Act II, Kaedwen Part III -- Main-Questing

Act II, Kaedwen Part III -- Main-Questing

It seems that there are certain quests that have to be completed in the main quest line in order to unlock some other quest content, including a side-quest called Ave Henselt -- and the Arena as well -- and that quest is called The Butcher of Cidaris.  So let us head there now!

-- The Butcher of Cidaris -- When we were in the midst of getting the drunks to the Canteen we encountered the CS that flags this quest...  Now that we have completed all of the side-quests that we can, it is time to deal with this one.  Head back to the Canteen and speak with the Veteran to learn his troubles. 

You learn about his son and the stupid chance he is going to take in dueling the Butcher -- ah but you can help here -- by offering to help he vows to help you any way that he can.  With that done go talk to Sven, who is right outside of the Canteen.  He is an irritating git but your offer to pair with him in the battle is still a good thing for him.

Your next step is to head to the nearby tent and issue the challenge to Avet -- a cocky SOB who you easily provoke into doing a duo-duel.  Another cocky knight volunteers, so it is all set.  Head back to Sven with the good news.

Assuming you are ready initiate the battle and you will get a CS of the Arena and then the battle commences.  You know you have to kick his ass, right? 

Defending the Honor of Sven vs. The Butcher of Cidaris 

With that mischief managed, head outside and chat with Manfred, who will thank you -- ask him about the coiners and he will ask why you want to know.   Tell him that you just want to know what is going on, and Manfred will tell you the story.  He knows how it all got started, and he tells you.

You already have the information that you needed but he fills you in on the details anyway, and that verifies what you already knew.  But in addition to that he warns you about a particular soldier who we have also heard about, Traut of the magic armor...

After the CS with Manfred you will be approached by Proximo, the King's Arena Master who will tell you about the matches and flag the side-quest Ave Henselt!


-- Ave Henselt! -- This is the Arena side-quest and it is well worth your time to do now, since it will give you some valued XP and unlocks an Achievement as well as some future opportunities for um, well, you will see...

The battles only take place during the daytime, and are not all the same.  First of all they are not QTE but actual fights...  The first battle is with an axeman named Gwydeon who you can simply fast-attack to get to yield.  The second battle is with a warrior in full armor with sword and shield -- who you may want to stun before you beat him into submission. 

The third battle is with a rather large warrior with a huge sword and a supply of throwing weapons.  Your best tactic is to fast-attack to keep him off-balance and get him to yield.  Before you can catch your breath you are forced into a battle with Ves, who it seems has something she wants to prove.  You really really need to beat her until she yields, anything else she will find insulting.

Finishing off Ves unlocks the Achievement "Gladiator" (15 G) Defeat all opponents in the Kaedweni arena.  This does not complete the side-quest Ave Henselt! but does get you an invitation from Ves to visit her back at the Blue Stripe Camp...  Hmmm...  Head there now and speak with her and you will find yourself having wine and, if you play your cards right, in bed with her as well.  Getting her into bed unlocks the Achievement "Heartbreaker" (10 G) Seduce Ves.  And it gives you the chance to see all of her tattoos...  ALL of them.  It also completes the side-quest Ave Henselt! and earns you 50 XP.  Well done!


-- The Blood Curse (Part I) -- now it is time to begin gathering the items that you need that are the focus of the main story, and that means starting with this quest and heading to see the Quartermaster at the Canteen and talking to him about a certain spear... 

As part of the previous questing we have examined the site of the burning of the sorceress, and we spoke with the Relic vendor in the Canteen.  We met with and obtained the information from The Visionary about the Sorceresses execution, so it is time to once again seek out the Relic Seller in the Canteen.  If there are any chat options you have not already covered do that now before you ask about the Spear.

When he starts demanding money simply use the Sign on him to get him to tell you without paying -- he will open up and confirm what you feared.  The Spear is out of our reach for the moment as we have to complete some other quests before we are ready to get to this.

Obtaining the Magic Armor from Traut 

-- Courage Symbolized -- We have already spoken to the people that we needed to to learn where the man is hiding, so there is no need to do any more investigating in and around the camp.  We have a square coin and we have the password, so we need to seek out the prostitute at the bordello outside of the camp.  When you arrive it may be a good idea to speak with the Madam to see if she knows anything useful to you, and when you are satisfied tell her you are looking for a whore, then show her the square coin.

Pick Whistling Wendy and then go inside to meet with her.  Tell her that you want her smile to part the gates of paradise, and she will take you to the secret trapdoor.  Head down and follow the tunnel to the hidden chamber where you will meet with Traut, who basically tells you where to head in.  He tells you about the armor, and you tell him that is what you came for -- but it is over his dead body, literally.

The problem that you have in here is that it is not just Traut you have to battle, but all of the other soldiers here as well, so going right at him will just get you killed from behind!  You will need to do better than that, and speaking as a person who has actually fought with swords for real, I can tell you that having your back to a wall is a really good idea.

Use your Signs as best you can and try to take the supporting troops out first, so you can concentrate on Traut without being back-stabbed.  If you have trouble watch the video above, as it shows how to use the room layout to your advantage.  As far as actually fighting Traut, using Riposte to your advantage is the way to go if you have not yet mastered swordplay.

