The Refugee and Ravens Crypt¶

From the Druid’s Cave, head east to find our first Refugees’ Cave. The only person of interest in this cave is Cousin Buse. Give him his gold (or not) and leave. That wasn’t too hard, was it?

From the Refugees’ Cave, head south-west to find the island where the Striga’s Crypt resides. Don’t worry, we’re not exploring it yet, but you can find a trunk full of goodies to loot which is worth pointing out.

From the trunk head east, and hug the northern boundary of the area until you find Raven’s Crypt. If you are near an aquaduct, you’re too far south, if you see the area transition to the Old Manor, you’re too far to the east. When you find the crypt, be forewarned, you’ll probably want to make some Cat so you can, you know, see in the darkness? This crypt is filled with it, and we don’t have a Magic Missile spell to cast at it.

Once inside the crypt, blast some rubble to the east to reveal a trapped Treasure Seeker. He’ll at least confirm that this is Raven’s Crypt. Wee. Blast some more rubble to the north and south to clear the paths. If you head to the south, you’ll find a room full of Wraiths (handy, if you need some Death Dust for “The Wraith Contract” ).

Up the stairs to the east you’ll find a chest hidden in a niche, there’s another chest sitting out in the open, and a third along the western wall. Explore the southern end of the room to find a ramp leading to a tunnel… is this reminding you of the crypt in the fields from last

chapter, where we fought Ureus ? Ah well, at least it’s not as repeatitive as Mass Effect and Dragon Age 2…

Anyways, in this tunnel you’ll find a small horde of Fleders. Kill them and loot an old chest in the hallway, and search a room to the south-east where you’ll find two old chests and a sarcophagus. In this sarcophagus you’ll find a Meteorite Sword , and a Piece of Armor … should you have failed to pick it up last chapter.

Return to the fireplace near the entrance and head north. Continue until you reach a four-way path. This intersection will be populated by Fleders and Wraiths. Crush them and loot a crate. Now, where to go, what do to? If you head south you’ll find a room occupied by a handful of Wraiths, with a pair of lootable crypts. Continue south and you’ll

find a Circle of the Inner Fire… and a lootable corpse and coffer in the room.

Backtrack to the four-way and head east to find a room containing a Circle of Rolling Rocks. Put down another squad of Wraiths for fun. Backtrack again and head north. Blast some more ruins with Aard and continue to find Raven’s Tomb. Kill the Basilisk guarding the tomb, and whatever Fleders and Wraiths decided to play, then loot the tomb. It contains a “Book of the Full Moon” , and the “Remains of Raven’s Armor” . Note that if you look into the sarcophagus, you’ll see Raven’s remains-the twin swords on the skeleton are a dead give-away.

The Baddest Man in the Land¶

From Raven’s Crypt head south past a ruined aquaduct, then follow the island upon which the Striga’s Crypt lies to the west to find the second-and southern-Refugees’ Cave. Inside, head south to find Cousin Ramerot, our third and final cousin.

Head to the north to find Zdenek.. our unnamed champion boxer, who is perhaps not quite as unnamed as he was made out to be. The Nameless One can rest easily. Talk to him and he’ll make matters easy on us by refusing to do anything other than fight. He’s really not any tougher than anybody else we’ve boxed, and when he goes down, Geralt will complain about his bogus “undefeated” status. Zdenek will clarify-he’s never been beaten twice, and claims the ability to challenge anybody to a rematch. Rest up for about a day and talk to Zdenek again, who should be rested enough by then to fight. Beat him down again, and this time he’ll lose a tooth for his trouble, and concede that Geralt is, in fact, the greatest fist fighter in the land.

The Wayfarers Stone¶

Now, unless you’re neutral, and want to advance “Armor” and “A Magic Formula” there’s no reason to do this next part… but it’s still extra loot and experience, and it’s not worth splitting the guide over.

In the north-eastern corner of the cavern you’ll find a Wayfarer’s Stone. Cast the following

sequence of signs on the stone-Aard, Igni, Aard-and you’ll be teleported in the Ancient Crypt. Groovy.

Kill some Alghouls when you arrive, then head south into a tunnel, then turn west until you reach a four-way. To the north you’ll find a band of Basilisks guarding a trunk full of ingredients. To the west you’ll find a room that’s barren, save for some Cemetaurs. To the south you’ll find a room guarded by a pair of Fleders. Once they’re dead, loot the Agnes of Glanville’s Trunk to obtain a Moon Rune , some ingredients, and a Magic Formula . Return to the Wayfarer’s Stone and cast the inverse of the sign sequence you cast last time to teleport back.

Get the joke? Good. If not, what’s racecar spelled backwards? Anyways, leave the Refugees’ Cave and travel to the west to find the Old Mine. We don’t need to go here unless we sided with the Scoia’tael and want to advance “Armor” and complete “A Gnomish Device” .

Immediately inside you’ll find Kikimores and a lootable corpse near a fireplace. Head north into a large chamber and dispatch some more Kikimores and a few Fleders. Loot a chest to the west, then find another Wayfarer’s Stone to the south.

Cast the following sequence of signs on the Wayfarer’s Stone-Igni-Igni-Aard-to teleport again. In this Ancient Crypt you’ll find Alps, Bruxa, Cemetaurs, and Wraiths. Head down a tunnel to the west and kill all the undead that oppose you. The last room contains a Dwarven Trunk within which you’ll find three jugs of Dwarven Spirit, and a “Bifunctional Fiber and Alloy Recirculator” … or the Gnomish device we’re looking for.

Lord of the Hunt¶

It’s now time to head to the island in the center of the map, upon which the Striga’s Crypt is built. Rest until night inside one of the many nearby caves. We’re doing this for several reasons. First, the two unique monsters we can hunt for their lovely, lovely, profitable heads only come out at night. Lazy vampires! The reason we rested before we reached the island, rather than at the much more reasonable-seeming fireplace on the island itself is, in fact, because of these beasts. They’re fairly close to each other, and we must endeavor to only kill one of them at a time.

Go to the northern shore of the island (just west of where we found the trunk full of goodies earlier) and head past a gate, up a hill to the south. You’ll find a pack of Garkains near a rather prominent, if gnarly, tree. Vesper is lurking around here, although he might take his sweet time to show up. Kill him, take his head, and turn it in to the Royal Huntsman for a pretty hefty reward.

Return to the island again, and continue past where you slew Vesper to find Lilly , a unique Bruxa who hangs out with about a half-dozen other Bruxa near the Circle of Mute Thunder. Kill her, and drag her head to the Royal Huntsman, too. You get experience, and a reward. Hooray.

Talk to the Royal Huntsman again, however, and he’ll reward you for killing ten tropy monsters. He’d like to give you more gold, but, damn his luck, he’s short on funds. Instead, he’ll offer to give you one of two swords, either the silver sword Moonblade , which has no status effects, but deals a whopping +100% damage. Whether it’s better than Aerondight is really up for debate, but you can only carry one, so choose what you’d prefer most-brute damage, or status effects.

The steel sword, on the other hand, is easily the best steel sword in the game. the Mahakaman Rune Sihill deals +100% damage, and penetrates an opponents armor, which is better than Gwalhir any day. If you’re conflicted over which of the two swords to choose, however, that’s easy. You can get up to three Mahakaman Rune Sihill swords (this being one of them), but this is your only opportunity to get Moonblade .