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| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt created by CD Projekt Red. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Location: Velen
Prerequisites: Complete Hunting a Witch
Suggested Level: 6
Reward: XP
- You’ll be transported to the location of Wandering in the Dark immediately after completing Hunting a Witch. You need to agree to escort Keira to this cave in order for this quest to begin.
- Follow Keira into the cave. After a cut scene she’ll summon a portal. Go through and you’ll get dumped into a dead-end tunnel. Straight ahead you’ll face a small gang of Drowners near some water; kill the creatures, then hop in the water. The underwater path is split in two by a rock, and if you take the left path you can find a chest with some loot beneath you.
- You’ll surface again shortly. Take a left (there’s a skeleton with minor loot on the right) to return to the main chamber. Light torches along the way to increase visibility. Off the next drop you’ll find more Drowners waiting, these near some poisonous gas; you can use Igni to set the gas on fire and cause extra damage.
- Head east. If you go through the water to do this you’ll hit a Water Hag, a nasty enemy that can fling mud to blind you temporarily. Dodge away from this, use a sign to knock her off balance, and combo her until she disappears under the water. Dodge away from her incoming attack and repeat until you take her out.
- There are two potential paths in the south. If you take the lower path you’ll find some loot, along with a side chamber watched by a Foglet, a creature that travels in a misty, unsubstantial form before attacking. Pretty weak, despite how creepy it is. Both paths will eventually take you to Keira, who is penned up in a shield and being ‘attacked’ by Rats. You can destroy their nests with bursts of Aard.
- Keira will lead you to a cut scene on the other side of the chamber once the Rats are gone. Head south from here and you’ll find a large chamber brimming with poisonous gas and patrolled by the occasional Wraith. Igni works well to clear the gas and kill the Wraiths, or at very least to stop the latter from becoming insubstantial all the time.
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| A Mystery Elf in Wandering in the Dark. Looks a bit like an assassin in that hood... |
- This cavern is quite open, and there are a few directions you can go to find passages:
- To the south is a dead-end passage leading to a chest. The chest contains a nice amount of swag.
- To the east you’ll find an underwater passage to an adjoining chamber. You’ll find two underwater chests in the passage, and on the other side you’ll find a third chest - though opening this last one will spawn several Wraiths, coming at you one-at-a-time. Not too hard.
- Last, in the west, you’ll find the path onward. Keep your Witcher Senses active along the way for some minor loot.
- You’ll find a cut scene waiting at the end. Once it’s done, activate your Witcher Senses and look along the walls for various signs. A dog sign will trigger an explosion, while a squid sign will trigger a battle.
Wraiths
Mini-bosses! Unlike your garden-variety Wraiths these two look like Geralt and Keira, and they mimic your party’s abilities. Not too difficult, but a step up from most Wraiths. Split the Wraiths up and take on the Geralt wraith first, dodging his sword attacks and using signs to stagger him. Once he’s gone you can help Keira take on her own Wraith much more easily. Don’t try to go after the Keira Wraith first, as the Geralt Wraith is just too fast and annoying to ignore.
- Aaaaanyway. The true sign you want is at the bottom of the watery pit in the middle of the room. Hop down and look for the horse sign. Activate it, then dive down and use your Witcher Senses to find a chest in the water. That done, look along the walls for a path back to the surface. Along the way you’ll find another horse sign, and triggering it will open a passage back by Keira. Follow.
- Inspect the swallow sign in the next room to activate a portal. Boss fight!
Golem
Nasty, but not that bad overall. The Golem is a straightforward creature, and though it has a lot of health and can inflict a lot of damage it’s really slow. It either leaps forward and gives one character a smack or it hops up and delivers a ground-pounding area effect. Sidestepping both is relatively easy work, though you can make your job easier by using Yrden signs to slow the beast even further. Keep it within the bounds of Yrden and smack away at it. Keira will help throughout the fight, and her spells are pretty good at staggering the thing on their own.
