The Witcher 3 Endings Guide – How to Get All Story and Character Endings

The game as complex as The Witcher 3 is expected to have multiple endings. Our guide will help you with every ending.

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt has come with a lot of variety when it comes to endings sequences. For a completionist (or simply a big fan of the series), knowing what they are and how to get to them is highly important.

SPOILER WARNING: Contains heavy story spoilers. You have been WARNED!

The Witcher 3 Endings

There are three playable main-endings in the game for the Critical Path Main Quests and we have explained each one of them below.

There are certain conditions (require decisions) that will need to be met in order to be able to play them, so we have listed down those too.

Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending #1

This ending is going to be dependent upon the choices you have made in the story. In order to achieve it you should have made three of the following four decisions:

  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must have chosen to drink with Ciri over playing snowball.
  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must not have refused the coin from Emhyr when you visit with Ciri.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Final Preparations you must not have let Ciri go alone and instead you should have talked to Lodge of Sorceresses.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should have given the necklace of Lara Dorren to Ciri.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should have stopped Ciri from going to the grave of Skjall.

Objective: Talk to the Werewolf

Through the Crookback Bog, turn eastwards to meet the werewolf and after the dialogue the werewolf is given two choices.

If he answers “no” you fight him and kill him before the game pushes you forward to locating the crone for which you go east, past the swamp to Crookbag Bog Orphans’ Village.

On the other hand, you and the werewolf set out together with him taking the lead. You will come across a group of hunters and two optional objectives will let you either follow Berem or fight the hunters.

If you fight you have to defeat all 10 of them as well as the two dogs in order to come out victorious. Either way you continue east afterwards (following Berem) until you reach the path to Crookbag Bog Orphans’ Village where you tell the werewolf to leave.

In the village you meet crone, coax her away from the tapestry and start the fight after some dialogues. You will face two drowners, a grave and a water hag as well as Weavess.

The crone turns into a bunch of crows, and you cut the head from last Ladies of the Wood. In the shrine you find a box with Ciri’s Wolf Medallion and sit with you head in your hands.

Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending #2

Just like the first ending this one is also going to be dependent on what decisions you made through the story – just a bit more complicated. So in order to reach this conclusion you should have made at least three of the choices below.

In case you chose against three or more of these decisions Ciri will be dead and the Ending #1 (above) will be enforced.

  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must have chosen to play snowball with Ciri over drinking with her.
  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must have refused the coin from Emhyr when you visit with Ciri.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Final Preparations you must have let Ciri go alone to talk to Lodge of Sorceresses.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should not have given the necklace of Lara Dorren to Ciri, letting her tear up the laboratory.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should have gone with Ciri to the grave of Skjall.

Other than these, you should have taken these two decisions as well:

  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must have went to Vizima and took Ciri to Emhyr.
  • In Act II you must have completed Assassins’ Quests (which include Side Quests An Eye for an Eye, A Deadly Plot and Redania’s Most Wanted). Then in Act III you should have managed to complete Side Quest: Reason of State, sided with Vernon Roche after killing Radovid which would lead to Rednaians and Radovid losing thee war against Nilfgaardians and the emperor.

Objective: Talk to the Hunter

At the White Orchard tavern you refuse hooch when you are with Dandelion and Zoltan and the story starts. Here either Triss Merigold will join you, or Yennefer will smile at you depending on who you romanced.

If you didn’t romance anyone you will notice an empty chair. You will be given the option to help a peasant with the horse bringing Side Quest: Faithful Friend, or not.

Objectives: Find Ciri, go to the griffin’s nest, slay the forktail

You will find Ciri across the frozen lands on the western sides. When you talk with her she says she wants to see the griffin’s nest.

In order to get to the nest you take the southern path and take the stone ledges upwards. There is a crevasse that you jump across but as soon as you reach the nest, a forktail attacks; fight it and kill it.

Ciri is still frustrated by something so you suggest a fishing trip.

Objectives: Go to the lake, get rid of the bear, fish with Ciri, collect the four fish

In order to reach the lake you should go northeast past the Abandoned Village and go down the slope to reach the lake. There will be bear which you can either kill, or scare away with a crossbow bolt or a bomb.

You have no rods, so pick a bomb and thrust it into the fishing hole. After it explodes, the hole is opened and four fish come up. Catch them using your Witcher senses.

Objective: Go for a walk with Ciri

You should follow Ciri in the woods where you remember the past and play around joyfully in the snow. Then you head back almost to the northern side while still recalling old times.

Thereon, Ciri departs to meet Emhyr but before that you have a talk. You reconfirm if she is doing what is her own choice, to which she says yes. Your answers won’t matter here and she will hand you the sword before leaving.

Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending 3

The ending will depend on the decisions you have made in the past, and in order to get to this conclusion, you must have made at least two of the following four choices. Going against three of these would mean Ciri is dead and Ending #1 gets enforced.

