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Chapter 1 Items
Chapter 2 Items
Chapter 3 Items
Runes and Reinforcements (weapon and armor upgrades)
Help with Crafting (and how to find ingredients)
Quest and Item help (a guide to several end game item quests)
DLC Items
Acknowledgements
(You can search for a specific item by using Ctrl + F on your keyboard)
Quest and Item Help
This section gives more details on several hard-to-obtain items, including a
few that require completion of quests or gathering of items over multiple
chapters. Note that, for sidequests that span multiple acts, you will often
get a 'Quest Complete' notice in a given chapter even though the quest
continues in the next chapter. This is normal. Usually it doesn't matter as
long as you acquire the right item(s).
** THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS **
Getting Caerm
Caerm is the best steel sword in the game and is obtained in Chapter 3. To get
it, you must progress in the Gargoyle Contract sidequest in Chapter 3 as
detailed below. You also need to have several items that MUST be obtained in
previous Chapters and brought with Geralt to Chapter 3.
Getting the sword:
- You need to find a magical tome from a chest during the Gargoyle Contract
sidequest (see below). You CAN get the tome before starting the quest.
- The tome is in a room beneath a courtyard guarded by Gargoyles. To reach
the courtyard, start at the entrance to Loc Muine from the Order camp. There
are 3 doors that lead deeper into the city; take the left most door and you
will eventually reach the courtyard. If on Iorveth's path, you actually pass
through this area shortly after entering Loc Muine with Iorveth.
- Take the tome to the mage merchant/craftsman in Loc Muine's marketplace.
- The mage will tell you he needs a Queen endrega's Pheromones, a Nekker
Warrior's Blood, a Necrophage's Skin, and one of either a Harpy's Egg or
Rotfiend's Tongue. You only need one of each.
- The Queen endrega's Pheromones MUST be acquired during the endrega Contract
sidequest during Chapter 1. The pheromones are listed as a quest item. BE
CAREFUL: the pheromones are also an alchemy ingredient (the red one) and can
be used up in potion making if you are not careful. To be safe, I recommend
farming a few Essence of Death from the wraiths in Chapter 2; these seem to get
priority by default when making potions involving this ingredient.
- The Nekker Warrior's Blood must be obtained either in Chapters 1 or 2. To
my knowledge there are no Nekkers in Chapter 3. The blood is labeled as a
quest item and is NOT an alchemy ingredient, so just be sure not to sell it.
- The Necrophage's skin drops from Rotfiends and (I think) Drowners. It MAY
be attainable in Chapter 3 from Rotfiends in the Loc Muine Sewers, but it is
best to keep one on you to be safe.
- The Harpy's Egg is an uncommon drop from harpies but can be farmed either
outside the city or on a small upper area of Loc Muine where harpies spawn.
- Deliver the four items to the mage to receive the schematic for Caerm.
- Fortunately the ingredients you need to craft the Caerm are no problem. You
need four harpy feathers but again these are farmable in Chapter 3.
The Gargoyle Contract (Caerm, Addan Deith, and Elder Blood Set)
This is a sidequest in Chapter 3. There are three courtyards in Loc Muine
guarded by gargoyles. Each courtyard has stairs leading down to an iron gate,
beyond which is a room with four large glowing runes and a chest surrounded by
a red magic field. These chests contain or lead to some of the best items in
the game.
Each has four large glowing runes on the walls and floor which Geralt can
interact with. Touching the four runes in the correct order deactivates the
field, allowing Geralt to open the chest. Touching them in the wrong order
damages Geralt (Quen can prevent this).
About the Runes:
- The meaning of these runes is explained in four books sold by the mage
merchant/craftsman in Loc Muine market.
- The same four runes occur in each room:
Sky: a diamond shape with a line through the center (like a pair of lips)
Animal: an S-shaped snake like symbol
Art/beauty: Looks like a harp, roughly triangular with a vertical line
Time: Looks like an hourglass
- In each room is a bookstand; interacting with it displays three lines of
verse
- Each verse mentions something related to the sky (like a comet or
lightning), an animal, something related to art or beauty (like a painting or
the word beauty itself), and something related to time.
- Interact with the four runes in the same order in which they appear in the
room's verse
Mystic River (Varn Armor)
This quest spans all three Chapters. You need to pick up a key in Chapter 1,
which you use to open three chests, one in each of the game's three chapters.
The final chest, in the Loc Muine sewers, contains the Varn Armor schematic.
