Nightsolo's The Witcher 1 Chapter 1




Chapter I

After the cutscene, kill the Barghests, and then you'll have a conversation with Shani. Learn what you can from her. After the conversation, she'll be inside the Inn for the rest of this Chapter. It's night time, and most of the villagers are sleeping. In order to clear up some Side Quests, I recommend Meditating until a couple of hours after dawn. To do so, you can either go inside and pay the Innkeeper to stay the night, or you can find a fire outside, in the Inn's courtyard (you'll need some Flint to start the fire). Either way, on the lower-left area of the screen, you'll see the Hourglass Symbol surrounded by four orbs. These correspond to Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight. Click the Dawn orb, then to the right of that, click the right arrow to add two more hours, then click the Hourglass Symbol.

When you come to, there should be a Vizimian Herbalist and a Dwarven Blacksmith you can speak with outside the Inn. They also buy and sell certain types of items. (See my Stuff to Keep Checklist for a list of things you'll need in this Chapter.) Next to the door to the Inn is a Notice Board. A tutorial window will pop up as you approach, and you'll need to click on it to continue. To accept all three of the quests, loot the papers and then read them. There is also a Wanted Poster here. Click on that to get the "Wanted" quest, though you won't do anything else with it in this Chapter.

Go inside the Inn. Here you'll find several people to talk to. You can pay the Innkepeer 5 Orens for an interesting tale, but really all he's good for is Storage. If you have some items cluttering your inventory, or that you want to keep for a later Chapter, this is a good place to store them. The Waitress can sell you food and drink. If you exhausted all of Shani's converstion earlier, she won't have anything new to say. Talk to Leuvaarden to get his "Dead Hand of the Past" quest. Fight Fat Fred to advance the "Fistfighting" quest (take a Swallow beforehand). Talk to Kalkstein to learn about Alchemy.

(A short description of the area: Basically, there are two east-west roads, which I'll call the northern route and the southern route. These are conneceted by north-south roads on either end. The southern route has two dead-end roads leading off of it. There is also a river to the north of the area. The northern route runs along the southern shore of the river, through the fishing village.

Exit the Inn and head west, along the southern route. Your goal is to Talk to the Reverend, so set your quest tracker to "Of Monsters and Men" to help you find him. There are a couple of things to do along with way. Talk to the Royal Huntsman to learn that he buys trophies. (You'll return to him later when you have them.) If you have a White Gull, Give it to an old woman labeled "Beggar," and she'll reward you. If you have some Food items, you can give them to other old women in exchange for information on local herbs and monsters. This will make more plants harvestable, and more monsters skinnable, both useful if you plan on making Potions.

Second, you need to find some Tulips. There are two ways to get these: 1) Buy some Daises from the Vizimian Herbalist, then find a woman wearing white, and she'll trade them. 2) Loot them off a Corpse near the southern Cave, which is at the end of the western dead-end road. Once you have the Tulips, find a Peasant Woman wearing yellow and Talk to her. Gifting her the Tulips will open the option for Geralt to have sex with her.

Continue along with road west, then north into the main Village. Enter homes and loot everything as you go (people in this game don't notice that you're robbing them blind). As you approach the village, some militia men will try to stop you. They wisely let you go without a fight, though. Talk to the Reverend to learn things from him. Before he'll help you though, he'll require you to light fires in some Shrines at night. But first, there are a couple more things to do during the day. If it's getting dark, find a fireplace and Meditate until just after dawn again.

Continue north across the bridge, then go west into a Cave. Fight the Echinopsis, then loot them for the Remains of Leuvaarden's brother. Hold on to it for now. Back outside, cross the bridge again and go east into the Fishing village. In the central area, you'll get a cutscene where several humans are harassing a dwarf. Approach again to trigger another cutscene, and this time you'll wind up fighting the humans. When they're all dead, you'll be reaquainted with Zoltan Chivay, a friend of Geralt's. After the conversation, loot all the buildings here, including the corpses of the humans, as they carry boxes of Dice on them (you only need to keep one - sell the rest). Then continue east along the path, then south to the Inn.

Inside the Inn, Talk to Zoltan. You'll start two cross-chapter quests with him: "Dice Poker" and "Drinking." I'll point out more players in later Chapters. For now, beat Zoltan at both. When you're ready, find the Drunkard and the Gambler in the Inn and beat them at their own games. You can optionally speak to Leuvaarden here, but he just reiterates that he wants a decent burial for his brother.

Meditate until a couple of hours after Dusk. As you exit the Inn, you'll see several men harasing Vesna. Aprroach after the first cutscene, and if you intervene, you'll wind up killing the men. Vesna then thanks you, and asks you to escort her to her home in the main village. She'll follow you, so you can set the pace. The easiest thing to do here is just run straight to the main village. You should be able to avoid combat, and Vesna should catch up to you. Alternatively, enter the Inn and rest until dawn, and she'll remain as your ward. As you approach the first building in the Village on your left, she'll thank you. You can agree to meet her later for a reward.

Find any type of wine, then if the hour isn't between 1930 and 2300, find a fire and Meditate until then. Cross the bridge and go east to the Mill. Vesna should be waiting outside for you, but if she won't talk to you, come back after another day. She'll offer to have sex with Geralt. While you're here at night, go east along the shore and kill and loot the Nsaid. You'll also have to kill some drowners, so be sure to loot their brains. Take the Trophy Head to the Royal Huntsman for a reward (you can only carry one Trophy at a time, and you're about to get another).

