The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Achievement Walkthrough

Hidden. Complete the early-game quest 'Lilac and Gooseberries' that reunites Geralt with Yennefer in Skellige (the Tor Lara mage tower). Unmissable in the main story.

Whirl (the spinning attack) into a tight group. Bandit camps in Velen are perfect. Sometimes pops naturally on Death March.

Lowest-tier opponent (a Velen brawler). Dodge / parry every swing, jab in between. Difficulty doesn't matter for this.

Potion formulae drop from loot, are sold by herbalists, or come from quests. 12 is < halfway through total. Just loot containers.

Quen shield + careful dodging. Pick a bandit group of 5+. The Quen damage absorption doesn't count as damage taken — abuse it.

Click 'Read' on any text item in inventory. Velen alone has 30+ scattered books from looting houses.

Hidden. Best outcome of the Bloody Baron questline. Keep the botchling alive (don't burn it), Tamara safe in Oxenfurt, and confront Anna at the swamp before the Crones kill her. Walkthrough required — easy to lock out by mistake.

Hidden. Trigger any one romance encounter (Triss in 'Now or Never', Yen in 'The Last Wish'). Romancing both at once leads to the disaster ending — fine for the achievement but you'll lose them both.

Same as Let's Cook but bombs. Grapeshot, Dragon's Dream, Northern Wind, Samum, Dancing Star, Devil's Puffball — most found in early Velen loot.

Hidden. Set up: tightly grouped 3+ enemies. Throw a Northern Wind bomb (freezes), strong-attack one (sword), Aard / Igni — three different damage types within a single combat. Order doesn't matter as long as the 3 die in that chain.

Hidden. During 'A Towerful of Mice' / 'For the Advancement of Learning' — convince Keira to take Alexander's notes to Radovid OR to Kaer Morhen. The Kaer Morhen route prevents her death AND nets her help in Battle of Kaer Morhen.

Contract noticeboard in Velen / Crow's Perch. Air-bound fight — use crossbow to ground it, then Aard + sword combos.

Hidden. During the quest 'Wandering in the Dark' / 'The Last Wish' — allow Yennefer to use necromancy to question Skjall's corpse / a hanged spy. Story-choice; pick the necromancy dialogue option.

Ignite swamp gas patches, use exploding barrels, knock enemies into spikes. 50 takes attention — Igni on a gas vent in a Velen swamp is the fastest farm.

Reach high enough level for all 12 mutagen slots to unlock, then slot a mutagen into each. Mutagens drop from monsters constantly — non-issue.

Same nests as Pest Control. Use Grapeshot. 10 cumulative — overlaps with Pest Control completion.

Hidden. During 'King's Gambit' choose to support Cerys an Craite as the new ruler. Beat Birna's plot. Standard 'good' Skellige outcome.

Hidden. Late-game main quest. Survive the Wild Hunt assault on Kaer Morhen + the Isle of Mists sequence. Unmissable on completion.

Signposts across all regions. There are ~140+ in the base game. Just explore — fast-travel points trigger when you walk close to them.

Base game ends around level 28-32. With both DLCs you hit 50+ easily. Without DLCs, complete every side quest + ? mark.

Novigrad side quest 'A Matter of Life and Death' / 'Hen Cerbin Inn'. Help Dudu the doppler trick Cleaver without killing the doppler. Pick dialogue that lets him live.

Hidden. During one of Ciri's playable flashback sequences ('Ciri's Story: Visiting Junior'-related — actually 'Through Time and Space'), she portals to an alien lab/moon. Just explore the area + interact with the alien artifact.

Contract in Skellige (an Skellig area). Sarasti is a katakan vampire — Vampire Oil + Yrden circle locks her into visible form. Igni works wonders.

Hidden. Side with the Temerian rebels / Dijkstra / Vernon Roche during 'Reason of State' — kill King Radovid. One of two outcomes for that quest.

Beat the main campaign. Roll credits. Stacks with the higher-difficulty achievements if you go hard from the start.

Contract in Velen. Specter Oil + Moon Dust bomb (forces materialisation). Yrden circle slows the noonwraith — chain heavy attacks inside.

