There are very fewRPG gamesthat do side quests better thanThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. While Geralt’s hunt for Ciri is a story that players can fully invest themselves in, the beauty of the game lies in the world that the game builds and the stories it shares through the lived-in NPCs.
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Some players even think that the side quest content of the game is actually better than the main story, and while that’s arguable, nobody can deny the sheer quality of the optional missions in this game, and these side quests are proof of that.
7A Frying Pan, Spick, and Span
Writing Letters with Soot
At first glance, A Frying Pan, Spick, and Span feels like a silly errand quest for Geralt, the Butcher of Blaviken, to help an old woman find her missing frying pan. But beneath the humor and humble setup lies a surprisingly dark twist.
Set near White Orchard, the quest begins when Geralt is approached by a distressed old woman who claims her frying pan has been stolen. She leads him to an abandoned hut, where he discovers the pan, along with evidence of a murder. The clues scattered inside reveal a spy’s grisly demise, his charred corpse slumped in the corner, and a letter that he wrote by scraping off the soot from the woman’s pan that hints at betrayal.
6A Towerful of Mice
Where Rats Crawl, Curses Linger
The Witcher series thrives on blending folklore withhorror, and A Towerful of Mice is a masterful example of this type of eerie storytelling. Located on Fyke Isle, this quest drips with atmosphere as Geralt investigates a tower cursed by death and plagued by restless spirits.
Keira Metz, the sorceress, tasks Geralt with breaking the curse using a magic lamp that lets him see and hear echoes of the past. As Geralt walks through the dilapidated, rat-infested tower, he relives the final moments of its occupants; their panicked voices, chaotic footsteps, and cries for help as the tower gets attacked by peasants.
Eventually, Geralt encounters the spirit of Annabelle, a noblewoman whose story is central to the curse. She recounts her horrific death, revealing that she took a sleeping potion so she looked dead to the attackers, and when she woke up, she was paralyzed and rats devoured her alive. Her anguish and fury bind her to the tower, keeping the curse alive. The quest concludes with a moral choice that determines whether Annabelle’s spirit finds peace or whether her curse lingers on. Geralt’s actions here feel weighty, and the tower’s haunting visuals and tragic story make this one of the game’s most unforgettable side quests.
5Ghosts of the Past
Old Friends and Old Grudges
In Ghosts of the Past, Geralt crosses paths with Letho of Gulet, the infamous Kingslayer from The Witcher 2. The quest begins when Geralt stumbles upon a group of Nilfgaardian soldiers hunting a so-called monster. What they’re really after, however, is Letho, who has gone into hiding after the events of the previous game.
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As Geralt investigates, he finds Letho injured but alive, leading to a thrilling sequence where the two Witchers join forces to take out the soldiers pursuing him. Letho’s calm, stoic demeanor pairs beautifully with Geralt’s more pragmatic personality, and the banter between the two adds depth to their uneasy alliance. This quest is a treat for players who appreciate The Witcher’s deep lore and interconnected stories. It humanizes Letho, showing him as more than just a cold-blooded assassin, and rewards players with satisfying callbacks to past events.
4Carnal Sins
Not All Monsters Have Claws and Fangs
Carnal Sins plunges Geralt into one of the darkest quests in The Witcher 3, turning Novigrad into the chilling backdrop for a murder mystery. It begins when a friend of Priscilla, the bard, is brutally attacked, and Geralt takes it upon himself to track down the assailant.
As the investigation unfolds, Geralt follows a trail of grisly murders throughout the city. The bodies are gruesomely mutilated, and every crime scene provides some clues about the killer’s identity. Eventually, Geralt unravels the truth: the murderer is not driven by simple madness but by twisted ideology, believing their actions serve a higher purpose. The confrontation with the killer is intense and can lead to varying outcomes depending on Geralt’s decisions. Carnal Sins is a brutal, unsettling reminder that some of the darkest monsters are, in fact, human.
Carnal Sins is an absolute banger of a side quest. It will keep players on their toes trying to figure out who the killer is.
3Reason of State
Witchers Do, in Fact, Partake in Politics
Despite saying that Witchers don’t involve themselves in politics, Geralt finds himself embroiled in a high-stakes conspiracy in the Reason of State side quest. Roche and Ves enlist his help in assassinating King Radovid, whose brutal reign threatens the Northern Realms.
The quest takes Geralt through a series of tense encounters, including infiltrating heavily guarded areas and engaging in battles alongside Roche’s forces. Radovid’s fate hangs in the balance, and Geralt’s actions here will have far-reaching consequences for the game’s world, making this side quest feel like it should actually be part of the main story.
2Return to Crookback Bog
Some Monsters Can’t Be Slain With Swords
The Bloody Baron’s storyline is one of The Witcher 3’s standout arcs, carrying so much value that it could very well have been a story for its own game, and Return to Crookback Bog is its heart-wrenching conclusion. This quest picks up after Geralt’s earlier dealings with the Crones and the Baron’s desperate attempts to save his family.
The Baron, wracked with guilt and determination, enlists Geralt’s help to rescue his wife, Anna, who is still in the clutches of the Crones. When they finally find Anna, players are met with a devastating sight: she’s been cursed and driven mad by the Crones’ dark magic. What follows is a tragic sequence of events where Geralt must fight to protect the Baron’s family while grappling with the consequences of his earlier choices. Depending on how players handled the earlier Ladies of the Wood quest, the outcome here can go from bittersweet toutterly heartbreaking.
1The Last Wish
The Hardest Choice
At its heart, The Witcher 3 is a story about love, loss, and destiny, and The Last Wish embodies all of that in one unforgettable side quest.
Named after Andrzej Sapkowski’s book, this quest sees Yennefer ask for Geralt’s help to hunt down a mythical djinn, and what begins as a simple mission to capture the powerful spirit quickly turns into one of the most personal and emotional moments in the game. As the two reconnect and confront their shared past, players are given the chance to decide the future of Geralt and Yennefer’s relationship. They can either have Geralt pick Yenn over Triss and tell her that he loves her, or say that the magic’s gone for him, rejecting her and having to face the soul-crushing look on Yenn’s face.
It’s a beautifully written quest that rewards players with character development, emotional depth, and a choice that feels both significant and heartfelt, making it arguably the best side quest in the game that helps conclude Geralt’s story.
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