The Sunstone quest in The Witcher 3 is a main quest and part of a series that will ultimately help you complete the Battle Preparations main quest. It is triggered automatically as soon as you and your companions dock in Skellige. The sunstone is an important item because it will be used to summon The Wild Hunt.
The Sunstone Quest will begin after you complete ‘Battle Preparations’ in Novigrad in The Witcher 3. Then, you need to travel back to your ship and interact with Avallac’h, who will tell you that all the preparations are set and they are ready for sail.
After that, your party’s ship will sail for Skellige, and as you reach the appointed region, Ciri will mention finding the Sunstone. From here on out your quest to acquire the Sunstone will start.
Before you venture out on your journey, Yennefer will hand you a letter to show the imperial majesty in order to remind him of what he promised. Since the Sunstone can be on any one of the Skellige islands, therefore you need to meet with Ermion to determine its whereabouts since he is the top magical authority in these parts.
If Cerys or Hjalmar rule Skellige
If you chose either the daughter Cerys an Craite or the son Hjalmar an Craite as the new ruler, you could simply head out to the docks. There, you will find Crach, approach him and speak with him about Ermion, and he will tell you his location, which you can visit next.
Ermion will be nearby, so head toward his location to meet with him. As you approach Ermion at Kaer Muire, a cut scene will ensue in which he can be seen arguing with Madman Lugos.
Once you intercede the chat between the two will take a violent turn as Lugos will attack with his ten men. Cut all of them down and take Ermion to safety. There is no way to save Lugo as he is the one who started the fight and killing him is the only way forward.
Once the fight is over and you have disposed of the enemies, then you will chat with Ermion, and he will ask you to follow him. Along the way, you will also come across the capital of Drummond’s land, which is known as “Holmstein” as well. Keep moving north with him; there will come a point at which he will stop and speak with you.
If Svanrige rules Skellige
If Svanrige rules Skellige as king, then you should travel to the Kaer Trolde citadel. There, you will find Ermion with some other folks as well. From here on, your encounter with Ermion will take a different route as when you approach him, you will observe Donar, Ermion, Brina, and the king in the room as well.
Upon arriving in the room, you will learn from Donar that Birna Bran, who is Svarnige’s mother, plans on reaching an agreement with Nilfgaard. So, the meeting you join will have them speaking with the Nilfgaardian emissary and some guards, but Svanrige goes against his mother’s wishes and kills the emissary.
This is seen as a sign of declaration of war against Nilfgaard so now you will have to take out the Nilfgaardian guards in the room. After that, you can talk with Ermion regarding finding the Sunstone.
Talk to Eyvind the bard
In your conversation with Ermion, you will learn that he doesn’t know the location of the sunstone himself, but he will mention two parties that are interested in this item who may know more than him. One of these party members is a bard known as Eyvind. To find him, you will have to head to the cliff, which is located on the west side of Arinbjorn.
As you reach the place you will find him on the cliff searching for signs of the legendary white whale “Gevorg”.
As you interact with him, you will have two timed choices: the first choice is that you can offer to watch for Gevorg and learn about elven ruins with him, and the second is that you inquire about the whale itself.
You will ask him about the elven cavern for research purposes for an adventure novel. Remember not to mention Ermion and select the options beside it. If you fool him with the other options, he will tell you to head east from Kaer Trolde, and there you will find the cavern, but it is only accessible if you travel by sea.
If you choose the option of mentioning Ermion in your inquiry, Eyvind will be displeased with you and will refuse to tell you about the location.
Find the pearl divers
After that, you will have to resort to finding the other party who are the Pearl Divers. You can find them in the underwater cavern. This place is located on the eastern shore, which is relatively close to the road to Eldberg Lighthouse in The Witcher 3.
After you locate them and speak with them, you will be attacked by some Drowners. Deal with them however, you wish and head to the Ancient Crypt. This time, you also have to meet with Yennefer. You will find her with Philippa and Ciri. After you interact with them, Philippa will come with you in search of the Sunstone, whereas Yennefer and Ciri will head out to see the Avallac’h lab.