Hidden. During 'Brothers in Arms' chain — recruit Keira Metz (saved earlier), Letho (saved from Ofieri assassins), Hjalmar / Cerys, Roche / Ves, Ermion / Yen + Triss. ~6 separate recruitment quests.

Accept the BaW intro quest 'Envoys, Wineboys' + ride to Toussaint. Story-locked.

Hidden. Hearts of Stone DLC. Frog Prince — kiss the giant toad boss in the sewer.

Fiend contract. Relict Oil. Watch the hypnosis attack (yellow glow) — break LOS. Dodge through its charges, hit the flank.

Cat, Bear, Wolf, or Griffin school. Each set has 6 pieces (sword, sword, armor, gloves, trousers, boots). Treasure-hunt quests reveal diagram locations. Cat school is fastest — diagrams cluster in Velen + Novigrad.

Build a deck where every card is a Neutral. Geralt + Yen + Triss + Vesemir as neutrals exist. Field them in one round + win that round (not the match).

Hidden. HoS finale — let Olgierd be taken by the Master Mirror. The 'evil' ending.

Side quest in Skellige: 'Fists of Fury: Skellige'. Beat all challengers leading up to Olaf the troll. Block + dodge his big swings, counter-jab.

Hero cards are immune to weather + special card effects. Stack 3 (Vernon Roche, Esterad Thyssen, John Natalis for Northern Realms) in one round. Win that round.

Hidden. Alternate outcome of 'King's Gambit'. Side with Hjalmar instead of Cerys. Mutually exclusive with Kingmaker — needs a second playthrough.

BaW unlocks the Mutations panel via 'The Beast of Toussaint'. Each mutation costs ability points + mutagens. Just unlock one — Euphoria is the most popular.

Three regional tournaments: Velen, Novigrad, Skellige. Win all 3 finals. Skellige (Olaf) is hardest — strafe + counter, never hold block.

Buy every upgrade from the major-domo: armor stand, alchemy table, weapons rack, training dummy, stable upgrades, cellar, paintings, garden, etc. ~30K crowns total.

Hidden. Any decent ramp / cliff Roach can jump from. The Vegelbud manor jump fence works. Land + stay mounted.

Story-locked. Complete BaW + accept the Duchess's medal at the end of the campaign. Both 'good' endings award it.

Leshen contract in Velen. Cursed Oil + Yrden trap to lock its form. Burn the totems in the surrounding forest before engaging.

BaW 'There Can Be Only One' — complete 5 chivalrous deeds across Toussaint (compassion, generosity, valor, wisdom, honor). All require specific dialogue choices — follow a walkthrough.

BaW 'Knight for Hire' / 'A Knight's Tales'. Tournament has 5 events: archery, riddle, joust, melee, sword duel. Take ZERO damage in melee + duel events. Tight timing.

Side quest 'A Matter of Life and Death' / 'Gwent: Big City Players'. Sign up at the Passiflora in Novigrad. Build a strong Northern Realms or Nilfgaard deck — beat 3 opponents + finals.

Hidden. 'Scenes from a Marriage' — enter the painting + complete all 3 nightmare scenes (the storm, the wraith garden, the corpse room).

Hidden. Every monster-contract side quest across Velen, Novigrad, Skellige, White Orchard. ~30 contracts. Use a checklist guide — easy to miss the smaller ones.

~7 horse races across all regions. Equip racing saddle + saddlebag bonuses. Spam spurs (X / A) — manage stamina, don't deplete or Roach refuses to gallop.

Pure sword + dodge run. Pick easier contracts (a leshen and an ekimmara if you're skilled). On Death March this is brutal — do it on Story mode for the cheese.

Hidden. BaW side 'La Cage au Fou' — stomp grapes with a barefoot competitor. Rhythm minigame. Win it.

Get all 6 Grandmaster pieces (chest, gloves, trousers, boots, steel sword, silver sword) of one school. Bear / Wolf are popular tank choices.

Hidden. The Borsodi auction sequence — outbid Horst for every item. Bring 20,000+ crowns.

