The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Tips

• Start here

  Places of Power before anything

  Ride the question marks that are Places of Power first; they are free ability points. Axii in dialogue is a skill point that pays for itself in contracts and in the Bloody Baron chain.

• Start here

  White Gull unlocks superior potions

  You cannot brew the good potions without White Gull. Alchemy is a permanent buff in this game: Superior Swallow, Thunderbolt, and Tawny Owl should be up before any contract that says 'necrophage'.

• Advanced

  Oils and decoctions last

  Decoctions (Ekhidna, Ancient Leshen, Water Hag) last a long time and define a build. The Griffin school is for signs, Feline for fast attacks, Ursine for tanking; mixing sets loses the bonus that made the school worth wearing.

• Advanced

  Quen is the roll

  A re-cast Quen on Death March is the heal. Don't save it 'for later' through a griffin fight. Yrden is not optional on wraiths; the rest of your kit will pass through them.

• Secrets

  Gaunter O'Dimm's riddle

  Hearts of Stone's wish encounter is a riddle with a house-of-mirrors tell. Toussaint (Blood and Wine) is the actual endgame gear and the best mutation slot; don't sell mutagens before you get there.

• Secrets

  Contracts are the best quests

  The notice-board witcher contracts (the botchling, the spirit in the tree, the Crones' village) are the writing people remember. A question mark on the water is often a smuggler cache, not a drowners-only waste.

• Builds

  Combat, signs, or alchemy — pick two

  A sign build wants Griffin, a combat build wants Feline or Ursine, an alchemy build wants the decoction mutation later. Spreading points across all three trees is how Death March stays spongy.