The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a deep and rich storyline that begins with you heading out in search of Ciri. Your search, however, will lead you to several regions, cities, hidden caves, and the seas where you will come to meet various characters with their own storylines.
You will quickly realize that there is no one way to complete a quest. The branching narrative of The Witcher 3 leaves it up to you to decide which quest to do first, which dialogues to choose, which characters to save, etc.
Hence, some quests will fail if you do not do them in order while other quests will become available if you meet their prerequisites.
This is where it is also important to know that there are several Witcher 3 endings to unlock. They all depend on the major decisions you make on your journey.
The following guide will recommend the best path to experience the complete storyline. This is the order in which you should complete every quest in Witcher 3 you get in your log.
Best quest order in the Prologue
The prologue acts like a tutorial to introduce you to the world of The Witcher 3. These quests are pretty much on rail and you do not have to worry too much about following any specific route.
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaer Morhen | Main | Kaer Morhen | Serves as a tutorial for the game. Characters are introduced and Geralt starts training Ciri – but it’s all a dream. |
| Lilac and Gooseberries | Main | White Orchard | Vesemir and Geralt try to find Yennefer. They eventually reunite with her and plan to leave for Vizima. |
| The Beast of White Orchard | Main | White Orchard – Nilfgaard Inn | Geralt is tasked to kill a Griffin to obtain information on Yennefer’s whereabouts. |
| Incident at White Orchard | Main | White Orchard – Tavern | Geralt and Vesemir kill a gang of bandits. |
| Imperial Audience | Main | Royal Palace of Vizima | Geralt meets up with Emperor Emhyr in Velen and starts the search for Ciri. |
Best quest order in The Witcher 3 Act 1
The first act of The Witcher 3 will take you from Velen to Novigrad to Skellige. Each region has its own fair share of several quests. These also include secondary quests that need to be completed in a specific order to not only save some important characters but also to experience the complete story.
Each quest in the Witcher 3 has a level requirement which is visible in the quest menu. Generally, you want to be at the level of the quest or one or two levels above it before you can start completing it because if you’re under-leveled it can prove to be quite difficult.
Velen
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Nilfgaardian Connection | Main | Heatherton | Geralt travels to the Inn at the crossroads to find info on Ciri from Hendrik. Unfortunately, he is found dead, so Geralt finds a few clues of his own. |
| Bloody Baron | Main | Crow’s Perch | After acquiring the clues, Geralt meets with Bloody Baron. The man informs Geralt that Ciri indeed came to him, but demands a price for more info on her. |
| Ciri’s Story: The King of the Wolves | Main | Lindenvale | Ciri and a girl kill a werewolf that threatened a villager. As thanks, he took them to Crow’s Perch – to Baron. |
| Ciri’s Room | Secondary/Side | Crow’s Perch | Geralt searches Ciri’s room, but all he manages to find is that she left in a hurry. |
| Family Matters | Main | Crow’s Perch | Baron tasks Geralt to find his wife and daughter. Upon completion of the task, he reveals that Ciri had used her powers, and hence had to flee from the Wild Hunt to Novigrad. |
| A Princess in Distress | Main | Blackbough | Geralt helps the pellar find the Princess in exchange for information on Baron’s wife and daughter |
| Ciri’s Story: The Race | Main | Velen | Ciri and Baron race to a tower on horseback, but are attacked by a basilisk. |
| Ciri’s Story: Out of the Shadows | Main | Abandoned Tower | Ciri kills the basilisk, but sadly uses her powers. She then has to flee Crow’s Perch in case the Wild Hunt arrives. |
| Hunting a Witch | Main | Midcopse | Geralt finds Keira Metz, the ‘witch’ that supposedly knew Ciri’s whereabouts. She takes Geralt to a mage that’s looking for Ciri as well. |
| Wandering in the Dark | Main | Byways | At the mage’s place, Geralt, and Keira face Nithral of the Wild Hunt. They defeat Nithral, but only find clues about Ciri. |
| An invitation from Keira Metz | Secondary/Side | Midcopse | Geralt meets with Keira, who asks him a favor to lift the curse on Fyke Isle. |
| A Towerful of Mice | Secondary/Side | Fyke Isle | Geralt lifts the curse of Fyke Isle. |
| A Favor for a Friend | Secondary/Side | Midcopse | Keira tasks Geralt to find a few items. Later, she invites Geralt to dinner. |
| For the Advancement of Learning | Secondary/Side | Fyke Isle | Keira informs Geralt that she plans to give Alexander’s notes to Radovid. Geralt either has to let her go, kill her, or seek refuge in Kaer Morhen. |
| Ladies of the Wood | Main | Crookback bog | Geralt finds out that Keira was not the ‘witch’ that knew of Ciri. He later finds out that the three Cones Hendrick mentioned meant to hand Ciri over to Imlerith of the Wild Hunt. |
| The Whispering Hillock | Main | Ancient Oak | Geralt finds a trapped Spirit. He can either free or kill it. |
| Ciri’s Story: Fleeing the Bog | Main | Crookback bog | Ciri escapes from the grasp of the Crones, but Imlerith is onto her, and she has to flee to the swamp. |
| Return to Crookback Bog | Secondary/Side | Crookback bog | Geralt finds Baron’s wife and daughter. Hey may try to save his wife, but fails in every way. |
Novigrad
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyres of Novigrad | Main | Novigrad | Geralt heads to Novigrad and tries to find Triss Merigold, who can help him find Ciri. |
| Novigrad Dreaming | Main | Novigrad | Geralt seeks help from Corinne, a dreamer who can help track Ciri. |
| Broken Flowers | Main | Novigrad | Geralt goes to the Rosemary and Thyme inn to find Dandelion, whom Ciri had contacted – but to no avail. |
| Get Junior | Main | Novigrad | Geralt finds Whoreson Junior, who apparently knew of Dandelion. In the end, he has to decide Junior’s fate. |
| An Eye For an Eye | Main | Temerian Hideout | Geralt and Roche help Ves in her fight with the Nilfgaardians. |
| Ciri’s Story: Visiting Junior | Secondary/Side | Ciri frees her friend, Dudu, from Whoreson Junior’s captivity. | |
| Count Reuven’s Treasure | Main | Novigrad | Geralt and Djikstra try to find Dandelion and set out to find clues from the robbery that he was known to be a part of. |
| A Favor for Radovid | Main | Oxenfort Harbor | Geralt heads off to meet Radovid, who asks him to find Phillipa Eilhart. |
| Redania’s Most Wanted | Main | Est Tayiar | Geralt learns about Phillipa and informs Radovid. |
| A Matter of Life and Death | Secondary/Side | The Bits | Geralt helps Triss evacuate Albert Vegelbud from the mansion. |
| Now or Never | Secondary/Side | Novigrad | Geralt helps Triss evacuate the mages of Novigrad. |
| A Deadly Plot | Secondary/Side | Pa’siflora | Geralt helps find Thaler and frees him from the trolls. |
| The Play’s the Thing | Main | Novigrad | Geralt lures out Dudu and talks to him. |
| A Poet Under Pressure | Main | Novigrad | Geralt finds and frees Dandelion from the witch hunters’ captivity, |
| Ciri’s Story: A Breakneck Speed | Main | Novigrad | Ciri escapes Temple Isle and teleports away when surrounded by the Temple Guard. |
| A Dangerous Game | Secondary/Side | Rosemary and Thyme | Geralt helps Zoltan get his Gwent cards back. |
| Cabaret | Secondary/Side | Rosemary and Thyme | Geralt helps Dandelion get his capital for upgrading the Rosemary and Thyme. |
