Debuting in 1986, Andrzej Sapkowski's Geralt of Rivia began life in a series of inter-connected short stories and six epic novels. From there the Witcher's adventures were adapted into two video games, The Witcher in 2007, and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011, but it was not until the release of CD Projekt Red's third installment, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that the dark fantasy world became a staple of modern fantasy pop culture, bringing worldwide focus to the White Wolf and the Continent.
With the recent celebration of the very first WitcherCon and the approaching release of the second season of Netflix's stellar TV adaptation, it seems fitting to look back at the trilogy of defining video games and delve into the rich details and secret quests, objectives, and locations most players do not come across on their first play.
Secret Treasure In Vizima
Early on in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the player will be brought to the grand place of Vizima to meet with the forbidding Emperor Emhyr var Emreis to discuss the very important task of finding Geralt's friend and the last possessor of the Elder Blood, Ciri.
After a discussion with the Emperor, players will be ushered out of Vizima to begin their quest, but, if the player decides to poke around the beautiful courtyard instead, they will find an unmarked stone which, when activated, will open a secret treasure room with an interesting letter and a skeleton decorated in cobwebs.
There Can Be Only One
With the release of Blood and Wine, the second and final expansion for The Witcher 3, players were introduced to new lands, characters, and quests. One quest which many players passed over was "There Can Be Only One," which is meant to test whether or not Geralt has five chivalric virtues necessary to be a true hero.
The quest itself is a nod to the eighties fantasy classic Highlander, and it even ends with a fight to the death with a hermit who, when beaten, will disappear and be replaced by the Arthurian legend, the Lady of the Lake. She will gift the player a powerful sword called Aerondight.
Rosemary and Thyme
After saving the bold and somewhat foolish bard, Dandelion, from the Temple Guard in Novigrad, Dandelion takes ownership of Rosemary and Thyme, a house of ill-repute, running it alongside his dwarf friend, Zoltan.
Restoring the brothel, however, will lead the player down many paths, and, through the player's choices, the establishment will either flourish and become cleaner and more respected or completely degrade and become even more of an eye-sore.
A Tome Entombed
A small and out-of-the-way side quest, this adventure into the sewers beneath Novigrad is one of the many examples of the dark humor that can be found in The Witcher franchise. The player will first need to either enter a tunnel in the middle of The Bits or pass through a twisting path that starts at the Tretogar Gate signpost.
Within the sewers, the player will come across Professor Vairmont Jonne struggling with the lid of an oblong box, mentioning an eleven tome hidden within. Open the box, and the witcher will be greeted with a grumpy vampire. Bother the creature further, and things will get nasty.
Geralt's Passive Abilities
The prologue chapter of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is more important than many players first thought. During the opening of the game, the player has multiple chances to improve Geralt's passive abilities such as carrying capacity and endurance in somewhat irregular ways which will not be easily achieved later on in the game.
These include interrupting the witcher's attack animations, striking down a specific number of training dummies, and repeating certain actions a dozen times or more. There are detailed guides to obtain these upgrades in every corner of the internet.
The Witcher George
Each game in The Witcher trilogy is packed full of fun easter eggs both visual and auditory that fans will recognize. In the first game, players will see and hear allusions to other popular works such as Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan, and Monty Python, but most interesting of all is the plethora of references to classic works of art, one of which is found on the ground floor in the witcher sanctum, Kaer Morhen. A rendering of the classic Saint George and the Dragon is replaced with what Geralt calls "Witcher George slaying the dragon."
War Camp
A large part of Wild Hunt's appeal is the massive open world filled with new areas to discover, some of which provide new gear and quests. This area, although interesting, does not provide the player with anything valuable other than the simple experience of having gotten in.
In a corner of Velen, Geralt can come across a Nilfgaardian war camp that is barred from outside travelers. Should the player attempt to enter, they will be immediately attacked. However, some players have discovered that Geralt may enter if he is wearing a Nilfgaardian outfit. Once inside, the player can do some reconnaissance work and little else, but it is a fascinating bit of world-building for Witcher fans.
Ghost Ships
The player will not spend much of their time on the sea in Wild Hunt, but, if Gerald decides to spend time away from Yennfer and Triss and head out to the middle of the ocean by either swimming or sailing, there is a chance that the player will be able to witness both the passage of towering whales, and, as some players have found, a translucent ghost ship that is endlessly sailing throughout the world. Fans have reported that the sightings most often occur between one and three in the morning.
Poor Tyrion
When one fantasy franchise pays homage to another, it is naturally something to talk about. In the oceans off Skellige, players can stumble upon an island inherited by fierce pirates. After dispatching each of them and retrieving a set of prison keys, players can access a cell with only three walls that look out onto the frozen sea. Within the cell is the corpse of a small man with a scar across his face.
Fans of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones will immediately recognize the corpse as Tyrion Lannister, who almost met a similar fate in the show's first season.
Finding Dancer
With the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher 2, a secret weapon was added to the third chapter. When the player is escorting Brigida through the woods during the "Crown Witness" quest, Geralt can locate a nekker cave with the sword called Dancer hidden inside.
The weapon is one of the best in the game, and it even made an appearance in Wild Hunt as loot from the quest "Contract: Dragon."