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The Witcher 3: Official Spoiler Thread - HLAKBR

Is there a list of the decisions you can make at the beginning of the game (the world state stuff)? I'm really curious about it
 
The guy in the reddit thread linked said there is only like 4 questions I think.

That's sad to hear, I hoped for something more in depth. I didn't expect many consequences from TW1 (well Adda's fate should be kind of important), but the situation in the North can be drastically different at the end of TW2 based on your choices. I know the save import stuff was never the main focus but I really enjoyed playing king maker/breaker in Assassins of Kings. Hope it turns out well enough.
 
That's sad to hear, I hoped for something more in depth. I didn't expect many consequences from TW1 (well Adda's fate should be kind of important), but the situation in the North can be drastically different at the end of TW2 based on your choices. I know the save import stuff was never the main focus but I really enjoyed playing king maker/breaker in Assassins of Kings. Hope it turns out well enough.

Within the first 10 minutes of the game you find out why none of it mattered really.
 
That's sad to hear, I hoped for something more in depth. I didn't expect many consequences from TW1 (well Adda's fate should be kind of important), but the situation in the North can be drastically different at the end of TW2 based on your choices. I know the save import stuff was never the main focus but I really enjoyed playing king maker/breaker in Assassins of Kings. Hope it turns out well enough.

That Reddit poster was super vague and even said that he doesn't really remember what was asked. To me it sounded like he didn't really pay attention to that thing and just answered something.

Within the first 10 minutes of the game you find out why none of it mattered really.

I thought that was found out in CGI that was added in EE for TW2 :D
 
why is that? since this is a spoiler thread after all?

W3 takes place ~6 months after the war has started, Temeria and Aedirn already wiped out by Nilfgaard's forces. Emyr sits on the throne in Vizima. Radovid takes what is left of the North. No idea what happened to Kedwen but thats probably where you choice in TW2 gets you some altered dialogue later in the game.

I thought that was found out in CGI that was added in EE for TW2 :D


Yeah but we could have had a more direct sequel where you see them fall.
 
That Reddit poster was super vague and even said that he doesn't really remember what was asked. To me it sounded like he didn't really pay attention to that thing and just answered something.



I thought that was found out in CGI that was added in EE for TW2 :D

Oh ok, I guess we have to wait a bit more then. I still remain hopeful.

Within the first 10 minutes of the game you find out why none of it mattered really.

If you're talking about the Nilfgaardian invasion, that can explain things but it's not really a get out of jail free card for every choice. It would be sort of dumb to say, for example, "Oh yeah Aedirn was conquered by Nilfgaard, don't sweat it" when you can have a dragon queen leading the Pontar Valley, possibly controlled by the Lodge at the apex of its power.
 
If you're talking about the Nilfgaardian invasion, that can explain things but it's not really a get out of jail free card for every choice. It would be sort of dumb to say, for example, "Oh yeah Aedirn was conquered by Nilfgaard, don't sweat it" when you can have a dragon queen leading the Pontar Valley, possibly controlled by the Lodge at the apex of its power.

You're talking about a dragon queen who is likely severely weakened after the battle with Geralt, whose rag tag army is likewise weakened after barely surviving Kedwen vs a massive surprise attack from the most powerful army in all the land. Whether you kill her or not, the outcome for Aedirn is unchanged.

My guess is if you let her live she flees and you maybe get a cameo or you''ll have special dialogue with Zoltan/Iorveth who will tell you what happened to her when Vergen fell.
 
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Hey guys Weird Question, I love the last two games and can't wait to play the new one, but have some issues I need to figure out before I try.

I know this game is M rated and loves to embrace that but I'm worried about the nudity and sex scenes, how avoidable are they? I figure this is the best place to ask. Hope you all can shed some light on this.

Thanks All
 
More people need to finish because I want to talk about the gameeeee. I'll start though. So witch hunts happen and Henselt dies regardless of whether you chose Iorveth or Roche in The Witcher 2. I went the Iorveth path in TW2 so none of it really bothered me, but I wonder how other people who chose Roche feel about this since those are pretty big reasons to go one path vs. another. In regards to Iorveth though, I hear his VA in literally every other NPC I speak to, but I didn't find Iorveth himself at all in the game. I'm pretty disappointed that this is the case since Roche got a fair amount of content in the game. Perhaps he will be in DLC later, but the only mention I got was being accused of "helping the Scoia'tael" by the Blue Stripes guard in front of Roche's camp who I got into a fist fight with because of that choice. Other than that, nothing on either him or Saskia.

