The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings doesn’t let you go back. Each chapter takes place in its own area. When the story moves on, unfinished side quests from that chapter fail and can never be picked up again. This guide lists every point of no return, the quests that are easiest to lose, and the gear you can only get if you plan ahead. It contains only light spoilers: quest names and locations, but no story outcomes.
How missing content works
- Quests fail when their chapter ends. The journal marks them as failed with a short note that Geralt had more important matters to deal with.
- Some quests fail earlier, when the main story passes a certain point inside the chapter. These are the ones that catch people out.
- Chapter 2 depends on your path. Some quests only exist with Vernon Roche or with Iorveth. You cannot get them both in one playthrough. See our Roche or Iorveth guide for the full list.
- Make a manual save before every point of no return below. Then you can go back if you notice something you forgot.
Points of no return
| Chapter | The point of no return | What to finish first |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | — |
| Prologue | The story moves straight from one battle to the next | Nothing big. Help the townsfolk in Woe to the Vanquished when you get the chance |
| Chapter 1 | Setting the trap for Letho at the elven ruins starts the chapter’s finale, and the chapter ends when Geralt sails for Aedirn | Every Flotsam side quest, contract and minigame |
| Chapter 2 | Joining the battle of the wraiths, which lifts the curse on the battlefield, moves the chapter towards its end. The final battle for Vergen closes it | Contracts, A Sackful of Fluff (Roche’s path) and all your path’s side quests |
| Chapter 3 | Going to A Summit of Mages | Every Loc Muinne side quest. Very little can be done after the summit |
Chapter 1: Flotsam
Chapter 1 has the most side content in the game, and most of it fails once the chapter’s finale begins.
- A Sword for Monsters: Geralt loses his silver sword in the Prologue. Have a new one forged in Flotsam right away. You will need it for the whole chapter.
- The Nekker Contract and The Endrega Contract: monster contracts from the notice board. They are easy to start and easy to forget.
- In the Claws of Madness: the haunted hospital in the forest. It can be left unresolved if you move on too early.
- Melitele’s Heart: the talisman you can take from Newboy’s body in the Prologue (only if he dies there). Collect the ingredients for the ritual and protect Anezka while it is performed. If the ritual fails or never happens, the talisman’s power is never awakened.
- Malena: the elven woman accused of spying. If you ignore her case, her fate stays unknown.
- The Scent of Incense, Little Shop of Dreams and The Ballista: small Flotsam jobs that are cut short when the chapter ends.
- Hung Over: after a night of drinking with Roche’s men, Geralt wakes up with a mystery. Solve it before you leave Flotsam.
- Margot’s Disappearance: when you search for Triss, go through the brothel. If you rush straight to Cedric, you miss what happened to the madame.
- Bring It On: Flotsam, One on One: Flotsam and Poker Face: Flotsam: the arm wrestling, fist fighting and dice poker challenges. They pay well early on but fail when the chapter ends. The fist fighting tournament Fight Club can also be lost or abandoned for good.
- The Kayran: Ostmurk: optional, but the Mongoose potion makes the kayran fight much easier.
Chapter 2: Vergen or the Kaedweni camp
On both paths
- From a Bygone Era: if you find strange notes in Malget’s hut, keep them. On Roche’s path Dethmold will offer to buy them. Kept until Chapter 3, they lead to a hidden reward in the sewers of Loc Muinne that lets Geralt reset and redistribute all his talents.
Roche’s path only
- A Sackful of Fluff: Elthon, who lives in a hut by the quarry near Vergen, wants harpy feathers. It fails as soon as you lift the curse on the battlefield, long before the chapter ends.
- The Rotfiend Contract, Little Sisters, Lost Lambs, In Cervisia Veritas and The Butcher of Cidaris: the camp’s contracts and side stories.
- Ave Henselt!: Henselt’s arena tournament.
- Bring It On: Kaedweni Camp and Poker Face: Kaedweni Camp: the camp’s minigame challenges.
Iorveth’s path only
- The Walls Have Ears and Suspect: Thorak: side threads of the investigation into Saskia’s poisoning. They are dropped if you push on without them.
- Baltimore’s Nightmare: the mystery of Vergen’s vanished runesmith.
- With Flickering Heart: the succubus case. If you wait too long, Iorveth leads his Scoia’tael away and the case is never solved.
- Hey, Work’s On in the Mines!, The Harpy Contract and The Queen Harpy Contract: Vergen’s monster work.
- Bring It On: Vergen and Poker Face: Vergen: the town’s minigame challenges.
Chapter 3: Loc Muinne
Chapter 3 is short, and almost everything has to be done before you go to the summit.
- The Gargoyle Contract: deactivate the magical seals that bind the gargoyles and collect the reward from Bras of Ban Ard. It fails once the summit turns into a slaughter.
- An Encrypted Manuscript: bring Bras the ingredients he needs to break the spell on a manuscript you find in the ruins. In return he makes the sword Caerme. After the summit, the sorcerers no longer have time for it.
- Bring It On: Loc Muinne: the final arm wrestling challenge. It also fails when the summit begins.
- From a Bygone Era (continued): find the Vran guardian in the sewers, give the right password from Malget’s notes and solve the brazier puzzle to get the talent reset.
- Lilies and Vipers, Crown Witness, Pacta Sunt Servanda and The Messenger (Roche’s path): the investigation into the fate of Foltest’s children. Every thread has a deadline and fails if you leave it too long.
- The Secrets of Loc Muinne, Dearhenna’s Journal and A Tome Truly Rare (Iorveth’s path): the expedition to Dearhenna’s laboratory and the hunt for his journal and grimoire. The expedition fails if the main quest moves on too far.
Missable gear
Vran armor
One of the strongest armors in the game comes from a quest that spans all three chapters. In the journal it is called Mystic River.
1. Chapter 1: in the kayran’s lair, search the wreck of the Petra Silie for the captain’s key and log. Post his report in a Royal Mail box in Flotsam.
2. Chapter 2: find the second wreck, the Eyla Tarn, which the local trolls have dragged ashore. Its chest points to treasure beneath Loc Muinne.
3. Chapter 3: find that chest under Loc Muinne, then have the sorcerer-smith Bras of Ban Ard forge the Vran Armor.
Start in Chapter 1, because the trail begins in the kayran’s lair.
The cursed outfits (Dark difficulty only)
On Dark difficulty, each chapter has its own cursed set of armor and swords: the Blasphemer’s Outfit in Flotsam, the Oathbreaker’s Outfit around Vergen and the Kinslayer’s Outfit in Loc Muinne. You collect the diagrams and have the pieces made by a craftsman. The complete set is very powerful, but if the set is incomplete, its swords drain Geralt’s Vitality.
- The Blasphemer’s Outfit (Chapter 1): Blasphemer’s Armor and the swords Ultimatum and Anathema
- The Oathbreaker’s Outfit (Chapter 2): armor, gauntlets, trousers and boots, plus the swords Black Unicorn and Virgin
- The Kinslayer’s Outfit (Chapter 3): Kinslayer’s Armor and the swords Mourner and Weeper
Each outfit fails when its chapter ends. If you change the difficulty away from Dark, you lose every piece you own and cannot switch back.
A quick checklist
1. Save before the Letho trap in Chapter 1, before the battle of the wraiths in Chapter 2 and before the summit in Chapter 3.
2. Clear each chapter’s notice board contracts and minigame challenges first.
3. Keep Malget’s notes and follow the Vran treasure chain through all three chapters.
4. Read the beginner’s guide if you are just starting out, and plan your build in the Character Planner.
Find every quest, by chapter, in the Witcher 2 hub.