The Witcher 3 - Bloody Baron, The King of the Wolves, Gretka, Wolf King, ingredients

From the rain-slicked beach, summon your horse and begin your journey toward the baron's castle to the north-east, using your objective marker as a guide. It's a relatively long trek, thanks to the water that lies between you and your destination, but one well worth doing on horseback so you can unlock fast travel points and see the sights as you go. Once the baron's castle looms into view, make your way across the bridge and head inside its walls.

Bloody Baron

Find the baron

Feel free to explore the village at the foot of the castle then, once you're ready, head up the hill in the direction of the objective marker. Converse with the soldiers that guard the castle gate, then make your way inside.

Follow the sergeant

On the other side of the imposing gate, begin following the guard through the castle grounds. You'll pass various useful amenities on your walk - including a merchant and armourer - but you'll have time to investigate their wares a little later on. Once you reach the baron, work your way through the conversation tree and ready yourself for a flashback.

Ciri's Story: The King of the Wolves

Follow the riverbed and find help

Once you gain control of Ciri, begin walking to the north-east, heading along the riverbed in the direction of the objective marker. Note that your inventory and Signs are unavailable during this flashback portion of the game.

Kill the wolves

Before long you'll hear the cries of a girl in desperate need of assistance. Draw your sword and take on the wolves that scour the area in search of prey. When the coast is clear, the girl climbs down from a nearby tree and engages you in conversation. Work your way through the dialogue options to learn more of her predicament.

Follow Gretka

When the conversation ends, follow Gretka through the forest, keeping a watch for hungry wolves.

Protect Gretka from the wolves

As soon as the first wolf pack strikes, draw your sword and attack. Unlike Geralt, Ciri's health automatically regenerates over time, so simply retreat for a few moments if you begin to get overwhelmed. Be sure to make use of Ciri's magical dodge too, as this enables you to cover plenty of ground in a short amount of time. Don't worry about Gretka during this sequence - whenever wolves attack, she runs and hides.

Find the dog tallow, wolf's liver, fool's parsley and wolfsbane

Follow Gretka

With the wolves dead, continue following your young charge through the forest until you reach the bloody remains of a traveller. Work your way through the options presented in order to study the corpse more closely. Select 'Summing Up' to end the sequence. Once you've identified the traveller's attacker, you need to brew a concoction to defeat the Wolf King.

• Acquire dog tallow
• Acquire wolf's liver
• Gather fool's parsley
• Gather wolfsbane

To complete these four objectives, you need to explore the surrounding area and collect the required ingredients. Fool's parsley and wolfsbane can be found by gathering from the various plants that flower in the area - look for the small leaf icons on the mini-map that denote a nearby gathering spot. Wolf's liver and dog tallow, meanwhile, can found by searching the piles of bloody giblets littering the ground.

If you're struggling to find everything you need in the immediate vicinity, use the objective maker to locate Gretka, then begin following her through the trees again. Take down the wolves that attack a little further on, then scour the area to secure any remaining ingredients.

Follow Gretka

With your formula complete, find Gretka again and resume your trek through the forest. When you reach the cave entrance, step into the darkness and follow the passage down.

Kill the Wolf King

Kill the werewolf

A little further on, the Wolf King attacks, forcing you to battle. Despite his vicious appearance, he's a big softy so it shouldn't take more than a couple of swings to bring him down. Once he's defeated, converse with the villager you rescued to bring the flashback sequence to a close and unlock the Ciri's Room side quest.

Back in the present day, resume Geralt's conversation with the baron. Ask for more information about Ciri, then agree to help find the baron's wife and daughter. Question the baron to get more information regarding their whereabouts, then follow him deeper into the castle.

- Our walkthrough continues with a step-by-step guide to completing Family Matters.

- Return to the index page for more entries in our Witcher 3 walkthrough.