Anyways, just when you think the end of the game is going to come post-Kaer Morhen vs. Wild Hunt battle (especially with the prompt "Make a manual save, because you can't go back past this point'), the game just keeps on going and with even more exciting stuff. I didn't feel at all like there was a dull story point because the build up was just as important as the result (in terms of Ciri's entire plotline). The only part of the story that felt just "okay" was the political stuff on Skellige with the fake-Vikings. Cerys ended up queen there for me, but it just felt slower for such a late-game zone. Also getting 1000 crowns to even get to Skellige took me a while because I didn't manage my money very well oops.

In general though, I get the impression that TW3 is a very good standalone game, but with decisions, just like how it was from TW1 -> TW2, a lot doesn't cross over and I feel that's something BioWare handles better in that regard. Since the game closes the chapter on Geralt's tale I can see how things would converge, but man I was hoping for more than a vague drive-by mention of my choices.

EDIT: I wanted to add that another one of my favorite quests was where Geralt, Lambert, and Eskel got drunk and dressed up in Yennefer's dresses and used her megascope to "prank call" some guy on the toilet. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing lmao.
 
I've explored each of the major areas, and I'm kind of curious in how the mages are handled in regards to having chosen/not chosen to save Triss, instead of Saskia/Anais.

Given the large chunk of the story in Novigraad regarding the mage persecution, I can't imagine things turning out THAT differently if you chose to save Triss, instead of the latter. Perhaps it's just implied moreso that Radovid is just going crazy.

Also, I've seen Roche, but given my having stated choosing Iorveth and saving Saskia, and I've seen hide nor hair even mention them at all, save for it being brought up initially.

Granted, Scoia'tel are less prevalent here given that we're focusing on Nilfgard and Redania, but it does feel like that aspect was a bit...worthless. I kind of regret not 'carrying over' my Roche save at this point, I'd imagine at the very least, his intro dialogue with him and Ves would change, and there might be a quest or two, or more mention of it once the assassinate Radovid quest comes up.

The Skellige stuff felt a 'bit' too close to Skyrim, especially the 'choose the leader' aspect, even if Geralt is a Greybeard, instead of the Dragonborn, but it wasn't terribly overplayed.

I went through the old Witcher 2 epilogues while writing this, and it definitely feels like CDPR made a conscious choice to go with a more strongly ironclad canon. It honestly probably works better in terms of story delivery (not to mention how potentially huge the game would have to be to accommodate said variation), but feels a bit weak in having included the past conversations as being 'important' enough to be asked about them in Nilfgard.

(This is, admittedly, presumption on my part that there aren't huge sweeping changes being made in response to giving decisions. I haven't seen them really referenced anywhere on the web, but would be glad to be proven wrong, even if it's unlikely.)
 
I've explored each of the major areas, and I'm kind of curious in how the mages are handled in regards to having chosen/not chosen to save Triss, instead of Saskia/Anais.

Given the large chunk of the story in Novigraad regarding the mage persecution, I can't imagine things turning out THAT differently if you chose to save Triss, instead of the latter. Perhaps it's just implied moreso that Radovid is just going crazy.

Also, I've seen Roche, but given my having stated choosing Iorveth and saving Saskia, and I've seen hide nor hair even mention them at all, save for it being brought up initially.

Granted, Scoia'tel are less prevalent here given that we're focusing on Nilfgard and Redania, but it does feel like that aspect was a bit...worthless. I kind of regret not 'carrying over' my Roche save at this point, I'd imagine at the very least, his intro dialogue with him and Ves would change, and there might be a quest or two, or more mention of it once the assassinate Radovid quest comes up.

The Skellige stuff felt a 'bit' too close to Skyrim, especially the 'choose the leader' aspect, even if Geralt is a Greybeard, instead of the Dragonborn, but it wasn't terribly overplayed.

I went through the old Witcher 2 epilogues while writing this, and it definitely feels like CDPR made a conscious choice to go with a more strongly ironclad canon. It honestly probably works better in terms of story delivery (not to mention how potentially huge the game would have to be to accommodate said variation), but feels a bit weak in having included the past conversations as being 'important' enough to be asked about them in Nilfgard.

(This is, admittedly, presumption on my part that there aren't huge sweeping changes being made in response to giving decisions. I haven't seen them really referenced anywhere on the web, but would be glad to be proven wrong, even if it's unlikely.)

