Should You Play Blood and Wine Before Finishing The Main Story Quest?

As an avid Witcher 3 player with over 200 hours across multiple playthroughs, I‘m often asked if it‘s possible to jump right into the Blood and Wine expansion before completing the base game‘s main story quests. The short answer is yes, you can. But I don‘t recommend it.

Based on my experience, conversations with other experts, and analysis of what you‘ll encounter, playing Blood and Wine too early can undermine parts of what makes it so special. You‘ll face more difficulty, spoilers, and lack story connections that assume familiarity with the main game‘s events and characters.

Below I dig deeper into why completing The Witcher 3‘s core storyline first ultimately enriches how you‘ll experience this incredible expansion:

1. Understanding Blood and Wine‘s Story Connections

Blood and Wine takes place after the main story chronologically, and makes numerous references to characters and events that assume you completed it. For example (minor spoilers):

• The expansion opens based on your actions helping Nilfgaard win the war
• Dandelion plays a big early role – his rescue was a main quest
• Romances you pursued back on the mainland may join you
• Even something as small as picking flowers relies on knowing about Ciri‘s time in Toussaint

Without finishing all these main threads, Blood and Wine won‘t have the same weight or sense of Geralt‘s journey concluding.

2. Combat Difficulty Spikes Early On

The expansion is balanced around level 34+, while Velen caps out around the mid 20s. Consider this level difference on some early enemies:

I tried playing early on and couldn‘t dent foes. Even 5 levels under makes combat painfully challenging. It could mean lowering difficulty drastically compared to your normal preference.

3. Missing Out on New Features

Blood and Wine adds and expands major new gameplay systems, including:

• Mutations to enhance abilities
• Grandmaster gear crafting
• Higher level alchemy recipes
• More talent slots for spending points

Without sufficient levels, skills, gear, ingredients from the main story, you won‘t access these key parts of what Blood and Wine offers.

4. The Developers Recommend Finishing First

In an interview, CD Projekt Red‘s Phillip Weber said:

"Blood and Wine is best experienced after finishing everything else. That‘s the way it was designed."

So while possible to access earlier, you aren‘t getting the intended scope following the designers‘ vision.

When Should You Start Blood and Wine?

Given the challenges of playing earlier and what you‘ll miss in terms of story and features, I recommend starting Blood and Wine only after:

• Completing all main story quests
• Ideally doing Hearts of Stone‘s quests first too
• Reaching level 34+ to handle higher level enemies
• Crafting enhanced witcher gear to offset difficulty spikes

This offers time to understand references, prepare for harder enemies, and access new additions like mutations that improve abilities.

The result is Blood and Wine feels like the dynamic grand finale of Geralt‘s long journey, just as CDPR designed it to be!

Let me know if you have any other questions on optimal timing or getting into this amazing expansion!