New Game Plus (NG+) Differences

Starting a New Game Plus in The Witcher 3? Here's what carries over, what doesn't, and how monster levels and gear scale up. Your ultimate NG+ guide!

So, you've finished your first journey through The Witcher 3 and you're thinking about diving back in for a New Game Plus (NG+)? Smart move! It's a fantastic way to experience Geralt's adventures again with some cool twists. Think of me as your seasoned friend here to walk you through what's different this time around. Basically, NG+ lets you restart the game with most of your hard-earned stuff: your gold, your abilities, and a good chunk of your gear, including anything you stashed away. Pretty neat, right? But, and this is important, you'll lose some key things, no matter where you stored them: * Quest items: Most of them, anyway. Some minor ones might sneak through, but honestly, you'll probably want to sell those. * Books: Both the physical copies and their entries in your journal. * Gwent cards: Except for your basic Northern Realms deck. So, get ready to rebuild that collection! * Crafting diagrams: Yep, all of them, including those sweet witcher school gear diagrams. * Alchemy formulas: You'll lose some, but thankfully, many potion, bomb, and ingredient formulas will stick around. * Trophies: Both the ones you equip on Roach for those little buffs and any you might have proudly displayed at Corvo Bianco in the *Blood and Wine* expansion. * Map exploration: All those points of interest you uncovered? Gone. * Bestiary and Character entries: You'll have to rediscover them. Also, keep in mind that any gear you bring over won't be usable during the early tutorial sections. You'll have to wait a bit to equip your best stuff again. Now, let's talk about the challenge. The game really ramps things up. Quests and monsters will be scaled up by at least 25 levels from what you experienced before. This scaling is dynamic – it's based on your final level when you created the save file for NG+. For example, if you finished your first playthrough (including the *Hearts of Stone* and *Blood and Wine* expansions) at level 53, expect the weakest monsters in NG+ to be around level 50. Your dropped gear and crafted items will also be higher level. Witcher school gear gets a fancy