The Witcher 3: Payback walkthrough
Here's how to complete the Payback quest in The Witcher 3.
The Payback quest is Ciri's contribution to the Final Preparations questline in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In this particular quest, you're tasked with helping Ciri tie up some loose ends from her time in Novigrad.
And surprise, surprise, these loose ends involve the likes of getting revenge. If you need a helping hand navigating things, here's how to complete the Payback quest in The Witcher 3.
The Witcher 3: Payback walkthrough
You can’t start Payback at nighttime in The Witcher 3, so wait for daylight before heading to Gildorf to meet Ciri.
Ciri wants to pay back those who helped or hindered her, so agree to accompany her to be transported to the next area.
- If you left Whoreson Junior alive, you travel to The Bits to discover him in abject misery.
- If you killed him, you visit Temple Island. You’ll need to use Axii level three or fight your way through the guards to get in, where you’ll discover Dudu impersonating the criminal lord, to the benefit of the whole city.
In either case you next stop is the Golden Sturgeon, where you find a friend of Ciri’s being hassled by thugs. You can either intimidate them or beat them up depending on your dialogue choices. Regardless, Bea is very pleased to meet you.
Your next stop is Farcorners, to meet Valdo. You can optionally participate in a race here. It’s quite a hard one, but short. Just use the chokepoints to recollect your stamina as you block Ciri and Valdo from passing.
After the race and an evening of talk, you are offered the chance to steal some horses. If you offer to pay for some horses, you’ll discover the merchant might just deserve to lose a bit of stock. If you agree, Ciri is very pleased with you – and you’ll avoid a fistfight and a sad end to the evening.
Assuming you agree, walk quietly up to the stable door, where Ciri is, and examine it to find it is locked. Head back towards Aegar to spot a climbable ledge on the outside; boost up here and walk along a little to find a door to the upper level. Climb down the ladder and walk quietly to the door, spotting the keys on a nearby table. Open the door to end the quest, after a few custscenes.
You can now go on with The Great Escape or Blindingly Obvious, or if you’ve done both of those already, head for Through Time and Space.
If you fancy doing something else as Geralt for a bit, here's our The Witcher 3 guide and walkthrough, as well as our Hearts of Stone walkthrough, and Blood and Wine walkthrough to help you out with whatever endeavour you embark on.