[Ignis]

Is there a way to end this game with a strong north and have it not be so divided?.

Roche's path im guessing its pretty obvious if you let Henselt live he will take control of Aedirn and be a strong force against the invading army to come. Anais goes to Natalis, which also suggest it makes it stronger in not having everyone out for the throne anymore. Ofcourse then there is Aryan, to kill or not.

I cannot figure out how to get a strong north on Iorveth path tho. This Stennis fellow, i just cant figure this character out other then he seem like a pompous brat that would roll over the second a Nilfgaard shows up.

[Aver]

Stennis admitted that Aedirn doesn't have real army anymore (after fights against Saskia), so I think that killing him will be good for north because it will make Saskia's rebel army stronger. But overall I think that on Iorveth path north is way weaker.

It's better to let Aryan live because, if you kill him his mother will support Nilfgaard.

[Teamsleeper]

You can look at it this way too -
If you choose Iorveth, Henselt and Radovid divivde temeria between them and Temeria is chaotic even if you choose Roche path. So Kaedwen and Redenia are significantly stronger!
Aedirn is utterly useless indeed, though its hard to forsee what will Stennis' death will achieve, it may breed more chaos for all we know.

The way I see it is that Aedirn and Temeria are finished , better just clear the way.
I wish to add that this is a political\military point of view entirely. I haven't mentioned what's right and wrong in terms of doing the right thing, regardless of how will do northern kingdoms will manage.
I personally prefer to choose Iorveth and save Saskia.

[Costin Moroianu]

It would be better if Aryan lives.

Here's my opinion.

On Roche's Path I think it's best to have Anais given to Radovid. Natalis just isn't a politician. He might be able to keep the country together but fighting Nilfgaard will require just as much political skill as it will require military skill and Natalis will likely fall in line behind Radovid, who is a rather good politician.

Henselt should be spared or Kaedwen will fall into civil war.

On Iorveth's path I believe it best to spare Stennis or Aedirn falls into chaos, while in the very long run this might benefit Saskia in the short term you have the Mongol Horde of Nilfgaard moving north. It's better if Aedirn stays stable. Saskia will not be the relevant against them despise what some might want to believe.

Also you should save Triss so the Conclave get's formed, leave Saskia alive but do not save Iorveth. The reason for this is that while Saskia is a good figurehead and good military leader ( though I would place my money on Henselt and Natalis in an actual open battle and not a siege Henselt rushed ) she is a terrible politician. However if Phillipa controls her, well that might best for the North.

Or you could save Triss and save Iorveth from the troops to get the dagger. It's up to you, but I strongly feel that on Iorveth's path setting up the conclave is much better then freeing Saskia at that very moment.

[Teamsleeper]

I agree.
About giving Anais to Radovid - that means that he will take all of Temeria for himself.
Which makes Redenia incredibly strong, and Kaedwen weaker.
So it is likely that Radovid will become ruler for the entire north eventually.

[Teamsleeper]

+ Keeping Iorveth alive means he will fight Nilfgaard as well because he despises them!

[gorthuar]

I'd opt for saving Triss (and by extent the Conclave) even on Roche's path. This means both Redania and Kaedwen grow in power almost equaly, but gives them the organised support of sorcerers for the coming war.

[Costin Moroianu]

gorthuar said:

I'd opt for saving Triss (and by extent the Conclave) even on Roche's path. This means both Redania and Kaedwen grow in power almost equaly, but gives them the organised support of sorcerers for the coming war.

If Henselt is alive sure. The issue with that is that Henselt isn't the best of politicians and it is likely that some Temerian nobles would betray the North to side with Nilfgaard. Also there is the question of Mahakham, Verden etc.

Quote

I agree.
About giving Anais to Radovid - that means that he will take all of Temeria for himself.
Which makes Redenia incredibly strong, and Kaedwen weaker.
So it is likely that Radovid will become ruler for the entire north eventually.

Not necessarily. Henselt took the Pontar Valley which is very rich and he likely will take control of all of Aedirn eventually ( if the North wins )

[Norlak]

Costin Moroianu said:

It would be better if Aryan lives.

Here's my opinion.

