This comes up often enough in The Witcher 3 that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

In most cases the straightforward approach works. The exceptions are specific and listed below.

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Worth knowing alongside this

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of The Witcher 3. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Everything below is framed around the current state of The Witcher 3 rather than a launch-week impression. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

What to do instead

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.

The practical answer

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

Why it works this way

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

When the usual advice fails

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

Where people go wrong

  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.

Witcher 3 FAQ

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Is this still accurate after the latest The Witcher 3 update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.