- Loot the Golem - it has a Golem’s Heart, among other things - then hop up the wood blockade in the back of the room and take a left. The path splits ahead, and if you continue south - where the waypoint does not send you - you’ll fight another boss. (Kind of, anyway.)
Gargoyle
Optional boss! The Gargoyle is worse than the Golem, or at least it is until you figure out what to do. The Gargoyle is another slow stomper, and it telegraphs its attacks, but unlike the Golem it’s capable of a long-range stone hurling attack that prevents you from easily fighting with a crossbow or bombs. Signs do little to nothing against it, and its attacks hurt, so your best bet is to use Quen to protect yourself from its oft-used area attacks. Get in close, chop it once or twice, and immediately back up before it can stomp or swipe. Cast Quen again if you got hit and repeat. If Keira manages to draw its ire instead, then all the better - she does most of the damage in this fight anyway, assuming you came here at lower levels.
The Gargoyle drops an assortment of loot, including Gargoyle Dust and a Gargoyle Heart, items you won’t find elsewhere. Check the area and you can also find a chest containing more useful items.
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| Protecting Keira during Wandering in the Dark. Igni works well to drive the attacking Hounds back. |
- Whether or not you fought the Gargoyle, take a left at the intersection to find another portal to activate. After some more walking and a cut scene you’ll wind up having to protect Keira as she tries to close three portals. The portals require time to close, and they release Hounds of the Wild Hunt that will try to kill Keira. Stay close - you must, as she’s projecting a field that will protect you from damage - and use Igni to fry any Hounds that come near the portal. Don’t sword slash too wildly or you’ll risk jumping out of the field around you and take damage.
- After a slightly flirty moment you’ll carry on. Follow Keira, but keep an eye on the map. You’ll see a slight derivation from the waypoint as the tunnel bends - though it’s behind a closed door. Use Aard to blow the door open and you’ll find a thin passage full of poison gas. Carefully blow it away, then enter and look for a chest. You’ll have to fight a Foglet once you try to open the chest, so be ready to fight.
- Follow Keira. Boss battle! Yes, another one!
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| Nithral, a member of the Wild Hunt in The Witcher 3. One of the first truly nasty bosses, if you're not prepared for a long fight. |
Nithral
Oooo, finally, one of the real bad guys. Nithral is about as uncomplicated as enemies gets: he spends the entire battle swinging an axe at you in a variety of ways. Thing is, he has a quick recovery rate, is difficult to combo without retaliating, and hits pretty hard. You also have Keira here, and despite how useful she’s been up to this point, she’s kind of a nuisance here because she does almost zero damage with her spells. Yikes.
Nithral will take some time, but your pattern throughout won’t vary much. Wait for Nithral to swing, dodge out of the way, and chop at him once or twice, depending on how quickly he recovers. Leap back, get behind him again, and chop. Repeat. Axii is a good sign here, but Keira tends to un-stun him really quickly, and Quen is handy just for taking his hits in stride. Once Nithral hits half his health he’ll summon several Hounds of the Wild Hunt to attack you while he heals, and you need to kill them as quickly as possible to deaden how much health he restores to himself. Don’t try to attack Nithral while he’s doing this or you’ll get blown back. He may do this several times, depending on how quickly you bring him down.
Long fight? Yes. Overly tricky? Not really. Nithral is slow, so you have plenty of time to back up and get your bearings. Remain patient, wait for an opening, and slash at his back. He’ll go down eventually. You’ll get a Wild Hunt Warrior’s Sword, among other nifty goodies, from his corpse.
- Have a look at the study at the rear of the chamber after Nithral bites the dust. After a lengthy conversation you can explore. You’ll find a decent number of lootable items - nothing great, except in one of the chests - then use your Witcher Senses to find a fake wall at the rear of the study. You’ll receive an Eye of Nehaleni, which will allow you to uncover illusions such as this.
- Enter the passage beyond. Keira will then ask for your help in fetching a magic lamp. If you agree you’ll unlock a new quest, Magic Lamp. Whether you help or not, though, you’ll complete Wandering in the Dark, and gain another main quest, Ladies of the Wood.