A Costly Mistake - Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a side quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Velen. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

witcher 3 novigrad quest a costly mistake map

1 – Dead Smuggler
2 – Sunken Ship

Background

You’ll trigger this quest when you loot the Smuggler’s Notes from a dead smuggler in Velen West (#1).

Walkthrough

When you read the notes, you’ll learn that Radovid’s men recently sank a merchant ship in the waters to the west (#2), and that its cargo is still on board. When you go to the ship and turn on your witcher senses, you’ll spot a treasure chest glowing red on the ground next to it. Inside the chest you’ll find a leveled version of the Maugrim silver sword (which gives bonuses to Quen intensity, Yrden intensity, and experience from monsters), a leveled version of Tracker’s Trousers, and more. Looting the chest will complete the quest.

Note: You might have to kill several drowners with your crossbow to get to the chest, but underwater drowners aren’t difficult to deal with, so you can freely ignore the quest’s level 18 rating. Really, this quest is about the same as Queen Zuleyka’s Treasure, which has a level 4 rating.