The Secrets of Loc Muinne

The first time you enter the town square, you stumble across a scene where a mercenary walks off with an advance instead of finishing a job. The explorers who failed to hire him immediately try to get you to take the job instead. If you want to accept it, say “You’ll need to pay me.” At that point, the explorers try to get you to accept a lump sum payment at the end of the quest. You can say “Agreed, but it’ll cost you more” to agree to those terms. You can pick the other dialogue options to attempt to persuade or intimidate the mages into giving you an advance.

After the mages depart, head into the tower that stands north of the town square. You enter at the top of a spiral staircase that runs down through the different layers of the catacombs that run beneath the city. Enter the door nearest where you enter from the street, near the top of the staircase. This should take you to an area guarded by wraiths and bruxae. You should have little trouble defeating them. Bruxae are essentially female wraiths and can be fought using the same tactics.

To proceed, you need to deal with the resonating crystals near the cellar. Basically, the crystals are designed to hold the power of a certain kind of magic. One pair is designed to hold Aard and the other pair Igni. You can work this out easily by trial and error or just glance at the guide’s map labels to proceed. When you have lit up both pairs of resonating crystals, a door at the bottom of the stairwell opens. Enter to examine a room dominated by a massive stone statue of a vran. In the next chamber, bruxae and wraiths spawn as you step through.

Descend the stairs and examine the area in front of the statue. In one corner, you should find a chest stuffed with hundreds of orens. At the feet of the statue, you find the forgotten vran sword, the most powerful steel sword that can be obtained in a standard game. Equip it immediately and slot it with runes if you can.

A guard wearing a mask and robes appears behind you and attacks. The guard fights like a basic spellcaster, using Quen to defend himself and throwing fireballs at you. He doesn’t have a very stiff offense, but between his vitality and his repeated use of Quen, damaging him can be a slow process. When he reaches 75 percent, 50 percent, and 25 percent vitality, the guard teleports to an upper area of the room and summons a horde of wraiths to fight you. Switch to your silver sword and dispatch them quickly. The guard shoots fireballs at you while you battle the wraiths. This works a bit like the trebuchet fire did in Chapter 2. Dodge-roll to evade the explosion. After that, the guard teleports back down so you can resume trying to damage him again.

When you defeat the guard, another door at the far side of the room slowly slides open. Duck into it to find a room patrolled by wraiths and bruxae. Defeat them, then loot the room. Most of the loot is random, but you can find the diagram for Nilfgaardian falconer’s gauntlets there. The one way you can exit this room takes you to the base of the spiral stairwell that runs down from the tower and into the catacombs. From here, you should enter a door that’s about halfway up the spiral to find the area where the explorers and their hired mages are waiting.

One of the mages turns out to be a familiar face, Philippa’s “student” Cynthia, who disappeared in Chapter 2. She’s here with another Nilfgaardian mage, Adalbert. You can have a heated conversation with them about Triss, and then you must choose either to work with them or to refuse the job. If you refuse to work with Cynthia’s group by saying “I’m not about to work for Nilfgaard,” then you find yourself in combat with Cynthia and Adalbert. This amounts to fighting four mages at once, since Adalbert uses a multiplication spell to fight alongside two copies of himself. Each copy of Adalbert must be defeated individually to end the spell.

Each mage uses Quen for defense and teleports if you get too close. Cynthia attacks with fire while the three Adalberts attack with lightning. This fight is incredibly dangerous, since you’re stuck in a relatively small area. Cynthia is generally the easiest to defeat. Take advantage of the great central pillar in the middle of the room as cover to deflect the lightning blasts from the Adalberts. The real challenge of this battle is finding a way to knock down the Adalberts before they can chip away at your vitality.

You can do it the hard way, by keeping Quen up and then rolling in to attack them when they’re in their spell-casting animations. If you can catch one of the mages with Quen down, you can chew through his or her vitality quickly. Mage builds with the Aard III or alchemists with Zerrikanian suns can make quick work of this battle by stunning the mages through their Quen defense shields. Once stunned, most mages go down with only a handful of blows, or much less if you trigger an instant kill.

