This is a guide to the quest titled Evil's Soft First Touches from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read on for information on objectives and possible rewards, as well as useful tips, strategies for completing the quest, decisions and best choices.

Previous Quest	Current Quest	Next Quest
	Evil's Soft First Touches	Dead Man's Party

Evil's Soft First Touches Rewards and Basic Information

Basic Information

Quest Number	1
Region	Novigrad
Quest Location	Seven Cats Inn, Garin Estate, Oxenfurt sewers
Previous Quest	none
Next Quest	Dead Man's Party

Rewards

Gold Reward	450
Exp Reward	400
Item Reward	None

Evil's Soft First Touches Main Objectives

	Objectives
1	Go to the noticeboard located in the Seven Cats Inn.
2	Go see Olgierd von Everec at the Garin Estate northeast of Oxenfurt.
3	When talking to Olgierds men, choose the second dialogue option to continue. (optional) A fistfight will start if you choose the first dialogue option. Winning will give you 150 XP. Losing has no consequence.
4	Follow Olgierd's henchman to Olgierd's room. You will receive 150 XP.
5	Leave the estate and head to the Oxenfurt. Enter the sewer through the entrance marked.
6	A Drowner will be in the first chamber. Kill it, then continue into the next chamber.
7	Head to where Shani and the Redanians were attacked at the marked location.
8	Use Aard on the loose bricks next to bent grating. Continue to the marker.
9	Find the sewer key. It can be found on the corpse of a Redanian soldier located in the southwest corner.
10	Back track through the bent grate, then go straight. Use the key on the locked door, then continue through the passage.
11	There will be 7 Drowners. Slay them.
12	There will be 2 more drowners in the next room. Take care of them and then go through the door to the east.
13	Kill the Toad Prince. You will receive 600 XP.
14	You will be prompted to choose a timed dialogue option. Choose the third one for 200 XP.
15	You can run away from the Olfieri Soldiers. It is best to run south eastern to the mainland. (Optional) If you choose to fight the Olfieri soldiers and mage, you will receive 200 XP for defeating them.
16	Meet with Gaunter O'Dimm at the marked area at midnight. You will receive 300 XP.
17	Go back to the Garin Estate. Choose any dialogue options besides Let him go or face my wrath to end the quest peacefully. (Optional) If you do choose the dialogue option Let him go or face my wrath, you will fight Olgierd, and you must beat him.

Evil's Soft First Touches Choices and Best Choice

Fighting the Olfieri

After the ship wrecks and Geralt frees himself from the Olfieri, he can choose to fight and kill the Olfieri or run away.

Run Away

There is no problem with running away. You do not lose anything, but you will not be able to gain the rewards if you fought instead.

Fight the Olfieri

Fighting the Olfieri and killing the mage will grant some XP. There are also chests in the are with loot.

Best Choice

Fight the Olfieri

The loot and XP for fighting and killing the Olfieri is worth it. If you find it difficult, refer below for tips on fighting the Olfieri soldiers and mage.

Fighting Olgierd von Everec

When coming back after escaping the ship and talking to Gaunter O'Dimm, you can choose save one of the men who was hanging around with Olgierd and his band. Saving him will require you to fight Olgierd.

Let the Man Die

You do not interfere Olgierd's business and speak to him about his wishes Gaunter promised to grant him.

Save the Man and Fight Olgierd

You fight olgierd 1 on 1 and save the man. There are no bonus rewards for fighting and beating Olgierd.

Best Choice

FIght Olgierd

Even though the player will not gain anything from fighting and beating Olgierd, they will receive experience on how to fight him. This experience will be helpful later on in the quest Scens from a Marriage.

Evil's Soft First Touches Tips and Strategies

Fighting the Toad Prince

Preperation

The fight with the Toad Prince will be hard. We recommend preparing for the fight with a Golden Oriele Potion, Northern Wind Bomb, and Cursed Oil.

Make sure to drink the Golden Oriele Potion before or during the fight to negate the poison from the Toad Prince and even use the poison to heal yourself.

Combat

When fighting the Toad Prince, try to stay in striking distance, but not too close as its jump attack has a wide range. Keep moving around it, strike with an attack, then immediately dodge away as it will jump up and slam down.

If you are in front of it, be wary of its tongue attacks. Use Northern Wind Bomb to immobilize it and get in a free attack. Use Yrden and lead it into it. It will be stunned for 5 seconds or 3 attacks when it enters Yrden.

If you do not have a Golden Oriele Potion, Be wary of it's attacks that leave poison gases. Use Igni to make them explode and get rid of them.

Yrden Magic Trap Strategy

Another tactic you can use is if you have the Yrden Magic Trap upgrade. It has a wider range than the normal Yrden, making it easier to stun the Toad Prince. Once the Toad Prince is stunned, go in for 3 attacks.

The Toad Prince will then proceed to jump up. Try to dodge towards the Toad Prince, and immediately cast the Yrden Magic Trap again for another 3 attacks. Repeat this to kill the Toad Prince.

Fighting the Olfieri Soldiers

Preperation

At the start of the fight, immediately re-equp your missing armor. Applying Hanged Man's Venom Oil will help with damage output.

Fighting the Olfieri Soldiers

It is best to focus on the soldiers first before the mage. Pay attention to the sand and dodge the mages attacks as you deal with the soldiers.

The mages attacks can also deal damage to the soldiers. Try to bait the soldiers into them.

Fighting the Olfieri Mage

Watch the sand around you. They will telegraph the mages' sand attacks. Use Axii to stun the mage, which will give you an opening of 3 attacks. Igni and Aard can also momentarily stun him for you to get in close and attack.

Fighting Olgierd

Olgierd Attacks

Olgierd has 3 main attacks. A flurry of strikes, zig-zag dash, and straight dash. He also has critical strikes, telegraphed by his arm and sword glowing red.

He performs a critical strike at the end of the flurry of strikes where he teleports behind you after the zig-zag dash attack and at the start of the straight dash attack.

Dodge and Strike Strategy

Try to keep distance and let Olgierd do all the attacking. When he does the flurry of strikes, avoid it with dodges to the side and go for an attack. Dodging his attacks and going for strike right after will only let you get 1 or 2 hits in.

If you can hit him while he is preparing his critical attack, he will reel back and be stunned. This will give you an opening for 3 attacks. Dodge right after to avoid a sand attack from him. This strategy is safer, but is more time consuming.

Counter Critical Strikes Strategy

You can counter all of his attacks. Countering the normal strikes will only give you an opening for 1 attack. But countering his critical strike will stun him, giving you an opportunity for 3 attacks.

Dodge away right after, as he will throw sand to stun you. When he does the dash critical strike, he will jump up right before hitting you, making the timing for the counter a little later than normal. This strategy is much more riskier, but is much more effective.

The Witcher 3 Related Links

All Hearts of Stone Main Quests

No.	Quest Title	Location	Sugg. Level
1	Evil's Soft First Touches	Seven Cats Inn, Garin Estate, Oxenfurt sewers	32
2	Dead Man's Party	Brunwich, von Everec Estate, Upper Mill	33
3	Open Sesame!	Borsodi Brothers' Auction House	34
4	Open Sesame: Witcher Seasonings	Oxenfurt	34
5	Open Sesame: Breaking and Entering	Oxenfurt	34
6	Open Sesame: The Safecracker	Oxenfurt	34
7	Scenes From a Marriage	Von Everec Estate, Painted world	35
8	Whatsoever a Man Soweth...	The Alchemy, Temple of Lilvani, Puzzle world	36

See The List of All Quests