Spoiler warning: this guide covers the story of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings up to the start of Chapter 3. If you want to go in blind, read only the short answer below.
The short answer
At the end of Chapter 1 Geralt has to pick an ally to help him find Triss Merigold: Vernon Roche, commander of Temeria’s Blue Stripes, or Iorveth, the elven leader of the Scoia’tael. The choice sends Chapter 2 to two different places with different quests, characters and battles, and it changes how Chapter 3 begins. Neither path is the “wrong” one. Pick the side you believe in, and play the game a second time to see the other half of the story.
- Choose Roche if you want court politics, King Henselt and the Kaedweni army, and a closer look at Temeria’s fight to survive without its king.
- Choose Iorveth if you want to defend the dwarven town of Vergen with Saskia, elves, dwarves and peasants, and get to the bottom of the sorceresses’ plans for the Pontar Valley.
When the choice happens
The Prologue and almost all of Chapter 1 are the same on both paths. In Flotsam, the kingslayer Letho kidnaps Triss and forces her to open a portal to Aedirn. Geralt cannot follow alone, and Dandelion talks the problem through with him. In the journal this becomes two quests, At a Crossroads: Vernon Roche and At a Crossroads: Scoia’tael. Whichever ally Geralt goes to, the other quest fails.
- With Roche (Death to the Traitor!): Geralt agrees to help the Blue Stripes deal with Commandant Bernard Loredo, who is about to sell Flotsam to Kaedwen. He sneaks into Loredo’s mansion, kills him and finds the elven woman Moril in the tower. Iorveth gets away, and Geralt sails for Aedirn with Roche.
- With Iorveth (The Floating Prison): Geralt helps the Scoia’tael storm the Prison Barge to free the elves held below deck. Loredo sets fire to a tower full of elven women to cover his escape, and Geralt must either save the women or chase Loredo. Then he leaves for Aedirn with Iorveth.
If Geralt handed Iorveth over to Roche earlier in Chapter 1, the elf is himself held on the barge. The Scoia’tael path is still open: Geralt goes to the leaderless Squirrels instead and helps them free their commander.
Chapter 2 side by side
Chapter 2 is where the paths really split. Both stories revolve around the same war: Henselt of Kaedwen is marching on Upper Aedirn, and a cursed battlefield full of wraiths lies between his camp and Vergen. You just watch it from opposite sides of the mist.
| Roche’s path | Iorveth’s path | |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | — |
| Opening quest | Prelude to War: Kaedwen | Prelude to War: Aedirn |
| Home base | Kaedweni Military Camp | Vergen |
| Main allies | Roche, the Blue Stripes, Ves | Iorveth, Saskia, Philippa Eilhart, Zoltan |
| Key characters | Henselt, Dethmold, Síle de Tansarville | Prince Stennis, Cecil Burdon, Philippa |
| Big story beat | Uncovering a plot against Henselt in Conspiracy Theory | Saving the poisoned Saskia in Royal Blood and its follow-ups |
| The final battle | The Siege of Vergen: Geralt fights his way into the town from the attackers’ side | Vergen Besieged: Geralt holds the walls against Kaedwen |
| How the battle ends | Vergen falls and Saskia loses | Henselt is beaten and has to surrender |
Roche’s path in Chapter 2
Geralt crosses the mist with Henselt and the sorcerer Dethmold and ends up in the Kaedweni camp. Henselt grills him, decides a witcher who has met kingslayers is worth keeping around, and puts him to work. The king’s own problem is personal: in The Blood Curse Geralt learns that the sorceress Sabrina Glevissig cursed Henselt before she was burned, and he has to lift it.
When a kingslayer attacks Henselt, Geralt saves the king, and a necromantic ritual on the dead assassin reveals that Síle de Tansarville worked with Letho. Síle flees to Vergen. Meanwhile Dethmold has set Geralt on a conspiracy among the Kaedweni soldiers. The trail leads, to Geralt’s surprise, to Roche himself, and the plot ends in disaster: Henselt has the Blue Stripes captured and hanged. From that point on Roche lives for revenge.
In The Siege of Vergen Geralt and Roche slip into the burning town through tunnels. Inside, Geralt can rush to help Iorveth in the keep or go after Síle, who escapes either way. Finally Roche gets his chance at Henselt, and Geralt decides whether to let him take it. The king’s fate matters a great deal in the epilogue. See our choices and endings guide.
Iorveth’s path in Chapter 2
Geralt arrives in the middle of a disastrous parley between Henselt, Saskia and Stennis. The spilled blood wakes the cursed battlefield, and Philippa Eilhart, in the shape of an owl, leads the group out of the mist. In Vergen, Saskia is poisoned during the war council. Philippa can save her, but she needs three things: royal blood, an object full of magic and a special ingredient.
