Melitele's Heart

 is a quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Prologue
When wandering around the camp before the assault, you can meet "Newboy", a Crinfrid Reaver who has made a silly bet where he will not wear any armour during the assault. In his defense he says he found a magic item which should help protect him, but requests you have a look at it. If you agree but then persuade him that it might actually be cursed, he gives it to you (-10% armour) and decides to wear armour instead.

When you finally free yourself from prison, you bump into "Newboy" outside who tells you wearing armour saved his life and so offers to repay you in kind. He will distract the dock guards allowing you to slip by.

If you allow Newboy to go into battle without his armor, he will be slain and you can find his body on the docks before you board the ship with Triss. (Exact location needed)

Note: If during the above first encounter in the camp you tell him that it is magic, but you do not know what it does, "Newboy" will decide to wear his armour, but will not give you the amulet. He will survive the assault, but you will then have to kill him to get the amulet just before you board Vernon's boat at the end of the prologue. This is in contrast to what the game guide provided with the premium edition states. The guide tells you that he gives you the amulet as a keepsake, but he actually gives you a book, About Dragons, instead, which adds a Journal entry about them in the monster section of your journal. He will then lead the guards away, but if you run after them immediately they will all attack you, including "Newboy", and you can retrieve the amulet from his corpse.

Chapter I
Quest continues when you find an herbalist/witch named Anezka in the furthest house in Lobinden, just outside Flotsam. You may show her the amulet and she will express interest in buying it from you for <50-200>. If pressed about why she is interested (persuasion check), she will reveal to you that it is in fact cursed and that she may be able to restore it. For her to do so, you have to gather the 4 ingredients listed below

Next you must take all of the ingredients to the witch, who tells you to meet her by the statue of Veyopatis at midnight. Note: the journal errorenously states that you should meet her after sun down. The statue can be found in the forest, it is quite large and somewhat cylindrical with a big circular mouth and menacing eyes. At midnight, she will start walking from her home towards the statue of Veyopatis.

Once there, she warns you that you must defend her while she performs the ritual and you must hold off continuously spawning wraiths. You will be fighting 3 at any given time, when one dies, another spawns to take its place. Despite some beliefs, this event is not based on time, it is based on the number of wraiths killed. On Normal difficulty, it takes approx. 9-10 kills to end the fight. [Note from someone else: I killed a few dozens and lasted until dawn without the ritual succeeding.] Make sure she is performing the ritual while you fight. If she stops, the ritual has failed no matter how many wraiths you kill.

Tactical Options:

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 * It is possible to succeed by repeatedly casting Axii on one and avoiding the third, though sometimes they resist. An example of fight using just Axii (and Quen of course) signs:


 * An alternative version to this approach is placing fury traps on an edge. It's then only a matter of finishing the last ones off.
 * Another possibility is to walk far enough away so they don't follow you - you then can easily walk in and out of combat, giving you chance to regenerate vitality (and vigor for Quen) while not fighting; just remember to check from time to time if Anezka is still busy. [this is by far the easiest: tumble away from them until they start running toward her, then walk toward her until the wraiths chase after you again, then slowly walk backward until they stopped moving. At this point, just walk forward, one step at the time until one of the wraiths is targeted. Then cast Aard repeatedly and killing them repeatedly until she says 'I have done it'.
 * Quickest and safest way to do it (aard pick offs can be very time consuming) is to keep quen up constantly, toss a cheaply made grapeshot or, more effectively, a dancing star (used in combo with a Dragon's dream thrown first for maximum damage payload) to exploit wraiths' fire weakness. Igni will also ignite the Dragon's dream, but if safety is your larger concern, quen is a more important use of signs. Run/dodge around the group (take the side opposite Anezka's back while she is performing the ritual, aka "the far side of the field") and pick off the weakest one, as they will adjacently spread out while you run this brush line edge area. Run/dodge to the entrance side of the field or the opposite side; get out of wraith range. If you've taken damage, you can wait for recovery in these two spots. Rinse and repeat. As long as Anezka is still performing the ritual, you're ok. They will not attack her, and there is no apparent time limit. The only way to stop her from performing the ritual is to fight near her. Keep the fight away from where she is conducting the ritual. If she stops performing the ritual, and defensively puts her hands up looking toward the battlefield area, then the wraith onslaught will never end. This creates a situation of unending and decent experience if you wish to level up a bit more. However, you will not get the quest reward talisman. To finish the quest, and get the talisman, always fight in the far side of the field near the brush. Beating up 9-10 wraiths is about right. Pick them off with bombs, kiting, and waiting out of range if needed. Takes about 2 mins if not hit or only hit when quen is activated. Quen is your friend here. Don't forget your specter oil . Also, use your witcher's medallion to locate the nearby places of power before you engage in the ritual. After the fight, you may have to fight some endregas as she walks away. Keep following her; the opportunity to open a chat session will arise when there are no monsters in the area. Then you get your deserved talisman.

