More The Witcher 3 Guides:
- Console Commands (Cheat Codes).
- Complete Achievement / Trophy Guide.
- Guide for Stutter Free Smooth Gameplay.
- Off Map Secret Chest in White Orchard.
- Combat Guide (Some Useful Tips).
- Gwent Card Collector Guide.
- Useful Tips and Tricks.
Here’s a guide to help any witcher on the Path to complete the game in Death March difficulty. This difficulty can be a tough challenge, especially when you play on Death March for your first playthrough, thus starting level one. The Witcher 3’s Death March difficulty is a bit harder than The Witcher 2’s original normal difficulty. For those who do not remember The Witcher 2’s base difficulty, it means this will not be easy at all.
Contents
- Master of the Path – A Death March
- Why Is It Difficult
- Which Skills Should You Take
- Armors, Swords and Crossbow (How Choose and Manage Them)
- What You Can Buy With Coin
- How to Play
Master of the Path – A Death March
Why Is It Difficult
If you start a playthrough level one in Death March, you will be challenged because you have nothing. No coin, no ingredients, no good stuff whatsoever, not even a swallow potion to begin with. That means the game will be most difficult in the beginning, and the further you go in the game, the easier it will be. You will get skills, of course, but also Witcher gear and formulae for potions, oils and bombs.
And of course, it’s a walk in the park in New Game +.
Which Skills Should You Take
That’s the first step, I guess. For my first playthrough, I went for the signs-oriented build, which is definitely a solid and reliable build in Death March. Plus, it doesn’t need a lot of points to be efficient, so you can take some skills in combat / alchemy trees as well.
You won’t have the possibility to do the exactly same build as I show on the screens. It means that when you take a skill, like Exploding Shield, slide it into your active skills slots if you can. Yes, it’s not in the final build. But it still can be useful until you need to remove it, and well, if you have an empty skill slot, there’s no reason to leave it empty.
During the prologue, you won’t gain much XP, even if you do everything you can. Hopefully, there are six Places of Power on the map, and each one will grant you one skill point when you draw from them (only the first time you do though, of course). So, make sure you get every place of power in white orchard – in other regions, they won’t be as numerous and easy to get.
Here are screenshots of my build. I didn’t screen the Alchemy and Passive trees since descriptions will be enough to explain what I took in these.
I’m going to describe the build, writing skills in the order I think you should take them.
Signs – Quen – Exploding Shield – 3/3
Take it as your first skill, and upgrade it completely before thinking of any other skill.
Signs – Axii – Delusion – 3/3
It will be your second skill. Upgrade it fully too. It will unlock the second tier, allowing you to use alternate Signs.
Signs – Quen – Active Shield – 3/3
This will save you from a lot of trouble. Quen becomes a bubble shield around you and damage taken heals you instead, as long as Quen is holding. This skill need to be fully upgraded to really become interesting, as the Quen Shield won’t drain any stamina anymore.
Passive – Rage management
This one is a must have for every build strongly Sign-oriented. Casting Signs with adrenaline can save you from death many times. One thing that you should know about this skill is that it also allows you to cast Alternate Signs without full stamina, but it will still use it. So, if your stamina just started regenerating, don’t go for an alternate sign with Adrenaline – cast a basic Sign.
Signs – Igni – Firestream – 1/3
Isn’t that cool to have a Geralt with a flamethrower in his arm ? I do believe it is. Plus, it’s very useful to apply Burning easily on a lot of enemies, and also, make them drop shield they might hold. It’s not necessary to upgrade it fully right now.
Signs – Aard – Aard sweep – 1/3
Another very useful skill in any situation in which you are surrounded. Sure, it won’t be as effective at first to knock down enemies, but sometimes, you just need peace, not knockdown.
Combat – Fast Attack – Muscle Memory – 2/5
It’s time to get some combat skills! Nothing much to say here, just grab this to increase your swords’ fast attack damage.
Passive – Cat School’s Techniques
By now, you should have acquired some decent light armor pieces (Assassin’s gauntlets / boots / trousers, for instance). So it’s time to take a passive to couple with the kind of armor we will use – light armor.
Signs – Igni – Firestream – 3/3
Nothing to say here, just upgrade the flamethrower.
Alchemy – Mutation – Acquired Tolerance – 3/3
This will allow you to drink a lot of potions without being threatened by Toxicity. It’s the only thing I take in the alchemy tree in the first game, but it’s worth it.
Now, you have all the basics you need. Use your other skill points in what I spent on the screens (Combat abilities, and upgrade alternate signs). You may notice a few things:
- I didn’t take the Alternate Yrden Sign. Why? Does it suck? Not at all. I just took it in my first game, but never used it. So I don’t take it anymore. But it really is a useful skill, so feel free to take it.
