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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Merry Widow

By
Nathan Garvin

Necrophages are a loose collection of monsters whose unifying trait is their preference for consuming corpses. This, of course, makes them especially dangerous, as they tend to congregate where bodies pile up, and they’re not above attacking the living to make themselves a fresh corpse to feast upon. Despite sharing a preference in cuisine, not all necrophages are dumb prowlers like "Drowners" iconDrowners, "Ghouls" iconGhouls and "Rotfiends" iconRotfiends - some are smart enough to realize that humans like burying their dead, and this tradition serves as an all-you-can eat buffet for monsters cunning enough to take advantage of it. This page will provide a walkthrough for the contract "Contract: The Merry Widow" iconContract: The Merry Widow in The Witcher 3.

Quest Objectives

Starting Contract: The Merry Widow

As is often the case with contracts, you can start this one by visiting the notice board in Lindenvale and grabbing the notice Contract: Monster in the Cemetery. Read it to start the quest, then head east to find the local Gravedigger, who will tell you of some creature that started consuming corpses in the local graveyard, but this already worrying behavior escalated, and now a “youngin from the village” has gone missing. Haggle for a better wage, and once you’re done you’ll need to head to the local cemetery.

(1 of 2) Pull the notice “Contract: Monster in the Cemetery” off the notice board to start the quest,

Pull the notice “Contract: Monster in the Cemetery” off the notice board to start the quest, (left), then talk to the local gravedigger to learn about the town’s woes and settle on a price. (right)

Investigate the Cemetery

A known, local feeding ground like the cemetery might be bad for the villagers, but it makes things easier for Witchers - at least you know where to look for clues. The cemetery is on a hill east of town, so head on over there and kill several Rabid "Dogs" iconDogs (Lv5). After they’re dead Geralt will dismiss them as the source of the villager’s woe. Activate your Witcher sense and search the graves, especially one along the southwestern edge of the village to find a scent trail.

(1 of 2) Head to the cemetery and kill some Rabid Dogs,

Head to the cemetery and kill some Rabid Dogs, (left), then search a grave to find a scent trail. (right)

Find the Monster’s Lair

Climb the cemetery wall, then keep your Witcher senses active and follow the scent trail south, southeast to a ruined stone bridge. "Note" iconNote that this bridge marked the end of the trench you could explore as Ciri during the quest Ciri’s Story: The King of the Wolves, so if you want to take a trek down memory lane, jump into the low-ground south of the bridge. Just be wary of a Bear (Lv6). Or better yet, stay on track and follow the scent trail southwest across the bridge, jumping two gaps and following the road beyond until you hit a fork. At this fork turn south a short distance and you’ll find a hut alongside the road, which is where the scent trail leads.

Inside the hut, search a bowl on the floor, a pot hanging over a fire and finally some skulls in the corner of the hut. This will be sufficient for Geralt to identify his monster, and devise a plan for confronting it, earning you a pittance of EXP in the process. Pick up the "Grave Hag" iconGrave Hag "Skull" iconSkull then return to the cemetery, enter the shrine and interact with the altar inside. This will cause Geralt to wait until nightfall, and sure enough, the Grave Hag "Mourntart" iconMourntart will appear, aggrieved at the theft of her skulls.

(1 of 4) Follow the scent trail over a ruined bridge,

Defeat Mourntart

While Mourntart looks like a "Water" iconWater Hag - which you’ve likely fought by now - a Grave Hag and a Water Hag fight somewhat differently. Grave Hags don’t sink into the ground and teleport around, nor do they throw globs of goo at you - they’re far less subtle and aggressive. Instead, Grave Hags, Mourntart included, prefer to wade into melee, tearing at foes with their claws and occasionally lashing with their prehensile tongues. Their claws are the real damage dealers, and they’ll either swipe once or twice in a combo with them, but if they land a hit with their tongue they’ll stagger Geralt, giving them time to move in for a claw attack. Like with most monsters, you cannot block a Grave Hag’s attacks, but they’re easy enough to dodge. That doesn’t mean blocking is completely useless, however, as you can parry Mourntart’s tongue-lashing if you’re quick enough, but this can be tricky to do without "Yrden" iconYrden slowing the Grave Hag down enough to see the attack coming.

Special tricks aren’t really needed for this fight, however, as her attacks aren’t overwhelmingly powerful. "Quen" iconQuen is proof against anything Mourntart can throw at you, and if you use Active Shield + Exploding Shield you can just use Quen to absorb a hit, drop Quen to stagger the Grave Hag, then score a few fast attack strikes. Repeat until she’s dead. Heck, even "Igni" iconIgni’s a powerful sign against her, as a single Igni can, if it sets her on fire and you let her burn for its duration, drain a quarter of her health… and you should be able to land a few hits just before she recovers from the damage-over-time, amplifying you damage output even further. Point is, you have options. The only thing you really need to be wary of is her scuttling charge attack, which is rather quick and might catch you off guard if you’re not ready for it.

(1 of 6) Mourntart prefers to mix it up in melee, and while her claw swipes are easy enough to dodge,

Kill Mourntart and remove the Grave Hag Trophy from the vanquished monster. She’ll also drop "Addan Deith" iconAddan Deith, a relic quality silver sword. Return to the gravekeeper in "Lindenvale" iconLindenvale and tell him the news about both the Grave Hag and the missing boy to collect your reward.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    CD Projekt
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, Switch, XB One
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    24 June 2015
  • Last Updated
    22 August 2024
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Nathan Garvin (Haeravon)

Share this free guide:

You are Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster-hunter known as a Witcher. You’ve fully regained your memories since your miraculous revival and escape from the Wild Hunt, and have cleared your name of the false accusations of regicide. In the wake of the assassination of Foltest, king of Temeria, the north have been rent by warfare as Nilfgaard launches its third major invasion, and the northlands have been united under the insane king Radovid. Overshadowing these petty politics is the mysterious return of Ciri - Geralt’s adopted daughter, who is now being pursued by the Wild Hunt.

The guide offers the following:

  • A full walkthrough that’s more than just a listing of quests-it’s an “ideal chronological order” that will get you through the whole game and allow you to see and do everything the game has to offer.

  • Side quests, including monster contracts and treasure hunts for obtaining powerful Witcher sets.

  • Descriptions of decisions, quests, and events that influence the various endings of the game.

  • Crafting and Alchemy information.

  • General strategies on how to take down foes large and small, monstrous and humanoid, boss or mundane.

  • Information on how to complete all the Gwent quests and obtain all the Gwent cards, including detailed Gwent strategies.

  • Trophy/Achievement information.

MASSIVE UPDATE: 7th September 2016 ongoing

  • Added DLC quests “Fool’s Gold” and “Scavenger Hunt: Wolf School Gear”.
  • Organisational changes in the Velen section of the walkthrough to reflect the increased level of Griffin School Gear.
  • Organisational changes throughout the walkthrough to provide a “no skulls” path through the game.
  • Added Death March difficulty tips and commentary throughout the guide.
  • More XP reward numbers included.
  • Walkthrough now includes additional information based on patch changes.
  • Various typo and grammar fixes.
  • Added DLC pages for Blood & Wine, Heart of Stone
  • Lots more quality of life improvements

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