The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Walkthrough & Boss Guide
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🗺️ Main Story Walkthrough
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This is a spoiler-heavy outline of The Witcher 3's main story and the Blood & Wine expansion, following the Wikipedia plot summaries, plus notes on five boss fights. It does not name every quest or give level recommendations, side-quest rewards or choice consequences, which we could not verify here.
Geralt and Vesemir arrive in White Orchard searching for Yennefer. The main quest The Beast of White Orchard has you kill a griffin; Geralt then meets Yennefer, who takes him to Emperor Emhyr, who asks him to help find Ciri. The quest begins with the Nilfgaardian captain, and GamerGuides notes you can speak to the hunter Mislav and the herbalist Tomira, who tells you where to find Buckthorn in the river for bait. White Orchard also has an optional Witcher contract, Devil by the Well.
In Velen Geralt learns that Ciri fought the Crones, three witches who watch over the region, and then stayed with the Bloody Baron, who says he sent her to Novigrad. Geralt also meets the sorceress Keira Metz.
In Novigrad Geralt reunites with Triss and rescues Dandelion from crime bosses. Dandelion says Ciri teleported away to escape pursuit.
In Skellige Geralt meets Yennefer, and they learn that Ciri reached Lofoten with a companion. The Wild Hunt attacked again, and the boat returned with only Uma, a cursed creature. Geralt takes Uma to Kaer Morhen, breaks the curse, and Uma becomes Avallac'h, Ciri's companion, who had hidden Ciri in an enchanted sleep on a magical island.
Geralt reaches Ciri on the island, and she tells him that Eredin, leader of the Wild Hunt, wants her power to stop the White Frost. The Hunt follows them to Kaer Morhen and kills Vesemir, and Ciri's uncontrolled power drives the Hunt off.
Geralt and Ciri ambush the Hunt at a Sabbath hosted by the Crones. They kill Imlerith, Vesemir's killer, and two Crones; the third escapes.
Triss and Yennefer revive the Lodge of Sorceresses, and Avallac'h lures the Hunt to Skellige, where Geralt kills Eredin. The quest On Thin Ice begins automatically after Battle Preparations and a talk with Avallac'h on the ship in Kaer Trolde Harbor; per Alma's Guides this is a point of no return, so finish side quests first or keep a backup save. Before dying, Eredin says Avallac'h plans to use Ciri's power for himself.
After the Hunt falls, the White Frost spreads across the Continent. Geralt and Yennefer pursue Avallac'h but find Ciri alive; Avallac'h only meant to fight the White Frost, and Ciri destroys it. If Ciri survives and Geralt took her to Emhyr, she becomes empress of Nilfgaard. If she survives without meeting Emhyr, or Nilfgaard loses the war, Geralt fakes her death and she becomes a witcher. If Ciri dies, Geralt hunts down the last Crone.
In Toussaint, Duchess Anna Henrietta hires Geralt to hunt a monster that has killed the duchy's knights. Geralt catches Dettlaff, a vampire, about to kill another knight, but Regis, Geralt's supposedly dead friend whom Dettlaff revived with his own blood, stops the fight and persuades Dettlaff to leave. Dettlaff's former lover, Rhenawedd, turns out to be Syanna, Henrietta's long-lost sister, who faked her own kidnapping and orchestrated the killings. Dettlaff, betrayed, attacks the capital with vampires unless Syanna surrenders to him. To reach him Geralt must either free Syanna or seek the Unseen Elder, and who ends up killing Dettlaff depends on the path you choose.
⚔️ Boss Guides
Griffin (The Beast of White Orchard)
Overview
The Griffin is fought in the main quest The Beast of White Orchard, at the ambush site north of the island east of town. Vesemir gives you a crossbow he won in a card game just before the fight.
Strategy
Use attack and dodge combos, and shoot it out of the sky with the crossbow as it charges. GamerGuides says Igni is safest for punishing the Griffin when its wing is raised to block, and that Quen is less useful because its hits stagger more than they damage. When it reaches half health it flies northwest to the old mill; chase it and summon Roach. It becomes more aggressive there, using a screech that can stun Geralt and a leaping lunge. Loot the Griffin Trophy and Griffin Mutagen afterwards.
Imlerith
Where
Imlerith is killed at the Witches' Sabbath on Bald Mountain, where Geralt and Ciri ambush the Wild Hunt.
Strategy
ConsolePulse describes two phases. In phase one, circle to his weapon side as he starts a mace swing, land two fast hits from the flank or rear and leave before he turns. In phase two he drops the shield, coats himself in frost and chains teleports into mace attacks; dodge every arrival, wait for the final heavy mace hit, then take one or two strikes and move before the next teleport. Igni can strip the frost. The exact health threshold of the phase change differs between guides.
Caranthir
Where
Caranthir is fought during On Thin Ice in two parts. In part one you play Ciri: he teleports behind you and attacks with his weapon and uses no magic, and a cutscene interrupts the fight at about three quarters of his health and switches you to Geralt.
Strategy
As Geralt, he mostly uses magic, firing waves of magic balls that fall from above, so dodge-roll and stay close to him. When he raises his ice shield, use Igni to drop it. At half health he summons an Ice Elemental, which you can fight or let his magic destroy. ConsolePulse suggests keeping an elemental between you and Caranthir because it can block his shots. Sources disagree on whether Elementa Oil affects Caranthir himself.
Eredin (King of the Wild Hunt)
Where
Eredin is the last fight of On Thin Ice. Alma's Guides describes it in two parts, first on his ship and then on a mountain.
Strategy
On the ship Eredin teleports and uses melee combos, so dodge-roll them; use Quen when you can and Igni to break his ice barrier. At three quarters of his health he opens a portal and pulls Geralt to a mountain. There he uses a blue shockwave (roll, or get close and attack to interrupt it) plus land mine and meteor attacks that you dodge with rolls; he is vulnerable while channelling them. At 25% health he goes into a frenzy and attacks much faster, and at about 10% he opens a portal back to the ship, where the fight finishes.
Dettlaff van der Eretein (Blood & Wine)
Where
Dettlaff is the Blood & Wine expansion's climactic fight. According to Wikipedia, whether Geralt or Regis kills him depends on your choices: freeing Syanna can end with Dettlaff killing her and Geralt either fighting him or letting him go, freeing her with her ribbon ends with Regis killing Dettlaff, and seeking the Unseen Elder ends with Geralt slaying him. We could not verify attack patterns or phases, so none are given here.
Sources & fact-check
Release facts, mechanics and boss details on this page were checked against these sources on 12 October 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us.