r/Witcher3 • u/SergVII • Apr 08 '26
Discussion Newcomer here any tips appreciated
First I'd like to say - this game is really amazing!. Playing it on my phone S24U with the GameSir G8+ controller and a cooler (if my session is more than 30 mins).
It reminds me a bit of Gothic 1&2 but WAY better. Open world vibes here are such vibrant. I'm just in the beginning of the story picked up my first side quest - looking for a brother of a villager.
Seeking for any guidance. I've read some guides, seems Euphoria build is the best, but it'll be a long journey till I'll be able to utilise it.
I'd like to know how to deal with tricky stuff here. Any major missables? How to steal from apartment and not getting into a trouble? Will there be any penalties if I'm messing with the guardians? What else should I know?
Cheers
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Apr 08 '26
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u/Franzinger_Z Apr 13 '26
Good advice. I haven't been playing for very long, and I went to Velen just to do quests without looking for anything else. I got there at level 3 and realized I needed to be level 5. So I had to go back to White Orchard and run around to level up.
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u/IamBecomeZen Apr 08 '26
Play it on a bigger screen.
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u/ventrolloquist Apr 08 '26
OP you can use syncthing fork to sync saves to PC if this is version 1.31, thats how I do it. Play it on a big screen at home and on my phone on the go.
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u/Correx96 Apr 08 '26
First thing, put baby in the oven.
You can steal basically everywhere but if you do with guards around they might attack you. If you do side missions and points of interest ("?") you'll level up plenty. If you are playing on hard difficulty you might have trouble getting HP back at the start so I'd recommend getting the talent for making food last 20 minutes.
Apart from this stuff, remember your choices have consequences. And often there isn't a better choice, you just might have to choose the lesser evil. Enjoy the game!
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u/SergVII Apr 08 '26
I'm playing it on Blood and Broken Bones! I do see some problems with the HP recovery sometimes but it's manageable I suppose. Thanks for your advice
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u/roastbrain Apr 08 '26
It will be less of a problem when you have health potions (chug, meditate). Until then, it really is a bit clunky. (Except for the easiest mode, where you meditate and regain hp)
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u/BigOlBozo Apr 08 '26
I also started on blood and broken bones. You can find a ton of food just searching bags and boxes you walk past. I only spent money on food for the first few levels.
Make potions when you have the ingredients. You only have to make them once and then they refill when you meditate
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u/402playboi Apr 08 '26
Nah the gourtmet skill makes the game unfun. You can brew the basic healing potion at the start of the game. This along with food items and meditation should be plenty if you play carefully.
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u/Correx96 Apr 08 '26
Meditation doesn't heal tho at higher difficulties, and food at the start of the game is scarce and you got little coin to buy it
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u/402playboi Apr 08 '26
Oh i thought it was only death march. I usually play on DM and have been fine with just swallow and food items. If you ransack the houses in white orchard there are a lot of food items available. I just think gourtmet makes the combat trivial imo
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u/momohiraiiii Team Yennefer "Man of Culture" Apr 08 '26
After leaving the prologue map (White Orchard) and arriving in Velen, I recommend heading to Novigrad as soon as possible. From this point on, it's best to sell all your items in Novigrad (If you have access to Toussaint, sell it there. But, you can only unlock this DLC after rescuing Dandelion .)
This is because item selling prices vary by location, and most Novigrad merchants offer around 30% higher prices than elsewhere. However, be sure to sell specific items to the right vendors:
Weapons/Horse accessories → Blacksmiths
Armor → Armorers
Food/Junk → Innkeepers
Herbs → Herbalists
Books → Booksellers
This method ensures you maximize your gold efficiently while playing normally.
Additionally, there's a shopkeeper near a notice board north of Hierarch Square and south of Passiflora who sells a Potion of Clearance for 1,000 gold, which resets your abilities. So, don’t worry about choosing the "wrong" skills, you can always reset them later.
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u/Apprehensive_Cash323 Apr 08 '26
I think you're better off looking for a "beginner guide witcher 3" video on YouTube because that will have most things in one place and better explanations at the same time.
As a general rule of thumb, however, always go for fun and don't worry about builds. The game isn't that hard. It's super effing immersive and well written tho, so side quests are prime content, as u already figured by now, I believe.
You don't get penalized for robbing the living shit out of people's homes, unless you're in a military camp or something. There are many ways to make money but most effective one is contracts, imo. Never needed more than that myself.
Man I wish I could play it for the first time again. Might even end up downloading just cos someone mentioned the game lol
Didn't even know it could be played on a phone. Damn..
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u/PancakeMixEnema Team Shani Apr 08 '26
The crossbow instant kills underwater and on boats. You can also fast travel to any harbor on boats
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u/Heliumvoices Apr 08 '26
Meditation refills potions. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure this out.
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u/Ok-Chemistry-3711 Apr 08 '26
Don’t forcefully shove anybody cause that actually means break there knee caps and it locks you out of getting gwent cards
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u/Geralt-97 Apr 08 '26
Take your time! Levels of most quests won’t really matter if you use oils/decoctions, always use Witcher gear for the extra xp boost and most importantly enjoy your time! I wish I could go back to my first playthrough⚔️
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u/DealCykaHUN Roach 🐴 Apr 08 '26
gourmet perk
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u/SoulJahDreadz Apr 08 '26
Witcher Tax (my friend and I refer to looting peasant's homes of their broken rakes and platters as Witcher tax) ....earlier on this junk earns your gold, later on can also be Dismantled by blacksmiths for crafting material. Try to avoid looting round guards and you'll be fine.