Note that bombs are not required to do this, they simply expedite the fight.

Once the ritual is done, talk to Anezka and she will reward you with the talisman, its magic restored. Rather than -10% armor it now possesses +1 Vitality Regeneration. It does not need to be equipped.

Journal Entry
Prologue


 * If Geralt tells Newboy that the amulet is magical:
 * In Foltest's camp, Geralt ran into the Crinfrid Reavers. Having lost his memory, the witcher no longer recalled the trouble this bunch of rogues had caused during the famous hunt for the golden dragon. As it turned out, Kennet, Desbrut and Boholt had recruited a new comrade. With great originality, they called him Newboy. The four were to join in the assault on La Valette Castle that day. The problem was that the drunken Reavers had bet one of Foltest's knights that Newboy would survive the battle while attacking solely in his trousers and shirt. A protective amulet they had plundered from a roadside shrine was to help him. Asked for his advice, Geralt expressed doubt about the amulet's protective properties and discouraged the Reavers from undertaking their daring escapade. Newboy reasonably decided to don his armor.


 * If Geralt tells Newboy that the amulet is not magical:
 * In Foltest's camp, Geralt ran into the Crinfrid Reavers. Having lost his memory, the witcher no longer recalled the trouble this bunch of rogues had caused during the famous hunt for the golden dragon. As it turned out, Kennet, Desbrut and Boholt had recruited a new comrade. With great originality, they called him Newboy. The four were to join in the assault on La Valette Castle that day. The problem was that the drunken Reavers had bet one of Foltest's knights that Newboy would survive the battle while attacking solely in his trousers and shirt. A protective amulet they had plundered from a roadside shrine was to help him. Asked for his advice, Geralt expressed doubt about the amulet's protective properties and discouraged the Reavers from undertaking their daring escapade. Newboy reasonably decided to don his armor.


 * Upon emerging from the dungeon, Geralt ran into - you guessed it - Newboy. The Reaver remembered that the witcher's advice had saved his life and responded in kind. He offered to draw away the guards blocking the way to Vernon Roche's vessel.


 * With Newboy's help, the witcher managed to sneak aboard unmolested. And so the advice he had offered the Reaver in passing had now saved his own life.

Chapter I
 * Travelling can be educational. In Flotsam, Geralt learned that the talisman he had considered to be worthless actually had power and a name. Anezka could restore its abilities by performing a magical ritual, but she needed ingredients: the tongue of a troll, the eyes of an arachas, the fetus of an endrega, and the essence of death.


 * If Geralt doesn't complete this quest before choosing Iorveth's path during the quest "At a Crossroads: Scoia'tael" or entering the grounds of Loredo's residence during the quest "Death to the Traitor!" (the quest fails):
 * The witcher's attention was drawn to other, more important matters, and he gave up on solving the mystery of Newboy's talisman. A mystery he would never return to again.


 * If Geralt sells Newboy's talisman to Anezka:
 * Newboy's talisman came a long way and finally ended up in the hands of Anezka from the village of Lobinden. Geralt got a tidy sum of orens for it.


 * Collecting fragments of monster corpses was quite normal for our hero. Geralt traveled the length and breadth of Flotsam and its surroundings and found all the ingredients. Even so, obtaining a troll's tongue was no simple task.


 * Geralt searched the surroundings of Flotsam far an wide and found all the ingredients, though getting a troll's tongue was not easy. He gave the components to Anezka. The girl agreed to meed the witcher at the altar of Veyopatis in the middle of the forest. She said she'll be there every night, for she'd be able to perform the ritual releasing the talisman's power only there, in the moonlight.


 * Geralt arrived at the meeting place and Anezka began the rite. however, the witcher would not watch the ceremony in peace. He had to defend the girl from wraiths drawn to a source of magic like moths to a flame. They were the ghosts of the dead from the times when humans only started to colonize the Pontar Valley and faith in Veyopatis was strong.


 * Thanks to Anezka's abilities and Geralt's persistence, the ritual was not interrupted and calmly came to an end. The talisman's power was awakened and the witch gave the witcher the powerful artifact named Melitele's Heart. Future events would show how helpful the amulet's protective aura.

Video
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Gallery
Meliteles Herz Le cœur de Melitele Il Cuore di Melitele