“This world doesn't need a hero. It needs a professional”.

Geralt of Rivia was different from your average RPG protagonist. Not only was he a named character in a sea of nameless customizable heroes. He was also notably not a hero. 

Geralt didn’t track down monsters to save the world or to achieve greatness, he did it for the same reason most of us do things: a gig’s a gig.

That’s one of the main reasons I relate to Geralt so profoundly, we’re both just a couple of guys trying to make ends meet. I mean sure, what he does is a little more dangerous, and he is actually good at it, and women tend to find him attractive,  and…

Where was I going with this?

Right, the job! The point is that for all of the complex emotional storylines and tough choices that TW3 put us through, it was great to just do the job from time to time. 

That, and Geralt and I are the same person, that’s also the point. There are two points.

Anyways. Here’s a list of the top 10 best monster contracts in TW3, spoilers ahead.     

10. Devil by the Well.

Devil by the Well Guide.

Devil by the Well is in this spot only because it perfectly exemplifies everything great about a great contract, and thus, it serves as an amazing primer on what contracts can be.

I’m not the only one who thinks that either. Devil by the Well is the very first contract available in the game, showing that the developers at CD Projekt Red themselves thought that this was the perfect way to introduce players to in-game contracts. 

So, what makes a great contract? First, it needs an emotional core. Contracts might not (usually) be as heavy-handed as the main and secondary quests, but they’re still at their best when they have an interesting and engaging story. 

Second, they have to keep your interest. TW3 is far from a horror game, and you are not a clearly-out-of-his-element nobody like James Sunderland, you are a trained and genetically enhanced warrior.

That being said, the continent is still a scary place, and none of the fights will feel like they have any weight unless they are, to some measure, either tough or scary.

Devil by the Well is both. The combat itself demands some familiarity with the game’s mechanics at an early stage, and the investigation leading up to it has a tense and intriguing atmosphere.  

Why Devil by the Well is great:

• A great introduction into the role of a Witcher. And the perfect contract to let the player know what to expect. 
• The contract is intriguing-yet-creepy, making you unsure about whether you want to continue or run away.
• The fight is difficult and rewarding.  

9. Missing Miners.

Missing Miners Playthrough

Before I go any further, let me give a massive shout-out to Youtuber xLetalis, his videos are comprehensive to the point of obsession, and his channel is a must if you’re a fan of The Witcher 3.

With that out of the way; some of the greatest Witcher contracts are the ones where the solution isn’t so cut-and-dry, and Missing Miners is a perfect example. 

As a Witcher, your job is to hunt monsters, and a troll that has been killing miners should be an easy target.

However, Wham-a-Wham is a fully sentient being and he hasn’t hurt anyone out of malice. So what do you do?    

The contract, like many others, can be resolved in a variety of ways, showing that a Witcher’s job might not be so simple after all. 

Why Missing Miners is great:

• The contract makes you an arbiter, and it demands that you weight-in a variety of different points of view before making a decision.
• The story is crafted in such a way that you never feel like there’s an absolute “right” or “wrong” answer.
• Wham-a-Wham is a very lovable and endearing character. 

8. An Elusive Thief.

An Elusive Thief Playthrough

Themes of power dynamics and segregated communities have always been an integral part of The Witcher’s universe, and the game translates those themes beautifully in the quest “An Elusive Thief”.

As far as moral choices go, I’d say that this is one of the simpler ones, but not every choice should be complicated just by virtue of being a choice. 

Still, it’s always nice to have the option of being a terrible person, and any-and-all character moments that can be communicated through player action instead of cutscenes are fine by me.  

Why An Elusive Thief is great:

• This short quest serves as a great microcosm of the themes of the story at large.
• Entertaining but not too long, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
• If nothing else, the whole thing is worth it if it means you get to hear some of Geralt’s deadpan sense of humor.   

7. Jenny o' the Woods.

Jenny o' the Woods Playthrough 

I’ll be honest with you, wraith boss fights are not usually my favorites (I just, I hate Yrden so much, I really do) but they tend to be beautifully constructed, both in the build-up and the fight itself.

Perhaps it’s the fact that scary as they might be, most monsters are physical apparitions. And at the end of the day, anything physical can be chopped down with a sword and a can-do attitude.

Whatever the answer might be, wraith contracts are great at creating atmospheres. The contract itself may be pretty straightforward, with the story bordering on shallow (at least by the standards for this game), but this quest is anything but unsatisfying. 

The air of mystery and unease takes a  hold of you from beginning to end in this contract, and this might be one of the hardest fights for the recommended level. 

Jenny o’ the Woods might not be the most dramatic of contracts, but it sure is fun to play.   

Why Jenny o’ the Woods is great:

• A great atmosphere through the whole quest.
• The fight itself requires a great deal of strategic planning and ability.
• What might be a somewhat lackluster story by The Witcher’s standards is still a gripping and tragic tale overall.    

6. Missing Son.

Missing Son Playthrough

A sad melancholy plagues this whole quest. 

From the story elements to the location and gameplay itself. There are no complicated moral choices or creepy detective work, just the quiet acceptance of the things we cannot change (like Yrden being a shitty sign) and the ones we can (me not being Geralt of Rivia).

The quest starts as a Skelligen local (Skelliger? Skelligean?) asks you to find his —get ready for this— missing son. 

You track down the beast responsible for the carnage, an overgrown fiend called Morvudd, and after fighting it for a while, it runs away.

You eventually find Morvudd hiding in some nearby ruins, and even though Morvudd has regained full health, the second fight is over relatively quickly. Some quests on the game carry their themes front and center, and yet others gain their value later, with the benefit of hindsight. 

