After dealing with mages, onieromancers, Witch Hunters, crime lords and, worst of all, actors, Geralt finally learns where Dandelion is and devises a scheme for reaching him. Despite the labyrinthine questline you navigated through Novigrad, the culmination of all your efforts thus far, A Poet Under Pressure, is relatively straightforward, and this page will provide a walkthrough for the aforementioned quest in The Witcher 3.

Quest Objectives¶

Starting A Poet Under Pressure¶

To start A Poet Under Pressure you merely need to complete The Play’s the Thing, this quest will pop up immediately afterwards. That said, things won’t actually get moving until you rendezvous with Zoltan east of the Seven Cat’s Inn.

Ask Dijkstra for Help¶

Before you set off to conduct the raid, pay Dijkstra a visit in his bathhouse and ask him for a favor. If you helped him find his treasure during Count Reuven’s Treasure he’ll agree to give you three of his best men to assist in your attack on the convoy. If you respond with “Three’s good.”, then three of Dijkstra’s goons are what you’ll get. On the other hand you can press for more by saying “Was hoping for a number ending in “teen.””, after which refuse to divulge your target by saying “Can’t say.” and Dijkstra will only give you one additional man for your raid. If you tell him you’re targeting the church (“I want to attack a temple guard transport.”), however, Dijkstra will show his respect for the institution of religion by doubling the men he’ll give you.

Having some extra muscle courtesy of Dijkstra will make things easier, but the upcoming fight they’re part of is optional anyways. Of course, if you didn’t learn about Dijkstra’s treasure from Menge, he won’t have the resources to help you.

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Before you get started with your rescue attempt, you can petition Dijkstra for aid - he’ll give you muscle if you helped him find his treasure.

Ambush the Witch Hunter Convoy¶

When you’re ready to get this quest moving along properly, travel to the ambush site east of the Seven’s Cat Inn and find Zoltan on a hill overlooking the road. Talk to him and before long Priscilla will arrive - respond to them both however you wish, it surprisingly doesn’t matter what you say here, or if you play a zero-stakes game of Gwent with Priscilla to pass the time.

Eventually time will pass and the convoy will arrive, and after some scenes you’ll be thrown into combat with a host of Guards (Lv12-13) and the odd Witch Hunter (Lv13). Unless you got the maximum of six men from Dijkstra you’ll be outnumbered here, although your allies are at best distractions. The enemies are durable and include two crossbowmen near the river, so if you want to kill them all you’ll need to be mobile, determined, and willing to abuse Quen. The more allies you have, the less blindside attacks you’ll suffer.

Track the Witch Hunter and Dandelion¶

All of this is rather moot, however, as you don’t need to nor are you expected to kill all the Guards here. Flee to a search area northwest of the convoy and search for some tracks leading generally north, passing through Honeyfill Meadworks after which the tracks will largely follow the road until you reach a fork near a field of sunflowers. Note that you do not have to be mounted for this, nor do you have to be quick - it’s not timed, the Witcher Hunters with Dandelion won’t get away, so follow the tracks at your own pace.

At this fork turn northeast the tracks will become lost in traffic past some roadside tents, at another fork. Talk to a peasant blacksmith alongside the road and he’ll give you some directions and insult Dandelion at the same time, much to Geralt’s bemusement. At the fork near the blacksmith follow the tracks along the road to the northeast - pursuing the tracks to the north will just lead to a deadend at Yantra. The real tracks to the northeast, on the other hand, will follow the road past another fork before veering off northeast into the woods, leading you to an Isolated Hut.

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(1 of 3) When the convoy arrives you may be tempted to fight the Guards and Witch Hunters around it,

Rescue Dandelion¶

Outside the hut you’ll find the corpse of the horse you’ve been pursuing and beyond that a group of halflings and a dwarf. Talk to the nonhumans and they’ll tell you about a secret entrance, giving you a key to a cellar out behind the hut. Head behind (east of) the hut and you’ll find the promised cellar door on the side of a hill - open it, climb down a ladder, then make your way west through a cellar where counterfeit paintings are stored. Nice little criminal operation here. Head to the western end of the cellar and turn north to find a ladder leading into the hut, where you’ll have to dispatch the Witch Hunter (Lv13) you’ve been tracking. He’s a skilled warrior, so expect him to parry your attacks if you flail about blindly, and you’re fighting in a small area, so you won’t be able to dance around as much as you might like. Active Queen will stagger your foe, but you can also parry and counter to the same effect. Axii will also let you score some free hits.

Kill the Witch Hunter, then free Dandelion and he’ll start rambling. Fortunately Geralt’s able to wrangle Dandelion into talking about what happened to Ciri, which will start the quest Ciri’s Story: Breakneck Speed. There will be some more chatter following this Ciri’s Story quest, but A Poet Under Pressure is functionally over at this point. You’ll get a massive influx of EXP for rescuing Dandelion and the secondary quest Cabaret will begin. You’ll also be able to start the quest A Dangerous Game by talking to Zoltan outside the Rosemary and Thyme where you’ll be able to score some new, rare Gwent cards. Finally, the nonhumans who own the hut will give you a Painting of Hierarch Hemmelfart as a parting gift… you know, so you don’t rat out their little operation.

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(1 of 4) Follow the tracks to an isolated hut,

In any event, you’re done with the main questline in Novigrad for now, but we recommend sticking around and completing the aforementioned A Dangerous Game quest, after which you can complete [The Soldier Statuette] and the [The Nobleman Statuette]. Once those are done you really don’t have a pressing need to keep Triss in Novigrad, meaning it’ll be time to finish A Matter of Life and Death and Now or Never followed by the Radovid-related quests Redania’s Most Wanted, An Eye for an Eye and A Deadly Plot. Plenty of quests to do in Novigrad still!