What Transfers Over in The Witcher 3‘s New Game Plus Mode

New Game Plus (NG+) modes that let players carry over progress into a new playthrough have become hugely popular in modern RPG titles.

Over 65% of players who have completed The Witcher 3 have gone on to play NG+ according to data estimates. It offers new challenges and goals after finishing the base game‘s epic story campaign and quests.

Gear, Levels and Abilities Transfer Over

When starting NG+, you retain all the hard work that Geralt has put in during the previous playthrough to upgrade weapons and armor while unlocking new skills and abilities.

Specifically, everything related to Geralt‘s development carries over:

• Level (scaled to match end of previous playthrough)
• All ability points invested into different skills
• entire skill tree configuration unlocks
• All silver/steel swords, armor sets, clothing, saddles etc.
• Crafting diagrams to recreate sold gear immediately
• Alchemy recipe knowledge for potions, bombs, oils etc.

For example, if you conclude the game at Level 52 with top-tier Grandmaster Legendary Armor Sets, these will transfer over instantly boosting Geralt well above starting power.

Enemies scale appropriately with the carried over level to maintain balance:

So gameplay sees a slight overall difficulty bump rather than becoming overwhelmingly challenging.

Story Progress Resets, Losing Quest Items

While gear and XP make the jump to NG+, certain elements reset entirely:

• Main campaign progress and all side quests restart
• This means losing unique quest reward items
  • Notably Aerondight silver sword from Lady of the Lake quest
• All formula diagrams, books, letters also removed
  • Valuable lore and reference material gone
• Gwent card collection wiped out
  • Lose hundreds of collectible cards
  • Fast Travel locations also reset

For many fans, this refresh of the narrative and world while retaining Geralt‘s power provides the perfect balance. You must set out once again to uncover secrets of the Wild Hunt while already wielding end-game weapons and armor. It allows creating an entirely different gameplay experience compared to the first playthrough.

Preparing for New Game Plus in Advance

Before starting NG+, it helps to complete gear upgrade related quests with merchants and blacksmiths. This carries over their full services.

Also remember to sell unused armor sets, weapons etc. from stash inventory before beginning NG+. As crafting diagrams transfer over, you can instantly re-craft the gear sold using materials found in early game areas. This saves vital inventory space for upcoming loot.

Integrating Expansions in New Game Plus

The Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine DLC integrate seamlessly into NG+ with content blending perfectly with base game quests and locations. This results in an incredibly rewarding second playthrough.

It is recommended to play Hearts of Stone before starting New Game Plus, and tackle Blood and Wine after arriving in Skellige during NG+. This offers better narrative flow and steadily increasing challenges to match Geralt‘s carried over power.

New Heights of Levels and Gear in NG+

While Level 70 is the max in the base Witcher 3 game, the Blood and Wine expansion increases the cap to 100 once unlocked in NG+.

This allows finding gear and weapon upgrades up to Grandmaster Legendary gear – the absolute peak of stats and bonuses. Sets can only be obtained by gathering diagrams across Blood and Wine‘s world.

There are also ultra-rare Unknown Gear item sets exclusively available only in New Game Plus, providing unique new challenges.

Conclusion

At higher levels, unlocking additional skills and talent slots, the new heights of gear obtained combines with existing end-game equipment to make Geralt virtually unstoppable. This enables tackling enemies and monsters in entirely new ways while replaying the epic world of The Witcher 3 through New Game Plus.