That sets off the chapter’s best quests. In Royal Blood Geralt investigates whether Prince Stennis was behind the poisoning while a peasant mob gathers outside his door. In Hunting Magic he enters the harpies’ lair, where stolen dreams are kept. And Triss’s trail runs through a lovesick troll, the mist and finally the Nilfgaardian camp, where Geralt learns that Triss was turned into a figurine and has been taken to Loc Muinne. Roche shows up here too: even though Geralt chose Iorveth, he helps the witcher reach Henselt’s tent and get out of the camp alive.
In Vergen Besieged the defenders hold the walls, Iorveth comes back with elven reinforcements at the last moment, and Henselt has to surrender. Then the twist: Philippa and Saskia vanish through a portal. Among Philippa’s things Geralt and Iorveth find proof that the sorceress poisoned Saskia herself, with a venom that lets her control the Dragonslayer’s mind.
Chapter 3: same city, different doors
Both paths end in the ruined elven city of Loc Muinne, where kings and mages gather for a summit. How Geralt gets in and what he has to choose depends on his ally:
- With Roche (For Temeria!): Roche gets an audience with King Radovid V of Redania. Radovid promises to support Temeria but wants control over Anais La Valette, Foltest’s daughter, in return. Geralt then has to choose between rescuing Triss from the Nilfgaardians and helping Roche free Anaïs from Dethmold in Of His Blood and Bone. If he helps Roche, the girl ends up either with Radovid or with Temeria’s regent John Natalis, and Geralt has a say in which.
- With Iorveth (For a Higher Cause!): the knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose guard the gate, so Iorveth finds a way in through a cave. Philippa is held in a Redanian cell, where Radovid has had her blinded. Geralt can free Philippa, who knows where to find the dagger that can break her spell on Saskia (The Spellbreaker), or carry off the Nilfgaardian envoy Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen to trade him for Triss.
After that the paths come together again for A Summit of Mages, the dragon and the final meeting with Letho.
Quests you only get on one path
Prologue and Chapter 1 quests are shared. The lists below show the Chapter 2 and 3 quests that belong to only one path. Some side activities, such as the arm wrestling, fist fights and dice poker quests, come in a version for each path.
Roche’s path only
- Chapter 2: Prelude to War: Kaedwen, The Blood Curse, Conspiracy Theory, Ave Henselt!, The Path to Vision, Lost Lambs, The Spear of Destiny, In Cervisia Veritas, The Butcher of Cidaris, Little Sisters, The Rotfiend Contract, Against the Blue Stripes, The Siege of Vergen
- Chapter 3: For Temeria!, Of His Blood and Bone, Lilies and Vipers, Crown Witness, The Messenger, Pacta Sunt Servanda
Iorveth’s path only
- Chapter 2: Prelude to War: Aedirn, The War Council, Royal Blood, Hunting Magic, The Walls Have Ears, Suspect: Thorak, Baltimore’s Nightmare, With Flickering Heart, Subterranean Life, Hey, Work’s On in the Mines!, The Harpy Contract, The Queen Harpy Contract, Vergen Besieged
- Chapter 3: For a Higher Cause!, The Spellbreaker, The Secrets of Loc Muinne, Dearhenna’s Journal, A Tome Truly Rare
Which path should you play first?
There is no hidden “good” ending tied to either ally. Both paths reach Loc Muinne, and the biggest choices of the ending are open on both. A few things to weigh:
- Story focus. Roche’s path is about kings, spies and Temeria’s future, and it leads to the Anaïs decision. Iorveth’s path is about Saskia, the free Pontar Valley and Philippa’s lies, and it gives Geralt the chance to free the Dragonslayer from the sorceresses.
- Atmosphere. The Kaedweni camp is a grim army camp full of soldiers, mercenaries and camp followers. Vergen is a crowded dwarven town getting ready for a siege.
- Side content. Vergen’s side quests revolve around the dwarven town: its runesmith, the harpies, the old mines and a succubus case. Roche’s path has Henselt’s arena tournament, rotfiend hunts and the story of Sabrina Glevissig’s execution.
- Character. If you sided with the Scoia’tael or with the special forces in your head during Chapter 1, follow that feeling. The game is built around the idea that both men have a point.
Whichever you pick first, plan on playing the game twice. Chapter 2 is close to a different game on each path, and many characters only show their real side on one of them.
Plan your Geralt
Two playthroughs is a great excuse to try two builds. Plan your talents in the Witcher 2 Character Planner, look up names and places in the Witcher 2 glossary, and find every quest, character and item in the Witcher 2 hub.