Blood and Wine FAQ [No Spoilers]

+
Blood and Wine FAQ [No Spoilers]

Greetings, witchers and witcheresses,

Here you'll find a list of official answers to common, basic questions about the expansion Blood and Wine. These answers have been verified and authorised with the assistance of CD PROJEKT RED's Community Specialist Pawel Burza (@Burza46) . Many thanks, Pawel!

This information is provided for those who wish to avoid spoilers, but still want to know certain facts about the game. Therefore, please, do not attempt to ask questions that will spoil the enjoyment of other players. Those who seek more detailed information and discussion are encouraged to visit Story, locations and characters discussion [spoilers] or Blood and Wine Expansion Pack Quests.

Also, out of regard for players who may not have yet played Wild Hunt and Hearts of Stone, please, avoid spoilers in general. Thank you.



About:
GOG.com said:
Blood and Wine is the final expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- an award-winning role-playing game set in a vast fantasy open world.

"Death comes to the land of wine” New region. Final quest. Become professional monster slayer Geralt of Rivia and explore Toussaint, a remote land untouched by war, where you will unravel the horrifying secret behind a beast terrorizing the kingdom. With all trails leading to dead ends, only a witcher can solve the mystery and survive the evil lurking in the night.

Introducing an entirely new realm to traverse, new characters and monsters, Blood and Wine is a 30+ hour adventure full of dark deeds, unexpected twists, romance and deceit. [See GOG.com for additional details.]

For information on ordering Blood and Wine on all platforms, please, visit http://buy.thewitcher.com/


Redeemgwent.com and availability of cards in retail:

Update: Blood and Wine Gwent Decks -- Out of Stock!

Q:
Why isn’t the Limited Edition available from my local retailer?
A: In certain territories only one of 2 available versions is being sold in retail (PC or PS4). Please contact our local distribution partner to make sure which version if available in your region, and which retailer has it available. Please keep in mind that they might not ship the product to your country or they might run out of stock.

Q: Can I redeem the GWENT decks even if I ordered the expansions months ago?
A: Yes! Just go to:http://redeemgwent.com/
redeemgwent.com said:
Using this website, you can generate a special code that will enable you to visit witcherstore.com and buy the physical Gwent deck sets released so far: the Scoia’tael and Monsters decks (from the Limited Edition of Hearts of Stone), and/or Nilfgaard and Northern Realms decks (from the Limited Edition of Blood and Wine). To receive the code, you need to fill out the form and upload your proof of purchase -- this might be a photo of Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine , or the Expansion Pass in your library , or a copy of your digital receipt that was generated for you after you made your purchase.
Q: When will the redeemgwent orders ship?
A: The first batch will start to ship the week of June 24[SUP]th[/SUP], 2016, the second and final will be starting to ship 2-3 weeks later.

Q: Are the new Nilfgaardian and Northern Realms decks different from the Collector’s Edition Xbox One decks?
A: They are the same factions, but the value of the cards is different due to balancing. Additionally, with Blood and Wine you get neutral cards as well.

Q: Will there be a physical version of the Skellige faction?
A: There are no plans for the Skellige deck to be sold in physical form.


B&W General:

Q: Does Blood and Wine take place during the main story?
A: Blood and Wine is a stand-alone story, not part of Wild Hunt.

Q: Are there any differences if you play this before or after the end of the main game?
A: Yes, there are some differences, but we don’t want to spoil!

Q: Is there official information about how to start B&W once installed? Do we need to do something specific? Go somewhere?
A: You install the expansion and a new quest shows in your journal. Additionally, after installation you receive a pop-up informing you how to start the expansion.

Q: How large is the Toussaint map?
A: Roughly as large as ‘No Man’s Land’.

Q: Can we travel from Toussaint to the base map as we play the expansion?
A: Yes.

Q : Important question, will choices from previous games, Witcher 1 and 2, matter in Blood & Wine?
A: No, choices from TW1 & TW2 will not matter in Blood and Wine.

Q: Do choices from Hearts of Stone matter in Blood and Wine?
A: No, choices from Hearts of Stone don't matter in Blood and Wine.

Q: What is the recommended normal starting level?
A: 34 - 35.

Q: What is the recommended starting level for NG+?
A: At least lvl 64.

Q: What is the level cap?
A: In Blood and Wine the level cap will be moved up to 100

Q: Will there be improved difficulty?
A: Yes.

Q: Will the changes to the UI affect our pre-existing character-builds (change, alter, or reset them)?
A: No.

Q: Will the graphics in the other regions of the world be improved as well, or will they only be in Toussaint?
A: Just Toussaint.

Q: When will the digital GOG version expected to unlock?
A: May 30th @ 4PM (Los Angeles) = May 31st @ 1AM CEST (Warsaw) = May 31st @ 12AM BST (London).

Q: What will be the size of the download file for the Blood and Wine expansion?
A: 10-15GB, depending on your platform.

