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Just picked up The Witcher 3.

$20 on Steam for it and all associated stuff.

Lots of great stuff has been said about this game.

So as a new player (and without spoiling stuff) is there anything I must see/do/know in the game?

Thanks!

The main story is great, but do the expansions as soon as you can. Both are great. Blood and Wine should be done after you beat the first DLC then the main story, if you want to do it right. But there are no spoilers for doing it early.

If you get bored doing main quests, contracts and exploration is amazing. The maps are crazy big and there is always something to find. I suggest the treasure hunts for the witcher armors. They are worth it.

Listen to the dialogue. Well written and acted. Geralt himself is a little monotone, but that is intentional. Dulled emotions and all.

This last bit is a little spoilery but if you try to sleep with every woman in the game it will not end well for you.

Edit: I forgot this one, but it is important. If you turn on level scaling, there are two impossible to win fights. They are bugged. Without revealing too much, one is in Novigrad. You have to go to the sewers a few times, as a witcher does, but one time the rats are just unkillable. The other is a special quest with Yennefer. You will figure that one out real quick. Just turn the scaling off, do the fight, then pop it back on. For some reason they were never fixed.

One thing I will suggest if you're just starting is to fully explore every map marker in the smaller opening area, White Orchard, before you finish the first major quest and leave there. Not only will this get you into the habit of being thorough with your exploration (for my money, the absolute best bits in the game are just wandering round an area uncovering its mysteries) but it'll make sure you're properly prepared to step into the wider world.

There's some decent sidequests there for XP dumps, some good gear/blueprints scattered around and perhaps most importantly, 6 Places of Power which will each give you an extra Skill point... In other words, if you make sure to get all of those you'll be the equivalent of 6 levels stronger and much better set up for what comes next.

On similar note, make sure you get the basic Swallow and Thunderbolt potions and the Grapeshot bomb done early one (you can find all the ingredients you'd need in that first area). These (and their upgraded versions) will be the bread and butter of your alchemy for the rest of the game and going forward without them will hamper you.

As mentioned, Blood and Wine is one of the best DLCs for a game period, but makes a really nice denouement to the story so is definitely best left until you're done with the rest of it. That, and going into High Fantasy Fairytale Land after 60-70 hours of drab, war-torn Velen and Skellige is wonderfully refreshing.


As for more general gameplay tips, skill points don't come thick and fast and slots for upgrades are even less frequent, so it helps to have an idea what you want to specialise in as far as progression goes. I enjoy a combination of light attack, dodge and sign upgrades but that's just one way to do it. I also swear by the Axii sign as once upgraded to its third level it unlocks a fair few 'mind trick' options in conversations, but you may prefer to spend those points on winning fights rather than avoiding them.

In terms of equipment, keep repair kits handy if you can. Weapon degradation is not brutal but you don't want to be in the middle of a tough fight and have your best sword lose its edge. For the same reason, it can't hurt to carry a backup steel and silver sword type just in case. Learning the crafting system pays dividends but don't worry about it immediately, for the early game you can easily get by with the weapons you find (and pick up as many as you can carry, it's worth selling trash weapons early on to build up some coin). Don't worry about spending on gear, this is a game that gives you money to spend it so never baulk from dropping coin on a good weapon, armour piece or alchemy ingredient, as there's very little else to do with it and contracts will keep you in pocket.

Finally, preparing for fights isn't a gimmick. Going in with the right oil on your blade or with gear/upgrades designed to exploit the enemy's weakness can really tip the odds in your favour. As such, always be gathering alchemy ingredients (they weigh nothing) and open up any books/notes you find, even if you don't read them many will open up new Bestiary entries to highlight the weaknesses you can exploit. Some weaknesses will just give you an edge, others will hard counter certain enemy types/stop them hard countering you if used right.