Make sure you're continually looting. They come in different styles and can improve your gameplay and riding ability while you're riding around on horseback.

Also, sometimes merchants will sell "treasure" maps. It can be fun to make Geralt shop around like an average person, in search of stylish new ensembles. So buying them at merchants makes it easier to collect them. Beat that, vendors.

You'll care more about the specific armor sets than you will about changing pants or boots. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. All things related to The Witcher Books, games, TV-series You name it.

You'll start with finding the basic maps, but then you'll want to see the enhanced and master set for each school of gear, a.k.a. However, it can be helpful to keep some on you as a quick way to recover health mid-battle. Some of which are really quite pricey so I'd rather not buy them but I do want them all. From that point on, always peruse the collection of cards sold at every merchant you reach. In those cases, you'll be directed to the right merchant where those items are being sold. Formulas, yes. Gwent cards, yes.

Most people will encounter the maps for the Witcher gear school early on, but there are multiple levels. And the superior oils are also very good. Some merchants only sell fish, and some only sell fruit, for instance. Merchants generally have a wide variety of ingredients, but each one has a different inventory. If not - then you can do alright by just making sure you explore every ? Card yes.

Best gear is obtained by other means any way. Enhanced and Superior versions of potions and oils are important on the higher difficulties.

Diagrams - not really, the best gear is either loot from bosses (especially silver swords) or are special gear sets that you can find schematics for throughout the world. If they're unique, make sure you nab them, but most of the time, you won't need to purchase them as you'll find tons in your regular encounters. For Gwent, if you want Collector achievement you should run around all of the merchants like crazy and playing all who may want to play as well as buying all the cards they have. Formulas, kinda. Gwent - you don't need to buy any if you beat enough NPCs and your goal is simply to have a good deck. Many, if not all, of the merchant cards aren't found elsewhere. If you're on one of the more relaxed modes, you probably won't ever need food. If you want all the cards, I think you have to buy some of them, but I'm not an expert on the gwent achievment.

Again, like crafting components, you'll find the majority of alchemical ingredients in the wild. For examples, the tawny oil potions won't even expire, when you're using it at night. Gwent cards will be unlocked as you defeat opponents at the game.

Also - how to get 7 levels after finishing game? Related:10 Amazing Facts You Didnt Know About The Witcher 3. Clothing is another item that isn't of great importance. Even if you don't take every item you come across; it's always a good idea to check every nook and cranny for alchemical ingredients so you can concoct oils, decoctions, and potions. On topic of formulas - the biggest problem with relying on loot to get them, is that you need lower tier of potion to make higher tier. Remember to check out blacksmiths,as they tend to have more crafting components available. Part of the joy in playing a massive game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is being able to shop 'til you drop. Formulas - generally no, especially on the lower difficulty levels, you'll get all that you need from exploring. Generally, if you play on 2 lower difficulty settings, you don't need to use alchemy items at all if you are not building for alchemy, on 2 higher difficulty settings - if you are not building for alchemy, you can do fine with having just Swallow and Tawny Oil, and maybe White Raffard. Related:The Witcher 3: The 10 Best Steel Swords, Ranked. Not saying that game is hard, but if you want some OPness, you might want to buy them early. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. On rare occasions, you might encounter merchants selling them. None of them are necessary. Like with diagrams, the ingredients aren't as hard to find but you'll need the recipes to make the items. So are there diagrams, formulas, and gwent cards that you have to strictly buy or can you just find them all by slowly exploring the vast world of Witcher 3? If you ever want to buy horse equipment, you'll probably need to go to a merchant. As for the Gwent cards, well, obviously if you play Gwent get them, otherwise no. Do it when you can afford it, if you are early in game and have no cash - don't sweat it. If you're a completionist, you won't want to miss any of them. All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. Thanks, I can just continue now :D, I don't think you need that spoiler tag haha. You can't find all of them, but most of them you can find from various loot caches from ? Previously I thought that you could just find these strewn around the world and get all the gwent cards by beating other people. It's not always enough for Geralt to look spiffy; sometimes, you'll want to treat Roach too!

And they aren't even expensive. But some merchants sell foods that others do not. Gwent is an expensive hobby, but luckily, due to open-world nature of the game, you don't have to start collecting Gwent cards right away. The only missions that I have left though (and are likely to remain in my mission list forever) are all Gwent based ones. Also I received a diagram for Gnomish steel sword (as a reward in some quest) that requires level 42 and has damage comparable to silver swords of higher quality. Runestones and Glyphs are somewhat similar objects in the game that can enhance Geralt's armor, weapons, and sign intensity. You'll need the diagrams first to be able to know what you need to create a new sword and then go through with crafting it. Sometimes you'll find a merchant in need who will thank you with items after you save them. Especially noteworthy are the bomb recipes. I think buying the cards as you find them will help you do those missions. So, I recently started the game and I found out that you can buy diagrams, formulas, and gwent cards in shops. Most of the game's treasure hunts have rare and powerful diagrams in their loot. IIRC, the loot system is set up so that X chest will have a random formula that you don't already have. Once you have bomb recipes, you'll also want to get recipes for potions, decoctions, and oils. marks and other chests. Just buy it all, its not like you can spend as much money as you will get anyways. Diagrams are not as important since really you only want to be crafting Witcher gear, however, formulas are. You will pretty quickly rack up huge amounts of gold, so much that you won't know what to do with it. Surprisingly, the crafting components are not the most crucial part of forging weapons. Diagrams, no. Don't, you won't need them until you're drowning in cash in the late game. I bought and upgrades all of my alchemy items and it really gets good after they become superior. Diagrams and formulas - nah, save your coin. Gwent cards - not early game. The superior potions give you special effects, other than the main effect. There are a couple of quests where you'll need to purchase specific clothing, such as formalwear. Here are the ten most useful things you'll come across when stopping by at a merchant post. However, if you're looking for one specific thing, it can be a lot easier to go to a merchant to find it instead of hoping you stumble across it in your explorations. New Movie News, Movie Trailers & upcoming Movie Reviews. If you can buy a good recipes early, you can get these items earlier, which might help you so much on your game.

