The Witcher 3 Remastered Best Start Guide for 2026

Latest Update: September 30, 2026 – Categories: The Witcher 3

A strong opening in White Orchard sets up everything that follows, from your first real weapon upgrade to a pile of free skill points before you ever see your first boss. Here’s the step-by-step version of the best possible start in Witcher 3 Remastered.

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The Witcher 3 Remastered Best Start Overview

The best start in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered means exploring White Orchard thoroughly before rushing the main quest, picking up multiple side quests from the town board for early trophies and mutagens, grabbing the Viper steel and silver sword diagrams as fast as possible, and investing early skill points into Refreshment, Strong Back, and Gourmand for some of the best quality of life gains in the game. Do all these things and you’ll walk into the Griffin fight, and the rest of Velen, significantly ahead of where the game expects you to be.

Step-by-Step: The Best Start in The Witcher 3

Step 1: Explore Before You Rush the Main Quest

When you arrive in White Orchard, you’ll be prompted to start the main quest. Don’t rush into it right away. Take the time to explore the starting town and raid the nearby buildings and shelves first. Food is your main early priority here, since food items heal you over time, and it’s worth stocking up on as much as you can find, especially if you’re playing on a harder difficulty. Use your Witcher senses while inside buildings to automatically highlight all lootable containers and go crazy!

The only time you shouldn’t loot containers is when guards are nearby, but that’s usually only in the Nilfgaardian outpost in this region.

Step 2: Pick Up Both Side Quests From the Town Board

Check the town board further into the village for two side quests AKA Contracts worth doing immediately for bonus experience and rewards. The Devil by the Well quest sends you to track down a ghost at a nearby village, and defeating the Noonwraith at the end of it rewards your first trophy, which boosts experience gained and equips automatically, along with your first mutagen for bonus Vitality.

If you already have a skill point or two at this stage, put it into Refreshment from the Alchemy tree. It gives you a free heal any time you use a potion, even a buff potion rather than a healing one, and it also buffs the Noonwraith mutagen you just picked up, making it a strong pick in both directions at once.

Step 3: Complete Missing in Action and Loot the Battlefield

The Missing in Action side quest takes you to a seaside village. Before starting it, grab the guarded treasure along the nearby shore for extra weapons and crafting recipes. The drowners guarding it aren’t difficult even if you’re underleveled, especially if you use Quen between waves to protect your health. Loot any drowner brains you find, since they’re a critical ingredient for your first useful potion.

To complete the quest, speak to Dune, who leads you to a nearby battlefield. While you’re there, loot the soldiers’ bodies for blunt axes, which sell for solid money and weigh almost nothing, along with horse hides worth picking up to sell later.

Step 4: Clear the Nearby Bandit Camp for the Viper Swords Quest

Near the Missing in Action quest area is a marked bandit camp worth clearing. Defeating the enemies and reading the note inside starts the quest for the Viper steel and silver swords, by far the best early weapon upgrade available, and one you can complete quickly within this same zone. You’ll get the steel sword diagram here immediately, which then points you toward the silver sword diagram further north.

Step 5: Unlock the Herbalist and Craft Swallow/Bombs

While in the southern part of the map, restore the Abandoned Worship site to unlock your first Herbalist merchant. Buy whatever ingredients you’re missing to craft the Swallow healing potion if you don’t already have it, and do this before you leave the starting area, since Swallow is your on-demand healing option for the rest of the game. The herbalist also sells bomb ingredients, and either bomb type works fine for blowing up monster nests, which is worth doing as soon as possible for extra loot and experience in the region.

Step 6: Return to Town, Sell Loot, and Consider the Dwarf’s Armor

Head back to the main town to sell off everything you’ve picked up so far. While you’re there, consider completing the dwarf’s side quest investigating who burned down his forge, which unlocks his armorer services and allows you to craft a nice medium armor chest piece, the Warrior’s Leather Jacket – basically the only armor worth crafting in this starting zone. It’s optional, but worth it if you want a defensive upgrade before the Griffin fight.

Step 7: Clear Every Place of Power and Monster Nest

Ride around the map on Roach and hit every Place of Power and monster nest you can find in White Orchard. Each Place of Power grants a free skill point, and stacking up this many early points is a major advantage, especially on harder difficulties.