- Puppet (Alternate Axii) is very useful in Death March, because enemies will oneshot themselves. But you can choose to ignore it and take something else.
- I took Strong Attack skills even if I didn’t use them. Why? To unlock the Combat tree’s next tiers.
Armors, Swords and Crossbow (How Choose and Manage Them)
Okay. You start with a bad armor, bad swords, and a bad crossbow. What do we do?
Armor
Try to get your chest armor upgrade (Warrior’s leather jacket) crafted as soon as you can. You can keep it until you find another Witcher’s armor, if, like me, you find other armors awfully ugly. It will do.
As for the rest, you should find some Assassin boots, trousers and gauntlets while playing. Or diagrams. Craft them or equip them as soon as you can.
But that’s not our final gear, of course. What are we aiming for? The Cat armor. Extremely powerful light armor, beautiful and classy (it’s important!). Best armor of the game too, being as good as the other witchers’ armor sets.
First step, start the scavenger hunt quest to get the cat armor’s diagrams. Two ways to do it: buy the correct map from the correct merchant, or find one of the diagrams by some luck. If you do the latter, you will find nearby a book or letter that will indicate you the next diagram to get.
You will have to wait until level 17 to craft the armor, so be patient!
Once you get the basic Cat Armor, you will be able to find other diagrams to update it. Don’t craft the upgrades too soon tho: it uses your armor, and if you can’t wear the update because your level is too low… you just lost your armor.
Enhanced Feline Armor is level 23. Superior Feline Armor is level 29, as for the Feline Crossbow which has no upgrades. And the Mastercrafted Feline Armor is level 34.
Swords
Thanks to the free DLCs, there are two powerful swords to get in the prologue, the Viper swords. Easy to craft, and perfect when you start the game. Just make sure to do every question mark on your map, and you will find them.
Keep those two swords until you can craft and use the Feline swords, which you will be able to upgrade just the same as the armor, and with the same level restrictions. If you find a better swords your level allows you to use, then take it. But keep in mind that’s unlikely to happen (two times in 150 hours for me) and you must keep any Feline gear you have, in your stash or in your inventory, in order to be able to upgrade it later.
Crossbow
Don’t mind your crossbow’s stats. It’s only there to pull enemies towards you OR force flying creatures into landing. Once level 29, you will get the Feline Crossbow with good stats. But until then? Don’t waste coin in buying better crossbows or special bolts (useless).
One thing you should know is that the crossbow is basically your only asset under water. When you use it under water, it one shots or two shots almost any enemies. What about the rest? Well, just fire three shots.
What You Can Buy With Coin
- Maps, for the witcher gear diagrams’ locations. You can and should do all the scavenger hunt quests to get every witcher gear diagrams, for it will grand you XP even if you don’t craft the gear.
- Gwent cards. Because Gwent is cool.
- Greater runestones and glyphs. It’s very expensive, but will come in handy to upgrade your feline gear. Plus, the runestones / glyphs remain when you craft the upgrades for your gear!
- Any bomb / oil / potion formula you might see.
How to Play
Save often. F5 will be one of your best friends in this game. Not only to avoid losing a lot of progress when you die, but also to be able to roll back when you don’t like something you did, said or crafted.
If you see a combat coming, activate Quen early. Your stamina should regenerate quickly before the combat starts.
Don’t even think about fighting the guards, for they will stomp you and take all your coin.
Dodge often. Sidestep against humans and humanoid monsters. Combat rolls against large insectoid or elementa enemies, or to get out of the melee. Be careful, as combat rolls prevent your stamina from regenerating – the sidesteps don’t.
Don’t use the parry against monsters. Only dodges.
Parry, on the other hand, is very useful against humans. Do a successful counterattack, and you will be hit your enemy two or three times without problems.
Try to gather ingredients often. And create / upgrade any potion / oil / bomb when you can. Decoctions too, unless you have very few ingredients and want to save them for something else.
Don’t create Alchemy Substances or Alcohol unless it’s necessary for a Superior upgrade.
Remember to craft red and blue mutagens and insert them in the appropriate slots, like on the screenshots. Forget about the green mutagens. Seriously, more vitality? Come on. In Death March? Useless.
Keep in mind that you have to crate potions / oils / bombs / decoctions and their upgrades only one time. After that, you just need a base (some alcohol, fat or powder) to re-craft them.
Don’t be hot tempered or greedy. If you’re in a tough fight, take your time. Use potions if need be – plenty of alcohol out there to replenish them afterwards. Use your crossbow to pull enemies towards you and away from their friends to kill them one by one if you can’t manage them all at the same time.
