Those who have played the Hearts of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt might be familiar with the horrid beast lurking in Oxenfurt's sewers. The Toad Prince, so named for their amphibious existence and many warts, is actually Prince Sirvat, heir to the throne of the Ofiri. Upon visiting, he was offered the hand of Iris, the woman who would be Olgierd von Everec's wife. However, Olgierd was enraged by this and cursed Prince Sirvat, turning him into a gigantic, hideous toad-like monstrosity.
Repulsed by the world, the Toad Prince fled to the sewers under the city, where it then lurked...until met by a certain witcher. Geralt can pick up the contract in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to slay this cursed one at Oxenfurt's Seven Cats Inn and even speak to Olgierd himself about it, though the Redanian officer will only tell the witcher that it is a monster. One that is poisoning the city's water with its filth and that the toxins are making people sick. If Geralt accepts the contract and heads into the sewers to slay the beast, he will encounter one of the toughest monsters in the game. Defeating this fiend requires excellent reflexes as well as sound tactics.
Updated on November 28, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman:Other tales of magical amphibious beings have been around for a while. Many are likely familiar with stories about a princess kissing a toad (or frog) who is actually a prince, however, in those bits of fiction, the toads are small and harmless. In this manner, gamers can see another instance of The Witcher series twisting fairy tales into dark fantasy. Those who enjoy reading the bestiary entries in this franchise's titles can learn more about the Toad Prince by looking in the journal menu. There, players can get into the mood for killing monsters with some creepy and interesting text.
Neutralize The Toxins
As one would expect from Olgierd's intel, the Toad Prince produces a lot of poison. This can damage Geralt overtime during a period when that would be the worst: against a fast, powerful foe. To alleviate this, it is highly recommended to use a Golden Oriole potion.
Why The Golden Oriole Potion Helps
This shining drink will grant the consumer near immunity to all poisons, venoms, and noxious gases that can be encountered. Better yet, Superior Golden Oriole potions actually make it so that such poisons heal Geralt instead of hurting him. With a total of 5 charges, which last 180 seconds each, players will have lots of poison immunity if they bring a single stack to this fight.
Other Useful Potions To Bring Along
Some other potions can be brought along to make the battle less taxing.
Reasons to Bring Bring White Raffard's Decoction To Fight The Toad Prince
White Raffard's Decoction is always a great one to have around due to it being able to instantly restore Geralt's health by a large amount. Neither the base form nor the upgraded varieties require ingredients that can be considered rare, so there's little reason not to stock up on these potions.
Reasons To Bring Thunderbolt To Fight The Toad Prince
Another that's often helpful is Thunderbolt. Granting a boost to attack power, albeit only for a relatively short duration, can help one cleave through the Toad Prince's massive pool of health quicker. Like White Raffard's Decoction, the ingredients needed are not exceptionally difficult to come by.
Oil The Silver Sword
Like against most monsters, Geralt can apply an oil to his sword to cause something like a severe allergic reaction in specific monsters that harms them with each strike, albeit only for a certain number of slashes. One of the easiest to make, though of the weakest level, is basic Cursed Oil.
How To Make & Use Cursed Oil
This oil can be made from 1 part Dog tallow and 4 parts Wolfsbane. Apply this to one's silver sword for a bonus of 10% damage per hit for 20 landed blows against the Toad Prince. If one has the resources to spare, it is recommended to upgrade it to Enhanced and then Superior quality.
At the final level, Superior Cursed Oil adds a tremendous 50% damage bonus to each of Geralt's attacks for 60 strikes. When going up against a cursed one with as much health as the Toad Prince, that added damage can make this fight a lot less tedious. The ingredients required to upgrade Cursed Oil are a bit rare, however, and include items that can only be found from hunting other monsters, like the hide of an Ekimmara and the liver of a Cave Troll.
Dodge Very Often
Despite being huge, the Toad Prince can launch attacks rapidly. Frequent simple dodges are often more useful than complete dodge rolls. Most importantly, keep an eye on the prince's cheeks, as they will expand and glow a putrid yellow each time that the monster is about to attack.
Tongue Attack
Firstly, players should never hang out in front of it, for that is when the beast lashes forth with swift tongue attacks that are very hard to dodge.
Jumping Slam
However, when flanking the fiend, they will continuously reposition themselves with jumping slams that can also be dangerous. The slams are preferable to deal with because the Toad gets quite a lot of hangtime on each leap, making them very easy to see coming.
Kick Attack
Besides the tongue attacks and jumping slams, this toxic prince sometimes kicks at Geralt with his powerful, webbed legs. These can be tricky to dodge as they are as fast as their other attacks, so almost continuously dodging to either the right or the left, circling the beast, is often the best technique for avoiding damage.
Proper Usage Of The Signs
Three of the magical signs stand out as useful against the Toad Prince: Yrden, Quen, and Igni.
Why Yrden Is Useful Against The Toad Prince
Firstly, there is Yrden. Normally, this sign is meant for the less corporeal foes, such as Noonwraiths. However, it is greatly helpful in slowing down the gigantic toad's lightning-fast movements. This grants Geralt bigger evasive windows that will result in less dodge-spamming.
Why Quen Is Useful Against The Toad Prince
Next is the ever-useful Quen. Since the brute from below packs a lot of power with each attack, getting hit even once can drop Geralt's health down to critical levels. Having a golden shield up can prevent the great amphibian from landing a sneaky hit. If one chooses to incorporate Quen into their strategy against the foul prince, it is recommended to have it up as much as possible. Making it the prime tactic to dump stamina into will result in a much safer fight.
Why Igni Is Useful Against The Toad Prince
Igni is always a great offensive tool, though against the Toad Prince it can be a very risky strategy. On one hand, it offers decent damage despite the cursed one not having a weakness to flames. On the other, the toad's poison is flammable, and if one's Igni impacts a cloud directly in front of the witcher, it will cause an explosion that will hurt Geralt more than the toad, usually leading to the White Wolf getting completely knocked down.
The Toad Prince's Bestiary Information In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
"The girl walked up to the edge of the pond. There, squatting amidst the fragrant lilies and broad lily-pads, she saw a most unusual sight: a small green frog with a golden crown perched on its warty head. Charmed by this curious little creature, the girl picked it up and gave it a kiss. Immediately the little frog transformed into a handsome prince. Overcome with gratitude, he asked the girl to be his wife.
– folk tale, author unknown
Timeless tales always carry within them a grain of truth. The legend of the frog prince is no exception, or at least that's what the folk of Oxenfurt wished to believe when they found out a monstrous toad lurked in their city sewers. The women who hunted it in search of romance and a better life, however, found their tales had a most unhappy ending. The creature they encountered was no small, sweet frog but a bloodthirsty beast, who not only did not let them in for a kiss, but instead greedily devoured them and anything else that strayed into its slime-covered lair."
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch.