Hey guys, I am at the point just before the battle of Kaer Morhen (please please, let this be major-spoiler free). Unfortunately I have already read about one of the characters and their fate in the mission, so I've started wondering. I've heard that e.g. there is a different dialogue connected with one of the witchers as part of one of the expansions, if you start them before the battle. And I am not sure what to do. I'd like to get as much content as possible out of the game, but following the main story would be my preference at this point. Do I miss out on a lot of stuff, if I follow with the main story at this point? If any? Maybe what I wrote at the beginning is the only one thing?

I am currently level 27 and I am trying to finish what I haven't done yet. I have 2 level 30+ subquests to finish, and some witcher gear missions to complete, and a lot of pretty tedious treasure hunts on the sea to be done, which I am trying to do to get some xp to level up to lv 30 at least only to to follow on with the expansions. But do I have to?

I'd appreciate your thoughts, thanks!

You miss out on nothing... N.O.T.H.I.N.G. The two expansions are completely self-contained and include none of the main story NPCs. What's more they are structured for level 30+ and level 35+, so starting now would not be a good idea. When you get to level 30 start Hearts of Stone and when you get to level 35 start Blood and Wine. There are some very tough fights in both, so be prepared.

Well, it is not nothing for sure, as I have learnt by accident this could happen (warning: a spoiler, and one I could not protect myself against when the spoiler-waving-forum goers used it against my will) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUMBEGz4afg
This is actually the reason why I asked. But that might be the only thing :)

Otherwise, thanks for your reply and the advice! :)

Well yeah, if you count the odd line of dialogue "something", then maybe. But you certainly don't miss any real content, meaning quests, items, etc. You get that content wherever you start the expansions.

Okay, that's good, thanks for confirming. Have a good day, sir!

I am doing expansion content, in ng+. I do not recommend it, as the gear modifiers, and skill tree assignment, which ultimately should decide difficulty in an rpg, modify nothing. And require tweaking before ea encounter, making success, more based on mine oot changes, rather than strategic foresight.

As someone who is level 21 first playthrough I'm a little unclear on what I'm hearing. Are y'all saying that it is best to just complete the game first and then play the expansions individually - or are you saying it is not recommended to do them in ng+ but to play them as part of a normal story playthrough (a fresh start). I'm trying to avoid major spoilers so I didn't click on the YouTube link above.

The expansions are part of the game (initialised by reading the notice board at the Seven Cats inn) but self-contained. That means you can play them while you are doing the main storyline. However, the level requirements (30+ and 35+ respectively) mean you have to play them late game. You do NOT have to wait until the game is over; you do NOT have to play them in NG+; you do NOT have to start a fresh game.

The best time to play them may depend on what your priorities are. If you want the expansions to make the most narrative sense in terms of fitting into the story, I would say play Hearts of Stone while doing the main quest "Final Preparations" in Novigrad (close to the end of the game). Blood and Wine I would save until after completing the main campaign entirely.

Know that you can't juggle the level requirements for quests perfectly. If you do everything, you will always end up over-leveled for something. There is a level scaling mod that worked well for me in the past but it may not be up to date anymore.

Thanks, this is just what I'm looking for. I don't care so much about leveling. I tend to play what feels right when it feels right (even if I'm significantly over-leveled), because narrative sense is far more important to me than matching content to levels. Appreciate the suggestions. Appreciate the clarification. Things were a little confusing since I believe they are self contained stories? I guess I'm mainly trying to figure out when they make the most sense story wise to play. Your input + that of bengeddes has helped clear things up.

Blood and Wine is almost entirely self contained, aside from the quest itself beginning in Velen. Since 99.9% of it takes place in a distant land, it would make no sense for Geralt to start the quest until he's resolved the main campaign story.

The Hearts of Stone story is self-contained (aside from a few stray comments from main quest characters), but the content itself takes place on the Velen/Novigrad map. It seamlessly adds content to the upper right corner of that map. So in a sense it fits right into the main campaign, kind of like a massive side quest.

Awesome. I've purposefully avoided expansion reviews, trailers, etc on the off chance of potential spoiler. Your reasoning makes perfect narrative sense here though, and I think I'll follow your advice on this.

Thanks again.