The Hearts of Stone DLC for the popular game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released in October 2015 for all three platforms PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This add-on, pleasant for the fans of the game, gave them more than 10 hours of exciting new adventures of Geralt, encounters with fresh and different opponents, the opportunity to find unique armor, weapons and artifacts.
Plot and gameplay
"The Witcher" is a game in the style of Slavic fantasy based on the famous cycle by A. Sapkovsky, in which the main character must constantly make difficult moral choices. He travels to a magical world, where he has to fight nightmarish monsters, love beautiful women and give hope to ordinary people.
Initially, it was planned to introduce a task into the plot of the game based on the Polish fairy tale about Pan Twardowski, who sold his soul to the devil. But the writers of CD Projekt RED got a little carried away, and the result was a whole chain of quests that required a new location and characters. So there was a continuation of the third "The Witcher" called "Hearts of Stone", which became the first addition.
Geralt begins this chapter of his adventure in the city of Ochsenfurt, where he will have to carry out orders from the mysterious "Mister Mirror". Two other central characters are Shani's old acquaintance from the first part of the game and the chieftain of the robbers Olgerd von Everek, who made a mess that the witcher will have to clean up for a long time.
In the add-on, the Velen / Novigrad location has been expanded, new abilities, weapons, armor and harnesses for Roach have appeared, new cards and the rune enchanting system has changed slightly. The supplement is recommended to be completed by a hero who has a level of at least 35.
Story missions
1. "The first shoots of evil" - this quest will be available immediately after installing the update and launching the game. The task is on the board near the tavern called "Seven Cats", located not far from Novigrad. Only after Geralt appears in the vicinity, a man will come and, after a conversation with the witcher, will post an ad on the board, he will also show the way to his master, who ordered to place an order to kill the monster from the canals. By the way, you don't have to take anything from the board.
This is a robber chieftain named Olgerd von Everek, who lives with his thugs in the Garin estate. His house is located northeast of Ochsenfurt. After talking with him, the witcher goes "to business" and will kill the toad in the dungeons of the city, though not entirely successfully, at the same time meeting with an old friend Shani. And then he will wake up in captivity on a ship as accused of killing a toad, that is, an Ophir prince.
Gunther o'Dim will help Geralt escape. After some adventures and a serious battle with a detachment of warriors (in which there is a strong magician), the hero needs to rest and at the next midnight come to the crossroads near the village of Yantra. There the witcher is again waiting for a conversation with Gunther and the road to Olgerd. The ataman's estate is on fire, and you will have to fight with him, after which Geralt will be forced to fulfill three wishes of the robber.
2. "Sesame, open up!" - the first command (or desire) of Olgerd. This is a real chain of urban adventures in which the player can get pleasant achievements and meet old friends.
Since the house where the chieftain and his gang were having fun was burnt down, he needs a new estate. He wants a new home and sends Geralt to get him the "House of Borsodi". The witcher needs to go to the Auction House Oxenfurt and take part in the auction. The “correct” picture is called the “spice merchant”. And then you will need to secretly sneak into the house, and for this Geralt will enlist the support of both old acquaintances and strangers. The development of the plot depends on the choice of who to embark on adventures with. But everything will come to one thing - the successful completion of the task.
3.“And I was there, drinking honey-beer” - a rather funny chain in which Olgerd gives the task to fulfill all the whims of the spirit of his deceased brother Vitold, showing his letter. In this task, you must first meet with Shani at the city clinic and together go to the Everek estate. This is a real haunted house, but Geralt needs to enter the crypt with Vitold's remains and summon him. The resting place of brother Olgerd is the first coffin on the right with an ancient saber standing next to it.
Then the witcher will read the summoning ritual and a whole brood of spirits will appear in front of him - the ancestors of the Everek clan, extremely angry that the stranger has the blood of their heir in his hands. Having destroyed the ghosts, Geralt will be able to communicate with Witold himself, who will ask the witcher for his body in order to finally have fun from the heart and find eternal peace.
3. "And they lived happily ever after" - the last wish of the greedy chieftain, which he will announce in the "Alchemy" tavern. He asks to bring him a magic rose, once presented to his abandoned wife. This time, the witcher will have to enter the Everek family mansion, entering the courtyard through a gap in the fence. After the battle with the Keymaster, it is worth picking up his shovel - this is a unique weapon that can heal the owner for 10% of the damage done.
The rose cannot be found until you can speak with Iris von Everek herself. But, as it turned out, she had already died of melancholy and loneliness, and only her angry ghost sometimes visits the house. Geralt will have to solve puzzles, fight ghosts, visit the world in the picture drawn by a woman …
4. "Who sows the wind …" - the final quest associated with Olgerd. Geralt will be on the moon, and he will have to decide whether to give the soul of the insidious chieftain to the devil or try to destroy him, destroying his most satanic plans for the future. Choosing the second path, the witcher needs to meet with Shezlock, an intelligent and slightly crazy professor who will help draw up a sane plan to kill the devil.
Secondary tasks
1. "Clear midnight" - during the quest for Witold's entertainment, Geralt will have the opportunity to spend a passionate night with the beautiful Shani.
2. "A spell. Starting capital "- automatically taken when examining the board at the beginning of the expansion. Having assisted the Ophir rune master (with money, of course), Geralt will receive the following task.
3. “Enchantment. Pay for quality”- this is it, the next one. This is a real hassle. The witcher will have to run from the heart and spend a lot of money, at the same time finding rare materials, including a jade stone, but not for himself, but all for the same Ophir sorcerer. In the end, the white man will get tired of being an errand boy and he will proudly leave the Master, at the same time gaining access to improvements and new runes.
4. "Horse racing: fast as the west wind" - not far from Novigrad in the village of Bronovitsy there is a small camp of travelers, where Geralt will start a conversation about horses and, of course, will not refuse to prove to everyone that his Roach is faster than any thoroughbred stallions, and at the same time will acquire a new one harness.
Hidden quests
1. "Without a trace" - in the same village of Bronovitsy there is a bulletin board on which you can find this task. Geralt will go to the wilderness, where an elderly couple lives, hiding a lot of secrets. There are several different endings in this quest - it all depends on the player's choice and his desire to interfere in other people's affairs.
2. "Cry and Pay" - a funny hint about the use of bugs in the game "The Witcher 3". When the witcher finds himself on the market square of Ochsenfurt, a petty official, a strict tax collector, will turn to him and demand from Geralt a full account of the origin of his money.
3. "Collector" - if during the passage of the quest "Sesame, open up!" the witcher will make a good impression on the connoisseur of painting (by purchasing the "correct" picture), a small but pleasant additional task will be available.
4. "Sword, hunger and betrayal" - exactly to the north of Novigrad there is a lonely house, around which drowned people swarm. The treasure is marked on the map. And somewhere here it definitely is …
5. "Rose on a red field" is a witch's order, which can be taken from Adele, who stopped the witcher after visiting Olgerd. Here Geralt will have to be a real investigator and unravel the murder of the lady's friend by going to the village of Lukovets, where there is a small camp of the knightly order.
As usual, the player needs to be more attentive to people, objects, little things and details, plunging into the world of the witcher's adventures. After all, every thing in the game witcher 3 can lead to another treasure, and strangers will tell you how to fish a shoe, drive pigs, prepare a cleansing potion and much more.
