Should I finish The Witcher 3 Main Quest before starting the expansions?

[gosublime]

Pretty simple topic but I'm curious what I should I do. I've got to the part in the Witcher 3 where my main quest is called Final Preparations - I know I've probably got a while before it gets to the actual final section but I was wondering what to do first. I got the game of the year version so I have Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine to play through and some point as I've heard they are excellent.

I'm playing mainly for the story and world, so it doesn't really matter if I end up over-levelled. Would it be the case that if I start the expansion main quests, the pacing will be a bit lost for the main quest? Does the game assume you've finished the main quest - will there be spoilers in the expansions? Please keep this spoiler free - just some vague advice would be fine!

 

[AndrewDean84]

Yes.

 

[Mediking]

Main. Story. First. Sometimes being overleveled in a RPG is better than being underleveled.

 

[gosublime]

Main. Story. First. Sometimes being overleveled in a RPG is better than being underleveled.

Click to shrink...

My way of playing RPG style games is to finish as much side stuff as I can before taking on main quests - this usually means I'm overleveled when it comes to the main quest, so very used to that!

 

[Altair]

Yes. Not sure why you would ever want to skip the main story in a story-driven game. Being overleveled isn't necessarily a bad thing either depending on the difficulty you're playing on.

 

[The Unsent]

Blood and Wine is an epilogue to the main story so the answer is a no brainer. :)

I would play Heart of Stone after the main story too so it's easier to concentrate on its stand alone story, which has nothing to do with the hunt for Ciri.

 

[MrCibb]

I'd say main story first still. The expansions are self-contained stories on the whole but stuff does happen differently if you've finished the main game (depending on your choices), and they're designed for a higher level Geralt.

Plus, The Witcher 3's main story ending is the ending of that game, but Blood & Wine is then the ending of the trilogy. It could be Geralt's last adventure afterall, I remember CDP mentioning before that Geralt's story feels like it's done, and there's some nice moments at the end of Blood & Wine which feels like a mini send-off for the trilogy and is best experienced last imo. So I'd say stick playing/finishing them in the order of release. Witcher 3 > Hearts of Stone > Blood and Wine.

 

[gosublime]

Yes. Not sure why you would ever want to skip the main story in a story-driven game. Being overleveled isn't necessarily a bad thing either depending on the difficulty you're playing on.

Click to shrink...

Not so much skip, but treat as very long sidequests. Although, I have been doing sidequests as Geralt and had the issue of thinking why am I punching a bear in an arena instead of trying to save Ciri.

 

[metalslimer]

Blood and Wine is the ending to the story and is essentially it's own 30 hour main story anyway so I would just play that last. You can do hearts of stone whenever you want but I would do it after as it still feels like it should come after

 

[JustinBB7]

Blood and Wine is an epilogue to the main story so the answer is a no brainer. :)

I would play Heart of Stone after the main story too so it's easier to concentrate on its stand alone story, which has nothing to do with the hunt for Ciri.

Click to shrink...

This is the right awnser.

Main > HoS > B&W

 

[gosublime]

Blood & Wine is then the ending of the trilogy

Click to shrink...

That's very interesting - I actually played 1 and 2 before this and although I'm loving 3, it feels quite disconnected to the other games. Glad I've chosen it as my summer holiday game if it takes about 30 hours for the expansion as well!

 

[DaciaJC]

At the very least do Blood and Wine last, since it acts as a sort of end to Geralt's saga. Hearts of Stone can be treated as a standalone adventure, but it probably makes more sense to concentrate on finishing Ciri's story at this point.

 

[shimon]

Absolutely.

 

[chandoog]

I would highly recommend so.

Doubly for Blood and Wine.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

HoS takes place within the WH story but gameplay-wise it is best played after. BaW is definitely an epilogue and should be played last.

 

[Jacknapes]

Blood and Wine should be done after the main game is finished. It's not set in the same area as Witcher III, but set elsewhere in Toussaint.

Heart of Stone, well that's up to you at this point. You could play it before you finish the main story, as i've done then go onto Blood and Wine. Or you could leave it until you've finished the main game (as others have done) and focus on both expansions once you've finished the main story.

 

[Sayers]

Blood and Wine is the final end of the story

 

[SarcasticRobot]

I didn't think you could start the DLC until you finished the main quest line.

 

[Risev]

As others said, Blood and Wine is the real ending of the trilogy (even though it can be completed without completing the main story). Besides, the majority of Blood and Wine feels like a retirement party for Geralt, which would make zero sense if the events of the main story are still happening.

 

[Cross-Section]

Heart of Stone can somewhat factor into the main story (if you make the appropriate decisions) but overall, it's best to leave the both of them for post-game.

 

[Horns]

The came recommends being a certain level before attempting it. You'll quickly get owned if you try it.

 

[Dazraell]

Hearts of Stone is best to tackle during Act 3, when you are in Novigrad. Yen and Ciri has some extra dialogue if you talk to them during playing HoS story. But you can totally play it after main story.

Blood and Wine is best to play after beating a main storyline, it's more of an epilogue for Geralt's adventure.

 

[gosublime]

The came recommends being a certain level before attempting it. You'll quickly get owned if you try it.

Click to shrink...

I'm only one level off Hearts of Stone's recommended level at the moment - I've tried to do all side quests, contracts and treasure hunts on my way around the world so it would be the right time level wise.