Of all the RPGs out there, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt might just top them all. With its huge world, intriguing quests, and engaging characters, it's an experience every gamer should have.
The game is not short of its challenges though, and among all of the bosses, the hardest you'll have to face is the Wild Hunt. Coming in multiple installments during the game as each member faces off with Geralt at various stages, you'll want to defeat this despicable group to protect the one they're hunting: Ciri.
Since they're the bosses of the main game, they aren't easy.
10 Patience Is Key
Each Wild Hunt member is a marathon, not a race. There's no button mashing with these, no throwing yourself at them until they die — you'll have to learn patience. A single member can take upwards of thirty minutes, so be prepared because when you enter a fight, you'll be there for a while.
9 Dodge, Dodge, Dodge
While you're learning to be patient, a general rule of thumb is that you should be dodging more than hitting.
Roll, roll, roll, until you're absolutely sure you can land a hit. Then do the same again. It's very tempting to get impatient and take a few risks, but the Wild Hunt are a powerful crew and you can't afford them to land more than a few blows. If you're willing to keep dodging until you're sure you can land your own blow, they might not be able to do a lick of damage.
8 Do The Side Quests
Before you even come face-to-face with the Wild Hunt, exhaust side quests.
Side quests are how you gain potions, oils, and bombs that will improve your combat — but more importantly, they're how you level up. Although it's possible to barrel through the main game and ignore the side quests, you're going to be at a pretty low level by the time you hit the Wild Hunt and this is not advised.
7 Use Igni On Nithral's Hounds
Part of what makes the Wild Hunt difficult to defeat is the fact that they employ allies. Many of them will release creatures to fight you — for example Nithral, the first member you'll face, will release hounds.
The key is to know how to quickly defeat them so you can go back to concentrating on the main enemy. With the hounds, the best thing to do is use Igni on them.
6 Make Good Use Of Quen
No sign will be more valuable to you during these fights then the blocking sign, Quen. Make sure to cast it every few minutes so that if you do get hit, you have some protection in place. It doesn't matter which boss you're facing, even if it's not the Wild Hunt — there are few fights where Quen won't help you even a little, unlike the other signs which have their time and place.
5 Yrden Will Slow Down Imlerith
Yrden won't be too useful to you in most of these fights but as you face off with Imerlith, Yrden will slow him down. It's not as valuable to you as Quen or Igni, but every little helps and if you can remember to swiftly switch between the signs and do anything to help yourself, Yrden is a great idea.
4 Let Caranthir Finish His Own Ice Elemental Off
Nithral has hounds, but Caranthir has something even more terrifying: an ice elemental.
When this guy comes forward, it's easy to panic and prioritize defeating him so that Geralt can go back to concentrating on Caranthir. The best thing to do, however, is to let Caranthir finish off his own ally. Position Geralt so that the ice elemental is between him and Caranthir, and Caranthir's attacks will take down the wrong person.
3 Use Igni To Melt Eredin's Ice Shield
Eredin, however, prefers to emply an ice shield, and common sense tells the player exactly what will take this down.
The fire sign.
This is when Igni is going to come in handy again, and should be casted on the shield the moment it appears. Don't let Eredin have the lapse to take a breather — keep hitting out and when the shield comes up, use Igni to do it.
2 It's Never Over When You Think It Is
The most important thing to remember with the bosses in The Witcher is that its never over when the player thinks it is. The bosses tend to go in stage so that when the health bar is depleted once, another stage appears. Don't set down the controller and celebrate the victory until you're absolutely sure it's over. The bosses will just get increasingly harder, and cutscenes will separate the stages that don't necessarily mean the end of the fight.
1 If All Else Fails, Turn Down The Difficulty
If you're really struggling, chances are it's because the difficulty is on a high setting and there's no shame in turning it down. Just remember you can do this in settings but if you do, any trophies you would have earned for completing the game on the higher difficulty won't be awarded.