After moving on from White Orchard, all of Velen and Novigrad are open to you, and while the main quest line strongly suggests you start in Velen via the recommended levels for each main quest, this isn’t a hard rule, and it’s even less clear-cut when it comes to Gwent. The quest Gwent: Playing Innkeeps will require you to travel between Velen and Novigrad, and the players in Novigrad are noticeably more competent than the ones in Velen. Still, there’s nothing keeping you from traveling across the Pontar if the Velen isn’t satisfying your desire to play Gwent. This page will provide an overview for all the Gwent-related quests in Novigrad, card locations and players in Novigrad, including Oxenfurt - anything north and east of the Pontar is fair game!

Page Breakdown¶

Gwent: Playing Innkeeps¶

This was mentioned in the Gwent in Velen page as well as the quest page for Gwent: Playing Innkeeps, but this is one of the few quests in the game that will require you to play Gwent in multiple regions to complete, and it’s worth covering again, briefly. This is one of the first Gwent-specific quests that will start, beginning after you defeat the Scholar in White Orchard. You can’t advance it until you reach Velen, however, where you’ll first need to play Stjepen in Oxenfurt. He’s a significant step up above most of the players you’ll find in Velen, but scoring the Yennefer of Vengerberg card is worth going out of your way to get. Next you’ll need to defeat the Innkeep at the Inn at the Crossroads and finally Olivier in The Golden Sturgeon in Novigrad. Defeat all three of these innkeeps and you’ll complete the quest.

Playing Innkeeps Cards¶

Gwent: Big City Players¶

One of Novigrad’s many Gwent-related quests, this is the easiest of them to complete. You just need to defeat four players in order: Vimme Vivaldi, Marquise Serenity, Sigismund Dijkstra and a Scoia’tael Merchant. You can start this quest as soon as you set foot in Novigrad, just find Vimme Vivaldi in the southwestern corner of Hierarch Square. Defeat him and he’ll refer you to Marquise Serenity, and so on. The trouble spot with this quest is Sigismund Dijkstra, who cannot be played until you meet him during the quest Get Junior. You don’t have to play a whole lot of the aforementioned quest, but you do have to advance past the point where you fight some thugs in Sigi Reuven’s bathhouse, after which you can talk to Sigismund Dijkstra in his office. Ultimately this quest is well worth doing if you fancy building up your Gwent deck, as you’ll get the Ciri card, a 15 strength close combat hero card that can be used in any deck, and two 10 strength hero cards, one for the Nilfgaardian Empire deck and one for the Northern Kingdoms deck.

Big City Players Cards¶

A Dangerous Game¶

In addition to the numerous Gwent-focused secondary quests in Novigrad, there are also some quests where you can obtain Gwent cards that aren’t specifically Gwent Quests, including A Dangerous Game and A Matter of Life and Death (see below). In each case there are several Gwent Cards that can only be found in these two quests and if you do not get them during the quest, you will miss them forever.

A Dangerous Game begins when you return to the Rosemary and Thyme following the completion of A Poet Under Pressure. You can’t really mess this quest up, just advance through it and you’ll be tasked with recovering the Fringilla Vigo, Isengrim Faoiltiarna and John Natalis cards, none of which are usable until the end of the quest. Near the end of the quest you’ll find yourself presented with a choice of reward, and you can either keep the cards or take money, instead. Take the cards or they’ll be lost to you forever, and once you accept them you’ll be able to use them in your Gwent decks.

A Matter of Life and Death¶

A Matter of Life and Death is another non-Gwent quest that rewards you with Gwent cards, and it’ll begin after you complete Count Reuven’s Treasure. During this quest you’ll have an attend a masquerade with Triss, and once you arrive at the Masquerade grounds you’ll get the objective Meet Ingrid Vegelbud.. Deal with a drunk and a rude mage and enter the masquerade grounds, after which turn south to find a Croupier. Talk to him and you’ll be entered into a Gwent tournament where you’ll have to play a gauntlet of opponents. There are no stakes, to play until you defeat them all to win the Milva, Vampire: Bruxa and Dandelion cards. If you do not win them before completing this quest, they’ll be lost forever.

Purchase Cards from Merchants¶

Winning cards from players in Novigrad might be somewhat difficult if you haven’t accumulated cards in Velen, first, but there’s one quick way to bolster your Gwent decks without having to win anything - buy new cards from merchants! Unlike in Velen, cards in Novigrad will almost exclusively be sold by innkeepers, and it should be noted that the merchants in Novigrad tend to stock cards for the Scoia’tael and Monster decks, although the Innkeep at the Cunny of the Goose and the Innkeeper at the Seven Cats Inn both sell a useful Young Emissary card and Mariquise Serenity sells the excellent Catapult card. It’s generally more difficult to get a Scoia’tael or Monster deck up to snuff, as you have to buy and win an awful lot of cards to get them reasonably competitive, whereas the Northern Kingdoms deck is playable from White Orchard on and it and the Nilfgaardian Empire deck will both be significantly bolstered by playing Gwent in Velen.

List of Cards You Can Purchase in Novigrad¶

Cards Sold by the Card Merchant Near Carsten¶

When it comes to buying Gwent cards, an elven merchant northeast of Carsten (itself north of Oxenfurt) is worth special mention. This character will only appear if you have the Hearts of Stone DLC installed (included in the Complete Edition/Game of the Year Edition), and he’s fixated on Gwent, wanting to do little else besides play a game. He will begrudgingly sell you cards, however, and he stocks a wide assortment of them, as follows:

It’s worth noting that very little of this merchant’s stock is unique. Most of the cards he sells can be won or purchased from other characters, and you’re also limited in the number of certain cards you can possess. The more Gwent you play and the more cards you buy, the fewer cards this merchant will have available. For example, if you buy the Catapult card from Marquiese Serenity, this merchant won’t sell one. If you win enough cards by playing random players, this merchant won’t sell them. This merchant just provides an alternative means for obtaining certain cards, if you’re willing to pay for them. If not, you can win pretty much every card he sells elsewhere, save for Gaunter O’Dimm: Darkness, which doesn’t count towards the achievement Card Collector.

Win Cards From Undistinguished Gwent Players¶

Novigrad is decidedly a step up from Velen in terms of the quality of its players, and while the areas of Oxenfurt and Novigrad are quite small compared to Velen on the map, they’re a lot more densely populated. Drowners and decaying foliage - the mainstays in Velen’s swamps - aren’t keen on playing Gwent, and it should be no surprise that as the population concentrates, so too does the number of Gwent players… especially in a mercantile hub like Novigrad! There are nearly twice as many undistinguished Gwent players in Novigrad, but it should be noted that they’re usually more competent than the players in Velen.

List of Undistinguished Gwent Players in Novigrad¶