Part 6 - The Witcher 3 - 2nd playthrough - Death March

I realized if I wanted a picture of Yennefer I had to take it during a cutscene as she would disappear through her portal right after we talked. So here it is. I stayed loyal to her during my first playthrough, and I will stay loyal to her this playthrough again. I never read the novels, so my decision has nothing to do with the original story. I simply prefer her personality to Triss'. After she disappeared, I looted the remaining rooms of the palace and even read a letter she had received from her friend and fellow sorceress, Fringilla. Nosy Geralt!

I was wondering what these workers were digging for in the middle of this hall, so I went closer. I realized they were trying to get rid of Temerian lilies, the symbol of the country which the Nilfgaardian empire had occupied. Love these details in the game!

In the palace courtyard, I lost two games of Gwent against the Nilfgaardian nobleman... His cards were much better than mine. I need to play with someone whose cards are on my level until I buy better cards.

Welcome to Velen.

The main quest at this point is level 5, and I'm level 3, so I decided to pick up some side quests from notice boards and explore some question marks. Then the first thing I ran into was level 9 bandits marked with red skulls...

Nevertheless, I continued my exploration of Velen. Those level 7 bandits were throwing insults at me but were stuck down there and couldn't get me. It was the funniest thing! I went down to them and killed them all. At this point, trying the level 5 main quest didn't seem such a bad idea anymore.

The sunsets in this game! ♥

I ran into a large group of level 6 nekkers which proved to be a challenging but manageable fight. They dropped several mutagens but sadly not enough to create any larger mutagens.

I stumbled upon the superior Bear gear diagrams in a cave near the nekkers. Keeping them for later! Another large group of nekkers killed me deeper in the cave as I ran out of Cat potions and couldn't fight them in the dark. I hate caves. In every game.

I headed for the Inn at the Crossroads to continue the main quest. Managed to calm down the baron's men instead of fighting them which I know will make my life easier when trying to get inside the baron's castle later. After that I spent all my money on new gwent cards and some food.

Geralt out sightseeing and getting acquainted with local customs...

One of the prettier places in Velen. :)

Right now I am having the hardest time killing the level 2 rabid dogs in Heatherton on the main quest. When I hit them, they lose a minimal amount of health, but if they hit me, I lose half of mine. Not sure why this happens... So far I've managed to kill one of them. Two more to go and I can speak with the poor guy who will tell me about his encounter with the Wild Hunt...