The Striga Crypt¶

Now it’s time to head to the Striga’s Crypt. Head past the Circle of Mute Thunder, down into some swampland between the islands, and over to a fireplace occupied by a Desperate Father. He’ll ask if you’ve seen his son (which of course, we have not) and then relate to you a tale of the Striga, which he has personally seen in action. Spooky. You can also turn in “The Cemetaur Contract” if you’re done with it.

When the old man is done talking, speak to Velerad, nearby. He’s apparently here to “check up on us”. Foltest’s trust only goes so far, it seems, and we’ll be reminded we’re not just here to take care of the Striga-we’re looking to see who Foltest can blame for the relapse. Fun.

Don’t worry about preparations, this shouldn’t pose much of a problem at all. If anything, make sure you have a Cat potion ready-it gets dark down in these Crypts. When you enter the crypt, turn around and Velerad will inform you that he’s been ordered to lock you in until you’ve succeeded, or failed. How lovely. From the entry chamber, head east to a four-way split in the tunnels, then continue east. Head into the first room to the north and loot a sarcophagus to claim the “Notes of an Elven Minstrel” .

For most of us, this means we’re ready to turn in “Armor” … just as soon as we are done with this damn Striga. Don’t worry Order-followers, you’ll be ready to complete this quest, too, before we leave. Continue to the east, then go into a room to the south to discover a fireplace, a corpse that can be looted for some Yellow Meteorite , and our final Wayfarer’s Stone. See Order guys?

Again, unless you’re Order-aligned, and wish to advance “Armor” and complete “St. Gregory’s Litany” , you have no real reason to enter this Wayfarer’s Stone. Cast the following sequence of signs on the stone- Aard, Aard, Igni-to teleport to another Ancient Crypt. Not too many foes in here, just head east down a tunnel, into a room, then go up a

ramp to the north to find a room containing a Basilisk, and “St. Gregory’s Tomb”. Loot the latter for a Vodon Rune Stone, and “St. Gregory’s Litany” .

Showdown with the Striga¶

Okay, enough messing around. Return to the Wayfarer’s Stone and teleport back, then backtrack to the four-way and head south. Rest at the nearby fireplace if it’s not night (it should be). And head into the room further south.

Our dear Adda won’t take long to appear. There are two ways to deal with the Striga, although the brute-force approach almost isn’t worth mentioning… and really, only the neutral Witcher even considers it, and even then, only for consistency. After all, he killed a Werewolf, why not a Striga? Oh, right. Because curing is just as good-if not better-than killing. Oh well, for the sake of variety, then.

If you fight the Striga, use the Strong Silver Style (or Fast Silver, if it’s dodging too much). The Striga will do a fair bit of damage, and can cause Blinding, Knockdown, and Pain, which will further complicate things. Use the Aard to knock the Striga down to get some free hits, or Igni to deal some damage, and it’ll die soon enough.

If, on the other hand, you like being a somewhat more successful Witcher like the old Geralt clearly was, you’ll do what he did… eh… except less flashy crap. To dispel the curse, you’ll have to survive a night with Adda-and doing this in any sort of an aggressive way is clearly not going to work.

Thankfully, a simple solution exists. The sarcophagus in the room is a sufficient barrier to protect you from Adda-all you need to do is waste time, run around the sarcophagus, and stay away from Adda. It’s absurdly easy and simple, as the Striga just can’t catch Geralt if you are actually paying attention to the game while you play. There are five candles on the sarcophagus, which will be lit up at the beginning of the encounter, and they exist only to serve as handy-dandy reminders of how much time is remaining. Survive until all the candles go out, and victory is yours. This process takes about five minutes, real time (including the cutscenes showing the candles going out). Yes. I timed it.

If you survived the Striga, Adda will reappear-tuckered out from a night of trying to chew on Geralt. Talk to her and she’ll be much nicer now than she was last time we met. When Geralt asks about Salamandra, she’ll try and play the dumb, and blame the Professor and his wicked, wicked, promises, warping her fragile little mind. She will point out a nearby sarcophagus, however, and react somewhat poorly when she thinks about the people she’s killed. Maybe everything will work out after all? Even if you killed her, grab the evidence from the sarcophagus- Ostrit’s Journal . You can also loot a nearby trunk for more loot.

Head outside and talk to Velerad, who will reward you as is appropriate for your actions. If you saved Adda, you’ll be given the sword D’yaebl . Whether it’s better than Harvall from Chapter 2 or not is up to you. It’s probably a wash, and it’s far inferior to some of the swords we’ve been able to get by now. If you killed the Striga, Velerad will be mildly disappointed, and suggest that you should have just killed it years ago. Either way, it he’ll pass on a message from Foltest. If we want to cure the disease, we need to go to the Old Manor. The disease, is, of course, code for Salamandra.

Geralts New Threads¶

We’ve neutralized the Striga, obtained what is possibly the best silver sword in the game or obtained what is definitely the best steel sword. Our chosen faction has taken control of Old Vizima… or the Temerian army has, if we chose neither side. It’s been pretty busy.

Still, we have a few things left to do. Return to Old Vizima and turn in whatever contracts you still have left, and handle “Mud and Velvet” however you think is best. If you didn’t get the Mahakaman Rune Sihill from the Royal Huntsman, or Captain Jean-Pierre, you’ve still got one more chance to get it.

North of the breach in the wall leading to the Swamp Cemetery, you’ll find the Executioner’s Tower. If you were neutral, you ran right past it during your initial escape from Old Vizima. If not, blast some rubble, make your way to the northern wall, and run up some planks to reach the tower. Downstairs you’ll find Zahin Schmartz, everybody’s favorite dentist.

You can turn in your last two teeth-Devourer Teeth, and the Famous Fist Fighter’s Tooth that Zdenek donated. If you’ve donated all the teeth-all the ones you’ll find in Chapter 3 (Alp Fangs, Beast Fangs, a Barghest Skull, Fleder Fangs, a Cemetaur Jaw) and the missing two teeth from this chapter (Devourer Teeth and a Famous Fist Fighter’s Tooth ) you’ll complete his collection. He’ll reward you with additional experience, and a Mahakaman Rune Sihill . You’ve had three chances to get one-there’s no excuse for being stuck with a lesser sword now.

Finally, head to the Old Forge (if you are allied with the Order or the Scoia’tael) or head to Kalkstein’s Laboratory (if you are neutral). Talk to the appropriate craftsperson and have them recreate Raven’s Armor. They’ll ask you to give them a day-but we know what that means. Leave and return, and your armor will be ready.

Collect your swanky new armor to complete this quest. It’s almost sad, getting rid of the armor we’ve worn for most of the game… but there’s no denying that this armor is far, far superior to anything we could have been wearing previously. It has two small weapon slots, three potions slots, and potent enchantments varying on who crafted it for us, as follows:

Anyways, we’re now done in Old Vizima and in the Swamp Cemetery. We’re also done doing any trivial quests for the rest of the game. It’s all straight-forward, linear story from here on out. Go through the Swamp Cemetery to reach the exit to the Old Manor along the eastern edge of the map.