The Witcher 3 is a monster of a game in terms of size, ethical depth, narration, map breadth, skill tree spreads, and possibility. Some players blast through the main quests for the juiciest narratives, while other players forget the main quests exist as they sprint around playing Gwent for days. There's a lot to do in the game, but there's one really fun thing about the game: Geralt can get pretty jacked. There are hundreds of armor sets, millions of combinations of ways to wear them, and tons of ways to level up the master witcher.
But, if you find yourself desperate for new Gwent cards but you're too low-level to chop off the head of the griffin standing in your way to that 15-cost Ciri card, here are a few ways to level up Geralt fast so you can get back to the real game: beating children at a card game and taking their coin.
Sweep Up White Orchard
After the bare-bones tutorial at Kaer Morhen, your first foray into the Witcher world is the land of White Orchard. While your low level and rudimentary armor might make your rogue adventuring a challenge, White Orchard is meant to be taken on at your current level. The land is rich with points of interest, overflowing with mainly Places of Power, which boost your Sign power and give you instant skill points. Sweeping up everything at White Orchard before moving on will give you a leg up when you start on the real game. Coming back to it later on won't have the same leveling-up effect, as you'll be overpowered, so do it all right when you start.
Keep Roach Strapped
When you kill a monster on a contract, you usually take their head as proof that you've completed the quest so that you get that ever-important coin from the contract giver. Good news, though: you don't have to give up the trophy head. Instead, it goes into your inventory, where you can then equip it to Roach's saddle, which makes her look badass and also gives benefits.
After killing one of the more distinguished noonwraiths, for example, the trophy equipped on Roach will grant you +5% experience after defeating human NPCs. As you defeat more difficult monsters, be sure to check their benefits and equip them to Roach, as this will quickly boost your experience points and thus your level.
Take on Quests at Your Current Level
Scaling in video games refers to the process in which you proportionately increase your level at the same rate as the difficulty progression of the game. Basically, take on quests as close to your current level as possible. At level 6, try to take on quests at level 5 or 7, because, later on in the game, you'll be too strong, and those lower-level quests won't offer much experience points.
Early on, though, because those level quests are harder to complete at your low level, you will get more points and raise Geralt's skill levels. Though, we suggest saving a quest or two at a low level, just for kicks; you can come back, and Geralt will look like a beast compared to those level four Nekkers.
Get the Green
Weaponry designed by and for witchers is deigned green by the game. Most of these weapons are upgradeable, and you can find them on treasure hunts or at shops throughout the game. If you find yourself struggling to beat an enemy, see if you can't tailor your armor to defeat them. For example, leshens are weak to fire, so try and attach a fire-related rune to your sword in order to do fire damage to the leshen. Keep an eye out for the green-labeled weaponry to get an extra boost throughout the game.
Get the Other Green
Geralt, like most freelancers, struggles to get the gold. Early on in the game, it's tempting to not be greedy, and you run into families whose only compensation for your death-defying griffin defeat is often the few pennies they scraped together for a daughter's dowry or money they were saving to buy medicine for their baby. There are dialogue options that make Geralt supremely noble, where he turns down money in a moment of grace and walks away an empty-handed hero.
But money helps you buy weapons, swords, potions, oils—all of the tools that allow you to succeed in quests and gain more experience points. Don't be afraid to loot bodies and swipe some fancy things from the nobles' houses: this money is a crucial step in increasing Geralt's experience levels. And the poor man deserves a beer every once in a while, so make sure he can afford one!
Drowner Farming
Farming is another gaming term that usually means a player does a repetitive, specific action within a game to glean a lot of experience points quickly. In the Witcher gaming universe, it's not really as popular a tactic as it is in, say, Dark Souls. However, if you're really itching to farm some experience points, and relatively quickly, there is a popular way. Drowners are an irritating, pervasive monster species that can almost always be found at any body of water in the Witcher world.
Grab your crossbow and find somewhere you can dive amongst the drowners. Your crossbow doesn't do much damage above water, but, once submerged, you can take out drowners with just one or two crossbow bolts. You can run away, meditate, come back, rinse, and repeat to keep getting experience points. Be sure to loot the carcasses once you're done; the materials from monsters help level up your equipment later on.
Keep Geralt's Armor Fresh
Similar to the green-labelled swords, there are entire sets of witcher gear, weapons, and armor you can find throughout the world, typically on treasure hunts. When you collect entires sets of this equipment, their bonuses increase. What's fun about hunting down these is that each set derives from a different school. For example, the Witcher School of the Cat, or the Ursine School. The different sets are found on their own treasure hunt quests and have their own unique bonuses. Be sure to snatch up the diagrams and pieces as you scale throughout the game, as they'll help you gain experience bonuses.
Free the People
In the Witcher, there are sometimes monsters (and people) so violent they wipe out towns or force families to flee far away. You can find these ghost towns throughout the world, and they're almost always infested with a monster nest or bandit group. Wipe out the source of the problem, and the town will then be liberated, and people will come flooding back and shower you with gratitude. You'll also be showered with experience points, as liberating towns is one of the higher-reward experiences you can find in the game.
Start Questioning Everything
Show someone a Witcher game map, and they'll show you the hundreds of question marks all over the world. While some of these spots are merely a cave entrance, lots of these marks prove themselves to be worthy of checking out. Plenty of them are Places of Power, which are stones where you can increase your Sign power and also earn an instant ability point, which is a huge benefit. Some of the question marks indicate monster nests, which, once vanquished, can also boost your skill points.
Use the Force
While building up your skill tree early on, don't be shy in upgrading Axii, the Witcher Sign that can manipulate peoples' minds. It's useful in battle because it can stun enemies and give Geralt the upper hand. But, when it comes to dialogue options, some of the heftier choices require higher-level Axii power.
These dialogue options often make things easier on weary Geralt, so it's helpful to have it powered up. As a bonus, you also get extra experience after a conversation when you used Axii in dialogue. These are not the Gwent cards you are looking for...