Getting the Key (Chapter 1):
- The key is located in a shipwreck at the back corner of the Kayran's lair.
You need to pick up the key off the ground and use it to open a chest on the
ship a few steps away
- You receive the Mystic River sidequest upon picking up the key. Upon
searching the chest, you find a manuscript, which you are then prompted to
return via the Royal Mail. I am not sure if you actually need to return the
manuscript to get the armor (in theory you should just need the key) but it's
easy to do it just to be safe.
- The Royal Mail box is located in the same building where you received the
rewards for the Nekker and endrega Contracts. Talk to the same NPC who gave
you these rewards and convince him (via Axii) to let you look in the chest.
- On Roche's path, there is another Royal Mailbox near the end of the act.
Searching it gives you a 'Quest Complete' message but is not necessary to
continue the quest in Chapter 2
Finding the Second Chest (Chapter 2):
- The second chest is also located in a shipwreck in the ravines on the Vergen
side of the mist, near two trolls' lair.
- On Iorveth's path, you have to find the trolls as a part of the main story
fairly early in the Chapter.
From a Bygone Era (Zerrikaterment, Operator's Staff)
This quest opens a portal in the Loc Muine sewers. The portal leads to a
secret area with an NPC, the Controller, who will reset Geralt's abilities if
you wish. You can also choose to fight the Controller, who drops a dragon
scale (needed for crafting Zig..) and the Operator's Staff. Note that these
options are mutually exclusive: if you choose to reset Geralt's abilities you
lose out on the scale and staff.
To do this quest, Geralt must obtain a set of magical notes from the Hut on the
Cliff in Chapter 2 and show them to the mage merchant/craftsman in Loc Muine
market. He must then use the notes to deduce a password that opens the portal.
Getting the Notes (Chapter 2):
- These notes are obtained during the Little Sister sidequest in Chapter 2,
Roche's path. You can also obtain these in Iorveth's path after crossing the
mists to the Kaedwani side later in the chapter, though in this case there is
no quest leading there.
- To reach the Hut on the Cliff, start from the Kaedwani Army Camp exit and
head right. Run down the small creek between the brothel tents and the Blue
Stripes' camp. Go straight until you hit the cliffs; a little to your right
you will find a pass through the cliff. Follow this path, turn right at the
fork, and you will reach a beach area with a hut (surprise) on a cliff.
- On the far side of the hut is a cluster of barrels. Approach these barrels
and you will receive a prompt to cast the Aard sign. You need to press the
button shown onscreen to cast the sign (don't cast it like you would in
combat). Doing so scatters the barrels and reveals a trap door.
- Beneath the trap door is a room with three altars. You need to light the
candle atop each in the right order. Facing the doorway you entered through, I
think the correct order is middle, right, left. If you get it wrong, a wraith
will spawn, but you can try it again.
- Lighting the candles in the correct order opens a secret door. The notes
are in the room beyond, on a table.
- For Roche's path, you can show the notes to Dethmold. He will feed you some
BS and offer to buy them. DO NOT SELL THEM.
Finding and Entering the Portal:
- On reaching the Loc Muine market, show the notes to the mage merchant
craftsman. He will explain they contain a password which opens a secret
portal. Geralt must deduce the password from the notes.
- The next time you visit the Loc Muine sewers, a large portal opens just
after you pass through the door at the bottom of the stairs. You are prompted
to give the portal guardian the correct password by choosing from a bunch of
gibberish words in the correct sequence.
- I'll save you some time. The password is:
'Zi Uddu-Ya Ia Ia Gat Exa Nibbit Kanpa Gat Uddu-Zi'
(NOTE: 'Ia Ia' is one word and should only be chosen ONCE)
- The portal leads to a room where you need to light a bunch of braziers to
open the door. I never bothered to figure this puzzle out, just light them
randomly and the door will open soon enough.
Dealing with the Operator:
- An NPC named the Operator is in the room beyond the door. Dialog with him
commences with him automatically when Geralt enters the room.
- Choosing the second dialog option, something like 'How does it work', and
then 'Lets get started' will reset Geralt's abilities. All skill points Geralt
has spent are refunded, and you are taken to the character screen. Afterward
the controller disappears and you must leave via another portal.
- Choosing the first dialog option, 'I am no chosen one' causes the Operator
to attack. Note that this forfeits the option to reset Geralt's abilities.
