One of the late-game main quests of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is simply titled "Bald Mountain." It takes place just after the big fight at Kaer Morhen, and it's an important turning point in the story.

In "Bald Mountain," Ciri hatches a plan that will let her and Geralt strike back at the Wild Hunt by taking out one of its generals. They do this by crashing a party on Bald Mountain hosted by the Crones of Crookback Bog. And while Geralt heads to the mountain summit to take on General Imlerith, Ciri descends into the caves below to defeat the Crones.

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The Setup

After getting past the humans celebrating the Feast of Gifts and a sylvan guard, Geralt and Ciri use rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to fight Imlerith and who has to fight the crones. While the game might seem random during a first playthrough of The Witcher 3, it's not. Ciri will always lose this game and fight the Crones. Afterwards, the player will control Ciri as she descends to the boss arena.

Combat Strategies

• Ciri has no signs, no potions, no bombs, and no crossbow. However, her health regenerates on its own, she can teleport instead of rolling and dodging, and she gets a special Blink attack. The player can use this attack by holding down the button normally used for signs. If the attack targets one person Ciri will hit them twice and end up next to them, but if it targets more people she will hit up to five targets and end back where she began.
• The Brewess is slow but has a lot of hit points. She can create a moving red spot in the water that tracks Ciri and drains her health if she touches it, but she'll switch to regular attacks if Ciri gets close or hits her.
• The Weavess can turn into a flock of crows and teleport around the battlefield. These crows will damage Ciri if they hit her.
• The Whispess can also teleport, and she does so by diving into the water and leaping out elsewhere. This leap can do damage if it happens next to Ciri. She can also throw body parts at Ciri to stun her.
• The Crones sometimes use each other's abilities, but they mostly prefer their own. In particular, the Brewess never teleports until she's the only one left, and she's the only one who can create a red spot.
• The Crones hit too hard to parry or block, so don't bother.
• The best strategy for this fight is to target one Crone at a time. The Brewess can't teleport at first, so she makes the easiest target. However, the Whispess can stun Ciri, making her the most dangerous target. Either way, the battle becomes easier after each Crone falls.
• If Ciri's health drops, teleport away from the Crones and run around the edge of the battlefield until she recovers. Ciri's biggest advantage is her mobility, so don't be afraid to use it.

After the battle ends, one of the Crones recovers and flees. Just like the game with Geralt, this isn't random and it isn't the result of an earlier decision in The Witcher 3. Instead, players should breathe a sigh of relief because they beat the Crone fight, but then they should get ready because the Imlerith fight is coming next.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions launch on December 14.

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