| Carnal Sins | Secondary/Side | Vilmerius Hospital | Geralt tracks down Priscilla’s attacker and decides his fate. |
Skellige
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Destination: Skellige | Main | Novigrad | Geralt makes his way to Skellige and docks at Kaer Trolde Harbor. |
| The King is Dead – Long Live the King | Main | Kaer Trolde | Geralt and Yennefer attend King Bran’s farewell feast. He later on helps Yen steal the mask of Uroboros. |
| The Lord of Undvik | Secondary/Side | Undvik | Geralt helps Hjalmar in proving his worth to become king by killing the Ice Giant that took over Undvik. |
| Possession | Secondary/Side | Spikeroog | Geralt finds Crach’s daughter, Cerys, and defeats a Hym that she found. |
| King’s Gambit | Secondary/Side | Kaer Trolde | Crach invited Geralt to a feast for the an Craits. However, there is an attack at the feast and Geralt has to choose one of them to help prove their innocence. |
| Coronation | Secondary/Side | Gedyneith | Geralt attends the new ruler’s coronation. |
| Echoes of the Past | Main | Druid’s Camp | Geralt and Yennefer use the mask of Uroboros to find clues on Ciri’s whereabouts. This will reveal your next stop to be Hindarsfjall. |
| Missing Persons | Main | Lofoten | Yen and Geralt head over to Hindarsfjall to locate Ciri. They come to know that Craven may have an idea about her, but was at Freya’s Garden. |
| Nameless | Main | Freya’s Garden | Geralt finds Craven, but he is dead. Yennefer then revives him with the Garden’s power. |
| Ciri’s Story: The Calm Before the Storm | Main | Lofoten | Ciri arrives at Skellige, but is later found by the Wild Hunt so has to flee once again. |
| The Last Wish | Secondary/Side | Larvik | Geralt meets with Yennefer and has to choose whether to help her find a djinn or not. |
Best quest order in The Witcher 3 Act 2
The second-act quest order in The Witcher 3 is pretty straightforward. You will mostly be exploring the home of Geralt in Kaer Morhen. However, for a couple of quests, you will need to return to Velen and Skellige.
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
| Ugly Baby | Main | Crow’s Perch | Geralt takes hold of Uma and lifts the curse laid upon him. |
| Disturbance | Main | Kaer Morhen | Geralt helps Yennefer set up her megascope by removing the magical disturbance. |
| To Bait a Forktail… | Main | Kaer Morhen | As tasked by Yennefer, Geralt sets out to find Eskel and help him kill a forktail. They kill it and acquire Yennefer’s required ingredients from it. |
| The Final Trial | Main | Kaer Morhen | Eskel and Geralt set out to find the Circle of Elements to fill up the phylactery. |
| No Place Like Home | Main | Kaer Morhen | Vesemir decides to try and lift the curse set upon Uma. Geralt has the choice to spend the evening with his friends or go to sleep. |
| Va Fail, Elaine | Main | Kaer Morhen | Geralt brews some potions that help lift the curse off of Uma. This reveals Avallac’h, who leads Gelt into the Isle of Mists – to Ciri. |
| The Isle of Mists | Main | Skellige | Geralt goes to the Isle of Mists and finds Ciri. Once she wakes, the Wild Hunt appears, and they both have to flee back to Kaer Morhen. |
| The Battle of Kaer Morhen | Main | Kaer Morhen | The Wild Hunt arrives at Kaer Morhen and starts wreaking Havoc. Vesemir is killed, but Ciri saves the rest of her friends and wounds the Hunt, causing them to retreat. |
| Blood on the Battlefield | Main | Kaer Morhen | Geralt tries to calm Ciri down after the battle. Later, they both head off to Emhyr, and then to face Imlerith. |
Best quest order in Act 3 of The Witcher 3
The final act of The Witcher 3 takes place in mostly Novigrad. Most players make the mistake of completing Reason of State late, which disturbs the entire quest order of The Witcher 3.