Missing Son is a great example of the latter, what at first might seem like a straightforward (albeit difficult) fight, reveals itself to be a tale of quiet desperation. 

It’s no coincidence that fiends belong to the type of monster called “relics”.   

Why Missing Son is great:

• A very visual contract! The fight against the larger-than-life creature atop a ruined castle is delightfully cinematic.
• The contract is challenging, and this fiend is not to be underestimated. 
• The whole thing is a huge bummer. But, like, in a good way.

5. Deadly Delights.

Deadly Delights Playthrough

Deadly delights is another one of those contracts that, light on gameplay as it might be, is rich with story.

At the heart of the contract is Salma, one of the few succubi boss fights in the game.

The contract once again raises themes of what it means to be a monster, subtly reinforced with details like Salma’s health bar being red.

A woman not-quite-human, that doesn’t hesitate to kill but doesn’t take any joy in it, and one of few words. In the very brief time that she and Geralt interact, the parallels between the two become immediately apparent. 

How will Geralt react to this warped reflection?

Why Deadly Delights is great:

• Ethical dilemmas are one of the more memorable parts of TW3’s story.
• The fight, should you decide to have it, is distinct enough to be memorable. 

4. The Oxenfurt Drunk.

The Oxenfurt Drunk Playthrough

The first Witcher game is great, but it is not without its flaws. It might have been fun, but being drunk in it was excruciating.

Old-timey-Geralt moves slowly enough as it is, but in the many, many, many sections of the game where you have to be drunk for some reason or another, his slow staggering becomes completely unbearable.

Luckily, they radically improved the mechanic in TW3. Drinking in a game might not ever be as fun as the real thing, but at least this time it was tolerable.

Weird tangent aside, The Oxenfurt Drunk is a contract that quickly leads Geralt to an interesting solution for the problem of the monster plaguing the streets of Oxenfurt: Getting plastered and making himself the bait.

The contract is pretty funny and the new mechanic serves as a refreshing change of pace. 

It’s not all fun-and-games though, the Katakan fight is challenging and claustrophobic. 

Why The Oxenfurt Drunk is great:

• The drinking mechanic adds a sprinkle of interest to the contract.
• The Katakan is a fierce opponent, and you’ll have to use your brains to get through this fight alive. 
• It’s not often that you get to hear Geralt calling a monster “bitch”. 

3. The Phantom of Eldberg.

The Phantom of Eldberg Playthrough

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a big-time fan of all things spooky: Specters, In-laws, outdated jokes about In-laws being scary. I love it all.

I adore The Phantom of Eldberg exactly for that reason. Because man, that quest is bone-chilling.

The location, the backstory, even the lighting of the whole thing screams “medieval fantasy horror” and I love it.

Not only that, the contract goes beyond just combat. The addition of exploration elements is what makes this contract stand out and deserve its spot on the list. 

Why The Phantom of Eldberg is great:

• The location is immersive and perfectly complements the story.
• You visually get to see how your actions change the world around you.
• The quest is a solid self-contained story, great for taking a break from the main storyline. 

2. In the Heart of the Woods.

In the Heart of the Woods Playthrough

Sometimes there’s no choice that’s a good choice, and you have to choose nonetheless.

Evil might be evil, but it’s not all the same.

The quest tells a tale of man’s relationship with nature, and how one can inform the other.

If it feels like I’m being intentionally obtuse, it’s because I am. 

If you haven’t played this quest it’s for the best that I don’t ruin any of the story’s nuance with my blabbering.

Just know that no matter what you do, you’ll be doing some good along with some harm.    

Why In the Heart of the Woods is great:

• The boss fight is tough-as-nails and it’s so much fun.
• Should you go for the most pacific option, there’s still plenty of gameplay to be had, so it doesn’t feel like an anticlimax.
• This is definitely a quest that’ll stay with you long after you finish it. 

1. Skellige's Most Wanted.

Skellige's Most Wanted Playthrough

Let me start by saying that this is a safe space, so, opinions on things that can make a contract less-than-stellar, let’s hear them.

You can tell me.

C’mon, don’t be shy...

Okay, stop, you’re talking to a monitor, that’s a little weird. I can’t actually hear you. You know that.

But I am willing to bet what your answers might have been: Weak gameplay outside the combat itself, or uninteresting monsters, or a story that has no substance.

Some contracts face one or more of these issues, that’s fine, they can’t all be gems. 

But some can, and Skellige’s Most Wanted is the crown jewel. 

The contract mixes mystery and investigation with a healthy dose of red herrings and morality.

The gameplay is fun, and the build-up to the boss fight takes its time but it never gets dull.

If nothing else, this contract deserves the number one spot on the list because where else are you going to find a MONSTER SUICIDE-SQUAT?     

Why Skellige’s Most Wanted is great:

• A fun contract where the build-up is just as satisfying as the boss fight.
• The choices you made in previous contracts will have consequences on this one.
• A cleverly written quest with a lot of cinematic value. 

Hunting monsters might be a tough job. But it can also be a good one, so long as the right contract comes your way, and in a vast continent plagued by monsters, you now know exactly what the right contracts are. 

Keep in mind that sometimes a good job is any job that pays, and Geralt needs a way to fund his crippling Gwent addiction, which is another way in which we’re the exact same person. Because me too, I also… I’m trying to say that I lost everything gambling. 

So, are there any like, big roaches that you need killed? Or do you need your lawn cut? I’m really desperate, please, I’ll do anything. 

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