On Roche's Path I think it's best to have Anais given to Radovid. Natalis just isn't a politician. He might be able to keep the country together but fighting Nilfgaard will require just as much political skill as it will require military skill and Natalis will likely fall in line behind Radovid, who is a rather good politician.

Henselt should be spared or Kaedwen will fall into civil war.

On Iorveth's path I believe it best to spare Stennis or Aedirn falls into chaos, while in the very long run this might benefit Saskia in the short term you have the Mongol Horde of Nilfgaard moving north. It's better if Aedirn stays stable. Saskia will not be the relevant against them despise what some might want to believe.

Also you should save Triss so the Conclave get's formed, leave Saskia alive but do not save Iorveth. The reason for this is that while Saskia is a good figurehead and good military leader ( though I would place my money on Henselt and Natalis in an actual open battle and not a siege Henselt rushed ) she is a terrible politician. However if Phillipa controls her, well that might best for the North.

Or you could save Triss and save Iorveth from the troops to get the dagger. It's up to you, but I strongly feel that on Iorveth's path setting up the conclave is much better then freeing Saskia at that very moment. ›››

I don't think saving Iorveth will force you to free Saskia. The option is just there though.

[Costin Moroianu]

Perhaps, but Iorveth himself will want to free Saskia if you save him...and well maybe if he is saved he will help the North, or he will weaken it ( a LOT of humans hate him for the fact he butchered thousands of them, and for good reason ).

[Aditya_the_warrior_within]

a very good discussion
I believe on both roche and iorveth path save triss and let the conclave form (which I have not done yet, on my next playthroughs)
roche path henselt is irrelevant spared or killed, radovid will eventually be stronger
iorveth path aerdirn is relatively bit better positioned
as users above said, temeria is kind of useless now despite giving anais to natalis as reforming the conclave is a better strong option
overall if i have to say, in iorveth path, save triss save saskia and iorveth for politically and stronger north
with this i just hope it doesn't cost the life of roche, iorveth or saskia in the next game as that would be very saddening and I'd prefer other save options just for that reason

[KnightofPhoenix]

I believe that a strong Kaedwen and Redania are the North's only hope. Temeria thus should go to Redania, who will focus on the Western front, while Kaedwen takes Aedirn and focuse on the Eastern front.

As the previous war has shown, both fronts need to be secured. If the North loses on one front, the war is all but lost.

[M4xw0lf]

I think the North's only hope would be some weird magical freak accident which results in a totally unexpected ten thousand-fold multiplication of geralt to form the first and only incredible witchers army.

[Sirnaq]

Simple
let Arian live, Roche path, let Henselt live, go for Triss in act 3, dont kill dragon, let Sile live.

[Teamsleeper]

How does Aryan help ?

[gorthuar]

Sirnaq said:

Simple
let Arian live, Roche path, let Henselt live, go for Triss in act 3, dont kill dragon, let Sile live. ›››

I would actually make an argument in favor of killing Saskia. She might destabilise Henselt's rule. And, under Philippa's spell, she might start a killing spree in Redania. Vengeance on Radovid by dragon proxy, and all that.

[Kindo]

I was musing about this for my latest playthrough. In my opinion, it would simply be best to admit that Aedirn and Temeria as we know them, are done for, and these kingdoms would in one way or another go to Henselt and Radovid, respectively.

