All Witcher 3 endings — flowchart
The Witcher 3 has three Ciri endings + a tail of romance/Skellige/Velen branches. Most players think it's complex — it's actually one tree with five toggles.
The five toggles
- Snowball fight at Kaer Morhen — Blood on the Battlefield prologue.
- Visit to Skjall's grave in Skellige.
- Yennefer at the Emperor — punch the table or play it cool.
- Velen orphans + Bloody Baron outcome (see Family Matters best outcome).
- Final lab scene — let Ciri grieve or push her.
Each toggle is a +1 or -1 to her self-worth score. Hit ~3-5 positive for the good ending.
Ending 1 — Empress (lowest threshold)
- Trigger: any 1-2 positive toggles + you tell her she should accept her father's offer at the lab.
- Result: Ciri becomes Empress of Nilfgaard. Geralt retires.
Ending 2 — Witcher (best, hardest)
- Trigger: 3+ positive toggles + you take her to the Emperor and refuse the gold.
- Result: Ciri rejects the throne, becomes a witcher. Geralt joins her in epilogue.
Ending 3 — Death (worst)
- Trigger: 0-1 positive toggles.
- Result: Ciri dies in the Final Battle. Geralt finds her medallion, retires alone or with Yen/Triss.
Quick "good ending" recipe
- Snowball fight with Ciri at Kaer Morhen — pick the playful options.
- Visit Skjall's grave with her on Skellige.
- Punch the racist mage at the Emperor. She wants you on her side.
- In the lab, tell her: "It's not your fault."
- Reject the Emperor's bag of gold.
Plus a romance lock-in (Yen or Triss, not both — see our Yennefer or Triss guide).
If stuck: if you wanted the Empress ending, you didn't "fail" — you just got more positive toggles than expected. The Witcher ending is technically the highest-rated by community polls.