How did The Witcher franchise suddenly get a huge surge in popularity? Probably thanks to Netflix! Frankly, we're just excited tons of new people are exposing themselves to this setting, and it works as a bit of a substitute for Game of Thrones after that "amazing" final season. The show is insanely popular (though a bit confusing), the original books are selling out on Amazon, and The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt has more concurrent players than it had on release! It's a fantastic time to be a fan of the White Wolf. In TW3, Geralt is constantly tasked with making hard decisions. Usually, the decisions fall in a sort of moral "gray" area, but a few are just straight-up bad all around. So, let's talk about those.
Updated April 18th, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: With season 2 of the Netflix Adaptation now confirmed to be on the horizon, The Witcher IP is about to start trending on social media again. And, as such, it seemed like an apt time to go back and take another look at some of the most awful decisions any player can make in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This title has a ton of branching paths, potential endings for main and side quests, and a lot of different stories to tell. So, let's comb through all the decision paths, find the worst outcomes, and talk about them.
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12 Not Sending Keira Metz To Kaer Morhen
Keira Metz is a charming and powerful Sorceress, one who used to belong to the Lodge of Sorceresses and toes the line quite well between helping those around her for selfish reasons and actually being altruistic. And, at the end of the questline for “A Towerful of Mice”, she demonstrates this by using Geralt’s expertise to exorcise a Plague Maiden so that she can take the formula for the Catriona plague to Radovid in exchange for her safety. This is, of course, the same Radovid who spends his free time torturing magic-users of any kind and putting their heads on pikes. So, obviously, her half-baked plan isn’t going to work. Instead, players must convince her to go to Kaer Morhen. This is by far the best option, as the other two involve Geralt killing her himself, or letting her go to Radovid, only to be executed.
11 Any Of The Whispering Hillock Choices
The Whispering Hillock quest is one of the earliest ones in the game that forces players to come to terms with the whole “lesser of two evils” thing. Basically, no matter what decision Geralt makes in regards to this spirit trapped in the roots of a tree, there will be irreparable consequences. On one hand, if Geralt frees the spirit and even gives them a new body to dwell in (a horse, to be exact), the Spirit saves the Children held hostage by the three Crones in Crookback Bog. But it also attacks Downwarren, a village that follows the orders of the Crones. Alternatively, if Geralt kills the Spirit, Downwarren is saved, but the children are kidnapped by the crones and most likely killed. Either way, the outcome is awful, and this isn’t even taking into account what happens to Anna, the wife of the Bloody Baren who was keeping the children safe.
10 Staying Away From Skellige's Succession
The Witcher 3 is a ridiculously huge game, like, seriously big. And, surprisingly, it has two different open-world maps to explore as well. Players will spend the first half of their game exploring the wilds of Velen and Novigrad, while the second half takes place, mostly, in Skellige. On his hunt for Ciri, Geralt ends up in Skellige, and as soon as he gets there, the guy gets dragged into their selection process for their next ruler. Now, the game doesn’t really make it clear that the whole “King’s Gambit” line of tasks is actually a side quest, but it is, and one of the better ones in the game. And, if players choose to ignore Cerys and Hjalmar altogether, Svanrige becomes the next ruler instead, and Skellige undergoes a civil war of sorts. It might not be the worst thing for the country in the long run, but compared to Cerys’ ideals, it’s a lot worse.
9 Keeping The Baby Out Of The Oven
And, speaking of Cerys and Craite, before the whole King’s Gambit side quests even occur Cerys has to complete a legendary task so that she’s “worthy” of vying for the throne. It gets a bit convoluted and hard to explain, but, essentially, Geralt and Cerys team up to save Jarl Udalryk from the curse of a Hym. Hyms latch on to a person’s guilt and feed off it. Luckily, one of the ways to get rid of it involving tricking it by having it hop onto a person who thinks they committed a grave act that didn’t actually happen. To do this, Cerys kidnaps the Jarl's kid and tells Geralt to throw it in a hot oven. The obvious and non-insane choice here would obviously be to say no but trust us, it makes sense with context. If the player chooses to get rid of the Hym the other way, it involves a pretty tedious boss fight that can easily kill Udalryk if Geralt isn’t extra careful. All-in-all, it turns out tossing the baby into the oven is actually the best choice here.
8 Accepting Payment From Emhyr, Emperor Of Nilfgaard
As anyone who watched the Netflix series probably knows by now, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, otherwise known as Ciri, is kind of an important character. She’s got the Elder Blood in her, and that’s something both her father Emperor Emhyr and Eredin, leader of the Wild Hunt, desperately want. Fans of the books know likely know insidious his reasons are for wanting it, so it’s a good thing for Ciri that she got out of there. And, to be fair, technically Ciri is destined for Geralt anyway, thanks to a thing called the “Law of Surprise”. But players can actually bring Ciri back to Emhyr if they so choose, and they’ll be rewarded with quite a bit of money. But, this path basically ruins the relationship between Ciri and Geralt, so 99% of players tend to avoid it.
7 Breaking Yennefer's Heart
And speaking of awful betrayal, let's talk about Yennefer of Vengerberg. She is likely the most important person in Geralt's life, other than Ciri or Triss, and it shows. The guy does anything for Yennefer, well, once he remembers her that is. Those who are familiar with the books, show (though it plays out differently), or the other two games know about Yen and Geralt’s love and how it “technically” is the result of a Djinn’s power.
