The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Monster Guide - How to Beat the Merry Widow

Ah, the Merry Widow. This also happens to be the first contract monster in The Witcher 3 that you’ll have to fight in the cemetery. Delightful. Well, if you’re afraid of cemeteries and gravestones and all that good stuff, here’s some wonderful news for you: this fight isn’t too tough at all.

After you’ve stolen the human skulls from the grave hag’s cottage, be sure to equip the Quen Sign and prepare some Necrophage Oil before the battle. Then, when you’re ready, head back to the cemetery and put the skulls in the tiny chapel and wait for the Merry Widow to make her appearance. Do note that it has to be nightfall in order for the hag to appear.

The first thing you’ll want to do is use Quen immediately. The Merry Widow herself isn’t very durable and doesn’t have a lot of HP, but she does have decent reach and she can deal quite a bit of damage as well. The grave hag has a rather dangerous attack where she does a long-reaching green colored slash that can hit in a wide arc around her. Either dodge away from this attack, or tank it out with Quen. Using the Quen Sign allows you to stay at her side longer for more hits.

Aside from that, the Merry Widow also has a few regular swipes that aren’t nearly as dangerous as her green attack. When you’re a slight distance away from her, you can swap over to the Axii Sign as she’s vulnerable to Stun as well. Once you’ve stunned her, quickly roll towards her while she’s incapacitated to get some hits in.

If you find that you’re unable to keep up with the Merry Widow or dodge her attacks in time, I recommend using the Yrden Sign to slow her down. Simply cast Yrden, stay outside of the circle and wait for her to wander into it, and then go in for the kill. If you prepared some Necrophage Oil, applying it to your silver sword will make very short work of the Merry Widow.

After killing her, loot her body for some alchemy items and the trophy to be brought back to the gravedigger. Collect your reward and you’ll have killed yet another frightening monster in the world of The Witcher 3. Awesome. Guess the Merry Widow wasn’t so merry after all, hmm?

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