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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Gwent: Velen Players

By
Nathan Garvin

When you arrive in Velen you’ll have had a small taste of what the Gwent minigame has to offer, and only two real leads when it comes to expanding your deck - the quest Gwent: Playing Innkeeps and the rather open ended and uninformative "Collect 'Em All" iconCollect ’Em All!. The latter is of little help and the former will lead you to a handful of unique cards, provided you can defeat their owners. Aside from that, playing random merchants and buying them from shops is your best bet - check out the page Gwent in Velen for more details. There’s another option, however - more skilled players can be found with unique cards just begging to be won, and finding and defeating all these players is the subject of the quest "Gwent: Velen Players" iconGwent: Velen Players.

Quest Objectives

Starting Gwent: Velen Players

Although it may not be readily apparent, this secondary Gwent quest is intertwined with the Bloody Baron questline, as this quest won’t appear until after you advance the latter. Specifically you have to meet with the "Bloody Baron" iconBloody Baron in "Crow's Perch" iconCrow’s Perch and complete the followup quest Ciri’s Story: The King of the Wolves. After that, the next quest Family Matters will begin, whereupon Geralt will be convinced to help the Bloody Baron in exchange for more information on Ciri’s whereabouts. You’re supposed to follow the Bloody Baron upstairs and investigate some rooms, but you’re not actually required to do so - instead you can leave and check out the notice boards at Crow’s Perch or Midcopse to find the notice Gwent: Looking for New Players. Or you could wait until after you’re done being escorted around by the Bloody Baron first. You know, rude. Reading this notice will start this quest, but if you finish searching the rooms for the Bloody Baron and report to the carmine despot you’ll be tasked with seeking out a Pellar, upon which the Bloody Baron will head to his office, where you can finally play Gwent with him. This will also start the quest and, if you wind, complete its first objective.

Defeat the Bloody Baron

Once the quest ["Family Matters" iconFamily Matters] has started you can finally pick up this quest, and if you read the Gwent: Looking for New Players notice you’ll quickly find that your first opponent is the Bloody Baron himself. You cannot play Gwent against him until you finish searching the rooms on the upper floor of his castle, so get that out of the way and challenge him to a game of Gwent - an objective you can complete whether you’ve read the aforementioned notice or not.

"The Bloody Baron" iconThe Bloody Baron is more loyal to Temeria in Gwent than in real life, and he’ll demonstrate this by using a Northern Kingdoms deck. As a relatively early-game Gwent player. He’s got a surprisingly mediocre deck, making use of the odd Tight Bond combo Spy cards (likely "Prince Stennis" iconPrince Stennis and/or "Sigismund Dijkstra" iconSigismund Dijkstra) and perhaps a weather effect. Honestly it should be that hard to simply outpower him, even with the starter deck and whatever cards you could have purchased from the Innkeeper in White Orchard. Thrash the Bloody Baron at Gwent and he’ll give you the SIgismund "Dijkstra" iconDijkstra card, a 4 strength card with the “Spy” ability - a very useful tool for out-carding your foes.

(1 of 2) After the quest “Family Matters” starts, investigate the rooms for the Bloody Baron, then you can play Gwent with him.

After the quest “Family Matters” starts, investigate the rooms for the Bloody Baron, then you can play Gwent with him. (left), Tight Bond cards, weather cards, spy cards - the Bloody Baron can do a little bit of everything with the Northern Kingdoms deck, but he’s got many holes in his roster. (right)

In addition to the card, the Bloody Baron will also tell you about some more exceptional Gwent players in Velen, including:

  • A boat builder in Oreton
  • An old Soothsayer
  • A daft lad who plays “a devilish hand”

Defeat the Boatwright in Oreton

After defeating the Bloody Baron, the Boatwright in "Oreton" iconOreton is both the nearest and easiest opponent for you to face off against. You’ll find Oreton south of Crow’s Perch, and along the way you can stop by Claywich to purchase some cards, including another Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter card.

Challenge the Boatwright and you’ll find he plays a competent Nilfgaardian deck. He’s not afraid to flip Spy cards at you and sacrifice a round to build up for later, and he’s got plenty of 10 strength cards he can play. If you toss Spy cards back at him, he may give you a nasty surprise in later rounds by using Medics to revive them and put them back into play, giving him a perhaps unexpected late-game surge. Since he can put a lot of points on the board and match the Northern Kingdom’s Spy shenanigans, he can be a tricky opponent - especially if you still have a weak deck. A few upgrades and a bit of luck are all the base Northern Kingdoms deck needs to win, however - Tight Bomb cards boosted by a "Commander's Horn" iconCommander’s Horn can match or best the Nilfgaardian deck’s strong hero and archer cards.

Speaking of which, emerge victorious and you’ll win the "Letho of Gulet" iconLetho of Gulet card, a 10 strength Hero card exclusive to the Nilfgaardian deck. Following the bout, the Boatwright will also give a name to the slow lad with the fearsome deck - Haddy, who resides in Midcopse.

(1 of 4) Find a Boatwright in Oreton - another one of the Velen Players.

