Wild at Heart is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
- Missing Wife
- Good people, take pity and hear my plea.
- My wife, Hanna, she's missing. A few days ago she went into the woods and hasn't yet returned. I'm near out of my wits with worry and will pay any price to the man who brings her back to me, or at least tells me where to look for her.
- Niellen, hunter from Blackbough
Walkthrough
This quest can be picked up from several Velen notice boards, including from Mulbrydale, Midcopse, Inn at the Crossroads, and Crow's Perch. You just need to obtain one to read to then find Niellen in Blackbough.
In Blackbough you'll find him standing in front of a hut talking to his sister-in-law, Margrit. Talk to him and agree to look for his wife and two will give you several people to talk to and a location to check out.
There are a couple people Geralt can talk to: the butcher's wife and the blacksmith. In addition, the latter's children also give Geralt a bit more information about the morning Hanna disappeared.
Now head out to the marker in the woods to find more clues about Hanna's whereabouts. Eventually Geralt finds a pack of wolves gathered around a corpse. After they're dealt with, Margarit appears and attempts to bribe Geralt to lie to Niellen, saying she doesn't want to lose him and he deserves better than this. You can either accept the bribe or keep searching. If you accept, you'll earn 80 
and 55 
, the search field disappears, and the quest can be finished by talking to Niellen back in Blackbough. However, even if you agreed to lie to Niellen, as long as you don't go back to talk to him, the clues still linger and Geralt can still investigate despite telling Margarit otherwise.
If you wish to lie, you can then head back to Niellen, who'll offer you a reward. If you accept, you'll get 50 and 10 , otherwise if you refuse you'll just get 30 . Regardless, the quest will then conclude here.
Find the werewolf's lair
If you continue to investigate, examine the dog corpse then, slightly further away, a bloody mess that must be Hanna, which makes Geralt conclude it's the work of 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. Obviously you can't climb up there, so look for a tuft of fur nearby, just around the tree, that when examined will allow Geralt to follow the werewolf's scent.
Follow the trail which leads to some torn clothes and eventually to an isolated shack. While optional, you can enter the shack and pick up the mysterious notes and read them to learn some additional information. Once done, exit the shack and use Witcher Senses to follow a trail of blood to the werewolf's lair entrance hidden underneath the shack and use Aard on the door or break it in with a weapon.
Fighting the werewolf
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 can be dealt with on its own.
The werewolf swiftly claws at you, dealing moderate damage, but his attacks are very aggressive. This is best returned with highly active and equally aggressive tactics, as he stuns you when attempting to parry 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 health bar reaches half, 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 you should make use of signs, potions, and bombs as 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 Margrit knew Niellen was a werewolf for a long time and secretly loved him regardless. She then decided to show her sister what Niellen was, thinking Hanna would be disgusted and leave him. However, this plan backfired and Niellen slaughtered his own wife in a blind bloodlust. Enraged at this, Niellen threatens to kill Margrit for what she's done. You're then given a timed reaction to tell Margrit to leave so he can finish Niellen himself, or let Niellen have his revenge.
If you allow Niellen to enact his revenge, the werewolf will slaughter Margrit without mercy, after which he returns to Geralt to ask for death and Geralt will oblige, killing Niellen without resistance. If you told Margrit to run, you'll need to finish killing Niellen. Whichever course is taken, the quest completes, earning 50 . You can also loot Niellen's body for his key which will open the locked chest in the isolated shack. Note: if you let Niellen have his revenge, he'll only have the key on his body. If you killed him by protecting Margrit, the key will be there along with some werewolf ingredients. Furthermore, if Margrit survived, you'll find her crying in the isolated shack.
Journal entry
- 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.
- If Geralt agrees with Margritt:
- While Geralt was combing the woods for signs of the missing woman, he came across Margaret, Hanna's sister. The woman asked the witcher to abandon his search and tell Niellen his wife was dead. Margaret thought the sooner Niellen came to terms with his loss, the sooner he would be able to put it behind him and start living his life. Geralt decided this made sense and agreed.
- If Geralt declines Margrit's offer and continues to search:
- 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 own - 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.
Objectives
- Talk to the hunter named Niellen.
- Ask the neighbors about Hanna.
- Search for signs of Hanna in the woods using your Witcher Senses.
- Continue to investigate:
- Find the werewolf's lair using your Witcher Senses.
- Search the werewolf's lair.
- If it's not night time:
- Wait for nightfall.
- Enter the cave.
- Defeat the werewolf.
- Accept Margrit's bribe:
- Tell Niellen Hanna is dead.
Notes
- A few days later, you can run into a group of peasants in the village discussing the three's fate.
- If Geralt let Niellen kill Margarit (and thus killed Niellen) the villagers will mention how Margrit was found torn to shreds in the woods and Hanna likely died as well and speculate a depressed Niellen left the area as a result.
- If you lied to Niellen, villagers will note that both Niellen and Margrit are dead.
- If you spared Margrit, the villages will note she left as her sister and brother-in-law are dead.
Trivia
- The title of this quest is the same name shared by a David Lynch movie starring Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern.
Videos
