The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a lore-enriched open world with a unique cast of characters that combine to deliver a highly deep and immersive storyline.
Every quest you come across, including side quests, impacts the world around you in some way. There are hundreds of dialogues to choose from, and each decision creates a new branch in the narrative.
There are around three dozen different endings that you can unlock in the base Witcher 3 game. These include endings for both the main story and some of the main characters. It goes without saying that keeping track of every decision you make in the game can become overwhelming.
Hence, the following guide will make it easier for you by explaining how to unlock every ending in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
You can then also go on to learn about the decisions and choices needed to unlock the endings of the expansion packs as well.
- The Witcher 3 Best Ending: Ciri becomes a Witcher
- The Witcher 3 Good Ending: Ciri becomes Empress
- The Witcher 3 Bad Ending: Ciri dies
- Hearts of Stone Good Ending: Olgierd’s soul is saved
- Hearts of Stone Bad Ending: Olgierd’s soul is taken
- Blood and Wine Best Ending: Both sisters live
- Blood and Wine Good Ending: Anna lives, Syanna dies
- Blood and Wine Bad Ending: Both sisters die
When it comes to the main quest involving Ciri, there are three story endings that you can unlock in the base game. These mostly depend on the decisions you make in the following late-game quests:
- Blood on the Battlefield (Act II)
- Final Preparations (Act III)
- Battle Preparations (Act III)
- Child of the Elder Blood (Act III)
- Skjall’s Grave (Act III)
Do note that the same endings can have a slightly different world based on a few of your prior choices. These variations will not change the final fate of Ciri, just the characters and the world around you, all of which will be detailed later on in the character endings.
The Witcher 3 Best Ending: Ciri becomes a Witcher
During the Blood of the Battlefield quest, you need to cheer up Ciri in the wake of the battle. You do this by doing a snowball fight with her.
- Choose: Think I know what might lift your spirits.
Later on, you must choose to either visit the Emperor or face Imlerith. Do not visit the Emperor and doing so, remove him from the ending as well as Ciri’s life.
- Choose: Velen, then.
During the Final Preparations quest, Ciri will want to meet with members of the Lodge of Sorceresses. You can either go with her or let her go on her own. Choose the latter option to show you trust her.
- Choose: You’ll do fine on your own.
During the Child of the Elder Blood quest, when Ciri becomes angry in Avallac’h’s laboratory, make sure to encourage her.
- Choose: Go for it.
During Skjall’s Grave quest, you need to go with Ciri to say goodbye to Skjall. Doing this will show Ciri that you care about her friends and relationships.
- Choose: Yeah. I’ll go with you.
After killing Eredin in the final battle, you tell Emperor Emhyr Var Emreis that Ciri died at the hands of the Wild Hunt. That she gave up her own life to save the world. The Emperor will believe you and send you off. Hence, he will no longer be chasing after Ciri to take up the throne.
You then return to the White Orchard Inn where you receive a special silver sword from a blacksmith. The real prize here, though, will be Ciri herself, who will be sitting on a bench. Give her the sword to show that she has indeed become a full witcher, just like Geralt.
This is considered to be the best ending for three reasons. Ciri is alive at the end. The Emperor will no longer be chasing after her to take up the throne. Most importantly, she decides to follow Geralt and become a Witcher.
The Witcher 3 Good Ending: Ciri becomes Empress
Everything remains the same except for one little decision. After lifting her spirits, she chooses to visit the Emperor with Ciri during the Blood on the Battlefield quest.
During the meeting, make sure to decline when the Emperor offers you money. Ciri will be highly impressed with you.
Take note that if you decide to visit the Emperor, Ciri will never become a Witcher. You will automatically remove the best ending of the game.
After the final battle, you meet Ciri at the White Orchard Inn where there are several Nilfgaardian soldiers waiting for her. She will explain how she has decided to become the Empress of Nilfgaard and change the way things are done in the interest of the people. You both will then say your goodbyes.
This is considered to be a good ending for The Witcher 3, albeit with a bittersweet touch. Many may consider this to be the best ending as well. It all depends if you want Ciri to become a Witcher or not.
The Witcher 3 Bad Ending: Ciri dies
Considering the brutal nature of the Witcher world, it should not be surprising that there is an ending where everything goes wrong.
During the Blood on the Battlefield quest, you put Ciri down by deciding not to lift her spirits.
- Choose: Relax. You don’t have to be good at everything.