After you’ve defeated the four mages, you can loot the chamber for a massive amount of orens, but you immediately fail the quest. The explorers who hired you chew you out for murdering everybody. From here you can explore a bit to pick up loot, but you cannot access any of the quest’s other maps due to all the mages being dead. Proceed with the next side quest if you’re okay with this.

If you aren’t, then let’s back up a bit and assume that you don’t want to kill the mages. Say “Fine, I’ll help you” when you reach the right branch of the conversation. Cynthia’s group remains friendly and now you can simply follow them to your next objective. When the group pauses at the iron gate, step through first. Battle the group of rotfiends beyond. This battle should be relatively easy. The mages help you, so keep Quen up to protect against the moments where they inevitably and accidentally shoot you in the back with fire or lightning.

Next you come to a room thick with greenery, where endregas led by a queen endrega appear to attack you. This proceeds basically like the rotfiend battle—just keep Quen up and use whatever tactics suit your build. Be sure to loot the bodies here, as the queen endrega tends to have really good drops. Among them will be the queen endrega’s pheromones, which you need to fulfill the quest An Encrypted Manuscript. After this battle, keep following the main group. A cutscene triggers. Wait while Cynthia dispels the illusion over the hidden door. Another cutscene shows you the door’s gimmick in action. It asks riddles. Those who answer correctly get to pass through. Those who answer incorrectly die by fire. To get past the door, Geralt must answer a riddle correctly. If you answer incorrectly, you get hit by a bolt of fire that does massive damage and probably kills you. You can’t outrun the attack, either.

Fortunately, it’s easy to answer the riddles correctly. If you want to do things “honestly” and try to figure out the answers yourself, then use the following method. After the door golem gives you one of the three possible riddles, ask your allies what they think. Listen carefully to what they say. Your allies always help you by tipping you off to which answers are wrong. Anything an ally suggests as an answer is going to be incorrect. They usually suggest four different possible answers in their conversation. You usually select an answer to the door golem’s riddle from a list of six possible answers. So, after listening to your allies eliminate certain answers, you only have to decide between the two remaining. You’ve got a 50-50 chance of being right, and usually one of the two possible answers left fits the riddle more intuitively.

Alternatively, you can decide that guessing games are for chumps and just read the correct answer off of this page:

Riddle: Pleasant or terrible, I come at night or in daytime. Short or long, but yours alone, essential, I am...

Answer: A dream.

Riddle: Capable of kindness and cruelty, I take victims when I sour. I can be on your side or wrong you. I bring gifts, though you already have me.

Answer: Fate.

Riddle: I’m seen to fly, described as hard. I can be your currency and heal all wounds, but not many things can stand my test.

Answer: Time.

After you pass through the door, you trigger another cutscene. This should clue you in to the fact that a fight against human opponents is coming up. Follow the group, then a cutscene introduces a group of Redanian knights who don’t take the idea of competition kindly. There’s a lot of them in a relatively small space, which always makes a fight more dangerous. On the other hand, you have four mages with you and they don’t have any. Throw up Quen, oil your steel blade with hanged man’s venom, and then wade into the bastards. Keep Quen up so your mage allies don’t accidentally set you on fire. Home in on Redanians who are being incinerated, as they’ll have a hard time defending themselves.

After you clear out the Redanians, you come to another riddle guardian. Before you answer its riddle, loot the room. There’s a fair amount of random loot as well as some books that can help you answer the guardian’s riddle. The books are the Astrological Charts , The Gnomes of Mahakam and Tir Tochair , Astrological Curios , and Legendary Treasures . This guardian’s riddle is very different from the first set of riddles. What’s going on here is essentially a pressure-plate puzzle, where you must decode the three verses of the riddle to place three of your companions on the correct three pressure plates. There is a pressure plate in front of each of the nine frescoes painted in the nine alcoves of the room. As you go through the verse, you must deduce which of the three possible options is the one that is correct. If you select an incorrect option, then three gargoyles drop into the room and you must defeat them before you can try again.

