Part 12 - The Witcher 3 - 2nd playthrough - Death March

My favorite look for Geralt: loose hair and clean shaven. We are still in Oxenfurt here where I did business and played gwent with the merchant (close call but I won), the armorer (I lost; he has strong cards), the blacksmith (had no chance against his Monster deck) and Stjepan the innkeep. I knew Stjepan would be a strong opponent, so I saved before I played him and good thing I did as he won. Though I think I could've won with a bit of luck. Anyway, I bought lots of yummyness from him like mutton stew and raspberry juice then left the city.

My plan was to do the Woodland Beast contract which is level 6.

This is just a random photo of Geralt, a tree and sunflowers. :) I can't wait to put better-looking armor on him...

On my way to the starting point of the Woodland Beast quest, I met Manfred, the merchant, but due to my unfortunate dialogue choices, he got killed. Oops.

Finally I started the Woodland Beast quest. Defeating two level 5 alghouls at the same time seemed hopeless at first for my unskilled and underleveled self. The solution was luring one away. I also used quen, necrophage oil, strong attacks and some potion and decoction as well, everything I could think of really. It was a tough fight, and the large group of level 4 drowners that came afterwards was easy compared to these bastards.

Instead of a "woodland beast" I found a scoia'tael camp led by this pretty elf. I didn't harm them, just looted their camp and left in peace.

On my way back to the guardpost I met these hungry orphans and gave them some food.

I received no more than 20 xp for completing Woodland Beast! Leveling up is painfully slow on Death March... No other complaints. :)

As I lied to the Redanian soldier about not finding anything in the woods, he didn't give me a pass, but I found the Fake Papers quest before leaving the camp. I used my delusion skills and got the fake pass for 50 coins.

I desperately need more xp to finally get to level 5 so I decided to do The Truth is in the Stars.

I didn't fast travel but rode to Benek to see things on the way. A doe decided to stop under the Hanged Man's Tree, creating this eerie picture of life and death.

I saved Anselm and his friend from their "bodyguards" for more xp and some money.

Riding to Benek.

The refugees living there are awful nice, an old woman told me "god bless" as I took her diamond dust...

Who says Velen is an ugly place? :)

So The Truth is in the Stars is basically a quest to pick up some roots in a ghoul-infested cave. Have I ever mentioned I hate caves? Note to self: I really need to upgrade my Cat potion...

After giving him the roots, the old soothsayer told me how the end of the game would unfold. Of course, the first time I played, I did not know this. I received 40 xp for this quest, yay! Only a few hundred more until I reach level 5...

I noticed I had a level 4 treasure hunt quest: Sunken Chest in Novigrad.

Along the way I found Johnny the godling's voice in the harpies' nest. I'm curious to see how that quest will unfold with me already having this item.

And then I noticed the Sunken Chest quest was nowhere near the city! I fast traveled to Frischlow and found my old boat still on the shore. I then realized the sunken treasure was at the same underwater ruins where I fought the level 4 drowners earlier. However, the underwater drowners are level 10 and marked with a red skull at my current level! So why is this quest a level 4? It took a few tries before I managed to loot the chests and swim back to the surface without them killing me...

After this I was off to Novigrad. I fast traveled to the nearest available signpost and stopped one more time at Cunny of the Goose. I found a herbalist there and created a few useful potions such as the Wraith decoction. ("Whenever a single hit drains more than a third of Vitality, a Quen shield is activated which protects against the next attack." Something I definitely need...)

Here I am at Hierarch Gate listening to this eerily beautiful music I haven't heard since 2015... I missed this game so much. :)

My plans in Novigrad are visiting merchants and any available armorer, blacksmith, herbalist etc. and stealing when nobody is looking. :)