Hidden. HoS main quest 'Dead Man's Party' — possessed by Olgierd, crash Vlodimir von Everec's wedding. Just play through.

Monster nests show as red caves on the map. Destroy with bombs (Grapeshot / Dragon's Dream / Northern Wind). Velen-Novigrad has ~25; Skellige has ~30. Pick one region.

BaW unlocks Grandmaster tier for all 4 schools (Cat, Bear, Wolf, Griffin, Manticore). 4 diagrams per school = 20+. All locked behind Scavenger Hunt quests in Toussaint.

Acquire every ability node in one of the four trees (Combat, Signs, Alchemy, General). Combat is fastest — buy/equip every Sword skill. NG+ guarantees finishing.

Skellige deck added in BaW. Buy/find every Skellige card from innkeepers + opponents. Card collector overlap.

Hidden. During 'Scenes from a Marriage' — face Iris's nightmare guardians inside the painting. Unmissable on completing the level.

Second-highest + highest difficulty stack. Pick Blood and Broken Bones (or Death March for the bigger achievement) at New Game. Stays on that setting the whole run.

Stack a Northern Realms or Nilfgaard deck heavily — commander's horn + tight binds + medic chains. Round score 187+. Practice against weak innkeepers.

6 Places of Power give Geralt a permanent +1 ability point each + a temporary sign-power buff. Activate all 6 within the same session (don't fast-travel out and let buffs expire). 6 are scattered across White Orchard + Velen.

Buy from every innkeeper + merchant who sells cards + win every named gwent player's deck. Missing one card = no achievement. Use a checklist guide; some merchants leave town.

Find a bandit camp on Death March or just a tough enemy that telegraphs. Time the counter (default L1+R1) on every red-flash incoming swing. Easier with the Counter skill upgrade.

Brew + drink 4 standard potions + carry 3 active decoctions = 7. Decoction slots unlock at higher Toxicity tolerance. Drink in safe area before a tough fight.

Hardest difficulty. Enemies do massive damage + level-scale aggressively. Tip: bring Igni, Quen-tank, mutagens early. NG+ Death March is easier than first-time.

Magnetism mutation OR Aard-deflect an arrow. Easier: stand close to a bowman + Aard the arrow back into them. Repeat on 3 different archers.

Craft Dragon's Dream bombs (formula in Velen). Set an enemy on fire (Igni), then toss the bomb so the gas cloud touches them — it ignites in a huge explosion. Killing 1+ enemy in the explosion triggers it.

Hidden. The giant boss Golyat in early BaW. Final blow must come from your crossbow. Whittle him down with sword, swap to crossbow for the kill.

Use a bleed-rune sword + Devil's Puffball bomb (poison) + Igni (burn). Apply all three before any tick out. Easiest on a slow tanky enemy (a fiend, ekimmara, or trolls).

Hidden. Whirl skill at high crit + Severance rune on sword. Pile 5+ low-HP enemies together (drowners, bandits). One Whirl with a crit decapitates them — counts when all 5 heads come off.

Commit a crime in front of a guard (attack a civilian, steal valuables). Surrender when prompted. Spawns in the Beauclair prison briefly. Just don't run.

Hidden. Old infinite-money trick: kill a cow in White Orchard, meditate, kill it again. After ~10 cycles a chort spawns to punish you. Kill the chort.

From the Ofieri merchant by the Upper Mill in Velen. Buy / find all pieces of the Ofieri set + at least one Ofieri sword. Equip together.

Upgrade Axii to the 'Puppet' tier. Cast on a bandit / soldier — they'll attack their own. Kills assigned to the puppet count for you.

Hidden. Any HoS combat with 5+ in melee range. Whirl + Quen shield.

Hidden. Open landscape in Toussaint. Headshot a bandit / soldier at long range. Quality crossbow + crit boost — Bear school crossbow works.

Aard cliffside enemies / docks / parapets. Skellige drowner shores + Novigrad rooftops are full of them. Tracks across the whole campaign.

Crossbow is one-shot to humans on the head. Aim mode (R2/RT) + iron sights. Bandit camps in Velen. 50 cumulative.