Q: If I buy the digital version of Blood and Wine will I get any bonuses?

A: On GOG.com and Steam you’ll receive the following:
● The Witcher Comic Book -- Killing Monsters
● High Quality Renders - digital
● Concept Art - digital


Q: Will the B&W expansion break mods?
A: Mods will have to be updated to the latest version in order to work with the expansion.

Q: Does the expansion have all languages included, or do we have to download the language packs separately?
A: The expansion has the same languages as the base game. [Language packs must be downloaded separately.]

*Update*: The changelog for patch 1.20, which also introduces some new features into the base game, may be read here.
 
Last edited:
Good summary :like:

Hm, so HoS choices don't matter ( heard once the opposite).
Good to know.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
While I'm gonna buy this so hard Day One (same as Witcher 3 and Hearts of Stone), I'll await for the obligatory 1st patch, maybe even the 2nd after the expansion launches to fix its bugs.
 
Greetings, witchers and witcheresses,

Here you'll find a list of official answers to common, basic questions about the upcoming expansion Blood and Wine. These answers have been verified and authorised with the assistance of CD PROJEKT RED's Community Specialist Pawel Burza (@Burza46) . Many thanks, Pawel!

There you go again, soliciting, collecting and/or compiling ridiculously helpful information in one place. Many thanks.
 
Wait, so the decisions in HoS don't have any effect in B&W afterall ? Because in this interview with Phillip Weber from 12.05.2016 (in Slovak: http://www.sector.sk/clanok/31004/ro...ine-a-krvi.htm) he mentions that the decisions in one expansion pack can change things in the second one and even some things in the end of the main story in TW3.. hmmmm...

Things can change I suppose. I think it makes some sense to have them completely independent since not everyone who has B&W will have purchased HoS. Oh well ...
 
Even if they did... I don't really see how those two could be thematically connected... no one you meet in Toussaint will have been involved in HoS so besides maybe a line or two, which is a bit pointless, I don't really see what the point would be.
 
Spoiler only mentions Gwent cards:
Will the "Vampire: Katakan" have strength 4 (as in the original, physical HoS decks) or strength 5 (as in the digital game)? This is important from a tactical point of view since the "Vampire: Katakan" protects all the other summoned vampires against "Scorch" or "Scorch - Close Combats" effects.

Will all decks contain (I) "Olgierd von Everec" , (II) "Gaunter o'Dimm" and (III) "Gaunter o'Dimm: Darkness" (3x),
(iv) "Cow", (v) "Bovine Defense Force" (as opposed to the original, physical HoS decks)? The "Gaunter o'Dimm" cards are also important from a tactical point of view, since they're the only way to "Muster" extra cards for the Nilfgaardian and Northern Realms factions. (Ok both factions are the only ones with spies, but every faction has decoys [and healers] so that makes it even.) Furthermore, since these are neutral cards, "Gaunter o'Dimm" + decoy add some extra dimension.

Original, physical HoS decks:

And what about some alternative Gwent card designs for neutral cards? Will neutral cards of all four factions have the same design or do the HoS and BoW decks use different designs?
 
Last edited:
Moderator's reminder: Posts deleted. This thread is meant to be spoiler-free. Therefore, please, do not discuss the details of story choices from the games here. Thank you.
 
Sorry thought this referred only to B & W spoilers.
To be as fair as possible to as many players as possible, this means all spoilers. There are some players who've held off beginning Wild Hunt until both expansions were released. Out of regard for this possibility, let's avoid spoilers in general, please.
 
To be as fair as possible to as many players as possible, this means all spoilers. There are some players who've held off beginning Wild Hunt until both expansions were released. Out of regard for this possibility, let's avoid spoilers, please.

Sure.
It was misunderstood from my side.
 
Is there any kind of pre download planned? Is it possible for an expansion. Maybe give most of the files for pre download and add the journal entries and activate the expansion on day of release.
I ask of this because the size is 15 GB and with my connection speed, it will take about 18 hours to download. It'd be so nice if I could pre-load it.
 
Q: In the redeemgwent site it says the language of the cards are in english, does this applies to all versions of the physical edition of BnW (even localised ones) or just the one bought in redeemgwent?
 
Release Date/Time

I understand the part about it being released on GOG @ 4:00 pm (Los Angeles) you mentioned the 30th instead of the 31st. Release date change?

Also, being one that plays it on XB1, Because it's paid for already. Microsoft made it a point that because it may be the release date in Poland, does not make it the release date in the States. Can you get a confirmation from CDPR if this is still true this time around like it was on HOS release date?
 
1:00 am on May 31st, 2016 in Poland is the exact same time as 4:00 p.m. May 30th, 2016 in L.A. The game is being released everywhere at the same time. It's the time zones that account for the different times in different places. It will be 4:00 pm Pacific, 5:00 pm Mountain, 6:00 pm Central, and 7:00 pm East Coast in USA.
 
Top Bottom