Defeat the Soothsayer

Most of the Velen Players are in the rough vicinity of Crow’s Perch. Save for the Soothsayer. You’ll find this man (named an Old Sage“) far to the east of Crow’s Perch, in a village called Benek. Stick to the roads and you shouldn’t encounter much in the way of monsters, but your luck will run out when you reach "Benek" iconBenek itself, as the Old Sage plays a Monster deck.

Monster decks are… odd. If you’ve got enough cards to field a Monster deck,you’ve got enough cards to be dangerous. This is mostly due to “Muster” ability many Monster cards have, which will summon all related cards from the player’s deck and hand and put them on the battlefield. The Vampire and Crone family of cards are especially dangerous, as one of these cards can put a lot of strength on the board all in one go. On top of that, the Old Sage uses the "Eredin" iconEredin: Commander of the Red Riders card, which will give his Close Combat row a free Commander’s Horn in one round. Mix these two together and the Old Sage is all but guaranteed to drop a lot of strength on the board without burning many cards. When they’re both at full strength the Northern Kingdoms deck is more than a match for a Monster Deck, but early on Monster decks can be a nuisance.

Persevere and you’ll obtain the "Crone: Weavess" iconCrone: Weavess card, one of the Monster deck’s better cards - while it only boasts 6 strength, it has the “Muster” ability and will summon every other Crone card when played. There are three such cards in the game, which will net you a total of 18 points in one go - not bad at all.

(1 of 2) Find the soothsayer - called an “Old Sage” - in Benek, far to the east of Crow’s Perch.

Find the soothsayer - called an “Old Sage” - in Benek, far to the east of Crow’s Perch. (left), Be wary of his Muster cards, which, along with his leader ability, can put a lot of power on the board. (right)

Defeat Haddy

Haddy is possibly the most difficult of the four Velen Players, and for that reason you may want to challenge him last, even though his location - "Midcopse" iconMidcopse - is far less travel than the Soothsayer. When you think you’re ready, head to Midcopse and search for Haddy near a house along the southwestern edge of the town and challenge him to a game of Gwent.

Haddy plays a Northern Kingdoms deck, and if you haven’t seen flashes of what this deck can become yet, Haddy might just give you a demonstration. His tactics are usually simple enough - Tight Bond cards bolstered by Commander’s Horns with the odd weather effect thrown it. If your luck is poor, Haddy can put down a lot of points on the board with surprisingly few cards. On the plus side, Haddy also has a lot of junk cards in his deck, which balances things out and keeps the difficulty manageable.

Dethrone Haddy as the premiere Gwent player in Velen and you’ll get the "Vernon Roche" iconVernon Roche card, a 10 strength Hero card for the Northern Kingdoms deck. Haddy, being a good sport, takes the loss in stride.

(1 of 3) Haddy, a Gwent savant, can be found in Midcopse.

Once you’ve defeated all four Velen Players you’ll also obtain the Eredin: Destroyer of Worlds cand, a Leader card with the ability “Discard 2 cards and draw 1 card of your choice from your deck.”. If you really need a specific “Muster” card, weather card, Commander’s Horn, "Scorch" iconScorch, or "Villentretenmerth" iconVillentretenmerth, this leader ability could prove quite useful.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    CD Projekt
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, Switch, XB One
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    24 June 2015
  • Last Updated
    22 August 2024
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Nathan Garvin (Haeravon)

Share this free guide:

You are Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster-hunter known as a Witcher. You’ve fully regained your memories since your miraculous revival and escape from the Wild Hunt, and have cleared your name of the false accusations of regicide. In the wake of the assassination of Foltest, king of Temeria, the north have been rent by warfare as Nilfgaard launches its third major invasion, and the northlands have been united under the insane king Radovid. Overshadowing these petty politics is the mysterious return of Ciri - Geralt’s adopted daughter, who is now being pursued by the Wild Hunt.

The guide offers the following:

  • A full walkthrough that’s more than just a listing of quests-it’s an “ideal chronological order” that will get you through the whole game and allow you to see and do everything the game has to offer.

  • Side quests, including monster contracts and treasure hunts for obtaining powerful Witcher sets.

  • Descriptions of decisions, quests, and events that influence the various endings of the game.

  • Crafting and Alchemy information.

  • General strategies on how to take down foes large and small, monstrous and humanoid, boss or mundane.

  • Information on how to complete all the Gwent quests and obtain all the Gwent cards, including detailed Gwent strategies.

  • Trophy/Achievement information.

MASSIVE UPDATE: 7th September 2016 ongoing

  • Added DLC quests “Fool’s Gold” and “Scavenger Hunt: Wolf School Gear”.
  • Organisational changes in the Velen section of the walkthrough to reflect the increased level of Griffin School Gear.
  • Organisational changes throughout the walkthrough to provide a “no skulls” path through the game.
  • Added Death March difficulty tips and commentary throughout the guide.
  • More XP reward numbers included.
  • Walkthrough now includes additional information based on patch changes.
  • Various typo and grammar fixes.
  • Added DLC pages for Blood & Wine, Heart of Stone
  • Lots more quality of life improvements

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