Bald Mountain – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a main quest of the Witcher 3 endgame. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Docks
2 – Village
3 – Thecla’s Tent
4 – Gate
5 – Cave Exit
6 – Mountain Top
P – Pace of Power

Walkthrough

For this quest you’ll start out at the docks at the base of Bald Mountain in Velen East (#1). You’ll have Ciri with you. As you climb the path leading up to the top of the mountain, you’ll quickly come to a small village (#2). It’ll be celebrating the Sabbath, and the villagers will invite you to come and sit by the fire.

While you’re at the fire, a villager named Stregomir will tell you a few things about the Sabbath — that the villagers sacrifice children to the Crones, that the Crones respond by giving the villagers a Magic Acorn and a blessing, and that only a woman named Thecla decides who is worthy to see the Crones.

You’ll find Thecla in a tent in the northern part of the village (#3). On your way to see her, you’ll run into Johnny (from Ladies in the Wood and Return to Crookback Bog) and perhaps Sarah (from Novigrad Dreaming). They’ll confirm that Imlerith is indeed visiting the Crones, and they’ll tell you a couple of things about Thecla — that you shouldn’t lie to her, and that if she refuses to help you, you can demand to take “the trial.”

When you meet Thecla, she’ll immediately find Ciri worthy, but she won’t think much of you, and so you’ll have to prove yourself to her. To that end, Thecla will give you a challenge. She’ll drop a Defier’s Oren off a pier into a lake 100 feet below, and she’ll expect you to retrieve it. Fetching the coin shouldn’t be any problem. You’ll just need to jump into the lake, kill a couple of drowners in the water, and then dive down and grab the coin.

However, when you exit the lake, you’ll encounter a level 26 fiend. Fiends are relicts, so put some Relict Oil on your silver sword and get to work. Once you’ve dealt with the fiend, you’ll just need to follow the pathway back to Thecla, who will keep her word and give you permission to continue. Thecla’s assistant Marica will then lead you to a locked gate (#4) and open it for you. This exchange will earn you 300 xp.

Past the gate, you’ll have to make your way through a tunnel, where you’ll meet the gatekeeper for the Crones, a devil named Fugas. Fugas will allow Ciri to pass, but when he sees your coin, he’ll recognize it as a “death sentence,” and he’ll attack you. Fugas is another relict, but he seems easier than the fiend, and with Ciri helping you, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with the battle.

Afterwards, you and Ciri will play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to face Imlerith. You’ll win, so you’ll get to fight the Wild Hunt commander while Ciri deals with the Crones. The quest will then split, and you’ll move on to Ciri’s half of the quest next.

Ciri and the Crones

For this part of the quest, you’ll be in control of Ciri. You’ll be in a dark cave, and you won’t have a Torch or a Cat potion at your disposal, so you’ll just have to stumble along until you spot a waterfall, and then you’ll have to jump down. In the cave below, you’ll quickly come upon the Crones snacking on some unlucky villagers. This will lead to a fight.

Like all of the Ciri battles, you’ll be able to teleport around, and you’ll automatically regenerate your health. So teleport close to a Crone, hit her a couple of times, and then teleport away. If you take too much damage, then just keep teleporting while you heal. Otherwise, repeat as necessary until the Crones are dead. Surprisingly, the Crones won’t cast very many spells, so it’ll mostly be a melee fight. The Brewess will hit you the hardest, so be the most careful around her.

Once you’ve killed all three Crones, a cutscene will start up where you’ll discover that the Weavess isn’t actually dead. She’ll steal Vesemir’s witcher medallion from you, and she’ll fly away. You’ll then switch to Geralt for his half of the quest.

Geralt and Imlerith

For this part of the quest, you’ll be back in control of Geralt, and you’ll start out near the top of the mountain (#5). As you climb your way to the peak, you’ll pass by a Place of Power (P). Be sure to use it for an ability point before continuing.

When you reach the top of the mountain (#6), you’ll find Imlerith lounging around with several succubi. The succubi will quickly disperse when they spot you, and then after a short conversation, the fight will start. Imlerith will use a mace and a shield, but he’s not as annoying as some shielded enemies — mostly because he’ll focus on attacking more than blocking. Still, you’ll need to be careful around him. He’ll usually swing his mace three times in a row, and it’s a bad idea to get hit all three times. So try to dodge in, attack, and then retreat.

About halfway through the fight, Imlerith will switch to his winter form, which means he’ll drop his shield and start teleporting around. It’ll be tougher to dodge away from him in this form, but if you’re patient and keep eating food / quaffing potions, you should be able to wear him down. Once you’ve done enough damage to Imlerith, a cutscene will start up where you’ll fry him with Igni and then finish him off with his own weapon. This will earn you 1000 xp.

At the end of the battle, Ciri will join you at the top of the mountain. She’ll suggest that you start heading to Novigrad to meet up with Avallac’h, Triss, and Yennefer, but you should decline. This will give you a chance to loot Imlerith, where you’ll find a Magic Acorn.

Note: If you neglect to loot Imlerith at the end of the quest, you’ll still be able to return later to get the Magic Acorn.

When you tell Ciri that you’re ready to go, you’ll automatically make your way down to the village (#2). The villagers there will inform you that their sacred oak tree is dead, and they’ll decry the loss of their acorns. If you want, you can give them the Magic Acorn, or you can keep it for yourself. If you eat the acorn, then you’ll gain two ability points.

Note: There’s no truth to the rumor that giving the Magic Acorn to the villagers will eventually cause them to reward you with three Magic Acorns.