Fighting the Operator (OPTIONAL):
- This is, in my opinion, easily the toughest fight in the game. He casts
Igni 2 (the AE version), Quen, can teleport around the room, and worst of all
summons Gargoyles two at a time. On Hard, the Operator's Igni and the
Gargoyles' attacks take down Quen 2 in 1-2 shots, and will usually kill Geralt
in 2 more unless you've gone heavy into vitality/damage reduction.
- You start the fight alone with the Operator, annoyingly with Geralt's sword
sheathed. Immedialy move to avoid his first Igni, unsheathe your STEEL sword
(the Operator is human apparently) and go to town on him.
- When he teleports, stand a short distance away, wait for him to begin Igni,
and quick attack. If you have your steel sword out and are too close when he
appears, he will often just teleport away again (though this is exploitable if
you're between Gargoyle summons and need time for Vitality to regen)
- There is a sound effect when the Gargoyles are summoned. Remember to switch
to your silver sword.
- This is where things get hairy. The Operator will roast you with Igni while
the Gargoyles pound you up close. You need to either keep the Gargoyles
between you and him to block the Igni, use the room's pillars to block the Igni
(careful, you can still get tagged by the AoE), or be really good at rolling.
- If you get lucky, the Operator will teleport to a corner of the room and the
pillar will block his Igni.
- You can also try to fight the Gargoyles in a corner where the pillar
protects you from Igni. Be VERY careful not to get cornered by the two
Gargoyles.
- If you've upgraded Aard or have +crit bonuses, Gargoyles seem vulnerable to
stun. Also, Geralt is invincible during his instant kill animations.
- Unfortunately I don't have an ironclad strategy for beating him. Sorry.
- I will say the first time I beat him (on Normal), I didn't realize he was
human and used the silver sword the entire fight. He seemed to teleport a lot
less and you can still keep him stunlocked between Quens. Anyway, good luck!
Baltimore's Nightmare (Gwyhyr, Chapter 2, Iorveth's path only)
I'm including a short guide for this quest largely because it annoyed me. The
bulk of the quest is following a very cryptic set of directions. I spent about
an hour running around in the wrong area, so I'll save you some time if you
want (feel free to give it a try yourself though!).
- This quest begins in the Harpy Lair you reach during the main story.
Viewing one of the crystals starts this quest (just get all five crystals and
watch them all).
- Return to Vergen and find Baltimore's shop door. It is located right next
to the alderman's house (I think). The door is locked.
- Speak with Baltimore's apprentice, who runs the rune store just uphill from
the shop. He will give you a key to investigate the old workshop.
- Inside the shop is a breakable wall (use Aard) toward the back. Behind the
wall is a cryptic set of directions and a key.
- Here's where I'll save you a bunch of time. Go to the Old Quarry. Just to
the right of the gate leading to the Harpies' Lair is a path leading up a small
hill. At the top of the path is a chest hidden in the grass. Open it using
the key you found in the workshop.
- Take this key to the shipwreck located in the gullies past the troll lair
(same one from Mystic River). Near the front of the boat is a door hidden
behind some bushes. At noon, the shadow of the boat's bough plank points
directly toward the door (referred to in the poem).
- Open the door and retrieve Baltimore's notes. You may need to deal with
some unfriendly NPCs to obtain the notes, but make sure you get them.
- Return the notes to the alderman in Vergen to receive Gwyhyr.
DLC Items
[D.1] Blue Stripes Combat Jacket
Damage Reduction: +7
Rune Slots: 3
+10 Vitality
+20% Resistance to Incineration
+10% Resistance to Poison, Bleed
+10 Damage reduction on block
+10% Bleed
[D.2] Mage's trousers
Damage Reduction: 1
10% Magic damage reduced
+20% Resistance to Bleed
+10% Resistance to Incineration
+5 Heliotrope Sign duration
+5 Damage bonus on signs
Comments:
- Arguably the best pants in the game for pure mages.
[D.3] Herbalist's Gloves
Damage Reduction: 1
10% Magic damage reduced
+20% duration for blade oils
+1 additional alchemy ingredients
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thanks to CD Projekt Red for a brilliantly realized game.
While not perfect, this game has earned a spot on my shelf next to Baldur's
Gate 2, Morrowind, Fallout 3, VtM - Bloodlines, and Dragon Age: Origins. I
look forward to great things from CDPR in the future.
Thanks are also due to Crimson Phantom, Isaac_Redfield, Zack_3000, and others
on the gamefaqs/gamespot forums who contributed to threads that became the
buidling blocks of this guide. Thanks to maurer for providing stats on the
DLC items. All remaining errors are mine.
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