (Velen, during main quest)
  • Forefather's Eve (Velen, talk to Pellar again)
  • The Phantom of Eldberg (Skellige, Arijnborn)
  • Gwent: Big City Players (Novigrad, follow Count Reuven's Treasure quest line)
  • Wannabe Witcher (Velen, Lindenvale)
  • Ghost of the Past (Velen, Lindenvale)
  • Possession (Skellige, talk to Crache)

Thank you!
 
Any quest that is given to you by characters you encounter during the story. Don't ignore anything offered to you by the core cast, both for quality and story reasons.
 
Which one is the serial murderer one? Really liked that one.

EDIT: Gwent is f'ing trivial with that Foltest deck. Literally only one guy gave me trouble the entire game. Should mix it up with Nilfgaard and Monster decks to keep it interesting.
 
Every single quest involving trolls is a must play.

Although...every single quest is a must play would be more accurate.
 
A few side-quests OP forgot:

  • No Place Like Home
  • The Lord of Undvik
  • Return to Crookback Bog
  • The Cave of Dreams
  • The Last Wish
  • Carnal Sins
  • A Matter of Life and Death
  • Everything in Hearts of Stone

My favourite is probably The Lord of Undvik.
 
man yall are making me want to go home and finish Bloody Baron

approx how many hours is that whole questline?
 
JohnnyFootball said:
You make a thread asking about the best sidequests and request no spoilers....

Then what is there to talk about?
Click to expand...

There's not much to discuss, I admit. As the OP says, I am soliciting titles / locations for GAF's favorite side quests so I can dig em out in-game.

Courage said:
2-3 depending on difficulty. It intertwines with another arc.

It's my favorite questline of any RPG.
Click to expand...

i've heard this before... gonna sit down with my dog and dig into the rest of it tonight #hype
 
Honestly, one of the things I liked about the game is how the side quests and main quests tie into each other a lot. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, aside from monster contracts and smaller things that is. I never really felt like I was putting the story "on hold" since the world was really coherent and most side quests spun off of something that happened in a main quest.

Cave of Dreams, Lord of Undvik, Carnal Sins, and The Last Wish all probably get my vote. All of them were like curling up with a good book or netflix show or something.
 
I really liked the Black Pearl quest. It seems unremarkable at first, but the ending conversation is great. I'm pretty sure you start it in Novigrad.
 
There were a lot of amazing quests, but the one silly side quest where he has to follow a goat around was hilarious as he is just swearing at the goat the entire time hahaha.
 
Hari Seldon said:
There were a lot of amazing quests, but the one silly side quest where he has to follow a goat around was hilarious as he is just swearing at the goat the entire time hahaha.
Click to expand...

That one's great because it's just one big mockery/parody of RPG quest lines. You have to go "Save the princess", and escort her back, but you can eliminate the obstacles before ever even starting the quest and Geralt will point this out.
 
Lunar15 said:
That one's great because it's just one big mockery/parody of RPG quest lines. You have to go "Save the princess", and escort her back, but you can eliminate the obstacles before ever even starting the quest and Geralt will point this out.
Click to expand...

Oh LOL i forgot that the goat was called Princess hahaha.
 
- Carnal Sins (AKA CSI: Novigrad)

- The Lord of Undvik (Amazing atmosphere)

- King's Gambit

- Any side-quest involving trolls (Including The Volunteer)

- High Stakes (Gwent Tournament)

- If we count it, then the entirety of Hearts of Stone since it can be seen as a side-story to the main game
 
Yeah, it's really hard to tell what's main and what's not. I thought both of the Skellige quests were not technically part of the main storyline, but they are. They're both incredible, though. I love the conclusion to King's Gambit in particular.
 
King's Gambit is great if you choose Hjalmar's path and go to the berserkers, I didn't really like the path with Cerys. I guess lots of people missed out on that one as Cerys is obviously the better ruler.

Lunar15 said:
Yeah, it's really hard to tell what's main and what's not. I thought both of the Skellige quests were not technically part of the main storyline, but they are. They're both incredible, though.
Click to expand...

You can ignore them
and then Svanrige will become ruler.
 
Lunar15 said:
Yeah, it's really hard to tell what's main and what's not. I thought both of the Skellige quests were not technically part of the main storyline, but they are. They're both incredible, though.
Click to expand...

If you mean Possession (Cerys) and The Lord of Undvik (Hjalmar) quests, they are side-quests since you can ignore them if you wish
 
Karl Hawk said:
If you mean Possession (Cerys) and The Lord of Undvik (Hjalmar) quests, they are side-quests since you can ignore them if you wish
Click to expand...

