The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most acclaimed RPGs ever made, and it holds up brilliantly. The Complete Edition with all DLC included is the version you should play, and it is available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch. If you are starting it for the first time in 2026, this guide will help you avoid the mistakes most new players make and get you into what makes the game exceptional.
Choose the Right Difficulty
The Witcher 3 has five difficulty settings. For most first-time players, Just Story (Very Easy) is not the right choice, but neither is Death March (the hardest setting) unless you want a genuinely punishing experience from the outset.
Story and Sword (Normal) is the recommended starting difficulty. It provides meaningful combat challenge that rewards preparation and sign usage without requiring deep mechanical mastery. Enemies hurt but are not overwhelming. You have breathing room to engage with the story, explore, and experiment with builds.
Blood and Broken Bones (Hard) is worth considering if you have prior experience with action RPGs and find standard difficulties unsatisfying. It changes the combat calculus significantly: healing during combat becomes less reliable, and preparation becomes more important.
You can change difficulty at any time in the pause menu without any penalty. If combat is getting in the way of your enjoyment, drop it. The story and world are the game’s strongest assets, and engaging with them at full accessibility is better than bouncing off a frustrating encounter.
Combat Basics: Signs Are Not Optional
Geralt has five magical Signs that you cycle between during combat. Many new players treat them as situational extras rather than core to the combat system. That is a mistake.
Igni throws fire in a cone. Excellent against groups of enemies and essential against certain enemy types (like the Ice Elemental enemies in the Skellige region).
Aard releases a telekinetic blast that staggers or knocks down enemies. Use it to break enemy posture and follow up with a finishing attack.
Quen creates a protective shield that absorbs one instance of damage. Cast it before combat begins. It is the single most useful Sign for new players because it provides a safety net against high-damage hits.
Yrden places a magical trap that slows and damages enemies who step in it. Against certain supernatural enemies (particularly Wraiths and Ghosts), Yrden is required to make them vulnerable at all.
Axii stuns a single enemy for a short duration, removing them from a fight temporarily. In dialogue it can be used to charm NPCs for alternative quest outcomes.
Learn to switch between signs mid-combat. Quen before a fight, Igni to control groups, Aard when an enemy is pressing you. The game becomes considerably more engaging once you integrate Signs into your combat routine.
The Bestiary and Preparation
Before taking a contract (hunting a specific monster for coin), read the Bestiary entry. Every monster has weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and in some cases behaviour patterns that change the encounter significantly. Oil the right weapon before the fight (accessed through the inventory), brew the appropriate potion if the Bestiary recommends one, and cast Quen before you engage.
Going into a fight unprepared is punished on higher difficulties. Going in prepared makes otherwise-difficult encounters feel manageable. This preparation loop is one of the things that distinguishes The Witcher 3 from other open-world games.
Do Not Skip the Notice Board Quests
At every town or settlement there is a Notice Board covered in posted requests. Most of these are Monster Contracts (paid hunts) and local side quests. Many new players ignore them in favour of the main quest. This is a mistake for two reasons.
First, the side quests in The Witcher 3 are genuinely excellent. They are not fetch quests. They have proper narratives, moral ambiguity, and in some cases meaningful consequences. The writing quality is high enough that several side quests in the base game are better-written than the main quests in comparable RPGs.
Second, contracts and quests award experience points. The Witcher 3 has a level scaling system where enemies significantly above your level are almost invincible, and enemies below your level award minimal experience. Keeping pace with your level through side content keeps you in the sweet spot where the game is properly challenging and rewarding.
Level Scaling and When to Move On
If you arrive at a main quest area and the enemies are skulls (indicating they are many levels above you), that is the game telling you to go do side content and come back. Do not attempt to push through significantly over-levelled encounters: it wastes time and is not fun.
Conversely, clearing an entire region of side content before advancing the main quest can leave you over-levelled for main story enemies, which reduces tension. Aim to stay within two to three levels of the recommended level shown on main quests, handling side content alongside the critical path.
The DLC Is Not Optional
The Complete Edition includes two major DLC expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Both are exceptional.
Hearts of Stone is a self-contained story quest that can be started mid-game at around level 30 and is one of the best pieces of narrative DLC released in the last decade. Blood and Wine introduces an entirely new region (Toussaint), a substantial main quest, and arguably the best moment in the entire game’s story. Play both. Do not skip them because they are “just DLC.” They were awarded near-perfect critical scores separately from the base game for good reason.
Hearts of Stone can be played before finishing the main story. Blood and Wine is better left until after the main story’s conclusion given its epilogue-like narrative positioning.
Inventory Management
Geralt’s inventory fills up fast. The temptation is to keep everything because crafting components and alchemy ingredients feel valuable. In practice, vendor anything you are not using regularly, particularly duplicate armour sets and weapons that are several levels below your current gear.
The game has a weight limit that, when exceeded, slows Geralt’s movement and stamina recovery. Stay below it. The Roach’s (your horse) saddlebags can be upgraded through crafting for additional carrying capacity, and equipping certain abilities in the skill tree can increase Geralt’s carry weight.
The Witcher 3 is a long game. The main story alone runs 50-60 hours, and with the DLC included you are looking at 100-plus hours of content if you engage with the side quests thoroughly. Take your time, read the quest texts, and talk to everyone. The best moments in The Witcher 3 are the ones you stumble into without any expectation.
