How to complete Ghosts of the Past in The Witcher 3 Next-Gen

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is known for its varied and memorable side quests, thanks to its strong narrative direction. One such example is the Ghosts of the Past. If PC players have a save file from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, things may play out differently depending on the choices they made in the 2012 action-RPG.

As such, the community may be confused as to what variables are at play, especially if they are newcomers to the experience thanks to the recent Next-Gen update. This guide details how to complete the Ghosts of the Past side mission. Note that there are spoilers for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

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Players may meet a key The Witcher 2 character in the Ghosts of the Past side quest

Unlike many others, the Ghosts of the Past is an unmarked quest in The Witcher 3. Players are likely to stumble across it during exploration, however, the mission titled The Fall of the House of Reardon should point them to it.

This quest will take players to Reardon Manor, which is to the north of Velen's Downwarren settlement and can be seen on the map. Upon arriving at the Manor, players will find the place is booby-trapped. Geralt will make a comment saying someone must have set them up, someone human enough.

There, use Witcher Senses to find the highlighted traps and disarm them as you find them since they can damage Geralt.

Once done, find the barn and enter. The Witcher Sense should also signify sounds coming from within, making the location easier to track down. There, interact with the ladder, and this will activate the Ghosts of the Past quest.

The mission is aptly titled because it sees the return of antagonist Letho from The Witcher 2. This is the default scenario, of course. If players chose to kill him at the end of the 2012 prequel title and that save is carried over, he won't appear and this side mission will not be present in the first place. Otherwise, Geralt will witness a surprise meeting with the burly Witcher.

The Witcher of the Viper School has found himself in a sticky situation (Images via YouTube/AlphaRomeoVideos)

A conversation between the two gets initiated and grants you 25 XP. You can ask him questions during the conversation to progress the talk. Several revelations come to light, including the fact that that the traps were laid out by Letho in anticipation of potential headhunters.

Funnily, this leads to said hunters finding their way into the area, with the other Witcher suggesting his location was compromised by a "friend" named Louis. Letho comments about killing them and asks if yo would like to help him out. Regardless of what you answer, a fight will start and you will have to take down the foes alongside the burly Witcher.

Defeating them will award you with 50 XP. It turns out that these are scouts searching for Letho and that he is itching to track down Louis. You, as Geralt, have two options then:

• "Love to see that" - Geralt goes with Letho to have a chat with Louis.
• "Good luck" - This prematurely ends the mission. There is no reason to pick this option really as tagging along grants more oppotunities to earn EXP.

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Find the traitor

Traitors and rats (Images via YouTube/AlphaRomeoVideos)

Follow Letho along as he leads you to a camp. The Louis fellow is there, clearly surprised to see the former alive. The bigger Witcher does not take it kindly, and a brief sarcastic conversation later, you will have to take down the camp bandits surrounding you.

Finishing them off initiates a cutscene with a wounded Louis who is begging for mercy. He reveals his motivation for backstabbing Letho and who paid him off for the job, after which the latter decides to leave him to die there.

This rewards you with another 50 EXP. You can kill off Louis with a blow, but doing so does not award any experience.

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Playing possum

What will you pick? (Images via YouTube/AlphaRomeoVideos)

The next target is Arnold Vester, a bandit. Follow Letho once again to reach Lindenvale. After telling a kid to evacuate with his family and telling Geralt to stay put and trust his plan, Letho blows up a barn to draw the attention of Arnold Vester and his gang from a nearby hut.

He exchanges pleasantries with the group of bandits, leading to a fight where Letho takes out most of the group but ends up falling himself thanks to being shot by a crossbow before the fght.

Geralt reaches the spot to see the fellow Witcher crumpled on the ground, presumably dead. Now there are two options as to how you can go about dealing with Vester and his remaining goons:

• "You're good as dead" - Geralt provokes the bandits, which leads to him killing them off.
• "Dont want trouble" - Geralt tries to diffuse the situation, leading to the bandits wishing to collect the bounty placed on Letho's, quite literally, head. However, you will want to convince them to take his medallion instead as proof that Letho of Gulet is no more.

While initially it may seem like the first option is the right way to deal with them, it goes against the plan Letho was talking about. Choose the second option to allow his medallion to be picked off, after which the men will be on their way. Examining Letho's "corpse" reveals something is fishy.

This is elaborated upon once he awakens. Turns out Letho was not dead but used a special poison that made him appear so. He wanted the world to assume he was dead so as to get any and all targets off his back.

If you had picked the first option, then there wouldn't have been any witnesses to carry forth the lie. The fact that you interfered upset Letho, so the second option about abiding by his plan means everything turned out as expected.

Regardless of the choice made, Letho plans to disappear into the shadows. Two key choices are to be made:

• "You could go to Kaer Morhen" - This option allows Letho to go the School of the Wolf and meld in with Geralt's acquiantances.
• "You'll find a place to hide" - This bids him farewell, never to be seen again. There is no reason to pick this second option as the first one ensures he will help Geralt during the finale of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

This completes the Ghosts of the Past mission. Note that this quest must be wrapped up before heading to the Isle of Mist. Otherwise, it will remain incomplete.