The Witcher 3 - Lord of the Wood: how to kill Kernun, the Lord of the Wood

You'll first begin this quest when you find a message on the Cunny of the Goose Inn noticeboard. Read the note called Devil in the Woods to get things started. Brean Hotsch has headed off in the forest and found something thoroughly unpleasant there, and now you're going to have to find the cause of the mess and deal with it. Speak to Brean, try and renegotiate a better rate of pay if you want more for your efforts, then agree to take on this imposing challenge.

Your next job is to look around the inn until you spot a dwarf smoking a pipe. This fella's had more than a drink or two, but will be able to give you some infomation about what's happened if you work through his conversation options. Keep talking to him until there's nothing left to say.

When you're ready, head west then north and into the woods of this area. Eventually you'll come to a group of structures. Get off your horse as soon as you arrive and then activate your Witcher Senses to locate the marks in the ground where the carts came to a halt. Follow these marks west and through the woods, but be ready to fight some nekkers as you travel though. Kill them quickly and then return to the task at hand.

Before too long you'll find yourself arriving at the wagon you're seeking. Activate your Witcher Senses once again and have a look around the local area. You'll discover a trail of blood that leads to a dwarf corpse, footprints to a fire with another dead dwarf on it, and a final dwarf covered in deep claw wounds. Doesn't exactly look like a barrel of laughs.

Our Witcher 3 walkthrough and guide can help you with the main story, including the Wandering in the Dark and Family Matters missions, and eventually, one of several Witcher 3 endings. There's plenty of side content, too, including Witcher 3 Contracts, White Orchard quests, Velen quests, Novigrad quests and Skellige Isles quests. Elsewhere, learn about the best Witcher 3 builds, the best Witcher 3 mods, how to make money in Witcher 3, find Places of Power locations, and learn how to do Witcher 3 crafting and Witcher 3 Alchemy And when you're done with all those - we can help you through expansions with our Hearts of Stone walkthrough and Blood and Wine walkthrough.

How to find Kernun, Lord of the Wood in the forest

Time to find the beast behind these vicious attacks and put a stop to its tyranny. Take a look at your World Map and make sure you visit all four of the marked totems, fighting wolves and whatever other woodland beasts you encounter as you go. When you find the bone by the oak tree, use your Aard Sign on it to send the totem crashing to the floor. This is the part where you'll need to kill Kernun, Lord of the Wood so be ready to do battle.

How to kill Kernun, Lord of the Wood without breaking a sweat

A few things will help you win this fight. First of all, the creature is very vulnerable to Dimeritium Bombs, so fling them about if you've got 'em. Secondly, you can coat your blades with a Relict Oil to give your sword swipes a little more power. Finally, make sure you use your Igni Sign to set the fiend alight. Combine all of these bonus effects to make much lighter work of the fight.

When you're done, take everything from the creature's corpse, as well as the trophy skull that you need to prove your success, then head back with speed to The Cunny of the Goose. Go inside, tell Brean that you've dealt with the job as requested, and receive your well-earned reward after handing over the proof. Doing so ends the quest and you're ready to tackle the next meaty Contract in this region.

- The next part of our Novigrad guide explains how to complete The Witcher 3 - The White Lady Contract.

- Return to the index page for more The Witcher 3 - Novigrad Secondary Quests and Contracts.

- To find all of our help for the game, take a look at our Witcher 3 walkthrough.