The Witcher 3: How to Complete The Whispering Hillock Quest

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s quests have amazing back stories, interesting characters, and engaging gameplay that helps to break up the monotony of Geralt’s Adventure. Sometimes these quests even manage to offer choices to the player that can have lasting effects on the characters involved and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as a whole. The Whispering Hillock is one such quest. It will test your intuition and instincts, and force you to make a choice that can set off an unfortunate chain of events.

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After finally finding his way to the swamp where the Ladies of the Wood reside, Geralt will receive a request from them. It seems that something is causing trouble within their territory and they want the Witcher to find the source and put an end to it. This quest is actually a request from someone living in a town by the forest, and the Crones would like for you to handle this issue in their stead.

After speaking to the man who made this deal with the Ladies of the Wood, located in Downwarren, make your way towards the Whispering Hillock. It is a large tree atop a hill, around which many people have met an unfortunate demise. When Geralt arrives, he will hear a voice. Using Witcher Sense will help you figure out that the voice is actually emanating from a cave beneath the tree. Make your way down and you’ll discover both a Place of Power and the entrance to the cave. But beware, the front is guarded by a rather vicious werewolf who isn’t the easiest to put down (especially if you’re doing this mission at the recommended level 5).

You can avoid the werewolf by quickly running to the cave before combat is triggered. If you feel that you must take this werewolf down, then this handy guide will help you deal with one of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s most difficult enemies. No matter what you decide to do with your new, furry friend you will have to enter the cave afterwards. Here you will encounter the Ghost of the Tree, a sort of large, spiky heart that is all that remains of one of the Ladies of the Wood’s enemies.

It’s here that you will have to make a decision that can potentially alter the course of one or more of your quests. You can either kill the Ghost of the Tree, or help her escape this natural prison. If you opt to rid the world of this spirit, than you will only have to deal with a relatively simple fight. Some Endrega Worker Spiders will appear and try to protect her, but they are extremely easy to kill. After they are dealt with, attack the branches guarding the Ghost of the Tree’s heart, then go nuts on the heart itself. After enough the damage, the spiders will appear again so just rinse and repeat. It is an easy fight, and it will allow you to rid the world of this potentially dangerous being once and for all.

The alternative is to free the Ghost of the Tree. If you choose this route, she will give you a list of things that you need to retrieve (some raven feathers, a black horse, and her remains). Everything is within close proximity to the cave, and she will even open up another path so you don’t have to confront the werewolf again (if you choose to run past it). Once you collect everything, return to the cave and prepare the ritual. You will be granted one more opportunity to make a decision. Geralt can either follow through in exchange for the Ghost in the Tree freeing the children you encountered earlier in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, or he can change his mind and decide to kill the spirit, which will lead to the fight mentioned above.

If you choose to follow through, Geralt will pierce the heart with his dagger, and lead the horse to drink the blood. This will allow the Spirit to move from the tree to the horse itself, becoming a new, powerful creature. She will keep her promise and make haste to free the children just as agreed. When you exit the cave, you will see the man you spoke to back at Downwarren. He will leave for a few minutes in order to collect your payment, which happens to be his left ear (ewww). Return this ear to the Ladies of the Wood and your quest is complete.

There you have it, the Whispering Hillock quest is now complete and you will have made a decision that will alter the course of many lives. If you want to see just what you have caused, you will have to continue the Bloody Baron’s questline.

Did you choose to slay the spirit, enemy of the Ladies of the Wood? Or did you perhaps free her from her torment in order to obtain an ally against a common enemy? Let us know in the comments.