Play Gwent
Play GWENT — a strategy card game of choices and consequences, where skill, not luck, is your greatest weapon.
GWENT Masters is the official esports series of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, which invites players from around the world to join and compete for the title of GWENT World Champion. 16 tournaments Battle against the season’s top players for a spot in GWENT. See full list on howtogeek.com.
This serves both as a refresher, and a beginner friendly guide in hopes that you’ll know how to play by the end!
How to Play Gwent (Beginner Tutorial)
Gwent is the popular dwarven card game in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and not the most important thing on Geralt’s mind when the game begins. This serves both as a refresher, and a beginner friendly guide in hopes that you’ll know how to play by the end of the video!
The Goal
Once finding a Non-player character, usually an innkeeper or merchant willing to play Gwent, you’ll get to set a wager of gold, make any last minute changes to your deck, then begin the match. A coin is tossed to determine who goes first and players draw a hand of 10 cards from their constructed decks (being allowed to exchange up to two cards if they’d like). Each player then takes turns placing cards on the field, either until they’re out of cards or someone passes the round. When a unit card is placed on the field, the card’s strength adds to their side’s overall score and whomever has the higher total card score wins the round.
A game of Gwent is won if a player beats out their opponents unit score, two out of three games. Gwent is a simple numbers game by first appearance. If it was that simple though, the only strategy would need to be to shove all the highest point value cards into your deck. Because you only start with 10 cards to keep you going for all three rounds, players have to know when to play, and when to pass to come back strong the next round. If you win a match against someone and it’s the first time with this person, they’ll reward you with a card to add to your collection.
The Field
The three rows on each side of the field represent the kinds of units you can put down each turn. These are broken into Close Combat (Sword), Ranged (Bow), and Siege (Catapult). Despite its appearance, there’s no rock, paper, scissor strategy involved with units. Siege cards are no more powerful against close combat, just as ranged cards are to siege. After cards are placed, total points for that row are shown on the left side of them, and added to the total of the round they’re played. Left side shows player and their opponents’ factions of the deck they’re using, their deck’s leader, weather effects currently active, how many cards are in hand, gems representing rounds each have left to lose, and finally, their total score for that round.
The Factions
Each Gwent deck used has a faction, leader for that faction, and a faction ability. The Northern Realms deck you start with lets you draw a card after you win a round. The leader card you start with, Foltest, Lord Commander of the North, let’s you play a fog card out of your deck instantly once per game. Each Faction, and each faction leader have their own abilities, knowing which your opponent is using too, will keep you from getting blindsided from a win by a leader or faction ability you didn’t prepare for.
Unit Cards
Gwent cards are separated into a few categories, most of which you’ll be using are unit cards. Here’s a short explanation, on the upper left is their point value (what determines the winner), just below that is the unit row they fit into on the field, and below that, an ability if it has one. The banner underneath these icons represents the faction the card belongs to. Hero unit cards are identified by the gold sunburst around their unit strength, which is usually a high number. Despite heroes being powerful, keep in mind that they are completely immune to other cards’ abilities, your opponents AND your own, so you can still lose with a deck full of heroes!
Unit Abilities
Some unit cards have abilities that activate either once they hit the field, or are affected by other conditions; represented by a white icon. These abilities, like special cards, can completely change the outcome of a round if played at the right moment. Inspecting a card either in the deckbuilder or during a match will tell you what its ability can do. Tight Bond is among the first abilities you’ll come across, this simply doubles the strength of cards with the same name as more enter the field, throw down two or three units with Tight Bond, then top it off with a Commander’s Horn to maximise that row’s points.
Medic, mentioned earlier can resurrect a unit from your discard pile. Spy, also mentioned, places the unit on the opponent’s field, but lets you draw two cards from your deck. Last example I’ll mention is Muster, which you’ll find a lot of monster deck wielders using. Muster finds all cards with the same name from the players hand and deck and places them onto the field as well; it’s generally close combat cards that have Muster, so the Biting Frost weather card will come in handy in this case. These are all just a few examples of unit abilities. They each have ways to be used or countered effectively, so Experiment!
