The Witcher 3 In The Heart Of The Woods Walkthrough

The Witcher 3 In the Heart of the Woods quest comes with several important choices, with one of them concerning which side you'll take for solving the quest, so you may need to know what the outcomes are. The Witcher 3 has a tonne of important choices that decide how both big and small quests end, allowing you to shape your journey as Geralt of Rivia. If you're looking for a walkthrough of The Witcher 3 In the Heart of the Woods quest, then we've got you covered. 

• For more quest solutions in Skellige, check out The Witcher 3 Master of the Arena walkthrough. 

The Witcher 3 In The Heart Of The Woods Walkthrough

To start the In the Heart of the Woods quest, you will need to be at least level 22, and make your way to Skellige. You can either begin the quest by grabbing the contract from the Kaer Trolde Harbour notice board, or by speaking to the group of people on a road southwest of Fayrlund, which is also where the quest occurs.

Regardless of how you start it, you'll come across this group and the meat of the quest will begin. In short, a monster has been wreaking havoc in the area and killing local villagers, and two groups are split on how the situation should be approached. One group, led by Harald, believes the spirit should be left alone, while the group led by Sven think it's a beast that should be slain for the safety of the village. 

Before you take any sides, you'll need to investigate and find out what monster is killing villagers. Using your Witcher senses, follow the highlighted trail from where the group is, and you'll come across a dead dog and then another body, before being ambushed by wolves near a stone circle. 

Defeat these wolves, and then you should notice some prominent scratch marks nearby, causing Geralt to realise that the monster is a leshen. These are ancient woodland monsters, and checking your bestiary is a good idea so you know exactly what you'll be coming up against. However, for now, head back to the group of villagers. 

For the next part of the quest, you will need to make a decision about which group you side with, which has big ramifications for how the rest of the mission will play out. Harald and the village elders believe you should offer a sacrifice to begin a pact with the leshen, while Sven believes it should be killed. Below, we'll cover how each choice affects the quest. 

• Also looking to start one of the expansions? Check out how to start The Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone, which adds an extra ten hours of content. 

The Witcher 3 In The Heart Of The Woods Walkthrough: Siding With Harald

After siding with Harald, you'll be directed toward an altar in the forest and tasked with killing five wolves to collect their hearts. Place them on the altar afterwards, and the leshen will accept the offering, starting a pact. 

Head back to Harald, and Sven will interrupt the conversation, stating he killed all the elders and is targetting Harald next. You can choose to protect Harald here, or ignore him and let Sven kill him. If you protect him, you'll need to defeat Sven and another warrior, and if you ignore him, Sven will just kill him. Regardless of your choice, the quest will end and you will get your XP and gold rewards. 

• For the other expansion, take a look at how to start The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine, so you can explore the kingdom of Toussaint. 

The Witcher 3 In The Heart Of The Woods Walkthrough: Siding With Sven

After siding with Sven, use your Witcher senses or follow the crows to find the marked person in the village. Once you have revealed the marked person, go back to Sven with the news and tell him you can either kill or exile the person. Regardless of your choice, he will go along with it. 

Now head back into the woods and destroy three highlighted totems, which will summon the leshen. The leshen can be a tough beast to fight, but like any monster, it has its weaknesses that can be exploited. Firstly, it's weak to fire, and whenever you set it alight, it cannot attack, giving you a chance to get in some damage. It also has a teleport that can be cancelled with a moon dust bomb, letting you keep it in one area for longer. 

You'll need to watch for its various attacks. It can summon crows and wolves, so focus on them when they are spawned in so you don't get overwhelmed. It can also perform an attack where tree roots will emerge from the ground in a radius, dealing heavy damage if you are hit, so watch for its tells and avoid it. 

Once you have slain the leshen, grab the trophy and bring it back to the village. Sven will have killed all the elders and Harald once you get back, but there's nothing you can do except hand in the quest and get your rewards. 

That's all for our walkthrough of The Witcher 3 In the Heart of the Woods quest, and now you know what each choice leads to, along with how to complete the quest. 

We also cover how to enable The Witcher 3 alternative appearances, which lets you equip different outfits for Ciri, Triss, Yennefer, Dandelion, and the Nilfgaardian army.