Use the appropriate oil every time you can. And don’t hesitate to throw some bombs as well – they are here to be used, and you shouldn’t lack bases to re-create them.
Be strong. You will die often, especially at the beginning.
Recommended for You
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – How to Respec or Repick Skills
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Manticore Gear Stat Summary
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Viper Venomous Gear Stat Summary
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – How to Survive in Death March (Tips and Tricks)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Useful Tips and Tricks
FAQs
Is Death March the hardest difficulty? ›
If you've played it before, however, and the new version of the game is encouraging you to consider a replay, then I have some advice: You should start your new game on the highest difficulty, Death March.
Is Death March too hard Witcher 3? ›Death March, the hardest difficulty level in the game, is the best way to play The Witcher 3, no matter how painful it may be for the poor player.
What is different in Death March Witcher 3? ›The Death March difficulty makes combat more challenging. Enemies deal a lot of damage to Geralt. Therefore, it is not recommended to pick fights against over-leveled enemies, especially Monsters. Monsters around the Continent can possess a variety of magical abilities that make battles tougher for the players.
Why is death march so hard? ›Death March is all about survivability. Because Meditation doesn't heal Geralt anymore on this mode, food, potions like Swallow, decoctions like White Raffard's Decoction, and certain skills become so much more important. And, with frequent potion use comes a higher need for supplies like alcohol.
How long does death march take? ›The Bataan Death March Begins
The men were divided into groups of approximately 100, and the march typically took each group around five days to complete.
And yes, Death March does reward less xp, 20% less than on the two easiest levels. Blood and Broken Bones rewards 10% less. Main quests and contracts that are done as close to or at their recommended levels reward the most xp.
Should I spare Karadin? ›You can choose either to spare Karadin or help Lambert kill him. Lambert will be angry with Geralt if you insist on leaving Karadin, but there will be no real consequences to the quest as it will not impact Geralt's future interacations with Lambert. Regardless of the choice, the two will go on their separate ways.
Does death march have Permadeath? ›You can switch to it mid-game as shown on the QA stream.
What is the hardest enemy in Witcher 3? ›Also known as The Beast of Beauclair, Dettlaff van der Eretein is a higher vampire that shows up in the Blood and Wine expansion and is considered by many to be the game's toughest enemy.
What is the hardest mission in Witcher 3? ›- 1 Surprisingly Easy: The Cave Of Dreams.
- 2 Hardest: There Can Only Be One. ...
- 3 Surprisingly Easy: Big Game Hunter. ...
- 4 Hardest: Carnal Sins. ...
- 5 Surprisingly Easy: A Matter Of Life And Death. ...
- 6 Hardest: Towerful Of Mice. ...
Is crossbow useless Witcher 3? ›
Yeah, the crossbow is only useful for utility, not damage. There might be some mods that fix it, but you're better off using Grapeshot or Dancing Star if you need a damaging ranged attack.
How many times can Geralt sleep with yen? ›Yennefer is the closest we'll see of Geralt's true love. You will get a chance to sleep with her twice during the game. For the first time to happen, you need to finish the The King is Dead – Long Live the King quest.
Is Yennefer a necromancer? ›One of the magical disciplines Yennefer is notoriously famous for would be necromancy. She liberally used it in interrogating Skjall to learn of Ciri's location or whatever happened to her.
What happens when Geralt's eyes turn black? ›When needed, with the help of a "cat potion," he can enhance his vision so well that it expands his pupils completely, so that his entire eyes appear black. It is said that the process it takes to achieve such vision is incredibly painful.
Is there an achievement for death march? ›Walked the Path is an achievement in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and requires one to complete the game on the highest difficulty setting, Death March, from start to finish.
How many death march markers are there? ›Death March markers: 138
As a memento for the sacrifices of the Filipino and American soldiers, 138 obelisks called Death March markers were built along the path of the march. A total of 100 markers are in Bataan, 31 are in Pampanga, while 7 are in Tarlac.
In combat. Enemies in Death March will hit much harder and have substantially more health (vitality, as it is called in the game) than they do in other difficulties. This causes more than just superficial changes to the combat-flow, though. Since enemies take more hits to kill, Geralt's weapons will wear down faster.
Why is the death march important? ›The Bataan Death March has a devastating legacy, with Filipinos suffering disproportionately compared to US troops. Although troops surrendered in April 1945, the USAFFE was able to delay the Japanese advance into Manila for 99 days.
How many survived the death march? ›There were 987 survivors. As of 2012, of the veterans of the 200th and 515th who survived the Bataan Death March, 69 were still alive. As of March 2017, only four of these veterans remained.