Geez, that was a fast response, the question was nagging me so much that I put the controller down for the day, and wasn't expecting an answer until the next day. The majority of the crafting components you'll need in the game can be found by looting. Merchants can be extremely useful to the Witcher or they can just be a place to waste money. And last, the cards, I suggest you to buy them all, if you want to collect all of the Gwent cards, as some of them are missables and can only be bought. I don't see myself exploiting 50 exp per run in Skellige. Blinders can help decrease Roach's fear level when enemies encroach. If you can't make bombs, you won't be able to take monster nests and that leaves a lot of question mark areas unfinished.

Very, good. Those are buy-on-sight, they will lead you to the best gear in game. Next:The Witcher 3: 10 Best Contracts Ranked. Merchants in the game sell a variety of food like bread, chicken, fish, and more. So, due to random nature of loot system - you frequently end up with higher tier recipe, but lack lower tier - if you only rely on loot. You can even do it after you finish main story. Formulas yes. It's a good idea to spend money on whatever cards you find at the merchant to beef up your stack early. Your health replenishes fast enough by itself. The reason why you want to buy this rather than looting it is because: looting is random.

I made it through the 'normal' mode without wasting any money on them. Some formulas are pretty hard to cross, so you want to buy them. Some merchants won't have much that you need, but occasionally you'll stumble upon a seller with rare maps, Gwent cards, and more. Specific merchants in the games will sell special and rare treasure hunt maps that unlock new areas on the map. Like diagrams, recipes are very important. and loot every chest - you can get about 50% of recipes that way, 60% if you are lucky. Gwent - you don't need to buy any if you beat enough NPCs and your goal is simply to have a good deck. Also, some merchants may not have all cards they sell listed at once, so what you have to do is buy cards, back out of the shop menu, then get back in shop menu, and buy all the cards left. You can always take apart your weapons and reuse the material to create new weapons and other items. It's always a good idea to go to the various question marks on the maps. They're really cheap though, so why not? Depending on what difficulty mode you're playing on, food may be of little importance to you. TL;DR: Diagram no. Some of them sell rare cards that you won't be able to find elsewhere. Oils and decoctions are especially helpful when you encounter powerful monsters and will give you an edge in combat. Good luck making a good deck with no Decoys, which you can only get from vendors. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts.

You can find diagrams throughout the game. Related:10 Hilarious Ways The Witcher's Economy Makes No Sense. Cat, Bear, Wolf, and Griffin. Plus, you can loot a lot of clothes in the game and never have to buy them. You'll come across tons of merchants while you're exploring the vast Continent. Maybe runes and glyph diagrams might be valuable as you want to fill all your slots with greater runes. Related:The Witcher 3: The Best Weapons, Ranked. Most of the time, you'll find glyphs and runestones sold by blacksmiths, in monster nests, or other lootable game areas.

In all cases, buying each and every card/diagram/formula is unnecessary and expensive, you find a lot for free while exploring/doing quests and not all items are good or fit your build anyway. If you want to find the best armor in the games, you can either hope to stumble on the maps randomly in the wild, or try and track down the merchants that sell them. Sometimes you can find horse gear through treasure hunts and looting, but most of the time, it's easier to purchase it. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. At the beginning of the game, you'll want to buy any recipes you find at the merchants you encounter. It's a good idea to check them out and purchase anything you don't often see while looting, so you have it on hand in case you need it. In A Post-Avengers World, Individuals Are The Best Part Of The MCU, The Witcher 3: 10 Most Useful Things You Can Buy From A Merchant, Ranked, 10 Hilarious Ways The Witcher's Economy Makes No Sense, The Witcher 3: The 10 Best Steel Swords, Ranked, 10 Amazing Facts You Didnt Know About The Witcher 3, Stranger Things Creators Admit To Secretly Editing Past Seasons, Apex Legends' Bocek Is Slowly Becoming My Favourite Gun, I Can't Believe We Haven't Had A Bloodborne Remaster Yet, New Eeveelution Has Already Been Practically Confirmed By The Anime, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course - How To Access The DLC, Atlus Confirms That You'll Need To Buy Persona 5 Again To Play It On PS5, Most People Hold Controllers The Same Way, The Wrong Way, Ubisoft Artist Says Entitled Gamers Make Game Launches "A Horrid Experience", Best Strategies For Every Game In Fall Guys: Race Rounds, Doom Co-Creator John Romero Developing New FPS, Gotham Knights Star Thinks Nightwing Should Have Big Juicy Cakes, Too, Mythic Games Refusing To Ship Or Refund Darkest Dungeon Board Game Unless Kickstarter Backers Pay More, Detroit: Become Human Is Becoming A Manga, Let Me Solo Her Is Asking Elden Ring Community To Kill Bosses For Him Now, Gearbox Ditches Community Forums For Discord, The Yakuza Movie Is Great Because It Embraces The Absurdity Of The Games. Formulas - that depends on whether you go for alchemy, or alchemy/something build. However, in the beginning, your deck of cards won't be great. You can apply these as a way to make your combat more formidable and casting signs more intense. Press J to jump to the feed. The game has a wide variety of blinders, saddles, and saddlebags. Cards are cheap and are totally worth buying, if you're too broke to afford them you're doing it wrong and are probably saving things like Dimeritium Plates from the early game.

Merchants and blacksmiths sell them, but if you want the rare diagrams with the best armor and best weapons, you'll want to complete the games' vast amount of treasure hunts.