Wild at Heart

Wild At Heart is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that can be picked up in Velen from a notice board.

Quest Description
"While muddling around the well-shaded village of Blackbough, Geralt happened across a notice. It stated a hunter named Niellen was looking for any help he could get in finding his wife, who had disappeared in the nearby woods a few days earlier. Geralt, already deep in a search-and-rescue vein, decided to help find the woman."

- Dandelion

Talk to the hunter named Niellen
This quest can be obtained when travelling to Mulbrydale. Once there, look for the notice board and pick up the contract. Go to the small village of Blackbough to meet a hunter called Niellen. He can be found standing in front of a hut talking to his sister-in-law, Margaret. When speaking to him, agree to look for his wife Hanna in order to progress.

Search for signs of Hanna in the woods
While Geralt has the option to talk to neighbors such as the butcher's wife or the blacksmith and his children for additional information, a marker appears in the woods as soon as you're done talking to Niellen. Go to the marked location on the map and use the witcher senses to find clues about Hanna's whereabouts. Eventually Geralt finds a pack of wolves gathering around a corpse. Combat ensues once the pack is approached. After they're dealt with, Margaret appears attempting to bribe Geralt to lie to Niellen, saying she doesn't want to lose him and he deserves better than this. Geralt has the option to either accept the bribe or keep searching. Should he choose to accept the 65 orens offered, the search field disappears and the quest can be finished by talking to Niellen back in Blackbough; however the clues still linger and Geralt may still investigate despite telling Margaret otherwise.

Find the werewolf's lair
To continue with the quest, examine the corpse the wolves gathered around not long ago, at which point Geralt realizes he's dealing with a werewolf. There are also claw marks around that should be clearly visible with witcher senses. Follow the trail of marks to a scratched stone leaning against a tree. Upon inspection he will exclaim he can't climb the tree and that he should look around on the ground instead. There's only a tuft of fur nearby that should be examined. This helps Geralt follow the werewolf's scent marked by a red trail when using witcher senses. Follow the trail which at first leads to some torn male clothes and eventually to an isolated shack. Enter the shack where Geralt finds some mysterious notes lying on the floor. Pick them up in order to progress - reading them is optional but can provide additional information.

Search the werewolf's lair
Exit the shack and using witcher senses follow a trail of blood. It leads to the werewolf lair's entrance hidden underneath the shack. Use Aard on the door or break it in with a weapon. It is worth visiting the lair during daytime for the first time, as the werewolf appears only at night and there are some valuable loots to collect. Getting familiar with the cave before the boss fight also increases Geralt's odds when fighting the werewolf later on.

Fighting the werewolf
Since this encounter is a boss fight, preparation is crucial on higher levels at the very least. Make sure to have enough food and drink on hand, as well as potions and bombs.

Once you enter the cave, or if you meditated/waited in the cave for nightfall, the werewolf and three weaker wolves will run in from the entrance. It's recommended to deal with the wolves separately or from a distance so the much stronger werewolf could be dealt with on its own.

The werewolf swiftly claws at Geralt dealing a moderate damage, but his attacks are very aggressive. This is best returned with highly active and equally aggressive tactics, as he stuns Geralt when attempting to parrying or countering his hits. Thus, dodging and rolling works much better as a defensive tactic. It's also worth using fast strikes with the silver sword rather than attempting to set up heavy strikes or long chains of actions. Once the werewolf's healthbar reaches the half point, with a howl he starts regenerating health. Take advantage of the howl as it leaves him vulnerable to a few heavy attacks. This is where Geralt has to make use of his signs, potions and bombs the most since he has to out-damage the werewolf's regeneration - switching to defensive tactics would only allow the werewolf to regain health.

A cutscene will interrupt the fight once the werewolf's health is low enough. Geralt learns that Margaret knew Niellen was a werewolf for a long time and loved him from afar regardless. She wanted her sister to see Niellen as a werewolf and thought she would be disgusted and leave him. Her plan backfired and Niellen slaughtered his own wife in a blind bloodlust. The weakened Niellen regains some of his humanity while Margaret is explaining herself to Geralt and expresses his conscious desire to slay Margaret himself. Geralt is given the option to tell Margaret to leave so he would finish Niellen himself, resulting in a brief continuation of the battle.

If Geralt allows Niellen to enact his revenge he will slaughter Margaret without mercy, after which he returns to Geralt to ask for death. Geralt obliges and kills Niellen without resistance. Whichever course is taken, the quest completes and Geralt may loot Niellen's corpse for a key to a chest in the shack for additional loot. Note however, that if Niellen is allowed to exact his revenge he will only drop the key and no werewolf items, which drop only if you choose to continue to fight.

Closing Quest Description
"The story of Hanna's disappearance had a tragic end. It turned out she had been killed by her own husband. He did not do this on purpose, however. Afflicted with the curse of lycanthropy, he would hide in the forest during his transformations in order to protect his friends and loved ones. Hanna's sister Margaret knew this secret, and had one of her one - she was in love with Niellen and fiercely jealous of Hanna's life with him. She decided to take Hanna into the woods to watch her husband's transformation, hoping she'd then abandon him in disgust. Sadly, Hanna was careless enough to draw the werewolf's attention. Margaret was able to escape, but her sister was not so lucky. Niellen, transformed into a bloodthirsty beast, slaughtered the love of his life with his own hands."

- Dandelion