[Paxal]

Hi All,

I'm supposed to get documents from both the camp and the sewers, but I don't seem to have them, maybe I  wasn't concentrating. Can anyone help?

Paxal a real witcher..lol

[Corylea]

After you finish the Salamandra outpost in the sewers, you should see our old friend Jailer Jethro waiting for you right outside.  Talk to him, and he'll direct you to another section of the sewers, where the head of the operation is; that person is the one who has the documents in question.

And in the swamps, freeing the three groups of enslaved brickmakers doesn't give you the documents.  AFTER those groups have all been freed, talk to Vaska and to the Hierophant in the Druid's Grove.  The Hierophant will help you lure the biggest bad guy in the swamps to a place where he (AND his tame wyvern) will help you kill the guy.  The other document you need is on that guy's corpse, once you kill him.

[Paxal]

Many Many thanks, Just thought I was going completely mad! All occurred as you suggested :)

I'm a Witcher you know! :)

[sepulchre]

I know this is resurrecting (I hope) an old thread but . . .
I've cleared the Salamandra from the sewers and Talked to Jethro. If he directed me to another part I don't recall, it's been awhile. I didn't realize at the time that everything was dependent on this task. But more recently I freed the brickmakers in the swamp. I spoke with Vaska who gave me the blessing of the water gods, or spirits. Anyway, she said nothing about the Druids. But after reading what you've revealed above I went to see Hierophant. But he didn't have anything to say about helping me kill a big bad guy.

So, having gotten things out of order am I lost? Is there some way to retrace these steps?

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

I've cleared the Salamandra from the sewers and Talked to Jethro. If he directed me to another part I don't recall, it's been awhile.

Do you have a quest item called Key to the Salamandra Code? (Remember that your quest inventory scrolls back and forth.) If you do, then you followed Jethro's directions, killed Gellert Blenheim, and looted his body. If you don't have that quest item, then there's still something you need to do in the sewers.

sepulchre said:

But more recently I freed the brickmakers in the swamp. I spoke with Vaska who gave me the blessing of the water gods, or spirits. Anyway, she said nothing about the Druids. But after reading what you've revealed above I went to see Hierophant. But he didn't have anything to say about helping me kill a big bad guy.

So, having gotten things out of order am I lost? Is there some way to retrace these steps? ›››

You don't get the "Diplomacy and Hunting" quest if you attack the Salamandra base in the sewers before saving the brickmakers. All that does, though, is mean that you won't get the experience points from this quest. You can still get the quest item you need -- the Encrypted Document -- from the body of Roland Blenheim. To do this, you'll need to attack the Salamandra camp in the Swamps. They're camping where the non-humans were camping in Chapter 2.

There are a lot of Salamanders in that camp, but since access to the camp is via a narrow bridge, you can stand on that bridge and take them out one by one. Make sure you notice which one is Roland Blenheim (not to be confused with GELLERT Blenheim, the main Salamander in the sewers) and loot his body for the document.

There wasn't THAT much experience for doing the "Diplomacy and Hunting" quest, so you've mostly just missed the fun of fighting alongside the Hierophant and his tame wyvern, but you get to kill an entire encampment of Salamanders all by yourself, and that's fun, too. So you've missed a little something, but you're not stuck, and you can still finish the chapter.

[sepulchre]

Well, I do have the decoder and the letter from Gellert so I guess I did that right (surprisingly enough). And even though I apparently did them in the wrong order I actually do have the Diplomacy and Hunting quest. Hierophant wants me to get a mushroom for him. So I'm on the right track? If not, I found where I can reload and start these again.

I just got back into this after having set it aside for some months (life requires attention at time). It seems that I've left many quests open and unfinished. Is this normal? I'm trying to "clean up my acts" now but it can be confusing when I don't recall the details of each quest. However, thanks to this place I can get reacquainted fairly painlessly. Thank you for these efforts, and thanks for your help with this particular snag as well.

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

Hierophant wants me to get a mushroom for him.

You said you'd talked to all the druids, and they had nothing to say to you, but um, that doesn't seem to be the situation.

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So I'm on the right track? If not, I found where I can reload and start these again.

Yes, you're doing fine.

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I just got back into this after having set it aside for some months (life requires attention at time). It seems that I've left many quests open and unfinished. Is this normal?

Quite normal.

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I'm trying to "clean up my acts" now but it can be confusing when I don't recall the details of each quest.

You might want to re-start from the beginning of Chapter 3, so you see how everything fits together; the story will make more sense that way.

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However, thanks to this place I can get reacquainted fairly painlessly. Thank you for these efforts, and thanks for your help with this particular snag as well.

You're welcome!

