The Blood & Wine expansion for The Witcher 3: WIld Hunt features several pieces of side content that, aside from helping Geralt of Rivia become a more formidable witcher, strive to cement the expansion's status as the high-water mark for DLC. Even the smallest encounters exemplify CD Projekt Red's ability to imbue quests with rich lore and remarkable narrative depth.
Many of the same quest types from The Witcher 3 return in Blood & Wine, including a collection of stand-alone treasure hunts that often tell a small story separate from the main narrative. "But Other Than That, How Did You Enjoy The Play?" exemplifies this concept perfectly, taking Geralt out of his search for the terrible vampire of Toussaint to reenact scenes from a cursed play.
Geralt Discovers A Corpse At The Amphitheater
Directly south of the Palace Gardens signpost sits an undiscovered location. Closely examining the map will reveal that the question mark that designates the location sits in the direct center of a circular structure. Here Geralt will find the Seidhe Llygad Ampitheatre and the Hidden Treasure quest that waits within.
Upon searching the site, Geralt will discover a corpse that contains the following items:
- Perfume-laced journal
- "Vis la Crac' Wine
- Bottle
Reading the Perfume-laced journal reveals that the corpse had once been a drama student who became obsessed with reenacting the tragic final performance of legendary actress Elsa de Longpre, who died while performing the same role.
Geralt Lights The Candles
Once Geralt reads the journal he will deduce that he too must reenact the scene if he hopes to discover how the girl died. Using his witcher senses near the body will now reveal highlighted footsteps that represent the path taken during the scene. Examining the area will reveal that there are five highlighted candles which must be lit in the correct order for the mission to move forward.
Paying close attention to the footsteps will show the path the actress followed to light the candles. It is important to remember that the dead body is at the end of the sequence, so lighting the first candle Geralt comes to is incorrect. The correct approach is to follow the footsteps back to the starting point, then turnaround and light the candles leading back to the corpse.
Once Geralt reaches the end of the path and is standing at the location where the body rests, he must drink the 'Vis la Crac' Wine discovered earlier. Doing so will cause his vision to blur as he enters the next phase of the quest.
REMEMBER! Pay close attention to the direction of the steps to ensure they are always correctly orientated. It can be easy to get confused amidst the crisscrossing paths. Geralt must complete this task on the first attempt in order to meet the wisdom requirement for "There Can Be Only One."
The Phantom Of The Amphitheater
Once Geralt has consumed the wine and is feeling the effects, a miniboss called The Phantom of The Amphitheater will appear.
- The fight will resemble most wraith-type battles
- Use specter oil to boost damage and Yrden to slow it down and force it to stay corporeal
- It will summon several small skeleton enemies. On lower difficulties these pose very little threat, but when playing on higher difficulty it will be important to stay moving and separate the wraith from the pack.
- The Phantom has a special attack that is sound based. If Geralt is caught directly in the blast it can do very high damage, especially at higher difficulties.
Locating The Treasure
Once the fight has reached its conclusion, looting the pile of dust will reward Geralt with a special necklace that opens a locked chest. This chest is located near the southern edge of the dilapidated Amphitheatre, hidden past stairs that are blocked by several destroyed elven pillars. Using Geralt's witcher senses will cause the door to the chamber at the bottom of the stairs to glow, indicating an accessible area.
Inside the room is a broken mirror and a small bench, upon whcih rests a locked chest that will glow red when seen through the witcher senses. Looting the chest will trigger the end of the quest line. Though Geralt was unable to save the young actress, no more unwitting thespians will fall prey to the Phantom of the Amphitheater.