  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must have chosen to play snowball with Ciri over drinking with her.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Final Preparations you must have let Ciri go alone to talk to Lodge of Sorceresses.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should not have given the necklace of Lara Dorren to Ciri, letting her tear up the laboratory.
  • In Act III: Main Quest: Battle Preparations you should have gone with Ciri to the grave of Skjall.

Other than this you should ensure the following:

  • In Act II: Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield you must NOT have went to Vizima or took Ciri to Emhyr.
  • Or, a few scenarios with regards to the war, Nilfgraad, Radovid and Dijsktra.

You will get three different endings inside this conclusion.

In order to get the first two, in Act II you must have completed Assassins’ Quests (which include Side Quests An Eye for an Eye, A Deadly Plot and Redania’s Most Wanted). Then in Act III you should have managed to complete Side Quest: Reason of State.

Here’s how the scenario is effected by these decisions:

Ending #3A
You supported Vernon and Thaler, and killed Radovid resulting in a Nilfgaardians rule. Now the leave this land and the emperor’s troops are shifted from Vizima Palace. Temerian army reclaims it.

Ending #3B
You supported Dijkstra and killed Radovid, resulting in Dijkstra’s rule. He is not shedding a lot of blood but his army is looking for conspiracies and pushing spies and crown allies away.

Ending #3C
This is the third scenario that takes place if you didn’t fulfill the requirements above. You have not completed Side Quest: Reason of State and Radovid is alive. Emperor wishes to get away from Vizima, there are oppressing witch hunters; the ending comes with an atmosphere of low hopes and courage.

Objective: Talk to Emhyr

Back to the story, the scene starts after the war and if you came here through Ending 3A, during your stay in the hall with Emhyr guarding the wealth of Novigard from looters is ordered and a Redanians delegation is expected.

If you came here through Ending 3B or Ending 3C, then go to the emperor’s quarters and tell Ciri is no more and you can either choose to tell him that you have post-war matters to attend to or that it is none of his business what you do.

Moving on, you answer him whether Ciri said anything bout Emhyr; the more disregard you claim she had for him, the sadder he gets.

Objective: Go to the ruined fortress

You talk to merchants about the war and their story is dependent on what you have done in the past. If you came too this point through Ending 3A you are told that the Nilfgaardians are leaving while they have left some wine.

If you came to this point through Ending 3B, they say Nilfgaardians are leaving but bandits are expected to fill in. If you came to this point through Ending 3C, they say the witch hunters are on a high as Black Ones are no more.

Now you should take your mount and go northwards on the road.

If you chose Ending 3A, you see Nilfgaardian troops in large groups leaving the area. In case of Ending 3B you see Redanian troops looting corpses at a crossroads.

In case of Ending 3C, you see corpses rotting at the same crossroads. There on you go further north through the swamp and take the wooden steps to the Garrison.

While waiting for your contact you talk to Master Ort who has an amazing blade with him for you.

Objectives: Go to the inn, help the inhabitants of the village (in case of Ending 3C)

From the Garrison, you go south and then take the river road to south east until you reach While Orchard village.

If you had chosen Ending 3A, you see no tents at the threshold but flags of Temeria. You go to the tavern passing Nilfgaard contingent and at the tavern you see Lord Dagborg reclaiming the land.

In case your decisions had led to Ending 3B, the entrance has the Redanian tents but Radovid’s troops are retreating. you see propaganda posters from Dijkstra and his troops patrolling everywhere.

After reaching here through Ending 3C, you see Redanian tents at the entrance of the village but troops are in search of mages and non-humans. A small boy’s family has been caught by the army and you have the option to save them before going to the tavern.

Inside the tavern, you should head to the hooded woman. You talk to Ciri saying that the job is done. You are asked whether the emperor believed your word – that doesn’t matter now because Ciri gets her new blade to be used as a Witcher!

Character Endings

We have listed down the fates of all the major characters that will come up prior to the Main Quest ending. There can be different scenarios for each character depending on the choices you made.

The Baron
In Main Quest: The Whispering Hillock, if you had gotten rid of the tree spirit and if you completed Main Quest: Return to Crookback Bog, The Baron will leave for Blue Mountains a changed man with his wife Anna.

Otherwise, if instead of killing you freed the tree spirit in Main Quest: The Whispering Hillock and then completed Main Quest: Return to Crookback Bog as Anna turned into a hag and died, then The Baron hangs himself i the conclusion of his story.

Sara The Godling
If you had struck a deal with Sara in Main Quest: Novigrad Dreaming, she will continue to live with Corrine in the Novigard dream house.

Had you expelled her in Main Quest: Novigrad Dreaming, she would be banished from the Novigard dream house and later appear in Main Quest: Bald Mountain as a friend of Johnny’s.

Kiera Metz
In Side Quest: For the Advancement of Learning, if she was convinced to lead Kaer Morhen, she would have made friends with witcher Lambert after fighting in the Battle of Kaer Morhen. The two go off on new adventures together.

