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Gwent Card Game
Gwent is a collectable card game that simulates two armies meeting on the battlefield.
"Invented by dwarves and perfected over centuries of tavern table play, Gwent is a game of initial simplicity and ultimate depth, something beloved by both road-weary travellers during long nights around the campfire and elegant nobles looking to liven up dragging dinner parties."
Gwent includes over 150 cards from the following factions:
How to Play Gwent
Each player must have a full deck for at least one faction to participate in a game of Gwent. This includes a minimum of 22 unit cards and a maximum of 10 special cards. These unit cards can be made up of faction-specific units or Neutral cards, and if a player has more than 22 cards, they may choose to omit them from their deck in favor of drawing a better hand.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of Gwent is fairly simple: ensure that the total strength of your cards on the board is greater than that of your opponent's.
At the onset of the game players draw 10 cards from their deck, and may re-draw up to two of those cards (usually those of the weakest power or least strategic value). A coin is flipped to determine who shall go first.
Players place various unit cards in one of three corresponding tiers: Close Combat, Ranged Combat and Siege Combat. Certain cards have bonus abilities, such as adding additional strength to cards in their row or re-drawing a discarded unit.
Card Abilities
Many Gwent cards have their own unique abilities or skills, which can be used for varying purposes during a round of the game.
| GWENT CARD ABILITIES | |
| Ability | Effect |
| Agile | Can be placed in either the Close Combat or Ranged rows. May not move once the card has been placed. |
| Berserker | Transforms into a bear when a Mardroeme card is on its row. |
| Mardroeme | Triggers transformations of all Berserker cards on the same row. |
| Medic | Choose one card from your discard pile to play instantly. This excludes heroes or other weather / special cards. |
| Morale Boost | Adds +1 strength to every card in it's row, excluding itself. |
| Muster | Finds any cards with the same name in your deck and plays them instantly. |
| Spy | Place on an opponents battlefield (counts towards their total strength), then draw two cards from your own deck. |
| Tight Bond | Doubles the strength of both cards when placed next to a unit of the same name. |
Special Cards
In addition to standard unit cards with bonuses, there are special cards that provide strategic bonuses when played.
| SPECIAL CARDS | |
| Card | Ability |
| Commander's Horn | Doubles the strength of all units in a given row (limit one per row). |
| Decoy | Swap with a card on the battlefield to return it to your hand - this removes the card's power value from your score. |
| Scorch | Destroy the highest value card, or cards if multiple similar point scores exist, in play. This destroys your cards as well. |
| Mardroeme | Triggers transfrormation of all Berserker cards on the same row. |
| WEATHER CARDS | |
| Biting Frost | Sets the value of all Close Combat cards to 1. Ineffective on Hero cards. Applies before buffs like Commander's Horn, Tight Bond, etc. So for instance two cards with a Tight Bond will be 2, instead of 1. |
| Impenetrable Fog | Sets the value of all Ranged Combat cards to 1. Ineffective on Hero cards |
| Torrential Rain | Sets the value of all Siege Combat cards to 1. Ineffective on Hero cards |
| Clear Weather | Clears all weather effects currently in effect on the battlefield. |
| Skellige Storm | Reduces the Strength of all Ranged and Siege Units to 1. |
Collect 'Em All
One of the earliest missions players recieve in Wild Hunt is Collect 'Em All, which is an over-arching quest to find at least one of every Gwent card to complete a deck for every faction.
This can be accomplished in several ways - Gwent cards can often be found for sale by various merchants, and many merchats will offer to play a round or two with Geralt. If the Witcher beats the merchant, they will offer him a free Gwent card - though this will only happen once per merchant.
There are also players whose proficiency for Gwent is well known, and locating and defeating them become side quests of their own. These players will yield rare cards upon defeat, usually a Hero card for the faction they favor.
Up Next: Gwent Card Locations
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Initial Release: May 18, 2015
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