This article is part of a directory: The Witcher 3: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
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The Witcher 3 can be incredibly overwhelming for newcomers diving into its vast and dangerous universe. It's likely that when you are first given free rein to begin exploring, you won't know where to start. Between the plethora of side quests, shady merchants, and tricky dialogue choices, many early decisions can make a mess of your game experience later on. That's why we've compiled this list to help you avoid some of the withers' biggest blunders.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: Mistakes Everyone Makes While Fighting The Wild Hunt

Updated on February 25, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: With the recent current-gen versions of The Witcher 3 popping up, we knew we had to jump back to this guide and make sure it's prepped and ready to save the latest wave of players from frustration.

10 The Get Rich Quick Scheme

Geralt with a coin pouch

Loot everything - but don't sell it all for quick money. Dismantling junk, armor, and weapons will provide materials you'll need for crafting later on, and it lightens your load as crafting materials don't count towards Geralt's carrying capacity. You'll also save a ton of money in the long run when better gear becomes available for crafting, as you won't need to buy as many components from merchants.

Dismantling can run up a bill as well, so it's not a bad idea to split the profits by dismantling half a stack of an item and selling the rest. Here are some general guidelines to follow if you're not sure how to divvy it all up.

  • For gear, make some price comparisons. Check the materials you stand to gain, dismantle pieces with rarer yields, and sell some more expensive items.
    • Most gear Geralt loots off his kills aren't worth much to merchants but provide base crafting materials that get costly to buy.
  • For miscellaneous items, stick to the half-and-half method aside from valuable silver and gold trinkets.
    • Many merchants won't or can't pay what these valuables are worth, and as far as silver goes, Geralt is often in need of a new blade.
    • Sometimes selling the cut gems salvaged from dismantling jewelry can be worth more than the jewelry itself to the right vendor.
    • Other times you'll find gems (or gem dust, if broken down further.) come in handy for rare crafting diagrams, such as Legendary Witcher Gear.

9 All Merchants Are Not Created Equal

Dwarven blacksmith in Witcher 3

Many players will sell to the first merchant they come across to lighten their load and make quick money. If that's the case for you, you may want to revisit the first pitfall beginner players often find themselves in.

When you have discerned which loot you want to sell, it's important to know that all merchants offer different prices, and certain merchants will pay more for certain types of wares. For instance:

  • Innkeepers pay more for food, drink, and miscellaneous items.
  • Armorers favor armor and wood-based weapons such as axes and clubs.
  • Blacksmiths trade in weapons except for wooden weaponry, such as mentioned above.

You can generally check if a merchant is offering a fair deal by looking at the going rate of Everluce. A trader willing to buy Everluce for ten or more crowns has likely fairly priced their wares.

Some of the most honest tradesmen on the mainland are located in Novigrad's Hierarch Square, Oxenfurt, or the Armorer at Crow's Perch. And while Skelligers are known to be a grumpy lot, Geralt will find some of the best deals among the icy islanders.

8 Selling or Dismantling The Starting Kaer Morhen Armor

Geralt in his Kaer Morhen armor

Starting armor sets in games are usually only good for a few coins or extra parts after the first few levels, but the Kaer Morhen set serves a higher purpose.

Firstly, it's a viable set to wear for a good portion of Geralt's early adventures. Secondly, the Kaer Morhen armor is later used as a crafting component itself in Geralt's iconic Warrior's Leather Jacket. Take it from someone who made this mistake in their first playthrough. You will regret it!

7 Crafting Frenzies

Equipment menu in The Witcher 3

Many players enjoy the crafting aspect in games, but you should be sparing with materials in The Witcher 3. Many crafting components are hard to come across, especially if you haven't been dismantling items. Save these resources for when you begin crafting Witcher Gear or other elite armor sets. Otherwise, crafting goals such as upgrading witcher gear sets to the Grandmaster tier will get costly pretty fast.

If you’re stumped on which armor is best, want to try out a new build, or simply don’t know the first thing about protecting Geralt’s hide, here are few easy suggestions you may want to save your crafting materials for.

Ursine Witcher Gear

The Ursine armor set from the witcher school of the bear is one of the Scavenger Hunts Geralt can undertake early on and one to consider investing in throughout the game if you've committed to a sign build.

This medium armor set offers significant sign intensity bonuses and considerable protection for its tier.

Manticore Grandmaster Witcher Gear

This unique set of Witcher Gear is obtained during Geralt's adventures through Toussaint in The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion. This witcher set provides Geralt with a boosted toxicity threshold and is only available at the Grandmaster tier, unlike the other witcher sets, which must be upgraded.

These characteristics make the Manticore armor a late-game set and one with significant advantages when used properly. It is best paired with a Bomb or Alchemy build. It's also a great high-end set to incorporate in a rotation of on-hand equipment if you enjoy alternating your builds and playstyles in accordance with Geralt's current undertaking.