What happens after death march? ›Following the end of the march, the prisoners were packed into hot steel boxcars with barely enough room to breathe. During this 45-mile ride, men continued to die from heat and exhaustion. Upon arrival, they marched ten more miles when they arrived at Camp O'Donnell, a former Filipino training base.
How do I farm XP in Witcher 3? ›
You gain XP in The Witcher 3 by doing all manner of things: completing quests, killing enemies, winning games of Gwent, completing horse races and pretty much any activity you can think of that's tied to the main story or side quests.
How do you get XP fast in Witcher 3? ›Kill Drowners for XP
Kill the Drowners, and turn back to their point of origin. Kill the two Drowners that spawn. Keep repeating this process to gain levels quickly.
While it is true that there is no hard level cap in The Witcher 3, Geralt will only be able to attain a general level range by the end of each phase of the game. If you stick to the original version of The Witcher 3, then Geralt will only reach about level 70 before the main credits roll.
Can Lambert be saved? ›At one point, during the Battle of Kaer Morhen, Lambert's life is in danger. It's up to you to save him in time, or else he dies permanently.
Can we save Vesemir? ›No, Vesemir always dies.
What happens if you side with Dijkstra? ›Dijkstra, like Radovid, has his plans for the North with Redania ruling absolutely. If you let him live, your friends die and all of the North would fall under his rule and he'd be just as ruthless as Emhyr was.
Should permadeath be on or off? ›If you have permadeath on, this means that your characters will stay dead forever if they die once during your game. If you have permadeath switched off, on the other hand, your characters will respawn after death (or you'll be loaded back to a checkpoint) and you'll be able to keep playing with them.
Who is the MC of death march? ›Satou Pendragon | Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Wiki | Fandom.
Is permadeath good for games? ›Games using permadeath more closely simulate real life, though games with a strong narrative element frequently avoid permadeath. Permadeath of individual characters can be a factor in party-based tactical role-playing games.
How old is Geralt of Rivia? ›By the time Geralt appears in the first episode of the Netflix series The Witcher, he is already 71, though he is played by 36-year-old Henry Cavill. Aside from his catlike eyes, white hair and world-weary attitude, Geralt doesn't really show his age.
Who is the strongest being in Witcher 3? ›
1/10 Gaunter O'Dimm
Though some may argue that Gaunter O'Dimm shouldn't be included in ranking lists due to his supreme and otherworldly power, his role in the Witcher 3 DLC makes him enough of a present character to deserve to be included as the strongest character in the entire franchise.
You don't outright fight him in combat, but you can engage in a battle of wits. It's good there's no true battle against him as Gaunter O'Dimm is probably the most powerful being in the world of The Witcher 3.
How many hours does it take to 100 Witcher 3? ›When focusing on the main objectives, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is about 51 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 173 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
What should I not miss Witcher 3? ›- 1 The Strung-Up Corpse Of Birna Bran.
- 2 Orphans Of Novigrad. ...
- 3 Snitches Get Stitches. ...
- 4 An Elusive Thief. ...
- 5 Odrin. ...
- 6 Moritz Vs. ...
- 7 Romance In Novigrad. ...
- 8 Some Harmless Flirting. ...
The Witcher 3 has a few quests that can actually auto-fail if you aren't careful. Avoid that happening with this walkthrough guide. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has many points of no return, and several of them put a deadline on important decisions Geralt needs to make to secure the best ending.
What extra mutations does Geralt have? ›After displaying unusual tolerance, Geralt was selected to further experimental mutations which granted him considerably greater strength, speed, endurance, resilience, healing, senses, complete immunity to diseases and conventional poisons, and extreme resistance to pain.
What is the best mutation Witcher 3? ›There's no question that Euphoria is one of the most overpowered abilities in The Witcher 3. Therefore, it's definitely the most useful mutation. With Euphoria, each point of toxicity improves both the player's sword and sign damage by 0.75%.
Should I leave my weapons with the trolls Witcher 3? ›Outside, you can elect to keep talking to the trolls or to fight them. You have to leave your swords behind if you want to avoid a fight, but it's perfectly safe to do so. When you reach the site, light the four braziers around the edges and then place the Phylactery on the altar.
Who is Geralt's true love? ›Geralt of Rivia
Does Keira romance affect Yen? ›Romancing Keira has no impact on the rest of the game and the other romance options that Geralt can pursue.
Can you romance Ciri? ›
Ciri also has some romance options in the new game, and it's up to you to choose who she'll end up with. So, buckle up and check out your options – and how to achieve them.
