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Template:Quest3 Wild At Heart is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that can be picked up in Velen from a notice board.

Walkthrough

This quest can be obtained when traveling to Mulbrydale and checking the notice board for the contract. Afterwards, go to the small village of Blackbough to meet a hunter called Niellen, who can be found standing in front of a hut talking to his sister-in-law, Margaret. When speaking to him, agree to look for his wife Hanna in order to progress.

Search for signs of Hanna in the woods

There are a couple people Geralt can talk to, the butcher's wife and the blacksmith. In addition, the latter's children also give Geralt a bit more information the morning Hanna disappeared.

Now head out to the marker in the woods to find more clues about Hanna's whereabouts. Eventually Geralt finds a pack of wolves gathered around a corpse. After they're dealt with, Margaret appears and attempts to bribe Geralt to lie to Niellen, saying she doesn't want to lose him and he deserves better than this. Geralt has the option to either accept the bribe or keep searching. Should he choose to accept the 65 Oren3, the search field disappears and the quest can be finished by talking to Niellen back in Blackbough. However, the clues still linger and Geralt may still investigate despite telling Margaret otherwise.

Find the werewolf's lair

To continue with the quest, examine the dog corpse then, slightly further away, a bloody mess that must be Hanna, which makes Geralt conclude it's the work of a werewolf. There are also claw marks around that should be clearly visible with Witcher Senses. Follow the trail of marks to a scratched stone leaning against a tree. Upon inspection he will exclaim he can't climb the tree and that he should look around on the ground instead. There's a tuft of fur nearby that should be examined which will allow Geralt to follow the werewolf's scent. Follow the trail which leads to some torn male clothes and eventually to an isolated shack. Enter the shack and pick up the mysterious notes lying on the floor. Reading them is optional but can provide additional information.

Exit the shack and use Witcher Senses to follow a trail of blood to the werewolf's lair entrance hidden underneath the shack. Use Aard on the door or break it in with a weapon. It is worth visiting the lair during daytime for the first time, as the werewolf appears only at night and there are some valuables to collect. Getting familiar with the cave before the boss fight also increases Geralt's odds when fighting the werewolf later on.

Fighting the werewolf

Since this encounter is a boss fight, preparation is crucial on higher levels at the very least. Make sure to have enough food and drink on hand, as well as potions and bombs.

Once you enter the cave, or if you meditated/waited in the cave for nightfall, the werewolf and three weaker wolves will run in from the entrance. It's recommended to deal with the wolves separately or from a distance so the much stronger werewolf can be dealt with on its own.

The werewolf swiftly claws at Geralt, dealing moderate damage, but his attacks are very aggressive. This is best returned with highly active and equally aggressive tactics, as he stuns Geralt when attempting to parry or countering his hits. Thus, dodging and rolling works much better as a defensive tactic. It's also worth using fast strikes with the silver sword rather than attempting to set up heavy strikes or long chains of actions. Once the werewolf's health bar reaches half, with a howl he starts regenerating health. Take advantage of the howl as it leaves him vulnerable to a few heavy attacks. This is where Geralt has to make use of his signs, potions, and bombs the most since he has to out-damage the werewolf's regeneration - switching to defensive tactics would only allow the werewolf to regain health.

A cutscene will interrupt the fight once the werewolf's health is low enough. Geralt learns that Margaret knew Niellen was a werewolf for a long time and secretly loved him regardless. She then decided to show her sister what Niellen was, thinking Hanna would be disgusted and leave him. However, this plan backfired and Niellen slaughtered his own wife in a blind bloodlust. Enraged at this, Niellen threatens to kill Margaret for what she's done. Geralt is given the option to tell Margaret to leave so he can finish Niellen himself, resulting in a brief continuation of the battle, or let Niellen have his revenge.

If Geralt allows Niellen to enact his revenge, the werewolf will slaughter Margaret without mercy, after which he returns to Geralt to ask for death. Geralt obliges and kills Niellen without resistance. Whichever course is taken, the quest completes and Geralt may loot Niellen's corpse for a key to a chest in the shack for additional loot. Note however, that if Niellen is allowed to exact his revenge he will only drop the key and no werewolf items, which drop only if you choose to continue to fight.

Journal entry

While muddling around the well-shaded village of Blackbough, Geralt happened across a notice. It stated a hunter named Niellen was looking for any help he could get in finding his wife, who had disappeared in the nearby woods a few days earlier. Geralt, already deep in a search-and-rescue vein, decided to help find the woman.
If Geralt agrees with Margaret:
While Geralt was combing the woods for signs of the missing woman, he came across Margaret, Hanna's sister. The woman asked the witcher to abandon his search and tell Niellen his wife was dead. Margaret thought the sooner Niellen came to terms with his loss, the sooner he would be able to put it behind him and start living his life. Geralt decided this made sense and agreed.
If Geralt declines Margaret's offer and continues to search:
The story of Hanna's disappearance had a tragic end. It turned out she had been killed by her own husband. He did not do this on purpose, however. Afflicted with the curse of lycanthropy, he would hide in the forest during his transformations in order to protect his friends and loved ones.
Hanna's sister Margaret knew this secret, and had one of her own - she was in love with Niellen and fiercely jealous of Hanna's life with him. She decided to take Hanna into the woods to watch her husband's transformation, hoping she'd then abandon him in disgust. Sadly, Hanna was careless enough to draw the werewolf's attention. Margaret was able to escape, but her sister was not so lucky. Niellen, transformed into a bloodthirsty beast, slaughtered the love of his life with his own hands.

Objectives

  • Talk to the hunter named Niellen.
  • Search for signs of Hanna in the woods using your Witcher Senses.
  • Find the werewolf's lair using your Witcher Senses.
  • Search the werewolf's lair.
  • Wait for nightfall. (Only shows if it's not nighttime)
  • Enter the cave.
  • Defeat the werewolf.

Notes

  • A few days later, you can run into a group of peasants in the village discussing the three's fate.
    • If Geralt let Niellen kill Margaret (and thus killed Niellen) the villagers will mention how both sisters have gone missing and they believe Niellen became depressed from this and left the area as he hasn't been heard from since.
    • If you lied to Niellen and simply told him his wife was dead, the villages were comment that Margaret was found torn to shreds at the forest's edge and Niellen has left the village even before that.

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