Large open-world games these days love to include mini-games that players can spend hours mastering. The Witcher has Gwent, a card game that may seem simple from the outside, but requires a decent amount of skill, practice, and tons of collecting.
There are many quests involving Gwent, some mandatory and some secondary, so it's valuable for anyone playing the game to pick up a few tricks. Looking to become a Gwent champion? Make sure you don't make these common mistakes and you will be the best in no time!
10 Not Collecting Enough Cards
There are a seemingly endless amount of opportunities for Geralt to expand his Gwent deck. Nearly every shop vendor, innkeeper, and secondary character in town is willing to play a game of Gwent with Geralt. Winning games leads to winning cards that are available nowhere else in the game! Plus, shopping for cards in each region and town is always worth the investment for those looking to become a master of the cards.
9 Focusing On One Card Type
There are three types of Gwent cards - melee, ranged, and siege - and it's important to collect cards of all types. However, it is definitely a popular strategy to build up a deck of cards of mostly one type paired with a card that cancels out weather effects, which makes sure to protect your cards from any opponent weather cards placed on your specific type. Depending on your strategy, you can have more or less of certain types, but having variety is always important.
8 Not Knowing All The Rules
When playing the Gwent for the first time, players get a helpful tutorial that shows them the ropes of the game. However, many players are too eager to get into bounty hunting and monster killing so they skip through this.
It's important to know each rule of the game or you'll eventually be stuck in a match where you have no idea what's happening. Any aspiring Gwent champion needs to be well versed in the rules of the game if they want to win.
7 Not Reviewing All Your Cards
There are plenty of cards that have special abilities beyond just being a strong (or weak) unit of force. Some cards multiply their power depending on which other cards they are paired with. Other cards can bring discarded cards back to the main deck. It's a mistake to use these cards without being aware of or acknowledging their potential strength. Study each card in your deck and plan potential strategies beforehand!
6 Not Updating Your Deck
Once a Gwent player builds up a pretty solid deck of cards that almost seem unbeatable, things can only go so well for so long. New regions bring new opponents with new attack styles. As Geralt progresses through the game, there will be harder and harder opponents, some of which seem utterly unbeatable. The worst thing to do is keeping the same deck for the entire game's playthrough. Building up your collection of cards and updating your deck as you progress through the game is key to winning.
5 Passing Too Early
There are three rounds in Gwent, and the player has to win two out of three to be the winner. Players can pass their turn whenever they feel is right, from their very first turn to when they play their very last card. A strategy that can be valuable in matches is passing the first round before playing too many strong cards.
This leads to the opponent hopefully playing their best cards in the first round, leaving them with weak cards for the final two rounds. Geralt will then have his best cards left to destroy on the last rounds. Pass too early and you could miss out on the opportunity to get your opponents to lose all their strong cards.
4 Passing Too Late
On the other hand, passing too late can cause an issue, too. Typically, players will pass once the sum of their cards surpasses their opponent's cards, though sometimes this can only happen after playing a majority of their cards before the second round. Passing too late can lead to losing all of your good cards in the first round. Then you have to play the next two rounds with a pitiful number of cards against your opponent who might have saved some overpowered ones. Be sure not to pass too late!
3 Accepting A Loss
As the game goes on, opponents get tougher and tougher. Geralt can simply give up the win and carry on with his life, but the future card champion needs to replay each match again and again until he wins. Never accept a loss, this can lead to Geralt missing out on super valuable and secret cards that can't be found anywhere else! And the only way to become the best Gwent player in the world is to collect every single card.
2 Misusing Weather Cards
It's important to remember that weather cards affect both sides of the playing field. If you throw out a card that will hinder the opponent's melee type, it will also hurt all of your melee types.
Be sure to strategize accordingly so you don't mess up and accidentally wipe out the strength of all your cards, allowing the opponent to take the win against you.
1 Losing Against The Nilfgaardian Nobleman
This guy, located in Vizima, is probably the toughest Gwent player that Geralt will face in his journey to becoming the top Gwent champion. However, he is not unbeatable. He will most likely wipe you out your first (or fifth) time, but don't give up! Giving up is for the weak, not for Gwent champions. Keep updating Geralt's deck and retry the game over and over until victory is yours. Accepting defeat from this challenger will only keep Geralt from being the best.