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The Witcher 3
Without a Trace Walkthrough and Best Choice
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This is a guide to the quest titled Without a Trace from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read on to learn locations, rewards, best choices, best outcomes, as well as useful tips and strategy for completing this quest.
| Previous Quest | Current Quest | Next Quest |
|---|---|---|
| - | Without a Trace | - |
List of Contents
Without a Trace Location and Rewards
Basic Information
| Quest Number | - |
|---|---|
| Region | Novigrad |
| Quest Location | Herbalist's Hut Deadwight Wood Erde |
| Previous Quest | - |
| Next Quest | - |
Rewards
| Gold Reward | None |
|---|---|
| Exp Reward | None |
| Item Reward | None |
How to Unlock Without a Trace
EnlargeGo to Brunwich and pick up the Notice Contract: Apprentice Gone Missing! on the Notice Board.
Is Without a Trace Missable or Failable?
You cannot miss or fail this quest even if you finish all the Main Quests in the game.
Without a Trace Walkthrough
| Objectives | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Talk to the Herbalist in the Herbalist's Hut just outside of Oxenfurt. |
| 2 | Go to the quest marker and investigate the clues using your Witcher Senses. |
| 3 | Investigate around the village and talk to the elderly woman. |
| 4 | Choose how to deal with the elderly couple. |
| 5 | Report back to the herbalist. |
Without a Trace Choices and Best Choice
In this quest the only choice you will get is to either spare or kill the elderly couple for committing cannibalism.
Make Them Swear
If you choose to spare them, Geralt will make them vow to never eat human flesh again. If you choose this and reveal to the herbalist that his apprentice got eaten by cannibals, he will send alghouls to kill the elderly couple when you come back after some time.
Kill the Cannibals
If you choose to kill them, you will do combat against the elderly couple. The herbalist will be happier if you choose this and reveal to him that his appretince got eaten by cannibals.
Best Choice
The best choice here is to Kill the Cannibals, after killing them you can loot them for the key to their house and get a bit more loot inside their house.
Without a Trace Tips and Strategies
Exploration Tips
Exploring the Village
When exploring the whole village, do not forget to check behind the eldery couple's house to discover their larder and the missing Halfling.
Combat Strategies
Elderly Couple
- They are both humans wielding one-handed weapons, you can kill them by either rushing or counterattacking them.
- Coat your Steel Sword with Hanged Man's Venom to deal bonus damage to them.
| Humans Weaknesses and Loot |
Is Without a Trace Worth It?
Without a Trace is not worth doing
We do not recommend doing this quest. The benefits that you gain from this quest are not very useful for your progression in the game. Finishing this quest will be mainly for the sake of the game's completion and to have more knowledge about the Witcher World.
The Witcher 3 Related Links
All Hearts of Stone Secondary Quests
| No. | Quest Title | Location | Sugg. Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | A Midnight Clear | Brunwich Miller's Lake | 33 |
| - | Avid Collector | The Borsodi Brothers' Auction House Marcus T.K. Hodgson's bookshop | 34 |
| - | Enchanting: Quality Has Its Price | Upper Mill Bloodrot Pit | 32 |
| - | Enchanting: Start-up Costs | Upper Mill | 32 |
| - | Races: Swift as the Western Winds | Upper Mill | 32 |
| - | Rose on a Red Field | Garin Estate Bowdon | 33 |
| - | The Taxman Cometh | Oxenfurt | 32 |
| - | Without a Trace | Herbalist's Hut Deadwight Wood Erde | 32 |
Author
Without a Trace Walkthrough and Best Choice
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In the section about sparing the elderly couple, it says, “If you choose this and reveal to the herbalist that his apprentice got eaten by cannibals, he will send alghouls to kill the elderly couple when you come back after some time.” This is inaccurate. The alghouls were most likely attracted by the stench of the rotting corpses in their basement meat locker, not sent by the alchemist. While halflings can be skilled with herbs, they do not possess the ability to summon or control monsters.