Gwent


 * "Invented by dwarves and perfected over centuries of tavern table play, Gwent is a game of initial simplicity and ultimate depth, something beloved by both road-weary travellers during long nights around the campfire and elegant nobles looking to liven up dragging dinner parties."

Gwent is a fast-paced card game that can be played within The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on every platform.

The game is about the clash of two armies locked in mortal struggle on a battlefield where the players are the leaders and the cards their forces. With four different factions offering unique combat styles and endless paths to victory, Gwent is every adventurer’s first choice when it comes to one-on-one card-based dueling.

Take risks and think on your feet, strategize and deliver cunning combos, use potent magic and mighty hero cards and be the last one standing on the field of honor!

On June 15, 2016 CD Projekt announced the development of a stand-alone Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. GWENT will be available at release for Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4 as a free to play game that puts you, not your cards, in the center of the action.

Factions
There are five "sets" or decks of cards; the Northern Kingdoms, Nilfgaardian Empire, Scoia'tael and Monster decks come with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt while the Skellige deck comes with the Blood and Wine DLC. You choose one of these to play with provided the found set has at least 22 cards. Each faction set includes unique cards and leaders. All five factions, when chosen as active deck, provide a different bonus during the Gwent match:
 * Nilfgaardian Empire: Wins any round ending in draw. Has mainly single, strong cards spread between the three rows, multiple Heroes and a lot of Spies.
 * Northern Kingdoms: Grants an extra card upon winning round. Has the largest collection of Tight Bond cards that multiply each other's strength, generally favours Siege units.
 * Scoia'tael: Decides who takes first turn. Has a number of Muster cards and the largest number of cards with Agility that lets them be placed in either the Melee or Ranged rows.
 * Monsters: Keeps random Unit Card out after each round. Has the largest number of Muster cards to swarm opponents, heavily favours Melee units.
 * Skellige: 2 random cards from the graveyard are placed on the battlefield at the start of the third round.

Minigame rules

 * To begin a match, the game selects the starting player with a coin toss.


 * Each player receives 10 random Gwent cards pulled from their decks. Players can discard two cards and redraw in the hope of receiving two superior cards. This is done once.


 * Players place a Unit Card on the Gwent board in the dedicated combat row. Each player may play one card per turn unless a special ability enables them to do otherwise. Players may also utilize Weather Cards from the Neutral Deck.


 * Each unit Card has Strength points that are added for each player's total. A player will win a round of Gwent when the player has more points than the other and both players no longer have cards to play or the other player passes their turn.
 * Matches are set with 2 wins out of 3 rounds. This is represented by the Round Points, or red gems, next to each player's name. Losing a round loses you one of the points, if you lose both you lose the match. A draw makes both players lose a point unless you are the Nilfgaardian Empire.

Card Types

 * Close Combat Cards - Weak to Frost cards


 * Ranged Combat Cards - Weak to Fog cards


 * Siege Cards - Weak to Rain cards


 * Weather Cards - are neutral to the factions


 * Hero Cards - are immune to special attacks.
 * Medic Cards - choose one card from your discard pile and play it instantly (no Heroes or Special Cards).
 * Spy Cards - place on your opponent's battlefield (counts towards opponent's total) and draw 2 cards from your deck.
 * Tight Bond Cards - place next to a card with the same name to double the strength of both cards.
 * Decoy Cards - replace a card on your battlefield.
 * Commander's Horn Cards - doubles the strength of all unit cards in the row it's placed in.
 * Scorch Cards - destroys the card(s) with the highest value.
 * Muster Cards - find any cards with the same name in your deck and play them instantly.
 * Morale Boost Cards - Adds 1 strength to all units in the row it's placed in.
 * Summon Avenger Cards (Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine exclusive) - When removed from the board, is replaced with a powerful unit.
 * Mardroeme Cards (Blood and Wine exclusive) - triggers transformation of all Berserker cards on the same row.
 * Berserker Cards (Blood and Wine exclusive) - Transforms into a bear when a Mardroeme card is on its row.

Tips for playing

 * Be very careful of when you choose to 'Pass' in a round if your opponent has not. When you 'Pass', you will not be allowed to put down any more cards for the remainder of that round, no matter how many your opponent puts down afterwards. Even if you had a higher points score when you 'Passed', your opponent could easily keep putting down cards to surpass you and win the round.
 * Unless you have the special abilities of the Northern Kingdoms or Monsters factions, your 10 cards is all you have for your full three rounds and you discard everything played after each round, so make sure to plan the long game. If you empty your deck in the first round and win but your opponent has at least two unit cards left at that time, he can simply put down one unit card each in the following two rounds to beat you. Try to win each round with as few cards as possible, and this also chains into how to develop your deck when collecting cards; for your 'Units' try to only have cards with very high point values so that you don't need many for a very high points score in a round. In fact, sacrificing the first round to make your opponent burn out most of their deck while keeping several of your own high strength cards in reserve can be an extremely effective tactic.
 * Related to the above, 'Close', 'Ranged' and 'Siege' unit types by themselves have no inherent strengths or weaknesses to each other (i.e. Ranged does not get a bonus against 'Close', 'Siege' doesn't get a bonus against Ranged, etc.)...the only thing the unit 'Type' defines is which 'Weather' effect cards will affect them and certain special effects from other unit cards that boost/hinder cards of a specific type. So when hunting for cards for your deck always focus on ones with very high point values regardless of their type, and having an even mix of types can really restrict how much 'Weather' effects can harm you.
 * If on your turn you play something that gives you a sudden massive spike in point value far above the current value of your opponent and they have two 'Round Points', they are very likely to 'Pass' that round.
 * For setting up your deck, know that there are several rules you must follow. First, your deck must have at minimum 22 'Unit' cards in it, no matter how weak some of them may be. Second, you are allowed multiples of a card, (and some cards in fact have special abilities that depend on this), so even if you are in a shop with cards and it says "You already have this card", ignore that; read all of the statistics that it gives and consider buying another copy anyways. Some cards, particularly in the Northern Kingdoms set, get a 100% boost in strength for each additional one of the same type you put down (so 2 together would both be doubled in strength, 3 together would be tripled, etc.)...this could make three cards worth 4 points each end up being worth 36 with all three put down without even needing to use a 'Command's Horn'. Others when played can pull every card of the same name out of your un-dealt deck and put them in play immediately. Filling your deck with cards like this is one of the best ways of making it very powerful, so don't be afraid to take out weak ones and keep your unit count in your deck just at 22.

Associated quests

 * Collect 'Em All (overall)
 * Gwent: Playing Innkeeps
 * the Nilfgaardian nobleman (in the Viziman Royal Palace)
 * Gwent: Velen Players
 * Gwent: Big City Players
 * Gwent: Old Pals
 * Gwent: Skellige Style
 * during A Matter of Life and Death
 * A Dangerous Game
 * High Stakes

Associated achievements

 * All In
 * Card Collector
 * Geralt and Friends
 * Gwent Master

Associated quests

 * Gwent: Never Fear, Skellige's Here
 * Gwent: To Everything - Turn, Turn, Tournament!

List of Players
† these players can die or disappear from the game. If they had a unique card, some can be obtained by searching around for it.

Trivia

 * Gwent was also a medieval kingdom in Wales, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk.
 * Barrel - a dwarven card game in the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski by which the "Gwent" card game is inspired.

Notes & references
Gwent Gwint pt-br:Gwent Гвинт (Ведьмак 3)