The exact riddle the guardian gives you is, “A group of travelers wandering through the dark. Three guides above them so three were marked. At night they trailed a drake serpentine, and a silver lady, shining and fine, if only her visage she would deign to unfold. By day they followed a mountain-vault—its riches untold.” You must analyze the meaning of each verse to figure out which of the three possible frescoes corresponds to the correct pressure plate. Basically, the verses and the possible answers you can give correspond like this.

First verse: At night they trailed a drake serpentine

Options: The hourglass, the dragon constellation, the allegory of alchemical transformation

Second verse: A silver lady, shining and fine, if only her visage she would deign to unfold

Options: The white rose, the full moon, the death’s head

Third verse: By day they followed a mountain-vault—its riches untold

Options: The ravine, the tower, the mine entrance in the mountainside

There is no simple way to figure out the correct sequence. Read each of the quest-related books you can loot in this room. The books give you an idea of how Dearhenna saw the world and what sorts of things he valued. When your companions each suggest a possible interpretation of each verse, you should select the interpretation that seems closest to what Dearhenna would’ve thought, based on what you’ve read in the books he kept around. If you don’t want to bother with trying to guess it yourself, the correct answers are, in sequence:

1. The dragon constellation

2. The full moon

3. The mine entrance in the mountainside

After you enter the correct combination, a cutscene wipes out the member of your party who refused to stand on a pressure plate. The door to the next room opens, where a golem awaits you. This isn’t the usual type of golem that attacks immediately; instead you can speak with it. Ask it every question that you can. If you ask it every possible question, you should open up a new dialogue option at the main branch, the ability to say “I know enough.” If you take that option, you can then say things that may let you pass the golem without a fight. Here is a highly entertaining sequence of responses for bypassing the golem:

"I know you're a guardian, and I respect that."

“I’m a guest here and I wish to talk.”

“Let’s talk about lies and delusions.”

“Only you and the master’s will exist. Everything else is doubtful.”

If you attempt to use any Axii sign hex on the golem during the conversation, it always fails and provokes the golem into attacking you along with two duplicates of itself. You also end up in a fight if at any point you choose the option “This is going nowhere.” It is also possible to incite the golem into attacking you after you’ve gotten into the “I know enough” conversation options. For instance, saying “With Dearhenna’s notes, we can free you” triggers an attack. The golems are far from invincible and you can defeat them by using the tactics you’ve used to battle elementals before. Dodge-roll to keep from getting hit much and keep Quen up. If one of the golems is being pelted by the NPCs, try to focus your blows on it so you can put it down a bit faster. After the golems are defeated, loot their remains, as you may get a rare golem trophy for defeating them. Then, loot the rest of the room.

Dearhenna’s Journal

If you glance around Dearhenna’s study, it should become clear that there are four quest items in it. These items are Dearhenna’s notes I, II, III, and V. You can pick them up in any order. Once you obtain any one of them, you trigger the side quest Dearhenna’s Journal . This quest should be treated as a sub-quest whose outcome is affected by The Secrets of Loc Muinne . Read on to see how the various outcomes of The Secrets of Loc Muinne affect the outcome of Dearhenna’s Journal . How Dearhenna’s Journal resolves directly affects another linked side quest, A Tome Truly Rare , that you may be able to pursue directly after finishing The Secrets of Loc Muinne . For now, just pick up all the Dearhenna’s notes you can, then approach Cynthia and Adalbert at the rear of the room.

This triggers a cutscene where Cynthia dispels another illusion, revealing a strange artifact. This initiates a dialogue sequence. Ask her every question you can about the Wild Hunt and Letho before selecting any of the options highlighted in orange. The options highlighted in orange each end the quest (and resolve Dearhenna’s Journal ), but in different ways.

If you say “All right, we’re even,” then Cynthia pays you the fee you’re owed (around 100 orens) and teleports away with the artifact. The quest automatically resolves and you get 500 XP. If you make this decision, it automatically resolves Dearhenna’s Journal but will not trigger the quest A Tome Truly Rare . You’re finished here and should begin the next side quest.

