The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Tips & Tricks
A beginner and Death March guide for The Witcher 3. Covers looting and economy habits, combat preparation, the Gourmet and Quen combo for hard difficulties, and several things the game never points you toward.
12 Tips · 5 categories
2 tipsEconomy
Loot Everything and Dismantle What You Stack
Pick up anything that isn't nailed down, but keep your inventory manageable: once you have more than ten of any item, sell or dismantle the surplus at a blacksmith. Dismantling often yields rare crafting materials that would be hard to find otherwise.
Convert Foreign Currencies at the Novigrad Bank
Orens and florins picked up across Velen and Skellige can't be spent directly as Crowns. Visit the bank in Novigrad and speak to the money changer NPC to convert everything into usable currency. It's worth doing whenever you're in the city and running low on Crowns.
3 tipsProgression
Draw From Every Place of Power for Free Ability Points
Each Place of Power grants a temporary sign bonus when you draw from it, but the bigger reward is a permanent free ability point. Seek out all of them across each region. A link to every location on thewitcher.com is worth bookmarking. Some are guarded by tough enemies, so come prepared.
Grab the Moon Blade Silver Sword After Killing the Griffin
After defeating the Griffin and arriving at the next region, head southwest from the Hangman's Tree signpost to a small body of water. Dive down near a wrecked boat, loot the key on the seabed, and open the nearby chest to claim the Moon Blade, a silver sword with three empty rune slots. Aim to pick it up around level 6 to 8 so it scales well, and save before approaching since enemies patrol the area.
Learn Gwent Before Story Missions Require It
Gwent is its own card game within The Witcher 3, and the main story has mandatory Gwent matches later on. Pick it up early by playing innkeepers and merchants as you travel. Collecting cards and building a functional deck takes time, so the earlier you start the less frustrating those required matches will be.
2 tipsCombat
Use Gourmet and Quen Together on Hard Difficulties
The Gourmet skill (requires Blood and Wine DLC) extends food's vitality regeneration to a full 20 minutes, giving you a constant passive heal. Pair it with the Quen sign: cast Quen before engaging, let it absorb one hit, retreat briefly, recast, and repeat. Together these two tools make Death March significantly more manageable.
Read the Bestiary Before Fighting New Enemy Types
Each monster entry details its vulnerabilities to specific oils, bombs, potions, and signs. On harder difficulties these weaknesses aren't optional knowledge. Checking the Bestiary before a fight and applying the right oil to your silver sword can be the difference between a clean kill and a frustrating death loop.
2 tipsPreparation
Enhance and Repair Weapons and Armor Before Battles
Visit a grindstone before heading out to temporarily boost your weapon damage, and use an armorer's table to improve your armor rating. Keep a few repair kits in your inventory or stop at a blacksmith to fix degraded gear. A weapon that reaches the red durability warning is barely better than fighting unarmed.
Meditate to Refill Potions, Not Health on Hard Mode
Meditating for any amount of time replenishes all your potions as long as you have alcohol in your inventory. On harder difficulties like Death March, meditation does not restore your health, so don't rely on it for healing. Use the Gourmet skill and food to keep your vitality up between fights instead.
3 tipsExploration
Upgrade Your Horse's Saddlebags, Blinders, and Saddle
Saddlebags increase your carry weight, which compounds with all the looting you'll be doing. Blinders raise Roach's fear threshold so he's less likely to panic around monsters, and better saddles increase his stamina for longer sprints. Attach monster trophies to the saddle slot as well for passive combat bonuses.
Save Manually and Often, Especially Before Battles
The auto-save intervals in The Witcher 3 can be long, particularly during open-world exploration. Save manually before any significant fight and keep a few separate save slots so a bad moment doesn't cost you hours of progress.
Run to the World's Edge to Fast Travel Without a Signpost
If you're far from any fast travel signpost, head toward the edge of the map and keep running. The game triggers a warning message and then automatically opens the world map, letting you fast travel to any signpost from there. It's a reliable shortcut when you've wandered deep into unexplored territory.
Verified: 2026-05-23 · All content is original with full credit to original creators.