Despite The Witcher 3's lengthy main campaign that can take anywhere between 60 hours and 400 hours to complete depending on the preferred playstyle, some players may feel compelled to experience CD Projekt RED's masterpiece for the second time. Although it is not recommended, they can relive Geralt's adventures with New Game Plus without investing another 100 hours or more into exploring new content featured in Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone expansions.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the New Game Plus mode was not included in the initial release of The Witcher 3. In fact, it was introduced as one of the 16 free DLCs three months later. Even after the Complete Edition(s) of the game were released, CD Projekt RED retained its vision and allowed the players to freely restart their adventure with New Game Plus without imposing any level or difficulty restrictions, so long as the players had completed the main storyline.
Before selecting the New Game Plus option, which appears after The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings save simulation is complete, there are a couple of things that returning players should be aware of. Although Geralt's level will transfer along with his abilities, gold, most of the gears and non-quest items, such as food, ingredients, materials, potions and recipes, the player will, unfortunately, have to part with some of the previously acquired valuables.
Quest items, certain alchemy formulas, physical copies of books and journal entries, as well as crafting diagrams will all disappear. Any Gwent cards obtained past the basic Northern Realms deck will also become unavailable. The same goes for trophies carried by Roach for status effects and others displayed in Geralt's house located in Corvo Bianco, provided the player has explored the Blood and Wine expansion. On the other hand, they can use the Stash in the villa to store and carry over any additional gears that may be on display in the vineyard.
After the storyline resets, previous points of interest will be forgotten, and the player will have to rediscover the locations on the map. This will also affect any Character and Bestiary entries accumulated during the first playthrough. The player can expect to see quests, opponents and other gear requirements scale up in accordance with Geralt's level. On the flip side, it means that even the most powerful of the transferred equipment will become obsolete sooner rather than later. For this reason, the player should also consider visiting the Runewright to enhance Geralt's existing gear with glyphwords and runewords before replaying his journey.
Those who have played Blood and Wine before starting a New Game Plus will get another lucky break since the expansion introduces a self-leveling item that is transferable. Therefore, it is highly advisable to acquire, upgrade and enchant the silver sword Aerondight, as it is the only piece of equipment that scales damage and can be used as a single sword during the second playthrough.
With an unfixed mutagen bug still present, players should double-check their Inventory and Stash before creating a New Game Plus save file. To avoid the potential deletion of greater mutagens, they should have their mutagen stacks split into multiple copies. They can also secure the transfer of four mutagens by placing them in the mutagen slots regardless of skill synergy. Another solution would be to use the bench in the Alchemy Laboratory in Corvo Bianco to convert spare monster mutagens into their lesser mutagen forms. Even if activated, the mutagen bug will not have a major impact on the challenges that lie in wait for the players throughout the New Game Plus mode.