If you say “I can’t let you leave with that thing,” then you end up fighting Adalbert and Cynthia for possession of the artifact. This is effectively a battle against four mages at once, which is going to be challenging. Fortunately, this is a large room so you’ve got space to maneuver. Focus on eliminating Cynthia first, then Adalbert and his two duplicates. If you have Aard III or are an alchemist with Zerrikanian suns, you can stun the mages to get around their Quens. You can eliminate them rapidly with a handful of blows each, or even quicker if you trigger finishers or instant kills. Loot Cynthia’s body to receive Dearhenna’s notes (IV) and the book Bane of the Vrans, which resolves the side quest Dearhenna’s Journal and initiates a particular version of the side quest A Tome Truly Rare .

After you get the loot, then you can use the artifact. You can see up to three cutscenes from a list of five involving Roche, Triss, Dandelion, Saskia, and Radovid. These cutscenes aren’t essential to progressing the plot in any way, but they reveal interesting information about what other characters are doing. After the artifact runs out of power, the quest resolves and you gain 500 XP. Turn to from here to progress the quest A Tome Truly Rare .

If you say “I’d like to try the artifact,” Adalbert becomes hostile and you must battle him alongside Cynthia. This battle is very similar to the other fights with mages you’ve already won, so fall back on similar tactics. Use Quen, roll around, and strike Adalbert when he pauses to cast a spell. Adalbert’s ability to summon two duplicates of himself in combat is a complication, but not a tremendous one. Each Adalbert has relatively low vitality and is going to go down easily once you can get an attack to connect. Aard III can come in handy here, as can Zerrikanian suns for mages. It can also be useful to focus on whichever Adalbert Cynthia is attacking at the moment, so you can take advantage of any incineration effect she’s inflicted. Once you defeat Adalbert and his two clones, the battle is over. Loot his body to obtain Dearhenna’s notes (IV). This resolves Dearhenna’s Journal and triggers A Tome Truly Rare .

A dialogue scene begins after you win the fight. Ask Cynthia all of the questions in white that you can. Asking “Will we meet again?” prompts her to mention that you can find her later at the inn. If you want to have a love scene with Cynthia, you absolutely must ask her this. After your dialogue with Cynthia concludes, you may use the artifact to contact one person. You choose from a list that includes Triss, Roche, Dandelion, Saskia, and Radovid. Each selection cues up a different cutscene that lets you know what’s happening to that person. What you select doesn’t affect anything but can shed an interesting light on the story’s events. After you use the artifact, the quest resolves and you gain 500 XP. Cynthia teleports away. Loot Dearhenna’s laboratory and the surrounding areas thoroughly before you return to Loc Muinne. Read on to proceed with A Tome Truly Rare .

A Tome Truely Rare

If you’ve triggered it, then how this side quest progresses depends on whether Cynthia is alive or dead. If Cynthia is alive, you know of the book Bane of the Vrans but do not have a copy in your possession. Go meet Cynthia at the inn and ask her about the expedition. This should open up some conversation options that directly relate to what you found completing Dearhenna’s Journal . You want to ask her “What did Dearhenna actually research?” and “I know about the book.” After that, say “Every word you say is a lie,” followed by “I’m curious to know the real Cynthia.” If you want to initiate the love scene with Cynthia, then select “[Embrace Cynthia]” when the option to do so comes up. You can resolve the quest successfully without sleeping with Cynthia. What’s important is getting to the branch where you make the decision.

If Cynthia is dead, then you have a copy of the book Bane of the Vrans and must decide what to do with it. The book is encrypted, so go see Bras of Ban Ard about it. Bras offers to buy it from you, if you wish to sell it. You can also opt to hang on to it, though the quest does not resolve as long as the book is in your possession. Note that Bras of Ban Ard doesn’t pay you a whole lot for the book, so selling it to him is not necessarily better than just keeping it for yourself.

A Score to Settle

Now you can move on to the mini-game side quests. There’s no proper fist-fighting mini-game for Chapter 3, but you can wrap up some unfinished business from Chapter 2. From the inn, head north and past the harpies’ spawn point toward the area where you can find Loc Muinne’s dice players. The minute you enter the dice players’ building, Silgrat appears and challenges you to a revenge bout. What follows from there is an ordinary fistfight, where you should really have no trouble defeating him. You don’t get any orens for this final victory, but you do gain 150 XP.

