The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Beginner Rules Guide

This guide contains lots of usable tips, and some of the players who have been playing since it came out don’t know all of these.

Guide Contents

Some Usable Tips for Beginners

Note: Credit goes to ShadowSwaps

You always gain full health by meditating.
If you have alcohest in your inventory while meditating all your oils, thunderbolt, swallow etc. potions will be fully restocked.
You can always meditate outside of combat and almost everywhere all the time.
If you’re in a fight, low health, flee from the fight, meditate (gaining full health) and then run back to finish the fight.
One can meditate to an exact time of the day or night, meaning you can meditate to make it day if it’s night and vice versa.

When fighting, the sign “Quen” is really handy. It is a magical shield which makes you nearly invulnerable.
Dodging is the first thing you need to learn. Dodging attacks is critical, and will give you a massive advantage.
If you attack someone from behind they take more damage, than if you attack from in front of them.
If you stumble upon an enemy with a shield, they will eventually get tired out, and drop their shield, which is your chance to attack.
Using the “Aard” sign against an enemy with a shield, will make the enemy stunned a little and also drop his shield, yet another chance to attack.
When blocking, try to parry the enemies attack, as this will stun them a little giving you a good chance to attack them.
Fighting monsters will be a lot easier if you know their weaknesses. Always check your bestiary to find their weakness.
Parrying heavy enemies won’t work. You have to dodge some, such as elementals, golems, and alot of draconids.

In the beginning of the game, looting is crucial. Loot whatever you can, and sell anything that you dont need.
Looting is a nice way to get new armor and weapons.
When finished fighting a monster which was in a contract, there is almost always a chest with high loot around. Find it and loot it!
Lots of chests and treasures are guarded by strong monsters. If your level is to low to fight the monster, try to lure it away and then quickly run back to the chest and loot it!
When looting, you will often stumble upon letters or books which starts a quest if you read them. Quests usually end with some good loot or money.
Notice boards usually give you more undiscovered places. These usually have some nice loot in them.

Different shops offer different prices. If you have space available, save your items to find better prices.

Try to find the Witcher Sets of armor and weapons. They are incredibly powerful.
Don’t buy weapons and armor, unless it is exceptionally good. Crafted items are generally better and more cost efficiant.
You can break down items for crafting materials at blacksmiths.