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bald Mountain | Main | Bald Mountain | Ciri and Geralt arrive at the top of the Bald Mountain. Geralt faces Imlerith and kills him. |
| Final Preparations | Main | Novigrad | Geralt and Ciri head off to Novigrad to meet with their friends, who recruit allies for the final battle. |
| Blindingly Obvious | Main | Novigrad | Geralt helps Triss free Philippa – who had turned into an owl – from Dijkstra’s captivity and asked for her help in turn. |
| Reason of State | Secondary/Side | Novigrad | Geralt, along with Roach and others, kill Radovid. Later, Geralt has to decide the fate of his friends and Dijkstra. |
| The Great Escape | Main | Novigrad | One of the Lodge of Sorceress’s potential allies, Margarita, is captured by witch hunters. Geralt helps Yennefer find Margarita and free her. |
| Payback | Main | Novigrad | Geralt and Ciri head off to meet some enemies and friends in Novigrad – Whoreson Junior and Bea, respectively. Later, Geralt is given the choice to steal some horses. |
| Through Time and Space | Main | Novigrad | According to Avallac’h(‘s) plan, he, and Geralt, with the help of Corinne, travel to Aen Elle to convince Ge’els of the Wild Hunt to help them. |
| Battle Preparations | Main | Novigrad | Geralt talks to Avallac’h after finding the Sunstone Elven artifact and then travels to Undvik. |
| The Sunstone | Main | Skellige | Geralt finds the Sunstone after solving a puzzle. |
| Veni Vidi Vigo | Main | Skellige | Geralt sneaks onto Emhyr’s ship at night and convinces him to free Fringilla, so she can help them in the fight against the Wild Hunt. |
| Child of the Elder Blood | Main | Skellige | Geralt and Ciri discover Avallac’h’s secret lair – and the truth behind Ciri’s Elder nature. |
| Skjall’s Grave | Main | Hindarsfjall | Geralt and Ciri head back to Skellige and find Skjall’s body. They then give him a proper burial. |
| On Thin Ice | Main | Undvik | The heroes use the Sunstone and summon the Wild Hunt. They eventually defeated the king of the Wild Hun, Eredin, but he informed Geralt of Avallac’h’s potential betrayal. |
| Ted Deireadh, The Final Age | Main | Undvik | Geralt makes haste to find out about Avallac’h’s plans, but it is too late. Ciri heads off with Avallac’h to defeat the White Frost. |
| Something Ends, Something Begins | Main | White Orchard | Geralt reunites with Ciri, and gives her the Witcher title, concluding the game’s main story. |
After you’ve completed the main story you can choose to end the game right there. If you want to continue Geralt’s journey and witness a more conclusive end to the trilogy, you can move on directly to the game’s two DLCs: Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine.
Both DLCs in the Witcher 3 feature just as robust storytelling and spectacular character moments. While you can play both DLCs during the course of the main game, it is better to save them until after you’ve completed the main quest with ‘Something Ends, Something Begins’.
Not only does this provide a more streamlined experience but it also means that you reach a more natural ending to Geralt’s journey. The Hearts of Stone DLC should be played before Blood and Wine
Best order to complete quests in Hearts of Stone
The Hearts of Stone storyline takes place in the Novigrad region but features all new characters, abilities, and Gwent Cards.
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evil’s First Soft Touches | Main | Oxenfurt | Geralt investigates a contract relating to a monster lurking in the Oxenfurt sewers. |
| Rose on a Red Field | Secondary/Side | Garin Estate Bowdon | Geralt investigates a tip from Adela which leads him to a bandit camp |
| Dead Man’s Party | Main | Brunwich | Geralt is asked to show Olgierd von Everec’s brother the time of his life. |
| A Midnight Clear | Secondary/Side | Brunwhich Millers Lake | Geralt can choose to romance Shani during Dead Man’s party. |
| Open Sesame! | Main | Borsofi Brothers’ Auction House | Geralt arrives at the Borsodi Brothers’ Auction House and plans a heist |
| Open Sesame: Witcher Seasonings | Main | Oxenfurt | Geralt tries to convince the garrison’s cook to add something extra to the food to incapacitate the guards to pull off the heist. |
| Open Sesame: The Safecracker | Main | Oxenfurt | Geralt and his accomplices pull off the heist |
| The Taxman Cometh | Secondary/Side | Oxenfurt | Geralt receives a good taxpayer diploma for answering a few questions |
| Scenes from a Marriage | Main | Painted World | Geralt discovers a thief searching for his partner. The appearance of a shadowy figure quickly chases him away and Geralt begins his investigation |
| Whatsoever a Man Soweth… | Main | Puzzle World | Geralt makes his way to the Alchemy Inn to be confronted by Gaunter O’Dimm |
Best order to complete quests in Blood and Wine
The Blood and Wine DLC will be your final stop in The Witcher 3 DLC. Before going any further to check the quest order to finish The Witcher 3, make sure you complete all the quests and side quests listed above as the story of this DLC takes place in an entirely new are Toussaint with even more new characters and interesting stories to follow.