• Adda lives: This gives Radovid a stronger tie to Temeria, which will influence things later on.
• Aryan lives: This prevents the La Valettes from making a pact with Nilfgaard.
• Roche's path (Act 2): This ensures that Saskia's rebellion fails; there are more important things happening, and the peasants and nobles alike need to be put back into order and unity (even if reluctantly). Stennis dies before any important events take place, helping Henselt's plans for Aedirn.
• Henselt lives: This allows for him to take over Upper Aedirn, and soon the rest of Aedirn. With Stennis dead, it's just a matter of time before this is so. This gives birth to a massively strong Kaedwen that is rich in resources both monetary and military.
• Roche's path (Act 3)/Neutral path (Act 3): This is where I am no longer entirely clear on how to handle the choices. If you take Roche's path and rescue Anais, she can on the one hand be given to Natalis, probably allowing for Temeria to be salvaged and stabilised. She is obviously not ready to take the throne, yet, but with Natalis in place until she is, the nobles and council of regents should be pacified and unified enough to get the kingdom back in shape. The other choice is to give Anais to Radovid, who in turn will immediately step in and make Temeria his protectorate; effectively wiping out Temeria as a kingdom of its own, sure, but expanding Redania immensely, and just as with Henselt and Aedirn, a massive super-power could be born, once again forging a strong bulwark against Nilfgaard. Now, there's a chance that Radovid can accomplish something like this, anyway, without Anais, if he is married to Adda, in which case giving Anais over to Natalis would still be a good choice if you want to build a strong north while still preserving Temeria to a large extent.
The real conundrum, however, is whether or not to take the Neutral path instead, going after Triss and foiling Nilfgaard's plan to start a witch-hunt, directly. This would leave Anais unable to help neither Redania nor Temeria, as she and Roche take to the road, but it would also prevent the effective destruction of the mages in the North. This was a goal of Nilfgaard's from the beginning, and while choosing (indirectly) to save the mages they would be able to offer their help in the upcoming war - and this is clearly beneficial to the Nordlings - the cost might be too high if Temeria is not able to be stabilised one way or another (by helping Natalis or Radovid). There is also the risk of Nilfgaard "offering sanctuary" to persecuted mages of the North, effectively tempting them to switch sides, as it were, and become an enemy of the Northern Kingdoms in service of the Empire, instead. This is pure speculation, of course, and seeing how Nilfgaard is generally really cruel to mages, it's possible this would never have been part of their strategy. Either way, while my gut tells me to help salvage Temeria (either via Natalis or Radovid) first, I am still a bit on the fence whether or not to put a wedge in Nilfgaard's plans, instead, by making sure the massacre of the mages never happens.
• Síle lives/Síle dies: It is likely that this will not help the North the least, but it is obvious that the Lodge does not want to aid Nilfgaard in any way, so if anything, whatever survivors are left of the Lodge could be an asset, even if the kings themselves never accept any help from them. What's more likely Síle would have nothing to do with the war, and simply focus on trying to stay alive. A toss-up.
• Saskia lives/Saskia dies: Even if Saskia is still under the control of the Lodge, as I've stated above, the Lodge is extremely unlikely to decide to ally with Nilfgaard, so as with Síle, leaving Saskia alive should be safe, and if anything, prove beneficial in the end. I highly doubt Philippa or Síle would use Saskia to exact vengeance upon Radovid, for example, in times of war with Nilfgaard. I don't see a clear benefit either way, though.
• Letho lives/Letho dies: Another toss-up, as while Letho is clearly on Nilfgaard's side, his mission is already completed. As he says during the prologue, he'll most likely end up going south to "where the good life awaits." Probably harmless to leave him alive, but it does come with the risk that he'll once more do the bidding of Nilfgaard, later on - in which case, I'd go for the safe bet and kill him.

At the end of the day, all we have is theory, but as the Mass Effect 3-ending taught us, speculating is a lot of fun. On a final note, I'd like to mention that, just as Geralt says himself at the end of the game, war has a tendency to bring people together. This means there's a chance that even if the kingdoms are horribly splintered (rebellions, cut-up Temeria, what have you) and there are no obvious, strong military forces (such as Kaedwen and Redania), all these people may still band together to fight back Nilfgaard, just as they did at Brenna. On the flip-side of this, however, is that if there are multiple rulers and self-governed baronies and what not, they may each and every one of them risk falling for the temptation to simply surrender or sell themselves to Nilfgaard and have it over with.

[Henry Bohun]

Teamsleeper said:

How does Aryan help ? ›››

Because his mother sides with Nilfgaard if he's gone

[Teamsleeper]

^Thanks.

Has anybody thought about actually helping Nilfgaard ?
Like killing Aryan ? Helping that baron from chapter III ?

[Chromie92]

Teamsleeper said:

^Thanks.

Has anybody thought about actually helping Nilfgaard ?
Like killing Aryan ? Helping that baron from chapter III ? ›››

I have a Witcher 1 and 2 save with everyone dead who I can kill ie: Adda, Henselt, Saskia. I really hope CDProjekt has a pro Nilfgaard experience for us.