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And, what's extra neat, is that players can take on a sidequest where Geralt and Yen hunt down another Djinn to nullify this "Last Wish" and see if their affection is the real deal. Once it's nullified, Yen asks if there are any feelings for her remaining, and players completely have the option of turning her down at this point and saying no. But, how could anyone possibly do that? Obviously, there are fans out there who are bigger fans of Triss than Yennefer, but, after learning of Yen’s past with Geralt and Triss’s manipulation, how could anyone choose to break Yennefer’s heart?
6 Betraying Roche & Ves To Djikstra
This decision may be one of the heaviest in the game, especially since politically it feels like the right call, but interpersonally it feels like pure evil. Basically, Geralt at one point during the “Reason of State” series of quests has to choose between Djikstra (the oddly charming schemer and lover of Phillipa) and Roche (Geralt's friend and a die-hard Temerian loyalist), two fan-favorite characters. And, this isn’t just a simple decision either, Geralt has to choose which one dies. If Geralt was truly neutral, it would make more sense not to intervene between Djikstra’s and Roche’s conflict, but by this point in the quest, Geralt has already assisted in assassinating Radovid, so he’s long past neutral. So, most players end up choosing to protect Roche, but neither decision is really “good” by standard definitions.
5 Leaving Sylvia Anna In The Land Of A Thousand Fables
Blood and Wine is the second major DLC for The Witcher 3, and it’s also quite a huge piece of content with a lot to do. In it, Geralt goes to Toussaint, a beautiful region that's ruled by Anna Henrietta. During his time there, Geralt solves mysteries that involve Sylvia Anna, Henrietta’s sister, a mad vampire by the name of Dettlaff, and a mystical illusionary world of fables. It’s a bit too much to go into now, but all players need to know is that there’s really only one “good” ending to this story. If Geralt doesn’t go into the Fablesphere to get Sylvia, or if he doesn’t convince her to forgive her sister, the sisters die. It’s odd that out of the four possible endings, only one has both sisters survive, but this world is a dark one, after all.
4 Giving Oligerd's Soul To Gaunter (For Free)
Gaunter O’Dimm and the mysteries surrounding him have to be one of the most interesting things introduced in the CD Projekt Red games. He mainly appears in Hearts of Stone, where Geralt works for him to pay back a favor, helping Dimm claim the soul of Olgierd. There’s a lot to figure out throughout the Hearts of Stone main questline, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to whether Geralt saves his soul, or challenges O’Dimm. And, if players choose to bring Olgierd to Gaunter, Geralt is rewarded with a boon. Some of them are fantastic, like a horn that spawns food infinitely, a saddle that turns Roache into a demonic steed, or a bottle of vodka that never goes empty. Each one has its own uses, but oddly enough, Geralt can also ask for money or nothing at all. Choosing either of these is an awful choice, as the monetary reward is only 5000 crowns, not even enough to upgrade the Runecrafter’s shop, and refusing the boon gives him nothing at all.
3 Letting Things Go Bad With Ciri
Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon has three potential endings in the bombastic final section of The Witcher 3. And, a lot of them have to do with specific decisions or dialogue choices players make in regards to Ciri throughout the second half of the game. Basically, pick the wrong option enough times during the mainline quest, and Ciri won’t feel confident during her final battle which leads to her demise. Now, in an attempt not to spoil too much, let’s say that Geralt doesn’t take this too well, and makes some decisions of his own.
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To avoid this grimdark ending, it's pretty simple, just be a good dad! Honestly after looking at the choices players would have to make and things they’d have to say to Ciri to get this "bad" ending, it’s obvious only a certain group of people or those who are specifically aiming for this ending would even get it.
2 Not Ending Junior's Reign
Much like his name suggests, Whoreson Junior is not a stand-up kind of guy. He's really twisted, to say the least. Learning all of this is the result of a few quests in Novigrad involving Ciri, Dudu the Doppler, Dandelion, and Geralt. And, at the end of the questline, Geralt has the choice to spare or slay this obviously demented wannabe crime-lord. Obviously, there are some moral arguments to be made here, but most players agree that sparing him is the wrong choice. And, funnily enough, it’s also the choice that works out the best for everyone as it leads to Doppler Dudu taking his place and turning his business around for the good of Novigrad. But, if he survives, Junior becomes a beggar and faces endless humiliation. While this second option does sound pretty good, there’s no mention of Dudu’s plan in it, so it’s actually the choice that helps the least amount of people.
1 Trying To Romance Both Triss And Yennefer
And lastly, we know Geralt likes to sleep around, but, players should really try and get this hound dog to keep it in his pants. Throughout the game, Geralt has the choice to lay with a fair share of women such as Keira Metz, Shani, Syanna, Triss, Yennefer, Sasha, and tons of courtesans at multiple brothels across the game. Now, most of these options, sadly, benefit Geralt to pursue, but that’s because they’re usually just a “fling” or “night of passion”. Trying to go for both Triss and Yennefer, the two loves of Geralt’s life leads to a world of hurt and should be avoided at all costs (though it is pretty funny).
NEXT: The Witcher: The 6 Biggest Differences Between Ciri In The Game & In The Netflix Series