Explore the Ancient Crypt
To reach the Ancient Crypt, you can travel by road or, if you have discovered the signpost nearby, you can fast-travel. As you approach the place, a cut scene will play in which Philippa will open the entrance for you. After that, you just need to follow Phillipa.
After the first turn, you’ll come across a path that leads to a room filled with drowners and a Siren. Kill all the downers first, and only then will the Siren come down to attack. Use this opportunity to attack it.
Once done, look towards the right side of the room, and you’ll find a Place of Power. Continue on for the second cutscene which will end in Philippa fixing the broken staircase. Cross it, and this time, you’ll find two paths.
As you make your way across, you will come face to face with a broken staircase. Philippa will fix it for you using her magic. After that, your paths will split, and you will have two options. If you want to continue the quest, go right. If not, go left to find the spike puzzle and some treasure.
How to solve the spike trap puzzle
Go through the left path, go down the stairs by the wall, and turn right. You will end up in a room with a body tangled in spikes. This is the spike trap puzzle, and to save yourself from spikes, you need to follow a certain path.
You can either brute force your way through by using Quen and jump which would take away a little bit of your HP. This process is fast but at the cost of your health.
Another way to cross this is to use Witcher Senses to see which tiles have the red glow. The tiles with spikes would glow red, giving you a clear path on where to cross it.
If you are still confused, here is the path to cross the Spike puzzle easily:
- Go straight for two blocks.
- Turn left and cross two blocks.
- Turn right and cross the next two blocks.
- Take another right and cross four blocks.
- Lastly, turn left and cross the last two blocks.
At the end, here you’ll find the chest with a Gven’nel sword with some other items. Pull the lever beside the chest to disable the spikes so it’s easier to run back. If you go straight out of the room, you’ll find you will come across a monster called “Venomous Arachas”.
Use the Golden Oriole potion to become immune to poison attacks granting you defense against its attacks. For offense, apply Insectoid Oil on your silver sword to increase your attacking damage.
Now, go back and accompany Phillipa towards the right path. Here, you will have to face a Golem. You can gain the advantage by using Quen to guard yourself against the Golem’s heavy attacks. Moreover, Dimeritium bombs and Elementa oil can come in handy when dealing with this kind.
After this, you can speak with Philippa along the way until you finally come to a room where you will find the Sunstone. But before you obtain it, you will be tasked with completing a puzzle.
How to solve the Puzzle of the Mirrors
To complete this puzzle, you will have to position the three mirrors in such a way that a beam of sunlight reflects on each one of them. You can trace the light beam and adjust the mirrors in such a way that the beam only hits the mirror on the right.
You will need to move the mirrors once each for the beam to pass through. If you’ve messed up, make sure all the mirrors are turned toward their right, and the puzzle will be solved. Two of these mirrors will be guarded by ghosts. Once done, the light beam will fall on the secret door, revealing its location for you.
This will also cause Sunstone to appear as well. After this, a cut scene will play in which Philippa will talk to you about the politics surrounding the kingdom and the political schemes she has conjured as well. Neither of the two choices between Nazair or Emperor would affect the conversation as you would need to choose both and listen to her response.
She will then hand you the Sunstone and take her leave. This marks the end of The Sunstone quest in The Witcher 3, and you will be awarded 500 XP.
Leave the Elven Cavern
Even though the quest is finished, you’ll need to go back yourself. You can exit the cavern by retracing the path you took while coming to it and explore the ruins for any loot you may have missed along the way. To go out the easier way, use the newly opened door.
This path does not divide into any other area, which makes it easier to pass through. Although this is easier, there are several ghosts here, so brace yourself for that.
Don’t forget to look around for some loot, too. Soon, you’ll find yourself in the room that was right after the entrance door. Cross it and exit the cavern.