Also, when it comes to deciding between the Emperor and Imlerith, choose to go meet the Emperor. When you are offered money, accept it. This will leave Ciri disappointed.
- Choose: Gotta visit the Emperor first.
During the Final Preparations quest, insist on going with Ciri to meet the Sorceresses at the Lodge. This will also disappoint Ciri because it shows you do not trust her.
- Choose: Going with you.
During the Child of the Elder Blood quest, tell Ciri to calm down when she becomes angry in Avallac’h’s laboratory.
- Choose: Calm down.
This is considered a bad ending in the Witcher 3 because Ciri dies in the final battle. You will then find yourself back at Crookback Bog to kill the Crone Weavess for Ciri’s medallion.
However, when Geralt does get back her medallion, he gets overcome with grief and will collapse. The camera will then fade away as monsters start closing in on Geralt. The fate of Geralt is never told.
As already stated, this is the worst possible ending to unlock in The Witcher 3, especially since the whole point of the story was to save Ciri.
Hearts of Stone Good Ending: Olgierd’s soul is saved
The good ending (as accepted by most people) is the ending where Geralt chooses to save Olgierd von Everec’s soul. To get this ending, you must meet up with Shani in the Whatsoever A Man Soweth quest, which is the last quest of the Hearts of Stone Expansion.
Shani in turn asks Geralt to meet up with Professor Shakeslock, who gives him a few tips to beat O’Dimm. This is an important step without which this ending will not play out.
Once the main part’s done with, not long after, Geralt meets with Olgierd at the Temple of Lilvani. Soon enough, O’Dimm makes an appearance and tries to take Olgierds soul.
You are then presented with a timed choice to “Help Olgierd” when Geralt intervenes and challenges O’Dimm to play for Olgierd’s soul. He gives Geralt a riddle and traps him in a different dimension.
The riddle is as follows:
“To all things and men I appertain, and yet by some am shunned and disdained. Fondle and ogle me till you’re insane, but no blow can harm me, cause me pain. Children delight in me, elders take fear, fair maids rejoice and spin. Cry, and I weep, yawn, and I sleep, smile, and I too shall grin”.
The riddle is a difficult one as it comes with a time limit to solve, but we’ve got you covered. All that you have to do is to keep heading north in O’Dimm’s world towards the big building.
You will find a ruined house inside of which you will find mirrors that O’Dimm keeps shattering. The answer to the riddle is a mirror, and every time you get close to one, O’Dimm will shatter it.
Ignore the mirrors and go to the area with a large hole at the center. Head left from this area to get across the hole, and you will come to a red mirror not long after, behind which is a dry fountain.
Use the Aard sign to get the fountain following again. Now, all you have to do is to look into the water (i.e., the reflection), and you will have beaten O’Dimm at his game, thus lifting the curse.
This will lift the curse and both Geralt and Olgierd will be free. As thanks, Olgierd will give you his sword named Iris. It is an excellent steel sword that has one of the highest damage ratings in the game.
An important point to note here is that if you do not complete the riddle in time, O’Dimm will claim both Olgierd’s and Geralt’s souls.
Note that O’Dimm’s world gives you the opportunity to get the Viper venomous silver sword, which is part of the Viper School Gear. This has nothing to do with the ending, but you will not be able to return here after beating O’Dimm.
Hearts of Stone Bad Ending: Olgierd’s soul is taken
The bad ending in the Hearts and Stone expansion is where Geralt lets O’Dimm take Olgierd’s soul. Compared to the previous ending, you don’t have to do much to play out the bad ending.
All you have to do is select the “Don’t get involved” option when O’Dimm tries to murder Olgierd. Alternatively, you can also choose not to meet with Shani when prompted to. Both will lead to the same conclusion.
O’Dimm eventually takes Olgierd’s soul and gives you a list of rewards from which you can choose only one of. Following are the dialogue options you choose and the corresponding reward:
- “Make me rich” – 5000 Crowns
- “Wanna be as swift as the wind” – The Caparison of Lament saddle
- “A bottle of Vodka that’s always full” – Bottomless Carafe
- “Never wanna go hungry again” – Horn of Plenty
- “Don’t want anything from you” – nothing except experience
- “Wanna know where Ciri is” – advice on finding Ciri if you haven’t finished the main story yet.
Save for the information on Ciri, most of the rewards aren’t really worth it, unless you are really short on Crowns. Even the saddle is only useful in certain situations since you won’t be sprinting Roach everywhere. This is another reason that this is considered a bad ending.