On the other hand if she had been allowed to visit Radovid in Side Quest: For the Advancement of Learning, she would get a rude awakening and find out that she couldn’t change Radovid’s mind by seeing herself put up on a stake in Hierarch Square.

Whoreson Junior
As a result of the fact that you killed the real Whoreson in Main Quest: Get Junior, Dudu impersonates Whoreson Junior successfully and continues with a successful business.

In contrast, if you didn’t kill the real Whoreson Junior in Main Quest: Get Junior, he loses power after being forced down by the Big Four; he ends up in gutters of The Bits.

The Mages
On the condition that you had completed Side Quest: Now or Never successfully, the Mages will not be at the receiving end of the wrath from Radovid as he would be focusing primarily on nonhumans for the time being.

Not indulging in Side Quest: Now or Never would mean you let Radovid’s path open to purge and put up on stakes all the Mages. They are being rounded up and killed all over Novigrad by the witch hunters.

The Ruler of Novigrad and Velen
Radovid: There are conditions, but if you did not get involved in Side Quest: Reason of State as well as all the Assassins’ Quests then Radovid is going too end up being the ruler after defeating Nilfgaardians.

His witch hunters will be murdering tons of beings with magical powers.

Dijkstra: If you completed successfully every Assassins’ Quests and Side Quest: Reason of State and supported Dijkstra then Radovid would have been assassinated as the emperor got pushed back in battle. The region gets industrialized and things get better for the populace.

Emhyr var Emeris: On the condition that you successfully completed all Assassins’ Quests and Side Quest: Reason of State and chose to side with Vernon Roche and Thaler, Radovid will have been killed and Enhyr will take control of Northern Realms.

The Emperor
If Emhyr ends up being the ruler of Novigrad and Velen, Radovid’s forces will be defeated and Emhyr will start punishing conspirators without mercy.

If Radovid or Dijkstra rule over Novigrad and Velen, Enhyr gets assassinated outside the Vizima palace by his own subjects as soon as he starts facing defeats.

The Ruler of Skellige
Cerys an Craite: Upon completing Clan An Craite Quests and supporting Cerys in King’s Gambit, you will see Cerys devoting attention to support her subjects and Skellige finding prosperity.

Hjalmar an Craite:
In case you completed Clan An Craite Quests but sided with Hjalmar instead of Cerys in King’s Gambit, Hjalmar leads and vows to loot Empire of Nilfgaard shores until death. It is a bloody and fiery future.

Svanrige Bran: Choosing differently, if you ignored Clan An Craite Quest > Side Quest: King’s Gambit then Svanrige will be enforcing a stringent monarch-like rule over the isles being fed up of fights led by Jarls.

Ciri
If you made the decisions for Epilogue: Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending #1 i.e. you made three or more negative choices in Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield, Main Quest: Final Preparations, and Main Quest: Battle Preparations (read details above), it will turn out that Ciri has not been seen after the events of Undvik.

Will she return? Is she dead?

The conditions for the second fate of Ciri are as follows: you chose to follow the decisions for ending: Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending #2 i.e. you made more positive choices in Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield, Main Quest: Final Preparations, and Main Quest: Battle Preparations; and you visited Enhyr in Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield (read more details above), then completed Side Quest: Reason of State (Radovid dies), and lastly you chose to support Roche and Thaler.

If all these were done, then Ciri goes back to Nilfgaard where Emhyr prepares her to be the empress!

Lastly, there are a few conditions that would need to be met if you wish for Ciri’s story to end on an adventurous note:

You should have chosen to follow ending: Something Ends, Something Begins – Ending #3 where you made more positive choices in Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield, Main Quest: Final Preparations, and Main Quest: Battle Preparations; and you did not visit Enhyr in Main Quest: Blood on the Battlefield.

Once these are met, Ciri will end up turning into a witcher on the Path. She has learnt everything from Geralt himself and word of her is live like fire all over from Yaruga to Kovir mountains.

Geralt
With Triss: You will need to complete the Side Quest: Now or Never, go with Triss and tell her that you love her, and lastly avoid Yennefer when she advances on you in Side Quest: Last Wish in order for this ending.

You will find Geralt settling down in Kovir where Triss is the mage advisor to the king of Kovir. He has money, time, occasional jobs and a comparably less happening life.

With Yennefer: To end up with Yennefer you will have to complete Side Quest: Last Wish, go with Yennefer and in Side Quest: Now or Never, avoid Triss when she advances on you.

As a result, Geralt and Yennefer end up living a quiet life not touched by politics but romantic walks and conversations.

Lone Wolf: Yeah that is possible too; if you completed Side Quest: Last Wish and Side Quest: Now or Never and flirted with both Triss and Yennefer. On the other hand you could simply did not take any one of these two quests and did not take up on any advances from either Triss or Yennefer.

The result, Geralt is the new poster boy for the forever alone meme. He lives a comparably poorer life, does nothing but what his job is and probably reminisces the romantic opportunities that he let go.

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...