Beauclair is one of the big towns in the Blood and Wine DLC, especially one of the biggest that players come across at the start. Her, Geralt will find plenty of side quests, stores, Gwent opportunities, amongst other things that are worth looking into. Here’s a walkthrough of the Beauclair area in Witcher and what to expect.

Beauclair Walkthrough¶

A Letter From A Lover¶

You’ve finally made it to Beauclair, crown jewel of Toussaint and, more importantly, the location of many quests and merchants. You’ll find yourself on the western edge of Beauclair, near the river overlooked by Beauclair Palace. Regis waits for you at the Mere-Lachaiselongue Cemetery southeast of town, but frankly… he’ll keep. There are plenty of other quests and activities of a lower level worth pursing first. That’s right, it’s finally time to get to the exploration and side-questing bits that everybody loves so much! But, to put an arbitrarily restraint on things, we’ll only bother with quests that are below level forty, for now.

First loot the warehouse where you found Dettlaf, as you can find the note “Purchasing Brief” to the east and, more lucratively, you can climb a ladder to reach a chest. Exit the warehouse and head south along the riverside walkway, passing one set of stairs to your left, but going up the second flight to reach a roundabout with a decorative well surrounded by the road.

Here your exploration will be interrupted by a message-boy bearing a postage-paid letter for you from Triss or Yennefer (depending on who you romanced in the main game). After the kid delivers the “Letter from Triss” or the “Letter from Yennefer” you’ll have the ability to tell him to scram, or to pay him five Crowns for his services… yes, despite the fact that the message is postage-paid. If you cough up the pittance, you’ll prove you possess the virtue of Generosity , making it a very cheap way to progress the quest “There Can Be Only One”. Geralt will read the letter he gets, starting the quest Turn and Face the Strange - you’ll be getting to this quest soon after exploring Beauclair, as the quest rewards are simply too good to leave for later.

View Full-size

As you head through the city of Beauclair, you’ll receive a message from your main game lover. Tipping the messenger boy will demonstrate your GENEROUITY (left). Count Monnier will tell you about the Gwent tournament he’s running, and give you a starter deck of Skellige cards (right).

Skellige Starter Deck: Gwent¶

From the decorative well turn south to spot a red building. Head over to the building and work your way around the structure to the west and south to find some stairs leading up to a handsomely adorned elevated patio. Up here you’ll find Count Monnier, who is busy arguing the merits of the new Skellige deck to a fellow noble, and he’s all too happy to explain to explain the flavor of and inspiration for the Skellige deck to you, as well (the nearby “Letter from Count Monnier’s Brother” corroborates his claims).

Eventually the discussion will turn to the tournament at hand, and he’ll ask you to prove the worth of the Skellige deck by playing it at the tournament. Agree and he’ll give you a starter deck of Skellige cards before directing you to win the missing Skellige cards from various players around Toussaint. That’s right, to continue the quest “Gwent: To Everything - Turn, Turn, Tournament!” you’ll have to win enough cards to make a functional Skellige deck (a minimum of twenty-two unit cards are required to make a legal deck)… which can be done by easily enough by pursuing the quest “Gwent: Never Fear, Skellige’s Here”.

If you’re at all interested in Gwent (regardless of whether you’re sporting a badass collection from the main game or are starting anew with Blood and Wine) it behooves you to talk to Count Monnier as early as possible, as he gives you a whopping twenty-four new cards for the Skellige deck, including the following cards:

That’s a damn fine way to get a deck started, but there’s a lot of Gwent that needs to be played before it becomes comparable to the decks in the main game. Fortunately, by grabbing this starter deck early on, you should have a chance at defeating the numerous merchants scattered around Beauclair.

Speaking of which, through a door to the east to reach the interior of the tavern - The Pheasantry - this patio adjoins to find an Innkeep who plays Gwent. She’s got a very beatable monster deck that can boast plenty of “Muster” cards, but those are hardly scary anymore. Beat her and you’ll win the Draig Bon-Dhu card.

Beauclair Perfumery¶

More Gwent, you say? You’re in luck - practically every merchant you can do business with in Beauclair plays Gwent, and they’re worth visiting for other reasons, as well… like quests, and of course, buying and selling things. Leave The Pheasantry and return north to the roundabout with the decorative will. From there turn east and head up two flights of stairs, then, immediately after the second flight of stairs turn north to reach the Beauclair Perfumery. Inside you’ll find a Merchant who sells a variety of goodies, including several Potions of Clearance (should you feel the need to respec) and formulae for numerous mutagen transmutators. The hell are those, you ask? You’ll know what they are and why they may prove useful after the quest “Turn and Face the Strange”. All in all, though, you might as well leave them be, as you’ll probably pull many of them out of chests as you quest and explore around Toussaint, and you’d be wise not to waste money.

As for a money-positive venture, however, you can play Gwent with the Merchant. He’ll deploy a mediocre Skellige deck, so view this as merely a chance to obtain an easily-won Light Longship (4 Strength, “Muster” ability) card from him.

View Full-size

Play the Innkeep in The Pheasantry to win the Draig Bon-Dhu card (left). As you explore Beauclair you’ll run across a Vineyard Owner who promises to pay off and old debt (right).

A Debt Deposited¶

Leave the Beauclair Perfumery and continue east to reach a plaza littered with tents, which cover a sumptuous banquet. Sadly, you’re not here to dine. Instead make your way south through (or around) the banquet to reach a building with an arched and columned facade, which forms the southern boundary of the plaza. Make your way south through the structure and when you reach the other side turn east to find a Vineyard Owner. Talk to him and he’ll bring up a debt he owed you for services rendered dating back to an early visit Geralt made to Toussaint. His fortunes have turned around in the intervening years, and being a man who pays his debts, he deposited the money he owed you in Cianfanelli Bank. That money is yours for the taking, and who knows how the magic of banking has affected it over the years - it could be a fortune by now! This starts the quest Paperchase , which you’ll get to after Beauclair has been explored and some other, more pressing quests have been taken care of.

Beauclair Armorer and Blacksmith¶

From the generous Vineyard Owner turn east to spot two more shops - the Beauclair Armorer (blue building) and the Beauclair Blacksmith (red building). Both sell a wide variety of armor and arms (respectively), crafting components and glyphs and runestones (again, respectively). They’re also both master level craftsmen… and you didn’t even have to do a quest to set them up! They’re fine choices to offload gear, but there’s another, superior shop in Beauclair you’ll probably get more use of.

The Armorer also plays Gwent, using a Northern Kingdoms deck replete with plenty of “Spy” cards, which he can replay with “Decoy” and “Medic”, but his deck is full of weak units cards which ultimately prevents him from being too much of a threat. If you beat him, he’ll forfeit the Kambi card, a 0 Strength card with the “Summon Avenger” card. That’s right, it works like the “Cow” card - you play it, it does nothing all round, and when it is removed from the battlefield (presumably at the end of the turn) it’ll be replaced by the “Hemdall” card, an 11 Strength Close Combat Unit Hero Card. Not a terrible card, especially if you can play it twice with the “Birna Bran” or “Yennefer” card.