| Quest | Type | Location | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Envoys, Wineboys | Main | Stonecutters’ Settlement | Geralt receives a request from Anna Henrietta to rid her lands of a monster |
| The Beast of Toussaint | Main | Palace Gardens, Beauclair | Geralt receives a welcome party as he enters Toussaint and fights Golyat |
| Blood Run | Main | Palace Gardens, Beauclair | Geralt chases after Milton and finds him dead. A fight ensues between him and the beast that killed Milton. |
| A Knight’s Tales | Secondary/Side | Castel Ravello Vineyard | Geralt helps lift a curse |
| La Cage au Fou | Main | Tesham Mutna Ruins | Geralt breaks into a crypt. His investigation leads him to yet another monster |
| Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away | Main | Beauclair Port | Geralt locates the Bootblack that appeared in his vision and defends him |
| Fists of Fury: Toussaint | Secondary/Side | Henris Gras Square | Geralt takes on a new opponent in Toussaint |
| Raging Wolf | Secondary/Side | Beauclair Port | Geralt defeats Maestro in a fistfight |
| Wine is Sacred | Main | Fort Astre Ruins | Geralt reports to the duchess with his plans to hunt the beast |
| Paperchase | Secondary/Side | The Gran’place | Geralt goes to the bank to retrieve what is rightfully his. |
| The Man from Cintra | Main | Beauclair | Geralt investigates clues at a soiree to find out what happened |
| Capture the Castle | Main | Count de la Croix’s Mill | Geralt searches for Syanna and Rhena and defeats Roderick and his men |
| The Night of Long Fangs | Main | Beauclair | Geralt kills a Vampire and tracks down Damien and Orianna. |
| A Portrait Of The Witcher As An Old Man | Secondary/Side | Duchaton Crest | Geralt approaches a painter and gives him the necessary materials to complete his portrait |
| Equine Phantoms | Secondary/Side | Mont Crane Cemetery | Geralt uses his Witcher senses to help a hermit |
| Beyond Hill and Dale… | Main | Land of a Thousand Fables | Geralt investigates what happened to Syanna |
| Blood Simple | Main | La Compassion Orphanage | (Optional depending on your choice to whether go after Syanna or not) Geralt searches for Syanna across Toussaint |
| There Can Be Only One | Secondary/Side | Lac Célavy | Geralt completes a number of trials to acquire the Aerondight sword |
| Tesham Mutna | Main | Tesham Mutna Ruins | Geralt tracks down and defeats Dettlaff. |
| Mutual Of Beauclair’s Wild Kingdom | Secondary/Side | Venin Rocks | Geralt finds and kills a Basilisk |
| The Warble Of A Smitten Knight | Secondary/Side | Rosetree Hill | Geralt trains with Guillaume and uncovers a secret |
| Pomp and Strange Circumstance | Main | Mère-Lachaiselongue Cemetery | Geralt helps Regis find and defeat the vampires |
| Burlap is the New Stripe | Main | Beauclair | Geralt spends time in prison before his final contract |
| Be It Ever So Humble… | Main | Corvo Bianco | You go home to find your final romantic partner, dependent on your choices in the base game |
The final main quest of the Blood and Wine DLC wraps up Geralt’s journey and depending on who you decide to pursue in the base game, they become your partner in the end. It is important to note that romancing Syanna does not affect the outcome of this quest.
