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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Free DLC
Score: 90%
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Media: Download/8
Players: 1
Genre: Adventure/RPG

Temerian Armor Set: Yo Dawg, I Heard You Like Lilies:
Description and location are as follows: (available from a merchant in White Orchard)

Reserved for the finest warriors serving the kingdom of Temeria, the Temerian Armor Set includes a jacket, gloves, pants, boots, war horse armor and inventory-expanding saddlebags.

Taking design cues from the Temerian crest, you’ll find lily decoration all over this set of armor. The saddlebags are leather with lilies stamped in, while the rest of the horse armor is blue with white lilies. It looks more decorative than armor-like, and it really resembles the fabric gear you’ll see on horses at the local Renaissance festival. The simplicity is perhaps reflected in its stats, with only a 20 boost to Roach’s maximum fear level for the Horse Blinders and a 25 boost to stamina for the saddle. The Saddlebags are also a paltry 30 maximum inventory weight boost. The Temerian Trousers, Gauntlets, and armor for Geralt are likewise very decorative, with a small boost to Geralt’s stats. This is meant more to be starting gear than anything else.


Beard and Hairstyle Set: No Rick Bayless Yet, but Let’s Keep Hoping:
Description and location are as follows: (available from various barbers in the game world)

Customize Geralt of Rivia to your liking with this amazing set of beards and hairstyles.

Hey, there’s just not much you can do with stark white hair, but Geralt’s hair gets some new options with this DLC. His classic tied-back high ponytail is part of what makes him recognizable, so anything else really looks odd on him. You can go a bit on the ridiculous side with muttonchops or a mustache and soul patch. The shaved and short on the sides with a ponytail cuts end up looking much like his classic look, but with a little more style. They seem a bit more practical too. The "loose, not too long" makes Geralt look much like a Final Fantasy character with its strategic strands of hair falling over his face.


Contract - Missing Miners: Check Between the Couch Cushions First:
Description and location are as follows: (quest available in Blandare village on Ard Skellig)

Miners from a small Skellige village are disappearing. Investigate and find out what's happening!

Since it takes quite a bit of game time to be able to sail to Skellige, you won’t be able to see this quest if you’re just starting out. The lure of silver has drawn miners to the northern hills, but they haven’t returned. Hence the missing miners. A fairly unsurprising premise for a Witcher quest, to be sure. At a suggested level 27, you still might need to wait a bit before you’re able to tackle this quest. It seems like the answer to the mystery is "monsters," but perhaps it’s not that simple?


Alternative Look for Yennifer: Feathers, Lace, Leather, and the Rest of the Kitchen Sink :
(available from Main Menu)

Check out this entirely new look for the mighty sorceress Yennifer of Vengerberg!

I do like parts of this outfit, such as the feathery accents on the sleeves, but the lacy stockings and the scarf seem a bit of a "this is literally everything in my closet in one outfit" touch. Altogether, not my taste. But it is a nice look, and very recognizable if you’re thinking about building a cosplay.


Nilfgaardian Armor Set: Black Sunshine :
(available from the Baron’s Quartermaster in No Man’s Land)

Crafted from the finest materials available, the Nilfgaardian Armor Set includes a jacket, gloves, pants, boots and horse armor.

The Nilfgaardian horse armor is pricey, at 229 just for the blinders and 320 for the saddlebags. But they provide some nice boosts for the price. Inventory is precious, and the Nilfgaardian Saddlebags provide a roomy boost of 70 to your maximum inventory weight. The blinders are gold and black, with a shiny sun symbol on Roach’s forehead. I replaced my old set of horse blinders with only 20 boost to Roach’s maximum fear level vs. the new Nilfgaardian set with a boost of 40. Boosts are one thing, but does it look good? Hey, we might be wearing the enemy’s colors, but everything is way more stylish than the average stuff out there. Loyalty to Temeria or tassels on the back of Roach’s saddle: these are hard decisions. The Nilfgaardian armor is pretty stylish on Geralt as well, with shiny studded accents and a dark design on the rich brown leather. This might make it a bit too fancy, and the checkered pants don’t exactly scream monster hunter, but if you actually want to look fancy, there you go. Each armor set seems to be placed appropriately as well, so as the White Orchard area is one of the first places you’ll explore in the game, it has lower stats and cost than the Nilfgaardian set, which is available in the area where you later meet the Bloody Baron.


Elite Crossbow Set: It Shoots Arrows, I’ll Give It That:
(available in various locations: Baron’s Quartermaster, No Man’s Land; Kaer Trolde Castle Blacksmith, Skellige; Fancy Shop Owner, Novigrad)

Bring down your enemies with lethal accuracy and extend your tactical possibilities with this elite crossbow DLC.

These are much like the armor sets in that they are found in areas where they are level appropriate. There’s honestly not much excitement in crossbows, but the higher the attack power, the better. These crossbows do at least look cooler than the average ones. The Nilfgaardian Crossbow, for example, is covered in metal and has a couple of prongs sticking out the front. It looks considerably more aggressive than the crossbow I picked up in a random chest somewhere.


New Quest - "Fool’s Gold": Piggy Magic:
(available in Lurtch Village, No Man’s Land)

Geralt and a village idiot team up to learn the secret of an abandoned village inhabited entirely by pigs.

When Geralt arrives in Lurtch village, he encounters Yagoda the pig and Yontek the villager. Yogoda is past the point of speaking any longer and is roasting on a spit. Yontek may be talking, but he may be slightly batty. When the conversation turns to "Piggy Magic" Geralt reluctantly resigns himself to examine the pigs and investigate the disappearance of the other villagers. This is a suggested level 10 quest, so you should be able to enjoy this somewhat (only somewhat, this is The Witcher after all) lighthearted quest early on. When you witness Geralt trying to communicate with a sentient pig, this is worth every second spent downloading it. Yontek almost steals the show though, with his dumb grins and awkward conversation.


"Ballad Heroes" - Neutral Gwent Card Set: No Black Lotus, but It’ll Do:
(will switch cards upon installation)

Play Gwent with a twist! Featuring characters as seen in Dandelion’s ballads, the "Ballad Heroes" neutral Gwent card set will add a lot of flavor to this already exciting card game.

I’ll be honest, though this is one of the easiest DLCs to "find" in the game, it’s one of the most difficult to figure out. Turns out, these are just skins for some of your old cards. These cards are representations of a lot of the game’s main characters such as Zoltan, Yennifer, and Geralt. But again, you have to own these cards for the DLC to skin them for you. It’s a nice touch, but the description of this DLC might lead you to believe you instantly get a new deck, which will have you searching your decks up and down for nothing.

Overall, if you are looking for a little added spice for your adventure in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you can't beat free DLC!


-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications
AKA Christin Deville

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