Was Yennefer's father a half elf? ›As Yennefer explains to Istredd, her biological father was a half-elf. This elvish heritage was responsible for her deformities, but also for her natural familiarity with magic.
What race is Yennefer? ›Anya Chalotra (born in 1996) is an English actress known for playing Jennifer Ashman in the British TV show Wanderlust (2018) and for her role as Yennefer of Vengerberg in the Netflix series The Witcher (2019). Chalotra was born in a British-Indian family. Her father is of Indian descent while her mother is English.
Why is Yennefer sterile? ›Many sorcerers are infertile, but nobody knows exactly why. In the show, however, Yennefer's infertility is the direct result of her physical transformation. She decides to sacrifice her uterus in exchange for beauty, a choice she later comes to regret.
Are there female witchers? ›Are there any female Witchers in the video games/novels? According to a report from TheGamer, it's mentioned in The Witcher novels that there were women who tried to become Witchers, but none survived all of the trials. However, there are no actual full-fledged female Witchers in the novels or video games either.
Do Ciri eyes change color? ›Ciri eyes change color at times.
What potion is Geralt drinking? ›"Witchers usually drink the Blizzard potion immediately before combat. The potion is also favored in especially dangerous situations."
What's the hardest difficulty in bloodborne? ›1. Orphan of Kos. Without a doubt the toughest fight in Bloodborne, and perhaps in the entirety of the Soulsborne series. Orphan of Kos is the final boss of expansion The Old Hunters, and is worth the wait.
What is the highest difficulty in Devil May Cry 5? ›Heaven Or Hell - New to the series is the Heaven Or Hell mode. It is unlocked by beating the game on Dante Must Die. In this mode, all Enemies and Bosses die in one attack. However, the player character also dies in one attack.
What is the hardest difficulty in Terraria? ›The different Difficulties are an option during character creation that changes the player's penalties upon death. They also make the game either harder or easier depending on the difficulty level, with Journey being the easiest and Hardcore being the hardest.
How hard is the Bataan Memorial Death March? ›
Enjoy this 27.4-mile loop trail near White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 9 h 52 min to complete. This trail is great for hiking and running, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring.
What's the easiest Souls game? ›Demon's Souls (2009)
Instead, the first version of Demon's Souls is noticeably easier than most Soulsborne titles simply because its gameplay balance was…not great.
For that matter, the entire Dark Souls series is bandied as some of the hardest games ever, but Bloodborne is often seen as particularly challenging thanks to its fast-paced combat. That said, it's not as if Bloodborne is the be-all and end-all of difficult video games.
Which is the hardest Soulsborne game? ›This is because it continues the slow-moving elements of the first game, as well as Demon's Souls, but makes the level design and environment much more punishing than either. Dark Souls 2 has the hardest level design and challenges out of its trilogy.
Who is better Dante or Nero? ›Dante did have the upper hand due to his vast experience, but Nero didn't do too badly during their match-ups in Devil May Cry 4. In fact, his performance was incredible considering the age difference between the two. RELATED: God Of War's Kratos Vs Devil May Cry's Dante: Who Is Stronger?
Why is Vergil so motivated? ›Vergil, however, is motivated by the drive to obtain enough power to never have to worry about losing his family ever again.
Is Son of Sparda harder than Devil Hunter? ›By selecting the Son of Sparda difficulty setting, enemies will have twice as much health and deal twice as much damage as they did on the previous Devil Hunter setting. To make things even more challenging, enemies will attack a lot faster under the Son of Sparda setting.
What difficulty is 0 in Minecraft? ›peaceful (can be abbreviated as p or 0 [Bedrock Edition only]) for peaceful difficulty. easy (can be abbreviated as e or 1 [Bedrock Edition only]) for easy difficulty. normal (can be abbreviated as n or 2 [Bedrock Edition only]) for normal difficulty.
Can a 7 year old play Terraria? ›This game has a PEGI 12 rating. PEGI state that the game contains non realistic looking violence towards human characters and allows players to interact with each other online.
Can Terraria be beaten? ›Because there is so much to do in Terraria, it can be quite hard to pin down an exact finish time. Most people will take anywhere between 50-60 hours to defeat the Moon Lord, especially if you're playing for the very first time. The Moon Lord is the final boss in the game.
What do you get for completing the Bataan Death March? ›
All participants who complete the 95 mile journey will receive a commemorative coin.
How long does it take to walk the Bataan Death March? ›During this infamous trek, known as the “Bataan Death March,” the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in six days, with only one meal of rice during the entire journey.
Are there survivors in Death March? ›Paul Kerchum has dodged death at every turn. He came of age during the Great Depression, survived the nightmarish Bataan Death March and endured three and a half years as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.