I was actually just about to change it to Posession. Yeah. super awesome, but I didn't realize you didn't have to do them. I loved both Hjalmar and Cerys, so I just really wanted to go out of my way to do them, I guess.
 
You might like the free DLC quest "Skellige's most wanted", It's real fun. You should also do "The fall of house Reardon" asap (that leads into Ghosts of the past, which you mentioned in the OP).
 
Bloody Baron is one of my favorite questlines ever in any RPG. As far as side quests go, Carnal Sins was my favorite.
 
Blackthorn said:
Any quest that is given to you by characters you encounter during the story. Don't ignore anything offered to you by the core cast, both for quality and story reasons.
Click to expand...
This is what you need to know and what to follow. You will encounter a bunch of characters that help you throughout the main quest and they all peel off into their own little short stories that are all well worth doing. The character will play it's part in the main story and then say something like "Oh, by the way, I have something I would like to talk to you about" and that will trigger their own mini-quest. Do them. All of them.

These quests are why Wild Hunt became one of my favorite games ever. So many interesting characters that are all given their own short stories that demonstrate why/how them and Geralt are friends and allow the character to be more fully-formed. The whole game is a very personal quest that is made even more personal with all these interactions.
 
So I've just started Bloody Baron well I mean I gotta find someone that's all I'll say without spoilering it I don't understand what's so good about it??
 
Magnetic_North said:
So I've just started Bloody Baron well I mean I gotta find someone that's all I'll say without spoilering it I don't understand what's so good about it??
Click to expand...

I think its because its a story about a bad man who realizes he made some horrible mistakes. It's also powerful because it tackles difficult issues such as spouse abuse.

Also, IMO the digital acting is quite good.
 
Blood Baron set of quests is excellent, everyone agrees.

Gwent Tourney was good.

Investigating the "heist" in the criminal underworld
done by Dandelion
is cool.

Lord of Undvik and the one about one of the Skellige lords being consumed by madness because a spirit are the two of the best in the Skellige islands.

But in general terms, I liked a lot most of the Novigrad quests, as it contains most of the "atypical" quests, which aren't about going and killing some baddies and that's it. Investigating the serial murder, interrogating the Dandelion's ex-gfs, going to hear a ballad with my friends in a bar, trying to gain gwent cards for my buddy Zoltan, helping remodel a whorehouse, participating in a play, doing fencing lessons for a noblewoman, etc I eat that shit. I love how it shows there is ore in roleplaying and in life than killing dues with a red name on top of their heads.

Hearts of Stone has three great questlines in that regard, participating in a
medieval wedding (I liked it more than our present-day weddings!
), visiting an auction house,
preparing a heist and executing it
, and all investigation and flashback in the
painted world
about the sad love story.
 
Magnetic_North said:
So I've just started Bloody Baron well I mean I gotta find someone that's all I'll say without spoilering it I don't understand what's so good about it??
Click to expand...

-Because it isn't clear who is the good guy and the bad guy. There are just flawed characters in the story (ok, one more than others), like it's usual in real life.
-The mix of investigation, action, and dialogue is good. Several quests and narrative threads cross on the story
-The acting is good.
-How many times have you dealt with the spirit of a
dead baby and the regret of a father towards him?
Or with
spouse abuse?
-It has different and interesting endings.
-Thematically, it ties with your story, as it's also about fatherhood, the same with your relationship with Ciri.
 
Turin Turambar said:
Blood Baron set of quests is excellent, everyone agrees.

Gwent Tourney was good.

Investigating the "heist" in the criminal underworld
done by Dandelion
is cool.

Lord of Undvik and the one about one of the Skellige lords being consumed by madness because a spirit are the two of the best in the Skellige islands.

But in general terms, I liked a lot most of the Novigrad quests, as it contains most of the "atypical" quests, which aren't about going and killing some baddies and that's it. Investigating the serial murder, interrogating the Dandelion's ex-gfs, going to hear a ballad with my friends in a bar, trying to gain gwent cards for my buddy Zoltan, helping remodel a whorehouse, participating in a play, doing fencing lessons for a noblewoman, etc I eat that shit. I love how it shows there is ore in roleplaying and in life than killing dues with a red name on top of their heads.

Hearts of Stone has three great questlines in that regard, participating in a
medieval wedding (I liked it more than our present-day weddings!
), visiting an auction house,
preparing a heist and executing it
, and all investigation and flashback in the
painted world
about the sad love story.
Click to expand...

yeeeeess

And imagine there are people who hate Novigrad questlines...I will never understand those people
 
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