To my understanding, there is literally no difference since the witch hunts begin regardless of picking Iorveth or Roche and Roche treats you no differently. I think a lot of it is just attributed to the fact that Radovid isn't exactly mentally stable and that's the angle that they use to converge the decision of the witch hunts. This is pretty much my biggest gripe of the game which of course can be alleviated with DLCs/expansion if there is an appearance of Iorveth or a mention of him because as it stands a lot of the decisions are made null and void in favor of a more unified starting point. They really played up the whole "it's a great place to pick up the game if you've never played before" thing. I just wish there was a greater mention considering the whole point of TW2 is the divergence of the game at the Roche/Iorveth decision.
 
I guess the ending rules out Ciri becoming a protagonist. Assuming that's the main or only ending, anyways; she accepted Emhyr's offer in mine.
 
re: ending

In mine, Geralt helped Ciri fake her death, and she became a witcher. She got a super cool silver sword, too.
 
I guess the ending rules out Ciri becoming a protagonist. Assuming that's the main or only ending, anyways; she accepted Emhyr's offer in mine.
I got the perfect ending. She becomes a witcher in that one. I assume it's a spoiler thread so I won't spoiler tag not sure why people are tagging but correct me if I'm wrong I'll change it.
 
I guess the ending rules out Ciri becoming a protagonist. Assuming that's the main or only ending, anyways; she accepted Emhyr's offer in mine.
Not at all, ciri becoming a witcher is clearly the true ending.
She would never want to be empress and she most likely just fakes her death if your a bad father.
Problem is unless she lost her powers, she still gonna be too overpowered to play as.
 
Not at all, ciri becoming a witcher is clearly the true ending.
She would never want to be empress and she most likely just fakes her death if your a bad father.
Problem is unless she lost her powers, she still gonna be too overpowered to play as.

Either that or they'll just one-up the enemies she faces somehow. The world is full of magic and she can travel to other dimensions, there could be something they could do with that.
 
I guess the ending rules out Ciri becoming a protagonist. Assuming that's the main or only ending, anyways; she accepted Emhyr's offer in mine.

Given what I read actually determines the "Witcher Ending", I'm holding off calling it the "best". Felt more like a sunset ending. Nice and sweet way to cap off Geralt's life and his relationship with Ciri, but ultimately too saccharine to stick with me overall. The ascension conclusion definitely rang more true and felt more in line with the tone of the world.
 
Latest patch didn't fix my issue with triss not talking to me when we arrive at the islands for the final push of missions because of some bug. If you romanced triss and beat the game can you tell me what the conversation is about before you venture forth for the sunstone and the other crap'

I already beat the game but have a save around here hoping a patch will fix it to see what I missed.
 
Sucks we only have 8 save slots on console. Most of mine are reserved for plough scenes.

hahahahaha. I have two save slots pre and post the ship cutscene where you and your party all go to the islands for the final push. Mainly because that's where I have the above mentioned triss bug where I never got to have the conversation with her.

Every other save file is post-end. What ending did you get for Ciri?

Empress, Witcher, or Dead?
 
I got the perfect ending. She becomes a witcher in that one. I assume it's a spoiler thread so I won't spoiler tag not sure why people are tagging but correct me if I'm wrong I'll change it.

thats YOUR perfect ending.

game has multiple endings, they are your choices. who knows which will be considered canon if we get another game in the Witcher universe.
 
thats YOUR perfect ending.

game has multiple endings, they are your choices. who knows which will be considered canon if we get another game in the Witcher universe.

Well I call it perfect ending because it's what the guide lists as the last possibility of the three endings. Ending 1 is her dying and I guess the empress one isn't bad but let's be honest the true ending will likely end up being the Witcher one if they ever consider to make another witcher game with Ciri as the protag.
 
Given what I read actually determines the "Witcher Ending", I'm holding off calling it the "best". Felt more like a sunset ending. Nice and sweet way to cap off Geralt's life and his relationship with Ciri, but ultimately too saccharine to stick with me overall. The ascension conclusion definitely rang more true and felt more in line with the tone of the world.

Yeah, after reading the requirements the 'witcher' end doesn't seem perfect at all. It's basically Geralt being a selfish shit who can't let go of his daughter, and ends up dooming her to a life of miserable toil.
 
Anyone else got the impression Geralt dies in the dead Ciri ending? He just sits there in despair and apparently no desire to live as hordes of monsters come towards him. Also this is the only ending that Geralt doesn't have an epilogue.
 
Yeah, after reading the requirements the 'witcher' end doesn't seem perfect at all. It's basically Geralt being a selfish shit who can't let go of his daughter, and ends up dooming her to a life of miserable toil.

The first thing that popped into my head after seeing it for the first time was the final scene in The Last of Us. It's just not as dark.