Poker Face: Loc Muinne

With Silgrat out of the way, start playing dice. Begin by approaching the two elven players, Filly and Aylaya. You can face them in any order. After you’ve beaten them both, head over to the next table and challenge first Hadrian the Black, then his apprentice. With these victories under your belt, you can go back to the area just outside the inn and challenge The Incredible Lockhart. When you defeat him, you get a choice of “something nice” or 150 orens as your bonus for finishing the quest. The something nice is your choice of a diagram for making magic wraps, a runic armor enhancement, or a fire rune and an earth rune. Bear in mind that the recipe for magic wrap demands troll skin. So if you haven’t been slaughtering trolls as you come across them, the diagram is basically useless to you and you should probably take the runes instead. For a player who has been going for the troll-killing achievement, the diagram of the magic wrap is by far the better prize.

Bring it on: Loc Muinne

For this quest, you must beat only one opponent, the Mighty Numa. Go find him and challenge him. Wager the minimum amount of orens for this first bout, because it’s designed to be impossible to win. After the bout ends, you have a few options for how you can react to Mighty Numa.

You can accuse him of cheating. If you do, then this opens up a dialogue branch where you have two choices. If you say “Make my day” to Mighty Numa, it initiates a fistfight with him. He’s not especially difficult to beat. After you beat him, Mighty Numa swears to stop cheating. You get 25 XP.

You can try to intimidate Mighty Numa by saying “You’re not fast enough…”; Numa is usually fairly easy to intimidate, and most of the time this option is successful. Mighty Numa says he doesn’t need potions to beat you and swears not to cheat the next time you arm-wrestle. You get 10 XP.

You can also simply admit “I lost.” If you do things this way, then you next need to buy an Anabolic Steroids potion from Marcus. Drink it, then challenge Mighty Numa to an arm-wrestling match again while the potion is active. You should defeat him easily, so bet the full 200 orens possible so you can reap a 400-oren reward. After you beat the Mighty Numa, you get 25 XP and Numa gives you the diagram for the long, robust gauntlets. The quest resolves, awarding you with an additional 100 XP.

If you go to arm-wrestle Mighty Numa again after fistfighting him or intimidating him, the effects are the same as challenging him while under the influence of Anabolic Steroids. You should defeat him very easily, then get 25 XP, the diagram, and then an additional 100 XP. So overall, the most lucrative way to tackle this quest is to fistfight Mighty Numa after your first loss. The Anabolic Steroids potion is quite expensive, so not buying one maximizes your profit.

Mystic River

Head into the sewer entrance near Mighty Numa’s area of the town square. When you pass by the initial chamber, if you have Malget’s notes in your possession, a giant flaming head set into the wall begins talking to you. There’s nothing you can do with this creature just now, though you’ll come back to it later. Simply say “See you,” and ignore it for the time being.

Take a right and you come to a tunnel where two bullvores patrol. As long as you don’t let yourself get caught between the bullvores, defeating them should be simple. Adrenaline abilities are highly effective here and it’s also easy to just beat them to death with strong sword attacks, provided you’ve got a strong defense at your disposal, like leveled-up Quen.

Once you’re past the bullvores, the tunnel empties out into a dead end (the gate you passed through earlier is locked now) stuffed with treasure chests. Loot them to get an amazing array of treasure. One chest contains the diagram for the armor of Ys, and the other contains the diagram for vran armor, an armor of Ysgith, a fire rune, and the steel sword Deireadh. Note that even if you don’t qualify for finishing Mystic River in this chapter, you can pick up the diagram for the armor of Ys.

The quest isn’t finished until you’ve crafted the vran armor. Once you’ve gathered the materials needed to craft it and the whopping 2,000 orens it costs to make, just go visit any craftsman. The in-game quest text may make it sound like you need to specifically visit Bras of Ban Ard, but any craftsman will do. After you’ve successfully crafted the vran armor, the quest resolves. You get no XP for resolving the quest, but then again, you’ve now got the most powerful armor you can obtain on a standard difficulty. Equip and slot it with +2 enhancements before the next side quest.