Viper School Witcher Gear

Another opportunity to preserve Geralt's signature look comes in the way of the Viper school gear, introduced as DLC with the game's Heart of Stone expansion. Aesthetically built in the Kaer Morhen armor fashion, the Viper set is a sleeker black-toned ensemble that offers far greater protective value, better buffs, and two swords that have been deemed some of the best in the game.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: How To Upgrade Armor, And The Best Set For Your Playstyle

6 Don't Get Distracted By Roadside Flowers (Or Herbs)

Geralt gathering ingredients in The Witcher 3

Plants are only used for creating oils, potions, and bombs, which only need to be crafted once on lower difficulties. After they've been crafted, Geralt’s alchemy stores will replenish every time the witcher meditates as long as he has some form of alcohol in his inventory. Pick a handful of each new herb you come across, but then save your time for more pertinent exploration and leave the rest alone.

5 It's A Story, Not A Race

Geralt and Ciri talking at the tavern while Ciri unveils her new sword.

The Witcher 3 unfolds a highly engaging storyline that's easy to get wrapped up in. Many players even feel an obligatory rush to find and rescue Ciri, turning a blind eye to side quests. But at the end of the day, it is just a game. Ciri will be waiting in the same place and state of turmoil no matter how long it takes Geralt to get to her.

Furthermore, the subplots and filler stories are nearly as engrossing as the main story. Not to mention they usually offer fabulous rewards and hidden cut scenes. If you blow through the main quests, you will inevitably miss out on a ton of these fantastic tales that enrich The Witcher universe. That's because progression in the main story can auto-fail many side quests that can only be completed during a certain segment of the driving storyline.

4 Not Specializing Your Skill Build

The Witcher 3 skill tree menu

With the Witcher's wide array of abilities, it's tempting to strive to become a Jack of All Trades. However, concise skill-building is crucial early on because of limited skill tree slots.

If you spend skill points on several different abilities, you will have to pick and choose which ones to have active until you unlock more slots. Specializing in three abilities to start is the best option, especially abilities that play well off of each other.

You will need to invest a few additional skill points in other abilities to unlock abilities on higher tiers of the skill trees, so you will already want to be thinking about more advanced builds for when you unlock more slots. Eventually, you'll be able to construct a master skill build to take on threats in Death March mode, but at first, we recommend you take it one step at a time.

3 Underestimating The Impact of Heights

Geralt standing on a ledge in The Witcher 3
Via youtube.com

Geralt may be a badass, but heights aren't his forte. Fall damage is commonplace in today's RPGs, but The Witcher 3 takes it to new, er, heights. The smallest drops can take a massive chunk of Geralt's vitality, and a five-foot drop could kill him. It is possible to break his fall with a perfectly timed roll, but good luck. That feat takes practice and long loading screens after each failed attempt.

You know that scene in the Netflix series where Henry Cavill's Geralt falls an entire story through the floor while fighting the Striga? Yeah, The Witcher 3's Geralt would've been a splatter of blood.

2 Not Saving Kiera Metz

Kiera impaled by Radovid ending in The Witcher 3
Via youtube.com

After doing the optional side quest with Keira, getting tricked, then chasing her down to Fyke Island, the dialogue choices lead to three outcomes. Geralt can fight the sorceress, let her go to Radovid, or convince her to go to Kaer Morhen.

Spoiler alert. The first two end in her death. Furthermore, the dialogue that results in a witcher versus sorceress showdown isn't made blatantly obvious, so it's rather easy to end up killing Keira inadvertently. But if she goes to Kaer Morhen, the sorceress will later prove a valuable asset among the team at the Battle of Kaer Morhen by saving Geralt's brethren, Lambert. If Kiera dies one of the other two ways, there will be an additional battle sequence, and Geralt will have to save Lambert.

It isn't necessary to avoid Keira's death if you don't mind making one of the most ill-fated decisions in the game and causing more work for Geralt in one of the game’s primary battles. But it is a tricky dialogue trap early on in the game, to which there is only one good outcome.

1 Don't Play The Field With Sorceresses!

Witcher-3-Triss-Yennefer-TheGamer

Geralt can indulge in a slew of carnal pleasures throughout the course of The Witcher 3. Out of all the witcher’s possible rendezvous, only two are tied to the main storyline. Geralt can pursue a romance with both Triss and Yennefer. If he chooses one over the other, he can achieve one of two happily ever after endings.

However, while the game perpetuates the idea that he can live happily with both sorceresses, don't be fooled. Last but likely the biggest trap on this list, romancing Triss and Yenn equally, will leave Geralt in a most compromising state. Not only does the witcher suffer some world-class embarrassment and a low blow to his pride, but he can kiss any prospect of either happily ever after goodbye.

Next:The Witcher 3 Complete Guide And Walkthrough