Special/Weather Cards
Special Cards and Weather Cards are what can help turn the tide of a Gwent match in a big way. Weather cards affect the entire field, whereas special cards have more specific targets. The Commander’s Horn special card for example can double the strength of the unit row you choose. The Impenetrable Fog weather card on the other hand, reduces the strength of all ranged cards on the field to 1. If an opponent plays a weather card to reduce your own units strength, you can remove it with a Clear Weather. The Decoy card in particular has a ton of versatility, Decoy returns a card already played on your side of the field. Ideally you want the card you’ve decoyed to have an ability that can be used with increased effect, like Medic or Spy. These are just a few Special and Weather cards; I advise making it a habit out of having at least a couple of each in your deck.
The Deckbuilder
Outside of a match, your Gwent decks are accessible through the menu. From here you can create and modify the decks for each of the factions to your liking, switch out the leader card, read up on what the other faction abilities are, and more. Gwent decks have a maximum of 35 cards, but 22 of them must be units. Being the starting hand is 10 cards in a match though, maximizing the deck size only seems to help Monster decks the most due to their affinity for the Muster ability. The full card pool is available for each deck too and is only limited by Faction, so can place a neutral unit you’ve been using in your Northern Realms deck, into your Nilfgaardian Empire deck at the same time. The deckbuilder also comes up just before you start your match, so final adjustments can be made beforehand too!
Collecting Them All
The Witcher 3 is massive, so finding everyone who has gwent cards to sell or play for is a challenge to be sure. However, when it comes to rare and hero cards, quests will become available to acquire them over time. A good rule of thumb for this is to keep track of the main players in the story, many of them will have cards that you can win. If you’re following the story, The Bloody Baron will be among the first to offer you a rare card once you beat him in Gwent and also start you on your way to finding the rest of the rare cards.
Video & Timestamps
Timestamps:
- 0:27 – The Tutorial
- 1:05 – The Goal
- 2:32 – The Field
- 3:44 – The Factions
- 4:25 – Unit Cards
- 5:15 – Unit Abilities
- 6:37 – Special & Weather Cards
- 7:59 – The Deckbuilder
- 9:14 – Collecting More
It’s end. I hope “Witcher 3 How to Play Gwent (Beginner Tutorial)” helps you. Feel free to contribute the topic. If you have also comments or suggestions, comment us.
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Page Index
Page Index:
All Gwent Players in Witcher 3
As the Witcher 3 – Wild hunt game offers a big map with 3 big sections (Velen, Novigrad and Skellige Isles), you’ll basically have to explore all of it to find and collect all Gwent cards in the Witcher 3 game. We’ve listed all available Gwent players and merchants who sell Gwent cards for you below.
Gwent Players by Territory:
1. Gwent Players in White Orchand
Gwent characters in White Orchand:
- The merchant you saved from the griffin sells cards.
- Your first Gwent player’s sitting at one of the tables at the Inn.
- Elsa the innkeeper sells cards.
2. Gwent Players in Velen
Gwent characters in Crow’s Perch:
- The blacksmith in Blackbough
- The merchant in Blackbough
- The Bloody Baron in Crow’s Perch
- Yoanna, the blacksmith’s apprentice in Crow’s Perch
- Fergus Graem, the blacksmith in Crow’s Perch
- The quartermaster in Crow’s Perch
- The trader in lower Crow’s Perch
- The blacksmith in Lindenvale
- The merchant in Lindenvale
- The armorer in Midcopse
- The merchant in Midcopse
- The craftsman in Claywich
- The trader in Oreton
Gwent characters in Oxenfurt:
- The armorer in Mulbrydale
- The blacksmith in south-eastern Oxenfurt
- Stjepan the innkeeper at the Alchemy Inn in Oxenfurt
- The armorer in northern Oxenfurt
- The merchant at the market in northern Oxenfurt
