The Witcher 3 Master of the Arena quest and how to lift the wraith’s curse

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

You'll find the Witcher 3 Master of the Arena quest when you journey to the Skellige Isles. The locals want help with curses and ghosts but there's a twist here that might catch some out.

There are some things to note before you start this The Witcher 3 mission: you should be around level 14 or so and obviously be able to get to Skellige. As long as you can to that then prepare to take on one more unusual jobs with our complete Witcher 3 Master of the Arena guide.

1. Find the town of Hov

Once you’re in Skellige, head to the village of Svorlag, on the island of Spikeroog on the western side of the world map. Go to the docks and take a boat to the opposite side of the island, where you’ll find the town of Hov. A yellow exclamation point Quest Available icon will appear near Hov, which is where you can start the quest.

As you get closer to it, you’ll overhear a pair of soldiers in a guard tower talking about a wraith that’s haunting the local fighting arena.

2. Talk to the soldiers

Speak to the two men, Gunnar and Lydrik, to find out more about the situation. They’ll reveal Hov’s arena was once a busy place, with warriors from all over Skellige coming to compete. That all changed years ago however, when a contestant named Ulle the Unlucky backstabbed his opponent, a prominent Jarl, after he kept making fun of Ulle’s losing streak.

With his dying breath, the Jarl cursed Ulle to forever haunt the arena as a ghost who can never win a fight. Gunnar and Lydrik say they’ll pay you twice; once for getting rid of Ulle, and when the arena is back up and running, for completing the mission.

3. Fight the Ghost of the Arena

The guard tower is right above the arena, so you won’t have to go far to find the wraith. Hop over the fence to talk to the weary Ulle, who’ll unenthusiastically challenge you to battle. Ulle is incredibly bored of losing fights and always reappearing in the arena just days after being vanquished.

Accept his invitation to commence the fight. It’s an easy one: Ulle is slow and only has a short axe as his weapon. Keep hacking away until you trigger a cutscene of Ulle sarcastically congratulating you before disappearing. This isn’t the end though. Ulle will come back as he always does, and even Geralt will say that fighting him was “useless.”

4. Lose to Ulle

You can keep fighting Ulle forever but it will never lift the curse. Refusing to fight him doesn’t accomplish anything either. So you have to do something you might not be used to doing on purpose in The Witcher 3 – lose. Yes, to free Ulle from his eternal torture, you must allow him to win.

To make the ghost reappear, meditate for a little over a full day. Talk to Ulle again, and when the fight begins, just stand there and let him hurt you until another cutscene occurs. Baffled at the outcome, Ulle will graciously thank you and finally pass on to the afterlife.

5. Collect your rewards

With the spectre gone, Gunnar and Lydrik will give you 15 Crowns for your trouble and ask you to return later to collect your second payment. Come back in a couple of in-game days and when you return to Hov, you’ll find a small crowd watching fights in the newly christened Cursed Arena. The two guards will happily pay you an additional 20 Crowns.

That’s it for the Witcher 3 Master of the Arena quest! Though short, it’s one of the more humorous side quests in the game and a smart subversion of everything you’ve done up until this point.

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