The Witcher: the BEASTIARY and CRAFTINGS (game related)

As I said I would, I’m covering some more of the basics when it comes to The Witcher more specifically to the GAME I’m having to write notes on the lore right now to figure out how to summarize it, it’s very similar to the show Arcane for having multiple stories in one big world.)

WARNING: 

I’m very appreciative of some of the comments left about wanting to read The Witcher books but I must warn you, these books are not the typical book. It’s a hard read with very vivid graphic imagery of A LOT OF adult content, so if you’re one to get squeamish when it comes to guts, blood, sex, drinking, death, sometimes sexism, it’s not for you. SOME BOOKS WILL NOT ALWAYS BE GERALT BASED. ITS A BIG WORLD.

 

The same can be said about the game. Giving you actual real time scenery of what is going on. (Admittedly for it to still be considered content appropriate, the game does censor some of the more intimate scenes with even a skip button, however violence and killing in the game, beasts and other humans is mandatory for the plot. Sorry, can’t skip that and you will get graphic, small, in game, quick cutscenes. A common one being a quick decapitation if fighting a human or lesser monster.)

I would absolutely love to explain more of the books to you, however even I am in the process of still reading these books. (I’ve read the first one like 3 times because I’m trying to buy them all in the same cover.) I can however tell you LOTS about the games!

Being a very late fan into the Witcher most of the previous game (1 and 2) are unavailable to me so Instead I already have the Witcher Three: The Wild Hunt.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THESE FOR THE GAME: 

I, when I was about 12 years old when I played this game, I was amazed at so much thought and detail went into the game but most importantly I loved the BEASTIARY and CRAFTING/BLACKSMITHING so much because I found them out SO LATE! (I had the same armor through the entire game and was dying VERY easily, lol)

This above is the BEASTIARY! 

If you can’t tell what that is above, that my friend is a Fiend. Kinda looks like a Wendigo, doesn’t it? Well, what if I told you the wendigo and another beast called a Leshen were actually pretty similar? 

Figuring this, can you guess what the BEASTIARY is? 

If you guessed a journal or logbook for certain beasts and magical entities or races (including people) then you’d be correct. 

The BEASTIARY is a perfect dictionary of sorts that helps you identify your creature you are hunting. Its lore, where it comes from, if it has similar brethren in different regions, what its weak to, using oils, silver, steel and what sign you must use. 

Brief Sign disclosure: Its Witcher magic (will be covered in the lore blog sometime soon, not the next.) 

If you look up “Bestiary Witcher 3”, a wide variety of images will show you different entities under their respective races recorded section. 

A lot of these drop-down menus show you what they are 

For example:

Beasts:

wolf,

wild dog,

bear

etc. 

Necromancers: 

Ghouls,

Alghouls

etc.

So on, so forth. 

Now again, you wanna pay attention to the small image of the fiend at the top. Refer to the small three or 4 boxes at the bottom of its figure, that’s where you will find its vulnerabilities! 

CRAFTING/BLACKSMITHING: 

oh boy the one thing YOU DEFINETLY WILL HAVE TO DO PROGRESSILVLY throughout the game. Guys…your swords can dull and break! PAY THEM HEED!’ so will your armor!

It is important that you keep an eye on your screen when you see a small diagram pop up on the left-hand side with red armor or swords. Thats an indicator that your equipment is very weak! (Id show you but there no picture found) 

So instead, you’ll need this: A repair kit(s)

(One will usually do it; that’s just the quantity of how many this person has.)

These can be found or bought in local cities or found out in the open world. 

Its kinda small and I’m sorry but below is the crafting menu: 

This is where you will make your potions, oils, bombs, fabrics and other materials for your travels. Diagrams you collect on your journey (aka The Path) will aid you in discovering new items and essentials to crafting new armor or swords. YOU WILL NEED TO DO THIS!

Do not be like 12-year-old me way back when and though that your weak little swords and armor will last you, IT WON’T! 

Trade, craft, go to a blacksmith (it’s a very similar menu like the one above) This is a very slice of life game, you HAVE to play this game like you’re desperately trying to survive. 

With your (hopefully new or restored) armor and weapons you will need to go out and deliberately slice and dice monsters or harvest plants. The tutorial in the game walks you through this phase.  

What it doesn’t always tell you is that if you have a sort of Alcohol in your inventory, Dwarven spirit, then your health potion once you craft it: Swallow, will regenerate once you meditate. 

Meditating is a key factor in resting and regenerating health, magic, toxicity, stamina, and health items/oils. 

To think these are the basics is quite the stretch since I learned these so late! So, if you decide to play the game (Available on ps4-psf5, Xbox one, Xbox series s-x, PC or Nintendo switch) you now know ahead of time to know what to look out for. Sometime people forget things, so I hope this blog was helpful if you ever forget a key detail on your Path. 

(Preferably, when looking for the game look for the one labeled COMPLETE EDITION you get the full pack of DLC’s and extra equipment to hunt and I wouldn’t recommend PS4 or Nintendo switch cause sometimes issues will occur frequently, meaning you may burn/overheat your console.) 

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING, Its long yet necessary for game depth. And I only covered two factors, next will be navigations of the map, menus, and level differences and gaging, contracts/treasure hunts and currency. Yeah…

The plan:

Next Wednesday, 9/3/25: Menus and levels.

The Wednesday after, 9/10/25: Map nav and Bounty/treasure/currency.

9/17/25: Meat and potatoes of the Lore (AROUND GERALT!) 

The game itself can tell you lore about what’s going on with the world, hence why it’s an open world adventure for a reason. 

(I won’t be stuck on the Witcher for too much longer.)