- The dwarven herbalist in the hut north-east of Oxenfurt
Gwent characters in Novigrad:
- The priest of Eternal Fire near Elector’s Square on the northern island
- Marquise Serenity in the Passiflora brothel
- The alchemist at the crematory north of Oxenfurt Gate
- The merchant in the building behind the notice board
- The innkeep at the Nowhere Inn
- The loanshark south-west of Oxenfurt Gate
- The merchant across the street from the loanshark
- The innkeep at the Seven Cats Inn, east of Tretogor Gate
- The innkeep at Cunny of The Goose, south of the city
- Elihal, the tailor south of Tretogor gate
- The merchant at the market north-west of Tretogor Gate
- Olivier, the innkeep at Kingfisher inn sells a few cards
- Marcus T.K. Hodgson at the bookstore on Hierarch Square
- The blacksmith in Silverton, north-west of Hierarch Square
- The merchant across the road from the blacksmith
- The fish seller in the small market west of Hierarch Square
- Vimme Vivaldi, the owner of the bank
- The blacksmith on the fish market, south of the bank
- The innkeep at The Golden Sturgeon, west of Hierarch Square
- The dwarven herbalist south of the fish market, across the canal
- Zoltan at Rosemary & Thyme, near the Gate of The Hierarch (during quest)
- The merchant north of Glory Gate
- The madame at Crippled Kate’s brothel
- The merchant at the Scoiat’ael camp south-west of the city
3. Gwent Players in Skellige
Ard Skellig, central Island
- The blacksmith at Kaer Trolde
- The armorer at Kaer Trolde
- Jonas the innkeep at the New Port Inn in Kaer Trolde both plays and sells
- The merchant in Blandare
- The blacksmith in Arinbjorn
- The innkeep at the in in Arinbjorn sells and plays
- The blacksmith in Fayrlund
- The merchant in Fayrlund
- The herbalist in distress on the road north of Palisade
- The merchant in Fyresdal
- The smith in Fyresdal
- The smith in Kaer Muire
- The armorer in Kaer Muire
- The merchant in Holmstein’s Port
Hidjarsfell, eastern Island:
- The armorer in Larvik
- The merchant by the inn in Larvik
- The innkeep at the House of Warriors inn in Larvik
- The blacksmith in Larvik
Faroe, southeastern Island:
- The innkeep at the inn in Harviken
- The blacksmith in Harviken
Skellige, northeastern Island:
- The blacksmith in Urialla Harbor
- The innkeep in Urialla Harbor, who also has some cards for sale
- The armorer in Urialla Harbor
Spikerdog, southeastern Island:
- The innkeep at the inn in Svorlag will sell you cards and play against you
- The merchant by the sea in Svorlag
- The blacksmith in the north of Svorlag
All Gwent Merchants and Quests in Witcher 3
Some Gwents cards in the Witcher 3 – Wild hunt can’t be won through Gwent cards, they’ll have to be purchased or you’ll be rewarded with Gwent cards during certain quests in Witcher 3.
Specific locations and characters to purchase Gwent cards at:
Can You Play Gwent On Mac
- Missable: Innkeeper, White Orchard
- Innkeeper, Inn at the Crossroads, Velen
- Trader, Crow’s Perch, Velen
- Quartermaster, Crow’s Perch, Velen
- Trader, Midcopse, Velen
- Trader, Claywich, Velen
- Missable: Olivier (innkeeper), Kingfisher Inn, Novigrad
- Marquise Serenity (innkeeper), Passiflora, Novigrad
- Innkeeper, The Golden Sturgeon, Novigrad
- Trader, Seven Cats Inn, Novigrad
- Innkeeper, Cunny of the Goose, Novigrad
- Stjepan (innkeeper), Oxenfurt
- Innkeeper, Kaer Trolde Harbour, Skellige
- Innkeeper, Urialla, Skellige
- Innkeeper, Arinbjorn, Skellige
- Innkeeper, Svorlag, Skellige
- Innkeeper, Harviken, Skellige
Specific quests that reward you with Gwent cards:
- Nilfgaardian Nobleman
- A Matter of Life and Death
- A Dangerous Game
- Shock Therapy
Looking for more information?
Still stuck with one opponent or did not find all Gwent cards yet? If your looking for more help to become the best Gwent player in the Northern realms check out our best Gwent strategies guide or find all best gwent cards listed here. Our list of all Gwent players in Witcher 3 and all Gwent quests may also help you to find every Gwent card in the Witcher 3 game.
Play Gwent For Ravvy
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