Hard Times
Hard Times is a secondary quest which begins when you stumble upon the remains of a merchant caravan south of Miner’s Camp.
Key Facts | |
| Location: | Novigrad |
| Category: | Side Quest |
| Reward: | Crowns |
Quest Text
Additional Info
As you journey south of Miner’s Camp, just over the hill near a large oak tree, lay the remains of a merchant’s caravan.
The cart appears to have been scattered to pieces with great force, and both the horse and the merchant bashed to death.
A cyclops heads towards you and must be defeated.
The cart appears to have been scattered to pieces with great force, and both the horse and the merchant bashed to death.
A cyclops heads towards you and must be defeated.
Walkthrough
Following contains quest spoilers. You’ve been warned
Use your Witcher Senses to investigate the broken cart.
Your keen eyes discover a fresh set of footprints near the cart.
Follow the tracks leading away from the broken cart.
As you follow them in a south-eastern direction you come upon five nekkers which are feasting on a woman’s body.
Get rid of the foul beasts and proceed to search the body.
You discover a letter written to Yanne, who is presumably the brother of the dead woman.
Get rid of the foul beasts and proceed to search the body.
You discover a letter written to Yanne, who is presumably the brother of the dead woman.
Deliver the letter to the Kaer Trolde smith.
Yanne lives across the bridge from Kaer Trolde fortress.
Journeying north-west, eventually passing the large Kaer Trolde stone bridge, turn right to visit the blacksmith.
Tell him about his sisters’ demise.
Journeying north-west, eventually passing the large Kaer Trolde stone bridge, turn right to visit the blacksmith.
Tell him about his sisters’ demise.
Choice 1
Truth hurts
If you tell him the truth.
You found the letter from his mother on the corpse of his sister, he’ll be understandably upset but will reward you for the effort.
You found the letter from his mother on the corpse of his sister, he’ll be understandably upset but will reward you for the effort.
Choice 2
Lies have no comfort
If you try to spare his feelings, he will become angry with you and forever refuse to provide you service.
Obviously no reward will be given either.
Obviously no reward will be given either.
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I actually lost the letter and have nothing to give him.lol anyone know how to retrieve the letter?
why this quest is tagged in Novigrad???? The Additional Info here says “As you journey south of Miner’s Camp,….” , Miner’s Camp is in Skellige, not Novigrad…
It actually IS STILL BUGGED… yes you have to talk to the BLACKSMITH, but sometimes you literally can’t. you just have to save your game and reload that save in order to talk to him.
I killed the nekkers and left the area and didn’t pick up the note, and know I’m basically stuck, can anyone help me?
I can confirm that meditating works. I had to meditate a few times and try to talk to him between each time. After third(!) time, he finally would talk to me, and i could finish the quest.
Hey, IT IS NOT BUGGED AND HERE IS THE SOLUTION.
The man you have to turn the letter in to is the BLACKSMITH, he wears a RED SCARF around his neck and SITS IN THE BACK NEAR THE GUARD. If that isn’t enough information he’s also pretty darn ugly looking and wears a sleeveless shirt in a snowy climate, and if THAT isn’t enough information I would consider an eye-test.
When you first speak to him after fast travel he tends to not appear as an interactive NPC, you can fix this by meditating for an hour or two, then speak to him. He’ll do his intro of “weapons with stories” and you can then deliver the letter to him. Good luck fellow Witchers!
PS. This is on the PS4 version, which I doubt makes a difference since unless you’re a PC gamer and can open a command prompt to spawn the dude or something…Anyway. Just meditate and enjoy your close up of this dudes ugly mug.
Thank you so much! I had to meditate till morning to get him to talk to me, but this totally worked.
God bless you
can’t turn it in, Blacksmith only gives 6 options, none of which are to give him the letter or talk about anything.
I have the same problem what the hell
I believe who you are trying to turn it into is the Armorer, not the Blacksmith. When you first arrive at Kaer Trold, there are 2 smiths and 2 armorers, but I believe that during a quest earlier, he died for you (and for me too) and has not come back since then. Right now I only have 1 smith and 2 armorers.
i cant cross the bridge it is locked !!!
any way to get in/=?