Step 8: Grab the Viper Silver Sword Diagram

While you’re on the northern side of the map collecting Places of Power, head to the cemetery to fight the wraith guarding the Viper silver sword diagram. Use Yrden here specifically, since it creates a magic trap that makes wraith-type enemies easy to hit consistently instead of swinging at empty air.

Step 9: Craft Both Serpent Swords at the Nilfgaardian Outpost

With both diagrams in hand, head to the Nilfgaardian outpost. Before progressing the main quest there, talk to the quartermaster, who can craft both the steel and silver serpent swords for you. Buy any extra crafting materials you need from him directly, like silver, and dismantle junk items if you’re missing specific ingredients. Getting both swords this early is a major upgrade and will make the upcoming Griffin fight significantly easier.

Step 10: Spend Your Early Skill Points on Quality of Life Skills

By this point you should have several skill points banked from all those Places of Power. Prioritize the General skill tree’s quality of life upgrades, since they have the biggest impact this early in the game. Remember that Remastered no longer requires spending extra points just to unlock the next tier, you simply move down through the tree.

Start with Cat School Techniques, which pairs well with a strong light armor set you’ll pick up soon. Then move down and over to grab Strong Back for bonus carry weight, 20 per rank up to 60, worth at least one point immediately with more saved for later if needed. Next is Gourmand, arguably the best quality of life skill in the entire game, extending food healing from a mere 10 seconds to a full 15 minutes at rank three. Maxing this out means even cheap food heals you continuously in and out of combat, removing the need to think about healing almost entirely (especially when combined with Refreshment which should be your first skill).

If you have points left over, put them into sword upgrades in the Combat tree or into Quen’s tier two upgrade, which lets the Sign cast actively while you’re blocking and heals you back when you take damage, a genuinely clutch option if you ever run out of potions.

Step 11: Take Down the Griffin

With your swords, skills, and healing options in place, the Griffin boss fight becomes easy even on harder difficulties. Stick to sword attacks, use your potions for both offensive buffs and healing, and you shouldn’t need Vesemir’s crossbow at all.

Step 12: Buy the Temerian Armor Set

After defeating the Griffin, pick up the Temerian armor set from the merchant near the bridge in the starting village. It’s a level four set, and you’ll likely hit level four shortly after arriving in Vizima, so either buy it in advance or fast travel back to White Orchard before heading into Velen. This set provides excellent bonuses, especially alongside Cat School Techniques, which buffs your critical and fast attack damage based on how many light armor pieces you’re wearing, four in this case.

The set costs around 1,000 crowns, but between the axes from the battlefield, gold rings from monster nests, animal hides, and any extra weapons or armor you sell off along the way, you should be able to afford it without much trouble.

The Final Word

Everything in this guide comes down to patience in White Orchard paying off. Don’t rush the main quest, clear every Place of Power you can find, get both Viper swords crafted before the Griffin fight, and spend your early points on Refreshment, Strong Back, and Gourmand rather than saving them for later. By the time you buy the Temerian set and head into Velen, you’ll be carrying a noticeably stronger character than the game expects at this stage. Check out our full video guide below for even more details!

The Witcher 3 Remastered Best Start FAQ

1. What’s the single most important skill to grab early?

Gourmand is the standout pick, since maxing it out extends food healing from 10 seconds to a full 15 minutes, making healing a non-issue for the rest of the game. Refreshment is another early gem, giving you bonus healing every time you use a potion (even non-healing potions).

2. Which sign should I use against the wraith guarding the Viper silver sword diagram?

Yrden, since it creates a magic trap that makes wraith-type enemies easy to hit consistently instead of attacking empty air.

3. Do I need the dwarf’s armor chest piece to beat the Griffin?

No, it’s optional. The Viper swords and your early skill points matter far more for that fight, though the armor is a reasonable defensive upgrade if you want it.

4. How do I afford the Temerian armor set?

Sell the blunt axes looted from battlefield soldiers, horse hides, gold rings from monster nests, and any spare weapons or armor you’ve picked up, and you should reach the roughly 1,000 crowns it costs without much farming.

5. Has the skill tree progression changed in Remastered?

Yes, you no longer need to spend extra points just to unlock the next tier. You simply move down through the tree’s connected paths as you invest points.