Blood and Wine Best Ending: Both sisters live
The best ending in The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine has the sisters forgiving each other and reconciling in the end. In order to get this ending, you must make some key decisions and learn a bit of information to be able to do so. Starting by finding Syanna during The Night of Long Fangs quest.
Geralt must go to the Beauclair Palace and find Syanna’s journal in her playroom. Read all the journal entries to learn a bit of backstory and unlock some crucial dialogue options required later on.
He must find Syanna in the fairytale world and be sympathetic or understanding when speaking with Syanna. Additionally, you need to find the little girl selling flints and buy Syanna’s ribbon from her. The best way to do that is by beating her in Gwent because that way, you get to enjoy a nice game of cards, too, which is always fun.
This ribbon is crucial as it saves Syanna when you meet Dettlaff later at Tesham Mutna in the quest of the same name. You will then battle Detlaff after which he will be killed by Regis. After the battle, Geralt must acquire the letter revealing the name of the fifth victim during the Pomp and Strange Circumstance quest which comes out to be Anna herself.
Now, Geralt must talk to Syanna and carefully select dialogues that indicate forgiveness.
- Choose: Cause she turned her back on you, forgot about you.
- Choose: Ever thought to forgive her?
This conversation between Syanna and you will pave the way toward reconciliation between the two sisters.
During the ceremony, you can tell Damien and Anna about Syanna’s intentions, but this will not change anything and it is better not to do so. During the trial, choose dialogue options that appeal for mercy and the two sisters will make up and live happily ever after.
Blood and Wine Good Ending: Anna lives, Syanna dies
The Night of Long Fangs is the main quest that will decide this ending in which the duchess’ sister Syanna dies. Geralt must find Syanna during this quest, meet Damien, and visit their childhood room in the Palace. Additionally, Geralt is required to start the main quest, Beyond Hill and Dale.
While traveling through the Fairy Land, Geralt must not buy the ribbon from the girl selling flints. After the events in the Fairy Land, Geralt must go to meet Dettlaff, initiating the Tesham Mutna quest. Dettlaff murders Syanna, taking his revenge, and as a result, the duchess is enraged and sends Geralt to prison. This will be unaffected by your decision to kill or leave Dettlaff.
A new main quest, Burlap is the New Stripe, will begin, and your friend Dandelion will come to rescue you from the prison. However, you can later show a letter to Anna in which the 5th victim of Dettlaff will be mentioned. But the quest’s outcome will be the same, even if you ignore finding the letter to showcase it to Anna.
Many consider this end of The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine good as Anna survives, Detlaff lives and Regis does not have to leave Toussaint. However, Geralt is not paid any amount by the Duchess.
Blood and Wine Bad Ending: Both sisters die
In this ending, both sisters die, and it can be achieved in two ways. The first method is through the Beyond Hill and Dale quest, where you need to search for Syanna while completing The Night of Long Fangs quest.
During the same quest, Geralt needs to obtain the ribbon by paying or beating the little flint girl in Gwent while going through the events in the Land of a Thousand Fables.
Syanna will survive during the Tesham Mutna’s quest during which Detlaff dies, and the following Pomp and Strange Circumstance quest will take place.
Regis will then invite Geralt to meet with the bootblack and investigate the matter to learn the name of the potential fifth and final murder victim, Duchess Anna herself.
Learning this information, you will then go to meet Syanna before her trial, and you need to speak harshly with Syanna during your conversation in the tower. This will enrage her and result in her killing Anna during the trial. As you would expect, Damien then kills Syanna in retaliation, and both sisters will die.
The other way to obtain the same result is via The Unseen Elder Method. The events start to unfold during The Night of Long Fangs quest. Geralt must go to Orianna during the quest and follow it until he meets the Unseen Elder in the What Lies Unseen quest.
After speaking to Orianna, the Blood Simple quest will initiate automatically, and Geralt will kill the monster that led to the orphanage massacre.
Geralt must reject Regis’ talk of finding Syanna at the end of the quest, making his way to see the Unseen Elder. Upon completing this quest, Geralt can summon Dettlaff, and the Tesham Mutna quest will begin, during which Detlaff will be killed.
Since you never learn the information required to save both Anna and Syanna, both sisters will die in the end. This is considered the worst ending in The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine, as you fail to accomplish even a single goal given to you in the DLC.
