All For One, And One For All! — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt The Complete Edition eGuide

Related Quests: Main Quest: Envoys, Wineboys, Main Quest: Blood Run, Secondary Quest: No Place Like Home

Locations: Dulcinea Windmill, The Cockatrice Inn, Tourney Grounds, Beauclair Palace, Palace Gardens, Lake Seidhe Llygad (Unmarked)

Characters: Milton de Peyrac-Peyran, Palmerin de Launfal, Guillaume, Fisherman, Hooded Stranger, Vivienne, Her Illustrious Highness Duchess Anna Henrietta, Captain Damien de la Tour, King Cormorant

Enemies: Golyat the Giant, The Bruxa of Corvo Bianco, Shaelmaar, Courtiers

Objectives

Defeat the giant.

After a few days’ riding, you reach the Duchy of Toussaint. Your enjoyment of the rolling hills, lush green farmland, and distant view of the spectacular palace of Beauclair is tempered somewhat by the appearance of a huge, lumbering giant with a distaste for windmills. It seems the knight who is facing down this monstrosity requires a modicum of assistance. Engage the giant Golyat!

You are fortunate that both the Knights, as well as the giant’s adversary, are in this fight with you; this allows you to dodge around the huge foe while it is preoccupied with your fellows. Employ similar combat techniques to those you honed on Skellige when facing Cyclopes (and the Ice Giant of Undvik); roll away and to the side, and avoid all the vicious pounding and sweeps it makes with its huge weapon. Temporarily flummox it with Axii, use Yrden to slow it down (though Signs only cause minimal reactions to this foe), and Quen to stave off some damage if you’re not quick enough to dodge. Continuous circling, before darting in to strike and then retreating, is the most proficient way to win.

Defeating the Giant: The Best Battle Tactics

Goylat moves like his Cyclops brethren, refraining from running or strafing, just lumbering strides in your general direction. He is also incredibly tough, requiring a lot of damage in order to topple over. Exhibit patience, and work with your new knight friends. Occasionally they prove most worthy at distracting Golyat, allowing you to get in strikes when he’s pre-occupied.

Otherwise, dart in with a strike once Golyat finishes one of his troublesome, and damaging, swings and is recovering in readiness for his next attack. Darting in, damaging, and retreating is the key. You need not worry about the knights’ health, so let them bear the brunt of this enemy.

Or just shoot Golyat in the head with a crossbow. If you shoot this foe through the eye hole in his helmet, you get an instant kill, along with earning an Achievement.

Defeating the Giant “Golyat”: The Giant’s Attacks

Golyat uses a giant mill wheel to deliver massive bludgeoning damage in vertical pounds or massive horizontal sweeps. He loves to swing this weapon, smashing things all around. His attacks are far-reaching, he’s extremely aggressive, and tends to keep moving toward you, mostly ignoring the three knights.

Weapon Swing: A medium-range weapon swing. Dodge or leap to the side, or back away to avoid being struck.

Weapon Overhead Smash: A medium-range weapon smash, dropping vertically. Highly damaging, so avoid using dodges and retreating.

Kick, Stomp, and Swipe: Golyat sometimes kicks, stomps, or swipes with his left arm; both push you back, increasing the distance between you, allowing the giant to be more effective with his weapon swings. Simply avoid these by dodging.

Charge Attack: If you’re at long range, Golyat occasionally attempts a charge to close the distance. If you’re caught, expect to be pushed back, and possibly sent tumbling over. Recover and retreat, or simply roll or dodge to the side to avoid it.

Whirlwind Attack: Occurring at both short and long distances, this is the Golyat’s most severe series of strikes, so watch for him raising his weapon up to the side of the head before his spins around. Damage is significant, and you’re sent flying. Parrying is not an option, but dodging (or letting Quen bear the brunt of this) is.

After the battle, it transpires the young knight Guillaume attempted to slay the giant (who had ventured down from the Gorgon Hills to feed) to win the heart of a damsel. Guillaume is somewhat embarrassed and indebted to your superior mettle, and offers you the head as payment. Feel free to ask how the giant came to be here, and take the trophy (you can sell it to merchants, or place it on Roach’s saddle to add Experience Points to each monster you slay); also loot the corpse for a large number of crowns and other items). Guillaume also has some news regarding the Beast; the river has surrendered a corpse near the Cockatrice Inn!

Items: Trophy from Golyat, 450+ Crowns