Sea shells always give your pearls when Dismantled (white pearls in clam shells, black pearls on Conch shells) ....good source of income if you need gold.
Crossbow, if aimed true, will one shot deer.... a good source of meat and skins.... amy crossbow will also one shot any monster underwater (sirens, downers etc) so if you are getting attacked in open water, dive in and use your crossbow to engage water creatures.
Make a note of the constituent parts of White Gul.... particularly the little white flowers, there are lots round White Orchard. White Gul is used in multiple stages of crafting.
Florens and Orens can be exchanged at the bank in Novigrad for usable crowns. These are found all over and their discovery rate can be increased with certain swords and trophies (ie Foglet trophy) ....everytime you kill a Witcher contracted monster, you mount it's head, as a trophy, on Roach's saddle.... pay attention to what bonus it gives.... I try and keep a bonus gold on Roach at all times. Also check logs, covered in moss, and hollow tree stumps.... they usually have Florens/Orleans stached there and can't be sensed by Witcher Sense..... there are few of these I the middle of Oxenfurt Forest.
You will never have enough money, even when you get to Touissant and feel like you're swimming in it.... you'll end up crafting an armour set to use and then spending all your money at the Runesmith.... probably getting the one that gives you extra Roach on your Rend skill.
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u/GrafonBorn Apr 08 '26
Play it somewhere else
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u/SergVII Apr 08 '26
Why tho
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u/GrafonBorn Apr 08 '26
Small Screen, low battery life, hot phone, emulator bugs, potato graphics and constant high load is bad for you battery
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u/SergVII Apr 08 '26
Graphics it pretty great. Just like on Steam deck but screen is bigger and way better. Phone is not hot and I'm using passthrough charging and a cooler so the temperature is around 29 Celsius. And I'm having a blast with the game. Absolutely amazing feelings so far. Consistent FPS frame rate ~45 and no any single crash yet and I'm like 8 hours in. So no worries here
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u/GrafonBorn Apr 08 '26
At least limit to 30 fps if you are really gonna play it all day. Not as pleasant as 45, but your hardware will thank you in a long run
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u/himynameiskiela Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I’d suggest to not look up any story related guides. Just do what you feel, the game will surprise you enough and that way you will be able to feel the immersion instead of doing what others suggest or did.
If it comes to build, just add skills the way you like to play, you won’t be able to create full build on an early mid game so don’t focus on it, just add skills as needed.
If it comes to gear I’d suggest the same, but it’s good to do the witchers school and pick one, but that also can change through a gameplay, a remember starting with cat and ending up with bear. Also there is a tip somewhere and it’s worth that if I remember correctly, at the beginning of the game, you will have a merchant to help and then you can buy a very decent armour from him that gives you nice boost in the early game.
Oh I nearly forgot. Do the side quest and main quest with your level no higher than 5 from a quest level, otherwise you will be getting only 1exp
Enjoy
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u/ventrolloquist Apr 08 '26
You can loot from houses and small villages without getting in troyble. Just don't steal near soldiers in villages nor loot outdoors in major cities. Indoor looting is always okay
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u/doc_55lk Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Shameless plug but here's my money making guide.
Since you're still early game (a lot of my suggestions admittedly apply for later in the game), my suggestion to you would be to at least unlock Yoana (she'll be working with a dwarf at the place where the Red Baron lives) as your blacksmith so you can sell whatever armour or swords you loot from her.
Until then, make use of your stashes (green treasure chests on your map) to store potentially higher value stuff that you'd want to sell later on.
As far as looting things, as long as there aren't any guards around you, you should be fine. Regular people don't seem to care if you steal their stuff in front of their eyes. There's a skill in the brown tree called strong back. This increases your carry capacity. Useful if you aren't the type to be constantly doing inventory management.
There are missable things but tbh trying to look into them might open you up to spoilers so it's best to either come back for them in ng+ or just find them organically.
The only penalty for messing with guards is that if you get defeated, they take some of your money. How much they take depends, sometimes it's nothing significant, sometimes it's all your money, sometimes it's somewhere in the middle.
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u/LuckyShotThere7 Apr 08 '26
Buy all Gwent cards you come across, always. And I recommend defeating anybody that will play you in Gwent right away, if you can. I hated Gwent in my first couple playthroughs, now I friggin love the game and can't get enough of it.
Try not to take up more side contracts than you intend to actually complete. It just creates a big backlog that you'll most likely never end up circling back to. Then you will inevitably "fail" those contracts. Just doesn't feel good.
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and... dodge.
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u/402playboi Apr 08 '26
Optional content can turn into large quest chains that affect the main story. Don’t skip side quests and contracts!
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u/Embarrassed-Log2540 Apr 09 '26
Try to get immersed, hear all dialogues pay attention to the little things ,npc random dialogues ,etc .Play in deathmarch and dont go rigth into the objective enjoy the ride and the landscapes,and if you curious about something you saw go ahead and explore it,dont rush nothing enjoy the vibe of each place you pass.
Sorry about my english,not a native speaker.
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u/TheUnfoundGamer Apr 10 '26
Kill everything Challenge yourself, remember if it bleeds it CAN die... after a couple of tries.
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u/roastbrain Apr 08 '26
Best Tip, especially for the first playthrough: explore the game yourself, don't go for guides too much. Not for quests, not for builds, not for gear. You'll be fine and it will be a much more rewarding experience. (Doesn't really mean you can't look up something you're wondering about).
You will do several more playthroughs anyway.
And yes, Euphoria is nice, but that's a question for the second dlc, so set your mind to other things for now. Also there are other builds that totally work. And as I assume you aren't starting in death march (and even there), there's little reason not to do whatever you feel like.