So, you’re riding through the mud-caked outskirts of Novigrad, your horse Roach is doing that weird glitchy thing with her front legs, and you stumble upon a notice board. You’ve seen it a thousand times. But for many, the phrase Witcher 3 Swear It isn't just a random bit of dialogue or a quest objective. It’s a moment of moral friction. It’s that specific, nagging feeling you get when Geralt of Rivia—a man supposedly stripped of emotion—is forced to navigate the messy, lying, often disgusting world of human oaths. Honestly, it’s where the game actually lives.
People talk about the Bloody Baron. They talk about Ciri. But the smaller contracts? That’s where the real grit is.
What People Get Wrong About the Oaths in Velen
Velen is a dump. Let’s be real. It’s a swampy, war-torn graveyard where everyone is trying to scam everyone else. When you’re looking into the mechanics of how Geralt interacts with NPCs, the "swear it" prompts usually pop up when a peasant or a nobleman is terrified. They want a guarantee. They want to know that the professional monster slayer isn't going to just take their coin and leave them to be eaten by a Foglet.
But here is the thing: Geralt’s "swearing" is almost always a facade.
If you’ve played through the quest The Beast of Honorton (part of the Where the Cat and Wolf Play DLC), you see this tension peak. You find another Witcher. He’s slaughtered a whole village. Why? Because they tried to double-cross him. When the village elder basically said "I swear it" regarding the payment and then led him to a trap, the "professional" code snapped.
The game doesn't just give you a "Yes" or "No" button. It gives you a choice between being a cynical mercenary or a knight in dusty armor. Most players think swearing an oath in-game locks you into a specific ending, but CD Projekt Red was smarter than that. They used these moments to test your personal ethics, not just Geralt's.
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The Mechanic of the Truth: Does Swearing Actually Change the Rewards?
I’ve seen people on Reddit and the CDPR forums arguing about whether "Swear It" options affect your XP or gold. Generally? Not really. It’s flavor. But it’s flavor that defines your Geralt. In the Wild At Heart quest, when you’re dealing with the werewolf and the sister-in-law, you have moments where the truth is a weapon.
- Sometimes, swearing you’ll keep a secret leads to a peaceful resolution where a character lives but lives a lie.
- Other times, refusing to swear and sticking to the "Witcher Code" (which is mostly made up by Geralt anyway to avoid awkward conversations) results in a bloodbath.
The game loves to punish you for being a "good guy." Think about the quest A Greedy God. You find a "god" (an Allgod, really just a fat Sylvan) living in a basement, eating offerings while the peasants starve. If you swear to the peasants that you'll handle it, and then you just kill the Sylvan, you've technically helped, but you've also destroyed their faith.
It’s messy. It’s dark. It’s why we’re still playing this ten years later.
The Trial of the Grasses and the Lack of Feeling
There’s a lore reason for why the Witcher 3 Swear It prompts feel so heavy. In Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, and reflected in the games, Witchers are viewed as mutants without feelings. Geralt uses this as a shield. When someone says, "Swear to me by the gods," Geralt often scoffs. Which gods? He’s seen what "gods" look like in this world—usually they're just monsters with better PR.
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When you choose the "I swear it" dialogue option, you’re often lying. You’re performing. You’re doing it to get information or to calm a panicked witness. It highlights the inherent loneliness of being a Witcher. You are in the world, but not of it. You are a tool.
Why the "Swear It" Choice in 'The Last Wish' Matters Most
If we’re talking about the most impactful "swear it" adjacent moment, we have to talk about Yennefer. In the quest The Last Wish, you’re literally undoing a magical bond. You’re testing whether the love was real or just a djinn’s prank.
When you have to look at Yen and decide your future, the game doesn't use a formal oath, but it’s the ultimate "swear it" moment. If you tell her you love her, you’re swearing a life-long commitment. If you tell her the spark is gone, you’re breaking an unspoken vow. Unlike the random peasants in the woods, this choice has massive ripple effects on the endgame and your "retirement" in the Blood and Wine expansion.
Practical Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re staring at a "Swear It" prompt right now and you’re worried about the consequences, stop overthinking the numbers. This isn't an MMO where you’re min-maxing a reputation bar.
- Check your Bestiary first. Often, if a character is asking you to swear to something, they are hiding the nature of the monster you're hunting. If the description they give doesn't match the tracks you found, they’re lying. Don't swear.
- Roleplay the "Cat" vs. "Wolf." Decide early on if your Geralt is a stickler for the rules or a pragmatic survivor. If you're a Wolf, you might swear the oath just to keep the peace. If you're more like the School of the Cat, maybe you demand the coin upfront and skip the pleasantries.
- The "No-Swear" Run. Try a playthrough where you never agree to an oath. It’s incredibly difficult because the game is designed to make you feel like a jerk for saying no to a grieving widow. But it opens up some of the most honest dialogue in the game.
- Save often, but live with it. The beauty of The Witcher 3 isn't the perfect ending. It’s the botched one. If you swore to protect someone and they died because you were too slow or made a bad call, keep going. That’s the Witcher’s life.
When you're deep in the Heart of the Woods or navigating the treacherous politics of Skellige, remember that an oath is just words. In the world of The Witcher, actions—and the silver sword on your back—are the only things that actually carry weight. Go back to your save file. Look at the contract. Decide if the person asking you to swear is worth the breath it takes to say the words. Usually, they aren't. But sometimes, just sometimes, they're the only thing keeping Geralt human.