Hunting Magic Quest is not easygoing as it will involve you venturing inside the Harpy lair in The Witcher 2. You will get this quest following the events of The War Council quest. In short, you must bring an artifact to Philippa, who will prepare a potion to help Saskia.
If you are having difficulty completing the Hunting Magic quest, then worry not, as I have covered all the details on this specific quest.
How to complete the Hunting Magic Quest in Witcher 2
The first part of the Hunting Magic Quest will involve you meeting with a dice poker player called Skalen Burdon at Vergen. He will inform you about a certain wizard in The Witcher 2. After that, you can visit the Barkeep to learn more about the Place of Power and how you can save Saskia.
For that, you can head towards the bar present at the corner. After entering it, the barkeep will be seated at one end of the table. Speak with him and tell him that Saskia needs saving, which can only be done by finding the magic artifact first.
Once you can do that, Cecil Philippa can produce an antidote to help Saskia in the Witcher 2. The Barkeep will then tell you to seek out the Runes in the forest beyond Vergen. According to him, there will be a Place of Power there, and you can discover the artifact/crystal.
Find the Place of Power in The Witcher 2
To get to the Place of Power, you must follow the road I have highlighted in blue on the map above. You must cross the river and follow the path until you reach a narrow pathway. You need to keep following the way, and after you observe the pond on your left, you need to change your direction and head west from there.
Then, you need to move past the edge on your left side, and along the way, you will encounter monsters such as Nekker and Harpy in The Witcher 2. Take your time to kill them, or you can simply ignore them and move forward.
Follow the path on the cliff and then jump across to the other side, and there, you will observe an old Rune. From there, you need to jump onto the ledge, and you will be able to pick up the Crystal.
Give Philippa the Crystal
Follow the path back to reach the town and then meet with Philippa in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. During your conversation, she will confirm that this is not the item she needs, and instead, you need to find her the artifact of real power.
Geralt will mention Solano being in the area and that these creatures can bind dreams to magically mountain crystals.
However, you will need to enter the Harpy lair through the Quarry. You can then seek out the Ealdormen Cecil Burdon to get the gate open for you to find a way into the Harpy lair.
Persuade the Ealdormen to open the gate
You can then navigate through the Vergen to find Cecil Burdon outside his house, and then you can speak with him about entering the Harpy Lair.
He will not be reluctant to open the gate, and since you have seen his dream, you can blackmail the ealdorman to open the gate. Cecil will then agree to open the gate, and then you can enter the cave and search for the artifact in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
After that, you can go through the west gate in the Vergen area and make your way to the Quarry. You will also face some Scoia’tael on the road, so kill them and move on until you reach the cave.
Search the cave for the Artifact
Once you enter the cave, you will also get a new side quest called The Queen Harpy Contract. After reaching the gate, you can interact with it to open it and enter the Harpy lair.
After following a short path, you will be attacked by a couple of Celaeno Harpies inside. Remember that Harpies are also an excellent source of farming money in The Witcher 2, so take your time hacking them down.
You can salvage the crystallized dreams once you take down four of these creatures. Then, you can proceed inside the harpy lair to find a circular projector. A short cutscene will then play in which a Harpy will fly towards the projector and place a pink crystal inside the projector.
Observe the dreams on the projector
You can then see the dream on the projector, and surprisingly, the dream you will observe will belong to Letho in The Witcher 2. In the dream, he will instruct another hidden assassin to take the king’s head to another location.
After the dream ends, you can walk towards the projector and take the Crystal (Lethos Dream). However, once you do that, several Harpies, including the Harpies Queen, will appear behind you to attack you. You can evade them by dodging their attacks and then kill each of these monsters.
Reinforce your defense with Quen and use Yrden to push them away to give you breathing space to win this fight.
Once you have slaughtered each creature, return to the projector and insert the crystal you found at the runes earlier. You will get multiple options, so choose from each of the crystals.
You can go through each of these options, e.g., Silver Crystal. This way, you can observe the dwarven Smith Baltimore’s dream and get the side quest Baltimore’s Nightmare in The Witcher 2. Similarly, you can also check the other dreams, including
- Peasant’s dream
- Dragon’s dream
- Iorweth dream
Then, you can exit the Harpy lair and return to Vergen to meet with Philippa. You can then hand her the crystal, and this will conclude the Hunting Magic Quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
