The Unseen Elder is a powerful, ancient vampire Geralt might encounter at the end of the Blood and Wine expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In fact, he's so powerful that saying the wrong thing can end the game right there and then.
Players may end up frustrated by the Unseen Elder because this might be the only time in all of The Witcher 3 when the wrong dialog choice can cause an instant game over. What's worse is that there are two dialog trees that can lead to death, one right after the other. Fortunately, the right choices aren't too hard to figure out.
Finding the Unseen Elder
When the quest "The Night of Long Fangs" begins, Regis gives Geralt a choice: he can find Damien and retrieve Syanna as Dettlaff wants, or he can contact Orianna and ask her how to speak to the Unseen Elder. Orianna will want help with her orphanage, but afterward, she'll tell Geralt where to go.
Regis then meets up with Geralt and gives him one last chance to find Syanna, but he'll come along if Geralt insists. The initial meeting with the Unseen Elder goes badly no matter what Geralt says, and then Geralt needs to explore the caves the Elder lives in to find an offering and a greeting that will cause him to listen.
Incidentally, this is also the player's only opportunity to find the six-piece Hen Gaidth equipment set. The cave will close permanently after the quest ends, so be sure to explore thoroughly.
The Right Things to Say
Once Geralt has the right item and says the right greeting, the Unseen Elder will hear him out. However, his patience is still thin. During the first dialog choice, Geralt has two gray questions he can ask the Elder. The Elder will answer either question but then warn Geralt to get to the point. If the player then chooses the other question, the Elder kills Geralt, and the player will have to reload.
After Geralt brings up Dettlaff, the Elder tells Geralt that he doesn't care. The player can then choose one of three ways to convince the Elder, but only one of them will work. Just like in the earlier dialog, Geralt gets a warning after choosing one wrong answer, and the Elder kills him if he chooses wrong again. And while all three options might make sense to Geralt, the Elder only cares about option 3: "Dettlaff spells trouble for you." Say this, and the Elder will agree to help Geralt.
Afterward, Geralt and Regis meet with Dettlaff in the ruins of Tesham Mutna. The meeting doesn't go well, but at least Geralt has survived talking to the Unseen Elder.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.