The Witcher 3 Endgame Content#
Endgame Overview#
| Endgame activity | Time estimate | Recommended level |
|---|---|---|
| Finishing the remaining side quests | 20-40 hours | 30-50 |
| Full completionist sweep | 50-100 hours | 35-50 |
| Hearts of Stone DLC | 10-15 hours | 30-36 |
| Blood and Wine DLC | 20-30 hours | 35-50 |
| New Game+ | 50-80 hours | 50+ |
Recommended Order After the Main Story#
| Step | Action | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clear the remaining “?” markers on the map | Collect diagrams, recipes, and XP |
| 2 | Take on witcher contracts | Money and XP |
| 3 | Reach level 30 | Unlocks the Hearts of Stone gate |
| 4 | Start the Hearts of Stone DLC | Earn runewords plus the Viper armor set |
| 5 | Reach level 35 | Unlocks the Blood and Wine gate |
| 6 | Start the Blood and Wine DLC | Earn the mutation system plus grandmaster sets and the Manticore set |
| 7 | Free roam once the DLCs are done | Complete the full collectible sweep |
| 8 | Kick off New Game+ | Carry everything over and start again |
New Game+ Mode#
New Game+ arrived with the 1.30 patch. You can opt in after finishing the game — you keep a lot of what you earned, but enemies scale up to match.
| Carries over | Does not carry over |
|---|---|
| Armor and weapons | Quest items |
| Level and skill points | Items from the “Just Story!” easy mode |
| Alchemy recipes and materials | Socketed runestones (runewords do not carry over) |
| Inventory items (non-quest) | Map “?” exploration progress |
| Crowns | Gwent card collection (must be recollected) |
| Unlocked mutations | Horse gear |
| Witcher school gear diagrams | Book and letter read status |
NG+ enemy level formula: enemy level = base level + the level you finished the main game at
NG+ vs Normal Mode Comparison#
| Item | Normal mode | New Game+ |
|---|---|---|
| Starting level | 1 | Final level (usually 35-50) |
| Enemy strength | Fixed or area-scaled | Based on your level plus a base offset |
| Gear vs level | Set by map region | Drops scale to your level |
| Level cap | 50 (vanilla) / 100 (next-gen) | 100 (vanilla) / unlimited (next-gen) |
| Relic gear | Standard names | Carries a “legendary” prefix |
| Difficulty | Standard | Significantly higher |
What to Do at Max Level#
| Activity | Details | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Complete every witcher contract | 26 in the base game plus the DLC contracts | The all-contracts-completed achievement |
| Every school’s grandmaster set | Craft all 6 grandmaster sets in Blood and Wine | A serious money sink |
| Every runeword enchantment | Unlock all tier-3 Runewright enchantments | Around 17,000 crowns |
| Fistfighting and horse racing titles | Champion of every region’s fists and races | Fun plus achievements |
| Full gwent collection | Gather every card in the game | The Gwent Master achievement |
| All mutations unlocked | Activate all 12 mutations | Blood and Wine content |
| Every decoction recipe | 20 decoction recipes | The Alchemist achievement |
| Every “?” on the map | Explore every map marker | Exploration achievements |
| Photo Mode | Added in the next-gen update | Scenic screenshots |
DLC Timing Guide#
Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine can be played at any point during the main story — or after beating it.
| DLC | Best starting level | Best starting point | Main story tie-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearts of Stone | 30-32 | After “the Bloody Baron” | Fully independent of the main story |
| Blood and Wine | 35-40 | After the main story | Best as the finale once the main quest is done |
Recommended final play order:
- The main story
- Hearts of Stone
- The main story’s final battle & endings
- Blood and Wine
Played this way, Blood and Wine’s ending lands like a true epilogue, with Geralt settling into a quiet life at his Toussaint vineyard.
All DLC Additions at a Glance#
| Content | Hearts of Stone | Blood and Wine |
|---|---|---|
| New quests | 10+ | 25+ |
| New bosses | The Caretaker, Olgierd, Master Mirror | Dettlaff, the Witch of Lynx Crag |
| New gear | Viper armor, the sword Iris, runewords | Grandmaster sets, the Manticore set, the mutation system |
| New map area | Eastern Oxenfurt | All of Toussaint |
| New gwent cards | 5+ | 30+ (Skellige deck) |
| New Game+ perks | Fully replayable | Mutations carry over |
| Story length | 10 hours | 20-30 hours |
| Achievements | 13 | 14 |
NG+ Fast Leveling Route#
Want to hit max level fast in NG+? This is the optimal route.
| Phase | Action | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skip the White Orchard side content entirely — main quests only | Reach Velen as fast as possible |
| 2 | Run witcher contracts in Velen — high XP plus money | Hit level 15-20 |
| 3 | Beeline to Triss’ main quests in Novigrad | Unlock more regions |
| 4 | Mix Skellige main quests with contracts | Hit level 30 |
| 5 | Start Hearts of Stone — grab the runewords | Gear upgrade |
| 6 | Fight the main story’s final battle | Wrap up the main quest |
| 7 | Start Blood and Wine — the road to max level | Reach level 50-60 |
Endgame Stats Summary#
| Stat | Full-clear value |
|---|---|
| Final level | 50-60 |
| Total playtime | 150-200 hours |
| Total crowns | 100,000+ |
| Skill points collected | 100+ |
| Achievements unlocked | 52/52 |
| Grandmaster sets crafted | 6/6 |
| Gwent cards collected | 150+ |
| Places of Power found | 29/29 |
| Witcher contracts completed | 26+ |
| Bosses killed | 30+ |