[sepulchre]

Hi,

To clarify, I didn't talk to all of the Druids, just Hierophant. And I didn't yet have the mushroom. I didn't realize at the time that the two quests were related. So he didn't have much to say. Now I know that he sent me after the mushroom as a result of the initial quest. I was simply unaware of how the quests relate. I guess that's what I get for having to leave the game for so long. My memory's not the best.

Anyway, thanks again. I have given the documents to Leuvaarden who said to meet him later so his decoders could decipher the texts (though I also gave him the decoder). So I'm on my way.

[sepulchre]

Okay, Hahaha! I've fought these guy 5 times and can't get anywhere.

Oh well.

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

Okay, Hahaha! I've fought these guy 5 times and can't get anywhere. ›››

1. What sword are you using?
2. What potions are you using?
3. What blade enhancement do you have on your sword?
4. What tactics are you using?

1. Remember to use your STEEL sword on humans; the silver sword is for monsters. By this point in the game, you should either have found Harvall in the Swamp, or you should have made a 3-meteorite sword; you shouldn't still be using the plain steel sword that Vesemir gave you in the Prologue.

2. At some point, the Hierophant says that you should make whatever preparations you need to make. This is a good time to put oil on your sword and to quaff a potion or two. Swallow is a no-brainer; it'll help you heal faster. If you're having trouble with this fight, you might also want a Full Moon potion, which doubles your hit points. You might want to have a White Raffard's Decoction in reserve, to take if you get down to that black-and-white, hear-your-heartbeat, near-death state. Or, if you've put a lot of skill points into your Signs, you might want a Tawny Owl instead of the Full Moon; it depends on how you play.

And don't forget the additional substances! A Nigredo potion increases your damage by 20%, a Rubedo potion increases your rate of healing, and an Albedo potion reduces the toxicity of any potion you take after it. These things stack with other bonuses, so you can have Swallow AND Rubedo effects active simultaneously. You can have diamond dust on your sword AND a Nigredo effect. By this point in the game, I'm making all of my Swallows Nigredo. Or perhaps you'd prefer Rubedo. Take a Swallow Nigredo and a Full Moon Rubedo, and you'll be VERY hard to kill.

3. You'll want a blade enhancement. A whetstone will increase your damage by 10%, a grindstone by 20%, and diamond dust by 40%. (These don't stack, so you have to choose ONE.) Or you could use an oil. Hanged Man's Venom poisons wounded opponents, Brown oil causes bleeding, and Crinfrid oil causes pain. The point of Crinfrid oil isn't sadism; rather, opponents who are in pain double over and moan for awhile, which means that they stop attacking you for a short time. That makes Crinfrid oil especially useful when fighting groups of enemies, since forcing several of them to stop attacking you for a time cuts down on the number of enemies you have to fight at once. If you put Crinfrid oil on your blade and do group style on a group of enemies, one or more of them should stop attacking you for a bit.

4. When dealing with large groups, you can either use Group Style and try to hit everyone around you at once, or you can approach the edge of a group, engage with one opponent, then run away a short distance (short enough that he follows you) and fight him there. This allows you to take on a group of opponents one at a time.

And don't forget your Signs! Aard can stun an opponent, allowing you to kill him in one move. Igni can set opponents on fire, so you can Igni a group first, then fight them with your sword. They'll take damage from any incineration effects AND from your sword at the same time, enabling you to deal a lot of damage. Quen makes you unhittable for a short time, which can give you some breathing room to take White Raffard's Decoction or to let your Swallow heal you up a bit.

And, since you're the fastest thing in the game, you can run. Don't be afraid to run in circles, leading them along behind you like the Pied Piper. You heal while you run, so if you run ahead of them, you can get out of striking range and heal up while you're running. I think you might fail the quest if you run TOO far, so run in circles, not clear back to the landing.

This fight is entirely winnable! I'm sure you can do it, you just need to remind yourself of how combat goes in The Witcher, after being away from it for a few months.


If worse comes to worst, you can upload your game to MediaFire (zip it first, please!), send me the URL, and I'll play you past this point. But I think it will be more satisfying if you do it yourself.

[sepulchre]

Wow! Thanks for all that! It's not the battle with Hierophant that I'm having trouble with; that one went fairly well. It's the Salamander lair in town I'm finding tough, the one that Leuvaarden's guard agent put me onto. They contact their leader magically (who refuses to help them) and then discover Geralt and attack. One of their number is a pretty strong mage who conjures some critter to join the fight.

A couple of times I came close, killed some of them but in the end succumbed to the remaining ones including the critter and the mage. Btw, if I kill the mage does the conjured critter go away? I've spread my experience pretty evenly toward battle skills and magic. Maybe my attempts to be well rounded were a mistake.

Anyway, I'll reload well before the fight and get busy preparing some appropriate potions. With all you've told me I should be able to get through it.

