Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    The world in which the witcher moves is vast and fraught with danger. The vastness of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can be unsettling at first glance, and with the arrival of the CD Projekt RED title on Nintendo Switch, all early players will have to deal with the first beast hunted by Geralt: the Royal Griffin.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    Called the beast of White Orchard in honor of the first play area, the mission is a hard initiation rite to The Witcher 3, because the winged creature can be overwhelming.



    Yes, half eagle and half cat, just like on the lord's seal. Only this carried my dead cow in place of a scepter.

    - Anonymous witness to a griffin attack

    Taking down the griffin is an essential requirement to be able to proceed with the game story: it is part of the macro-mission "Lilac and gooseberries”, In which Geralt is tasked by a Nilfgaardian general to kill a griffin vulture that is harassing the area in exchange for information on the location of the witcher flame Yennefer.

    In this guide we will see how to get rid of the griffin, the "half eagle and half cat" monster that infests the Northern Kingdoms.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    From the diary:

    The commander of the Nilfgaardian garrison stationed in White Orchard knew where Yennefer had gone. Cleverly, he was unwilling to give this information away for nothing. Being a man of some experience, he knew well that Geralt would do anything to find the sorceress. Fortunately, there was a griffin in the area ... A beast that the commander's soldiers could not kill. The commander could only ask for one thing: the monster's head in exchange for his help.



    :

    As a good hunter he is, Geralt will need to do two things before he can openly fight the griffin:

    • Find buckthorn at the bottom of the lake with the help of the local herbalist, who will serve as a bait to lure the griffon out into the open.
    • Interrogate another hunter who witnessed the carnage of some Nilfgaardian soldiers by the Griffin.

    Following his trail of death and blood, Geralt will arrive at the old griffin nest. The nest was recently abandoned, e the Witcher just takes a look to understand what made the griffin so aggressive: Nilfgaardian soldiers killed his mate and then set fire to the nest. Given the plumage and other details, the Witcher deduces that the female griffon must have been twelve years old and that the companion will be the same age: these hybrid creatures, in fact, mate at a young age and remain faithful to their him or her for life.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    From the diary:

    The witcher made his investigations and discovered that the griffin encountered along the main road outside White Orchard had a good reason to hunt the local population: the soldiers of the Nilfgaardian commander had sent scouts to kill the griffin's mate. Griffins are known to choose a mate for life, and Geralt felt a touch of pity for the beast ... But, as a good professional, he couldn't let his feelings interfere with his work.


    Once you have talked to Vesemir it will be time to place the trap in an area away from the populated ones. Attracted by the herbaceous smell, the griffon vulture will not wait long and when it arrives it will immediately realize that it has been duped.


    Know your enemy:

    Sun Tzu wrote in his treatise "The Art of War": "If you know the enemy and yourself, your victory is certain". In the world of The Witcher 3, the best way to know the enemy is to read his characteristics (and his weaknesses) in the bestiary. Thus we will understand that the Griffin is a relentless animal that uses aerial assaults and, once on the ground, beak and claws. At the same time, we will understand that it is vulnerable to several things, Including:

    • Hybrid ointment.
    • Bomb: machine gun.
    • Aard (sign).

    We stock up at the local inn and prepare, as advised by the mission, the Thunderbolt potion which will increase our physical attack if ingested. The Recommended level for battle is 2-3.

    The fight:

    Being a beast we're going to use one Silver sword against the griffin. Vesemir will also give us one light crossbow (to be equipped) that will come in very useful when the beast tries to hit us in the air.


    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    The mentor himself will join the battle by occasionally distracting the griffin. Don't rest on your laurels - you will always be his favorite target. Its critical point is its head, but sometimes it will protect itself with its long wings. The griffin has six main attacks:

    • Caught.
    • Wing blow.
    • Charge.
    • Air assault.
    • Crash.
    • Great voice.

    Among these, themost dangerous attack is certainly the charge: from the ground the griffin will launch itself against Geralt if we are at medium-long distance. Avoid this lightning attack with a dodge. The peck and the wing strike are attacks with which the griffin will try to make us move away when we get too close and therefore are the most common means by which it will try to damage us. In flight, the griffon vulture can resort to the crash (in which it flies for a short time making a kind of jump) or more commonly theair assault: in this phase it will try to hit us from afar with the claws of its paws. It's a simple attack to dodge, but what is intended to do is hit the griffin with the crossbow. You can shoot the dart blindly or by aiming, but make sure the crossbow is loaded (usually Geralt automatically reloads after throwing a dart, watch the animation).


    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    Once hit, the griffin will fall to the ground, exposed for (few) hits. The beast of Bianco Frutteto, in fact, has quite fast recovery times so the important thing is not to be greedy. The number of attacks that can be done obviously varies depending on where you are or if he is busy with Vesemir. Usually if the griffin aims Geralt two attacks in a row are too many, but again it is possible to do them, as long as you have quick reflexes and dodge a potential peck or a wing blow.

    As we have mentioned the griffin is susceptible to Aard, a telekinetic push that will cause him to retreat for a short time. We take advantage of this possibility if there is too much breath on our neck and maybe we exchange Aard with Igni from time to time, which has its own effectiveness.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    When the royal griffin reaches approximately mid-life it will move from Vesemir's chosen battlefield by flying and landing near the windmill. Fear not: there is no risk of losing it and if you don't see it, activate your witcher senses. The griffin vibrates red and will always be found at the mill. Only there the griffin, cornered, will begin to use its screeching cry to stun the two hunters.

    Once you understand his behavior, The Witcher 3's first boss will become much simpler than it appears. The time will come to deliver the final blow and claim his head as a trophy. It's time to reunite this royal griffin specimen with its life partner, not with a hint of pity.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    From the diary:

    When it was time to ambush the feathered man-eater, Geralt asked Vesemir for help. With two witchers at his throat, White Orchard's griffin turned out to be a lamb ready for slaughter. As is the custom of his order, Geralt took the beast's head as a trophy and handed it over to the Nilfgaardian garrison in exchange for his reward, which, as you will recall, consisted of information about Yennefer.

    We accept the money once we arrive at the Nilfgaardian garrison to announce the death of the griffin and close the contract. Yennefer is located in Vizima, the capital city of Temeria overrun by the army of Nilfgaard and their king, Emhyr van Emreis.

    Epilogue:

    Griffins choose a single mate for life and defend it to the death. For this reason, they are often considered the embodiment of courage, loyalty and a fighting spirit.

    Atypical Guide to The Witcher 3: How to Kill the Griffin

    The Witcher 3, with Geralt of Rivia and his entire bestiary also arrive later this year on Nintendo Switch. Are we ready to go back to being hunters of the best (or worst) species? Maybe we never will be.

    ► The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an RPG-Action-Adventure game developed by CD Projekt RED and published by Bandai Namco for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 19/05/2015
    The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not a game worth buying: we decided to rate it with a %, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Review of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

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