The Beast of Honorton

The “Beast of Honorton” is the monster named in a free DLC contract set in the village of Honorton in Velen. The beast was a leshen, but by the time Geralt arrives, someone has already killed it. Its severed head lies in one of the village huts.

The real story is darker. The villagers hired Gaetan, a witcher of the School of the Cat, to kill the leshen. When the job was done, the ealdorman offered him a pittance instead of the agreed fee, and the villagers attacked him when he demanded his pay. Gaetan killed almost everyone in the village, sparing only a little girl named Millie.

The quest Contract: The Beast of Honorton starts from the notice boards at Crow’s Perch or Oreton, or simply by finding the village between Claywich and the Boatmakers’ Hut. All you fight here are alghouls feeding on the dead. Killing them completes the contract and leads straight into Where the Cat and Wolf Play…, where you find Millie, track Gaetan and decide whether to spare or kill him. Sparing him opens Take What You Want.

Combat strategy

You never fight the leshen itself, since Gaetan got there first. The only enemies in the contract are alghouls feeding outside a hut. More turn up in the barn and around the village during the follow-up quest, along with a pack of wolves on Gaetan’s trail. If you decide to fight Gaetan, expect a skilled swordsman who uses Quen and may try to blind you with a bomb.

Use necrophage oil against the alghouls.
Keep moving so the pack can’t surround you.
Stay near the village. The follow-up quest fails if you leave the area.
Give Millie her doll or use Axii to get her to talk.
For the leshen’s own weaknesses (relict oil, Igni, dimeritium bombs), see the leshen page.