Again, many thanks for your time and effort. This game is worthy of the time it takes (IMHO), and having a helping hand through the rough spots makes all the difference to a novice like me.

[*Tommy*]

This particular fight can be rough to newcomers of the game. Crinfrid oil on the steel blade will help as will almost anything that applies extra damage. And yes try to take out the mage as soon as possible. Also don`t forget Igni as a sign to use. Most human when they`re on fire won`t be able to attack for a short period of time.

[sepulchre]

Cool, I'll see if I have the formula for Crinfrid. I don't have the formula for either Full Moon or White Rafford's Decoction. I must have missed them somewhere along the way. I do have some Diamond dust.

I'm wondering if I should start over with collecting potion ingredients and formulas (formulae?) in mind. I thought I could hack & slay my way through most anything. Live and learn.

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

Wow! Thanks for all that!

You're welcome!

sepulchre said:

It's not the battle with Hierophant that I'm having trouble with; that one went fairly well. It's the Salamander lair in town I'm finding tough, the one that Leuvaarden's guard agent put me onto.

Well, the tips I've given you help with most fights, so that advice should still be good.

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They contact their leader magically

That's not actually their leader. Make sure you talk to him yourself when the fight is done.

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Again, many thanks for your time and effort. This game is worthy of the time it takes (IMHO), and having a helping hand through the rough spots makes all the difference to a novice like me. ›››

The Witcher is a wonderful game, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. I agree with you; I think the time and attention The Witcher takes are well worth it.

sepulchre said:

Cool, I'll see if I have the formula for Crinfrid. I don't have the formula for either Full Moon or White Rafford's Decoction. I must have missed them somewhere along the way. I do have some Diamond dust.

You can make any oil or potion in the game if you use the right ingredients, even if you don't have the formula. It will be called "Unknown Potion" or "Unknown Oil" when you first make it, but it will be identified the first time you use it. So if you don't mind a bit of mild cheating, you can look up the formulae in the Witcher Wiki; that's why I gave you links for some of the potions and oils in my previous post. The Wiki's general potion page is here, and its oil page is here, so you can look up the formulae for any of them that you need.

[sepulchre]

Thanks, Corylea! You're the best!

When you say "Full Moon Rubedo" do you mean a Full Moon potion made with ingredients that also contain Rubedo?

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

When you say "Full Moon Rubedo" do you mean a Full Moon potion made with ingredients that also contain Rubedo? ›››

Yes. If EVERY ingredient in a potion has the same secondary substance, then the completed potion will have the properties of that substance in addition to its main effect. But having only a few ingredients with a secondary substance does nothing; it has to be EVERY ingredient.

This only works for potions, by the way; secondary substances do nothing when used in an oil. So experienced players often use those ingredients that don't have any secondary substances when they make oils, so as to save their ingredients with secondary substances for potions.


If you look at this picture, you'll see that the ingredients have colored rings around them. Black is Nigredo, White is Albedo, and Red is Rubedo:




In this picture, you can see that all four ingredients have a black ring around them; this potion would be nigredo:




You don't have to remember which potion has which secondary substances once you've made them, though; the game keeps track of that for you. In this picture, you can see that the description of the Swallow potion (what you get when you hover your cursor over it in your inventory) changes with the substance:




Similarly, here are the potion descriptions for Full Moon with and without Rubedo:

[sepulchre]

Excellent! Great explanation! I was reading the manual when you answered and saw that the 'booster' ingredients have to be in all the ingredients added but I didn't know about the colored rings. I also wondered how I would tell them from the plain ones I have. (I apparently mixed a boat load of Swallows - like 45 of them) So now I know.

After a visit to the market I've got enough for this battle - a Full Moon Rubedo and a Swallow Nigredo, plus a White Rafford Decoction for good measure. I read somewhere that you need to drink the Full Moon and wait to heal all the way so I'll give myself time for that.

And I'm going to get a nice sword - I have 3 blue meteorite pieces. I also have this "Illegal" sword from some fight or other. It causes pain and it says -20% damage. So it damages less? Anyway, I'll be using the meteorite sword in the fight.

And I'll speak to the fellow in the mirror when it's over as well. I am determined to get through it and armed with your gracious help it shouldn't be as hard. Thanks again!

[sepulchre]

Okay, that worked like a charm! And the ensuing story / graphic was great.

Thank you for illuminating the use of the proper potions. I'm becoming quite the alchemist as a result.

[Corylea]

sepulchre said:

Okay, that worked like a charm! And the ensuing story / graphic was great.

Glad to hear it!

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Thank you for illuminating the use of the proper potions. I'm becoming quite the alchemist as a result.

At some point in the game, Geralt says, "A witcher without his potions is only half a witcher," so you're a FULL witcher now.