Anyone else got the impression Geralt dies in the dead Ciri ending? He just sits there in despair and apparently no desire to live as hordes of monsters come towards him. Also this is the only ending that Geralt doesn't have an epilogue.

Yes, but at the same time it kind of clashed with my actual playtime in the game because I knew if I was given control, I could beat what was showing up on screen. A bunch of drowners and ghouls? Come on. That's not going to kill me at this point. I just slaughtered each member of the Wild Hunt. I do think they want you believe he's just given up but I could just as easily see him flying into blind rage after the screen blacks out and killing everything in the bog.

He might have a death wish like the crone states, but Geralt never struck me as the type to just completely give into despair (but they tried to cram a lot of relevance in for both Ciri and Yennefer in this game so I guess?). The scene in general kind of plays out on the opposite end of the spectrum of what I posted above. Instead of the sunset ending it's on the completely opposite end, going overboard with being dark and hopeless, leaving the Queen ending as the balanced middle ground and the only one that made any sort of sense for me.

I do kind of agree with the impression of the people who think Ciri is still alive in that ending though. She's basically Elizabeth (Bioshock) in terms of power and possibility so she could vanish to literally anywhere. Also to get that ending you have to basically prove to her that you're a crap father figure and everyone around you both wants to control her in every possible fashion. Why would she come back? There's not much to imply she actually is alive though, other than her body never being found.
 
Witcher Ciri seems, intuitively, like the best ending, but when I question that I remember Geralt's statement that no witcher has ever died in his bed. I'm not sure he would have wanted that for her? Who knows. I focused on being supportive and letting her make her own choices throughout the game, and that seemed to result in Empress Ciri.

She is a little OP for her own game, though I guess they could just take her powers because plot device or whatever
 
Yeah, after reading the requirements the 'witcher' end doesn't seem perfect at all. It's basically Geralt being a selfish shit who can't let go of his daughter, and ends up dooming her to a life of miserable toil.

What are you talking about? You must've read wrong. I got the Witcher ending and my choices were basically all of the ones that gave her independence or gave her positive support:

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face

The thing that determines whether you get the empress ending is if you take her to see the emperor. Which following dialogue she despises him.

This is coming straight from the guide.
 
What are you talking about? You must've read wrong. I got the Witcher ending and my choices were basically all of the ones that gave her independence or gave her positive support:

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face

The thing that determines whether you get the empress ending is if you take her to see the emperor. Which following dialogue she despises him.

This is coming straight from the guide.
Exactly. She almost never talked to me about her father and the bits I learned was that she hates him, why the hell would I take her to him. She decided to become a Witcher by herself and sure as hell didn't seem so miserable as in the empress ending.
 
So uh I heard there's an ending where you end up with Yennefer instead of just continuing your witcher job.

I am assuming it's because of the threesome incident that it didn't happen.

Does that mean there's no way you can recruit Triss in the fight and end up with Yen?
 
So uh I heard there's an ending where you end up with Yennefer instead of just continuing your witcher job.

I am assuming it's because of the threesome incident that it didn't happen.

Does that mean there's no way you can recruit Triss in the fight and end up with Yen?

Nope, if you asked Triss to stay then any chance of getting back with Yen goes out the window.
 
So uh I heard there's an ending where you end up with Yennefer instead of just continuing your witcher job.

I am assuming it's because of the threesome incident that it didn't happen.

Does that mean there's no way you can recruit Triss in the fight and end up with Yen?

Triss will still come to Kaer Morhen I believe, even if you don't tell her to stay because you love her. She just won't help in the final fight.

So you can tell Triss good travels, get romantically involved with Yen, and end up with Yen at the end.

While I can't 100% confirm she'll come to help in Kaer Morhen I'm like 85% sure. I think I read it somewhere and she gives Ciri an amulet power during the fight. Wasn't an issue for me since I'm a triss guy anyways.
 
Well there's no way to end up with Triss, right?

Yes there is lol.

If you do the right choices, tell her to stay, and she does you have that lighthouse scene. Then you tell Yen during her personal quest the magic is gone.

You even get a whole added scene during Blindingly Obvious where you discuss your future with Triss.

Basically if during your game you hadn't attempted to plough both of them you would've ended with a happy geralt.
 
What are you talking about? You must've read wrong. I got the Witcher ending and my choices were basically all of the ones that gave her independence or gave her positive support:

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face

The thing that determines whether you get the empress ending is if you take her to see the emperor. Which following dialogue she despises him.

This is coming straight from the guide.

Exactly. She almost never talked to me about her father and the bits I learned was that she hates him, why the hell would I take her to him. She decided to become a Witcher by herself and sure as hell didn't seem so miserable as in the empress ending.

