The Wild Hunt Begins…

THE WILD HUNT BEGINS…

The wild and unforgiving world of the Witcher 3 rolls away in all directions before you, but arming yourself with a few key tips may prevent an early demise. Take note of the following, weary traveler for they may help you on your way.

• Steel or silver – Geralt has two swords, steel and silver. Steel works against humanoid and non humanoid enemies – generally races with sentience (bandits, other races). Steel sword enemies will have a red health bar. The silver sword is used exclusively on monsters (ghouls, drowners, etc), which have a silver health bar to help you distinguish them. Using the correct sword is crucial, as using the incorrect weapon will do minimal/ no damage to the enemy.

• Enemy weaknesses – every enemy in the game has some tactic or weakness to take advantage of. These can be found in the Bestiary section of the glossary in game. New enemy entries are added when you encounter them for the first time, and books can be found that add additional information about specific beasts. Knowing how to bring down opponents effectively makes the difference between a soldier and a witcher, so take the time to hit the books before a battle! You'll be glad you did.

• Amazing Alchemy- Alchemy is essential to unlock the true power of a witcher (mutagens, oils and powerful potions) as well making fights a hell of a lot easier. Mix up some necrophage oil and apply it to your sword to deal additional damage to ghouls and other undead enemies. Creating mutagens and equipping them can bestow powerful buffs to Geralt and increase his effectiveness in fights. Take the time to examine what alchemy can do for you and your travels and travails will become much simpler.

• Replenishing potions – Potions (such as the health restoring swallow potion or the damage increasing thunderbolt potion) are highly useful and should be created as soon as possible. After creating them initially, you can meditate at any time to replenish your stock as long as you have a 'strong alcohol' in your inventory. This is generally alcoholest, but dwarven spirits and other liquors can be used if you run out of it. So make sure to keep a stock of this valuable ingredient to keep your potion stockpile full for dangerous situations.

• Carrying Capacity – Upgrade your mount's saddlebags as soon as possible. Buying and equipping better saddlebags allows Geralt to carry much more in his inventory as opposed to the relatively small base 60 carry weight. You can more than double your inventory if you find the right saddlebag upgrade.

• Fast travel – certain locations in each area will have a signpost. These signposts can be used to initiate fast travel between local areas and between regions. Whenever you need to travel large distances, take advantage of these signposts to cut down on travel time.

• Horse/ path run – When on a trail or road, holding down the A (Xbox) or X (PS) will make your horse follow it automatically without the need for steering. This makes moving around areas and chasing markers a fair bit simpler with LS only required to nudge the horse when the path splits or you need to leave it. Horse travel has never been easier.

More tips will be added to this section as we go, but for now get ready to dive headfirst into the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.