Side quests from The Witcher 3 and supplemental DLCs that are boring, frustrating, or offer little reward for how much trouble they are to complete.
There are hours of supplemental plot outside of the main story to be found in the side quests dotting The Witcher 3's continent, but there are some that players would be better served to skip altogether. While The Witcher is a testament to great game design and tastes may vary as far as what could be considered entertaining gameplay, these quests sport a handful of glaring flaws that make them teeth-gritting levels of infuriating and boring.
The quests listed come from both The Witcher 3's main game, as well as the two expansions Blood & Wine and Hearts of Stone. Often with these side quests, players are put in tedious situations with NPCs who are coded to run headlong into danger and get themselves killed against the quests' directions while the Witcher is simultaneously fighting off a horde of monsters. That, coupled with a low reward and lack of plot connection makes these side quests wholly skippable.
One of the wonderful things about the side quests in The Witcher 3 is that once activated, they can be abandoned with little to no consequence. Aside from the main story quests, few of the missions have much in the way of impact on the in-game world, giving players the freedom to pick and choose where they take the Witcher. What constitutes a mission as frustrating per se can also vary greatly from player to player. Some may find excessive combat or roleplay not to their likings, while others may enjoy it greatly.
For Fame and Glory is a secondary Witcher 3 quest that begins on the island of Skellige. Geralt must keep two warriors alive through a dungeon crawl in a cave infested with necrophages as the two attempt to clear the monsters for their fame and glory. The quest ideally should not be too difficult, but the problems arise when the two warriors prove much too overzealous and run headlong into danger. Notably, Geralt’s quest-mates don’t seem to understand that the delayed explosion from a Rotfiend causes damage. The reward for completing the quest is a measly sixty crowns and fifty XP, so players are more than welcome to skip it altogether.
In Wolf’s Clothing should ideally be an interesting brain-teaser of a quest, complete with mazes and puzzles, yet falls short due to poor direction and bugs. This quest requires Geralt to track the werewolf Morkvarg through Freya’s Garden at the behest of the Archpriestess Josta. Players will have to track down the beast's location using Geralt’s Witcher Sense to a quick puzzle and then, ideally, to the final battle with the wolf. Unfortunately, most players end up abandoning the quest due to being wholly unable to find Morkvarg in the labyrinthian garden. Be it the vastness of the area or a bug, it is better for players to gloss over this side quest and risk losing the eighty-five crown reward.
Paperchase in The Witcher 3 is a Novigrad side quest that not only forces players through monotonous and tedious gameplay but also offers a fairly mediocre reward as recompense. This quest boils down to Geralt running back and forth across the city of Novigrad to communicate between multiple different bank tellers who are insistent on making the Witcher’s day infinitely more difficult. There is also some forced sitting and waiting that players will have to do while the bank tellers take their scheduled break. The dialogue is curt and frustrating, and the constant running back and forth starts to make the Witcher feel more like a carrier pigeon.
Wine Wars is a side quest from The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion that takes place in Toussaint. The quest deals with two farmers arguing over who gets to inherit a successful winery. The quest essentially repeats the same motions three times over, forcing players to ride around the countryside of Toussaint to reiterate the same battle a handful of times against difficult and aggravating monsters. While the reward of five hundred and twenty-five crowns is hefty, players may wish to abandon the quest after the second time completing it.
The side quest Fake Papers has to deal with Geralt attempting to obtain fake passport papers to travel through Redania’s borders on The Witcher 3 continent. This is an optional quest, and not necessary to complete in the first place. Not only is it a quick and pointless task, but it is also unnecessarily difficult. In order to obtain the fake papers from the local counterfeit dealer, players will have to escort the dealer’s brother safely from one point to the other. This man is merely a villager with low hit points and a low speed, making him especially susceptible to the three different waves of monsters that will try to foil the escort. If at any point the brother dies, the deal will refuse to give Geralt the papers, and the quest will be for naught. Ignoring it altogether will save players a headache and time.
Hard Times is a side quest that can be found on the island of Skellige on the road between Blandare and the Miner's camp. Players will encounter a cyclops near an overturned wagon, and thus the quest will begin. No matter how the Witcher chooses to proceed with this side story, the ending will remain the same. Not only is the potential reward small, but the amount of enemies that need to be fought and traveling that needs to be done to earn said reward is not worth having Geralt's business turned away by a local blacksmith.
Players should bear in mind that changing the difficulty of the game settings will not affect the enjoyability of these side quests much as they are simply frustrating by design, even when playing through The Witcher 3 on the easiest mode. It is also possible that players may never even run across these particular side quests unless they go out of their way to search for them since none have much in the way of relevance to the main plot.
