Witcher 3 hidden quests (hidden quests) are side jobs with no notice board post. In Velen and near Oxenfurt you can easily miss five: Man’s Best Friend, At the Mercy of Strangers, Death by Fire, A Dog’s Life, and The Taxman Cometh.
Besides contract board work and the main story, these short scenes by the road still run. The game never announces them, you have to ride past, listen, and sometimes a quest marker pops on the map while nothing shows up in the journal. If you leave before you finish, the scene can vanish and never come back. On my first run through Velen I rode past a few times because I was chasing the main quest and this looked like random mess by the road.
Man’s Best Friend
Northwest of Mulbrydale, just off the road to the Inn at the Crossroads, stands a hut and a wild dog runs at the door that will not let you through until you kill it. Then you knock and the orphans let you in. The girl tells you they are hungry and their parents are dead. By the fire lies a dead dog, a sign someone ate dog meat. You can give them food from your pack or twenty-five crowns. Inside the hut you then find the book In Beast’s Clothing, which fills out the werewolf bestiary.
- Kill the dog at the door and knock.
- Talk to the girl and leave them food or twenty-five crowns.
At the Mercy of Strangers
On the shore west of Mulbrydale, between the village and the Inn at the Crossroads, you hear shouting. Bound John Verdun lies by the water and drowners are closing in on him. He deserted the Temerian army and the refugees left him tied up. You untie him and ride on. Later by the Pontar you run into him again, he offers a few crowns and you find out he is a bandit and you should have left him to his fate. In the dialogue you can refuse the money and kill him along with his crew. If you leave him bound, you find a corpse later.
- Kill the drowners and untie Verdun.
- When you ride past the Pontar, you will see him again.
Death by Fire
West of Codgers’ Quarry, by huts a bit from the Hanged Man’s Tree, a building is burning. Bandits wait outside for you and an elf calls for help from inside. The door is barricaded, you knock it down with Aard and she helps you with her bow from inside. If you do not talk to her, the quest fails even when you have killed the bandits. Behind the building is a tree stump. With witcher senses you find a few crowns in it.
- Kill the bandits and break the door with Aard.
- Talk to the elf.
A Dog’s Life
On the road east of Oreton toward Drudge, wolves were tearing into a dog. When you kill them before they eat it, the dog leads you on. You follow him into Drudge. Three bandits wait for you at a house. There is a loose floorboard in the house floor and under it a chest, and in it you sometimes find a Bremervoord blade. If the dog dies before you can kill the wolves, the quest never starts at all.
- Kill the wolves before they eat the dog and follow him to Drudge.
- Kill the bandits and lift the floorboard in the house.
The Taxman Cometh
At the market in Oxenfurt Walthemor Mitty stops you with a book. It only triggers when you have the Hearts of Stone expansion and at least thirty-five thousand crowns on you. He asks about taxes. When you say no to at least two questions, you get a taxpayer diploma. When you agree twice, you pay a thousand crowns at Vivaldi’s bank in Novigrad. Until you do that, Vimme Vivaldi will not trade with you or let you play gwent. I did not see him for a long time until I rode through Oxenfurt with a full purse.
- Walk the market with thirty-five thousand crowns on you.
- Answer no to at least two questions, or expect a thousand crowns at Vivaldi’s.
I summarize how the game holds up overall in the Witcher 3 review. More guides are on the Witcher 3 hub. Endings with Ciri are in the all endings guide.