Assuming it's still night, activate the quest to light the shrines, then do so. Be sure to loot the Barghests for their Barghest Skulls. Click on a Shrine, then drag a Candle over to its inventory.

Talk to the Reverend, who's probably asleep in his house. (People in this game do sleep, but don't mind it when you wake them.) Turn in "The Drowner Contract." Ask him about Salamandra, and he'll give you three sub-quests to complete. He'll also give you the Eternal Fire Signet Ring. Equip it now. He'll give you the next phase of the Main Quest, and will allow you to bury Leuvaarden's brother's remains in the Chapel basement. So enter the Chapel and loot it. Go downstairs, and place the Remains in the Crypt. When you do so, the King of the Wild Hunt appears. After speaking to him, you'll have to kill the Ghost of Leo. Loot his corpse, then return to the Inn a few hours after Dawn to complete the quest while Leuvaarden is awake.

The closest quest the Reverend gave you is for Haren Brogg, who's in a building on the shore in the Fishing Village. He's also a Dice Player. Tell him the Reverend did indeed send you, then show him the Ring by clicking on the icon to the left of the Dialog Optoins. Or you can bribe him. Agree to help him, then if it isn't currently night, Meditate until it is. Go east from Haren's house to trigger some Drowners to attack you.

After defeating them, a group of Scoia'tael appear. Your choice is to let them go or kill them. [If you let them go, Haren will give you another quest. If you kill them, you won't be able to get the Chapter II quest "The Rat," and you'll find Vivaldi in Jail rather than in his house.] When you can, Loot the Drowners for their Drowner Brains, then return to Haren. After turning in this quest, ask him for another, and he'll give you the quest "Hot Potato," which you'll complete in the next Chapter.

Next, go east along the path, then cross the bridge north and Talk to Mikul. He plays Dice Poker. In order to get him to trust you, either show him the Ring or bribe him, like you did with Haren. He wants you to go to the Crypt, which is to the east. Inside, look at the corpse of the young woman, then kill and loot all the Ghouls for their Ghoul Blood. In a side room to the north is the Circle of Inner Fire, where you can learn the Igni Sign (which you can use to start fires, but don't sell all of your Flint, because you might anger any people sitting around the fire).

Return to Mikul to complete his quest. When you do, you'll get a cutscene where Kalkstein is being attacked by Salamandra thugs. If you fought the Frightener in the Prologue, you'll face two thugs, a mage, and a mutated dog. If you fought the mage in the Prologue, you'll face four thugs and a mage. When the fight is over, Talk to Mikul to finish his quest, then return to Kalkstein to hand in your vials of Ghoul Blood for that quest. He'll either be here or back at the Inn.

Go back to the Crypt to find a new area opened up. Kill Ozrell, and take its head to the Royal Huntsman when you get the chance. Along the eastern road is the home of Abigail the Witch. When speaking to her, mention that the Reverend thinks she summoned the Beast, and after denying it, she'll ask you to bring her ingredients for a potion. While you're here, you probably have enough Barghest Skulls to complete her quest, so turn those in. For the White Myrtle, you can go gather them yourself, or buy them from the Vizimian Herbalist outside the Inn. After you turn in the herbs, she tells you she needs time to make the potion. Just leave her house and re-enter, or take this time to turn in a Trophy. When you return, Alvin gets possesed again, and you'll have your proof for the Reverend.

The last Task the Reverend wants you to perform is for Odo. He's in a house along the southeastern branch. Observe the dented armor in the corner. Introduce yourself with the Ring or a bribe, then Drink with him as you negotiate a price for you to kill the Echinopses in his garden. You'll be teleported outside. I recommend drinking some Wives's Tears to clear up the drunkenness. When you've killed the Echinopses, return to Odo for your reward. Note that he's also an addict of Dice Poker.

Be sure all of your Side Quests are done, because this is your last chance. When you're ready, return to the Reverend to report on your progress. He'll send you to the Inn, where you'll find several Troublemakers surrounding Shani. Kill them, then loot the corpse of the Innkeeper for his Key.

Leave the Inn and follow your quest arrow to the Slamandra hideout. Kill the two guards outside, and the four inside, then after looting, go through the trapdoor to find more Slamandra. Kill them, then follow Alvin and use Aard to break some rocks. Past them you'll find Abigail, with whom Geralt can have sex if you so choose.

Leave the cave, and you'll get a conversation with some prominent townsfolk. You'll have the major decision here of whether to protect Abigail or hand her over to the mob. [If you save her, she'll appear in Chapter IV and affect the outcome of "The Heat of the Day," and she'll help you in the Epilogue. If you hand her over, her spot in Chapter IV will be taken by an anonymous Healer (who implies Abigail was innocent), the ending to the quest will be different, and you'll have to fight her in the Epilogue].

Regardless of your choice, you'll wind up fighting the Beast. It summons endless Barghests to help it, so concentrate on the boss, then wipe up the adds. If Abigail is with you, she helps a bit in the fight, and may get knocked out, but won't be dead. After the fight, the Reverend and some of his cronies show up. If you saved Abigail, you'll kill them all, and you'll need to loot the Reverend for his Pass. If you handed Abigail over to the mob, he'll give you a Pass to the city (or you can still kill them all and loot the Pass).

When you're ready, go to the Inn to meet up with Shani. I recommend Meditating until Dawn, because it's hard to tell what's going on here in the dark. You'll then need to follow her to Vizima's Miller's Gate. Upon arriving, you'll flow right in to Chapter II.

last modified 21 June 2020