Once you have finished him off and looted his kit, loot all the other soldiers you killed as there is a convenient merchant right outside who you can sell their booty to for a tidy profit!  The First Rate Temerian Sword is a pretty good weapon and if you do not have anything better I say use it.  One of the things it has is a 4% Vigor regeneration during combat enchantment, which is not a bad thing to have...

Now we need to seek out Dandelion to talk to him, and then Dethmold.  Dandelion is in the lower camp area by one of the soldiers tents, and when you meet him you can ask if the letter you found is his -- it is -- and you explain to him how this move of his is likely to get him killed! 

After you finish that conversation, talk to him about Sabrina if you have not already (you should have) and then head for Dethmold's tent to chat him up.  You should have a lot of different conversation options with him, but start with the ones that are not quest-related, or rather not related to our current quests, so ask about The Wild Hunt, then tell him about Traut. 

Telling Dethmold what you did with Traut and the five other conspirators advances the quest Conspiracy Theory and allows you to collect the reward that was put on their heads, so do that and then tell him that you know how to free the King from his curse.  You fill him in about the Spear and that Iorveth has it.  You learn that Iorveth is here, and on the other side of the mist.  Dethmold tells you that you need to wait until you have all of the artifacts before trying to cross the mist...

Ask if he knows anything new about the curse and he tells you what he knows -- then ask if he has spoken to the King?  You explain that you need the medallion, but Dethmold is unwilling to push the issue initially.  Ask for Magic Powder, and he tells you that the resin required is expensive.  You tell him to get the King to pay him and he capitulates.  He gives you a grimoire to help you with making the protective runes then.

Tell him that you need to go through the mist, and he gives you the white flag of truce that he says should work -- he also gives you armor.  When you get outside you should equip the armor that he gave you -- Zireal's Armor -- and upgrade it since you should have some good upgrades you can use to enhance it!   You can apply 3 Armor Enhancements to it, which should easily allow you to boost its Armor Rating by 6,


-- Getting Ready to Cross Over --

At this point you have pretty much done all that you can in camp and it really is time for you to cross over into the mist and to the other side, where you need to go in order to advance the rest of the quests and obtain all of the items that you need (minus the amulet that the King has).  Before you do that though you should prepare as best you can, which means doing the following:

Visit the Smith and the Quartermasters to see what diagrams they have to sell for better armor -- you have good main armor thanks to Dethmold but as for your legs, feet, and hands?  You can improve them easily.  You should have already unlocked the Achievement for accumulating 10,000 Oren but if you have not, now is the time to do some Arm Wrestling to get that out of the way, because buying the diagrams will NOT be cheap!

So we are assuming that you have already gotten the 10,000 Oren and so you can afford to pay for the diagrams -- at the very least you can have crafted for you a Robust Blue Meteorite Silver Sword -- or whichever color you like, it is your call...

You will also want to replenish your Potion supply making sure you have the ones you need, and your bombs.  Make sure you have throwing weapons, and with that you should be almost good to go save for the following!

Unlocking the Optional Achievements in one Go! 

-- Some Achievement Chores --

At this point you should have at least 8 Talent Points saved up, and as you are going to need to apply them for the coming battles and difficulties we need to address a few Achievements that we just want to get unlocked now, so that they are out of the way and you do not have to worry about them for the future, right?

So again, if you have yet to do so, Arm Wrestle Adam to get 10,000 Oren and unlock the Achievement "Miser" (10 G) Collect 10,000 Oren.

Now using the Talent Points that you have saved up, first save your game, and then open the Abilities Menu and, selecting Swordsman to access its menu, and then apply a point in Guard, a point in Tough Guy, a point in Hardy, a point in Finesse, a point in Invincible, and two points in Combat Acumen and then back out of the menu and wait a moment for the Achievement to unlock, and after about 40 seconds you will unlock "Swordmaster" (10 G) Acquire the Combat Acumen Ability.

Load your save and then open the Character Menu back up and select the Alchemy Tree, and then place one point in each of the following: Synthesis > Specialization: Potions > Harvester > Specialization: Oils > Transmutation > Metathesis > Condensation > and Mutant, then back out to the main play screen and wait a moment and you will unlock the Achievement "Master Alchemist" (10 G) Acquire the Mutant Ability.

Load your save and open the Magic Tree and apply one point in the following: Enhanced Aard Sign > Enhanced Quen Sign > Magic Intensification > Fatal Attraction > Enhanced Yrden Sign > Magical Life Force > and Sense of Magic, then back out to the main screen and wait a moment to unlock the Achievement "Master of Magic" (10 G) Acquire the Sense of Magic ability.

Now you can reload your save, resetting your points, and take a moment to decide what you actually want to spend them on for real...  This is a highly personal choice, but most serious players agree that spending then on a specific tree is a good idea, as that specialization creates a unique set of capabilities for your character...  But that is, as I say, your choice.  You should also seriously consider applying the Mutagens that you want to use, picking the skills you want to apply them to.

Once you decide how you are going to spend the points, and you have spent them, you are pretty much ready to head for the Mist with Zoltan and move the story forward!