The fact that it happens if you take her to the emperor is convincing enough, no? That given the option, she takes it, instead of being a witcher. By not taking her to see Emhyr, Geralt ensures that option is closed off to her due to her ignorance.
 
The fact that it happens if you take her to the emperor is convincing enough, no? That given the option, she takes it, instead of being a witcher. By not taking her to see Emhyr, Geralt ensures that option is closed off to her due to her ignorance.

More like CDPR couldn't think of a good enough choice/differentiation for the Empress vs Witcher route. Taking her to him should've been a bigger deal with a way to talk to her about what she wants. Instead the options are to take her to him and whether you accept the money. During the Witcher ending she is ecstatic that her father thinks she's dead.

Regardless it's up to you how you end the game, but if they ever continue the series I can assure you it won't star an empress lol
 
C'mon bruh, we're not discussing what's likely to be canon, but more about what's 'perfect.' It doesn't matter that Ciri doesn't like the emperor, it's about what she's willing to do even with that dislike or hatred in mind.
 
What are you talking about? You must've read wrong. I got the Witcher ending and my choices were basically all of the ones that gave her independence or gave her positive support:

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face

The thing that determines whether you get the empress ending is if you take her to see the emperor. Which following dialogue she despises him.

This is coming straight from the guide.

Exactly. She almost never talked to me about her father and the bits I learned was that she hates him, why the hell would I take her to him. She decided to become a Witcher by herself and sure as hell didn't seem so miserable as in the empress ending.

I think that's what he means. She decides of on her own to take the throne even if there's clear machinations behind it from both her father and the Lodge (which she's fully aware of). Gallivanting off to go kill monsters is as much for Geralt's benefit as it hers and comes across more as irresponsible on her part and selfish on his. She clearly has a problem with destiny and whatnot being forced on her and would take the easy way out to shirk it in any way possible. The Witcher ending comes across as that shirk.

There's nothing between Emhyr and Ciri you can't find in any other standard impetuous child and their parent. I didn't read "hatred", I got a kid not liking their parent fiddling around in their future. Ciri is shown to be impatient, stubborn, and quick to anger if she doesn't get her way. Anything but absolute freedom would put her in a funk, and being empress would take that way from her, despite the fact that she's clearly the best person for the job.

That visit being the primary reason for which ending you get doesn't come across as supporting if one actively keeps her from it and they give you as a player multiple chances to do so. She asks you point blank after Kaer Morhen for your advice. If we're talking giving her a choice, it's murky to apply at that specific point because she basically makes you decide for her. Letting her go to her father still gives her the option to refuse, she's just going to hear him out; I mean it's Ciri---if she doesn't want to do it she's not going to do it. Saying no outright just comes across as stubborn and pigheaded and actively (faulting both Ciri and Geralt) limits her possibilities. Just because it's something she just wants to do doesn't automatically make it the best or right choice. Going to see her dad AND letting her decide for herself is at least giving her all her options for her to take advantage of at her own discretion.

If all it takes is that visit for her to seriously consider taking the throne, then it's ultimately a more mature choice you're playing into for her sake rather than the two of you just saying no, looking the other way, and ignoring the resulting effects on the kingdom.
 
The fact that it happens if you take her to the emperor is convincing enough, no? That given the option, she takes it, instead of being a witcher. By not taking her to see Emhyr, Geralt ensures that option is closed off to her due to her ignorance.

I took her to the emperor and she still ended up becoming a witcher. She ends up coming out of that meeting angery at her father.
 
I'm gonna recheck real quick what my guide says because if so....

She came out of the meeting angry about how he believes she can be bought.

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri (Did this)
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself (Went with her)
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace(Gave her the necklace/)
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face (Did this)
 
She came out of the meeting angry about how he believes she can be bought.

> Have a snowball fight with Ciri (Did this)
> Let her talk to the sorceresses by herself (Went with her)
> Let her take her out her anger instead of just shushing her and giving her a necklace(Gave her the necklace/)
> Accompany her to the grave of what's his face (Did this)

Two of those choices are considered negative. Regardless the more I read about the empress ending the more I like it just as much honestly. If the game series, or both Geralt's and Ciri's story as protagonists, were to end with the Witcher 3 then honestly the empress ending would be the best option. Guide says that if you did majority of positive ciri choices and took her to the emperor that she would become emperor. Don't know if those who created the guide meant to imply they prefer the Witcher ending by listing it last.

But as a game series where a future title might possibly start Ciri? That's another story. I guess it all depends on what CDPR feels like doing with the franchise in the future.
 
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