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Master Marksman achievement in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition

Master Marksman

Kill 50 human and nonhuman opponents by striking them in the head with a crossbow bolt.

Master Marksman0
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How to unlock the Master Marksman achievement

  • KleptoJackKleptoJack
    09 Dec 2018 09 Dec 2018 27 Nov 2023
    This achievement is a pain in the butt because it's so time-consuming but otherwise easy. Some quick tips:

    1. Lower difficulty to Story
    2. Equip "Lightning Reflexes" and "Anatomical Knowledge" abilities from the Combat branch. Also the "Steady Shot" ability from the General branch.
    3. There's a place in the south east of Skellige where there are 2 infinitely respawning pirates. You can kill them and they'll respawn after a few seconds and kill them again. I found this much easier than Devil's Pit.
    4. Make sure your screen shakes for a split second you headshot kill them. That's how you know the game registered it as a headshot kill.
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    TupaccaThis is a great spot if you still need the "Humpty Dumpty" achievement for using Aard to push enemies off cliffs, too.
    Posted by Tupacca on 07 Apr 23 at 20:18
    The UFO HiveChanged to a new crossbow, aimed manually, and did it in one sitting. Exactly 50 aimed headshots. Had other un-aimed headshot kills, but I didn’t mark them.
    Maybe it was the new bow in one sitting, maybe it was the manually aimed. I used the regular bolts.
    Posted by The UFO Hive on 18 Jul 23 at 22:05
    LaTrickster2yeah even with all this and damage potions, it still takes like 100 shots to kill one person
    Posted by LaTrickster2 on 02 Nov 23 at 08:25
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  • PensiveOregonadPensiveOregonad
    29 May 2017 29 May 2017 20 Jan 2018
    -For this particular edition of the game, if your achievement is not popping after 50 headshots, hard reset your xbox and start up from your save point. After 6 hours of getting headshots (as well as the other combat achievements), I hard reset my xbox and got each combat specific achievement after one kill. This will save you tons of time.

    -Also wanted to clarify this means 50 human OR nonhuman enemies. You only need to kill 50 of one type. I would suggest killing the bandits at Devil's Pit in Velen. You can lure them to the door and they will not be able to come through. This allows you to aim at their head with a fair amount of accuracy.

    EDIT: According to Cheva1ier, the bandits pursue you past the Devils Pit. Awaiting confirmation from others. Just wanted to let others know just in case
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    LockieYeah definitely switching to 'Story Mode' is the way to go, makes it a million times easier and quicker! Just 2 shots then stun with Axii to line up the headshot, then bam.
    Posted by Lockie on 10 Mar 18 at 12:39
    GrawlNLFor what it's worth, I've noticed a few things:

    - This achievement is so much easier when you use the skills "Lightning Reflexes", "Anatomical Knowledge" and "Trick Shot". Make sure to equip them as well.
    - Get about 200 precision bolts. You can buy them from Hattori in Novigrad.
    - I used the Feline Crossbow (+225% attack power), which is part of the feline set. There are better crossbows in Toussaint though.
    - Changed to the easiest difficulty.
    - Dumped a few points into "Delusion", but never needed it.
    - Travel between Vizima and Valen to respawn the bandits.
    - Progress is cumulative and doesn't have to be in the same save file. I've switched back and forth trying things out, and got it in the Devil's Pit when my "fresh" counter was at 25 kills.
    Posted by GrawlNL on 30 Dec 18 at 01:52
    PassiveKnightI would like to add that after extensive research that the achievements that are not properly counted is due to a bug caused by the game not being properly closed in between sessions, mostly due to the console being in instant on mode and/or not being exited out of properly. I had a few issues at the start and that's the reason I don't have the lilac and gooseberries achievement despite having all of the other story related achievements. The best way to combat this is simply have your console in energy saver mode or make sure to completely quit out of the game.
    Posted by PassiveKnight on 08 Nov 19 at 11:05
  • Lord OlxinatorLord Olxinator
    08 Aug 2017 08 Aug 2017
    On Death March, NG+, or Death March and NG+ this can be a pain to unlock. One potential solution is to save this to the end of the game, after reaching a high level and gaining Geralt of Rivia's Crossbow from Touissant (or a high damage alternative from the vanilla game). Returning to Velen or White Orchard you'll find that your crossbow shots do drastically higher damage and should make short work of foes, especially if you have the Lightning Reflexes perk allowing you to slow time while aiming. This process is made even easier if you use the Cat Eyes mutation perk from Blood and Wine, allowing you to essentially one-shot many foes.

    If you're like me in clearing the game but finding it difficult to come across groups of low level bandits, you can also do this with high level enemies. It takes substantially more work and is something of an unofficial challenge, but it's possible to complete by using Lightning Reflexes, Cat Eyes, special bolts (like Split Bolt or Tracking Bolt) and a decent crossbow.

    Note! I strongly suggest avoiding any bolts, crossbows or potions that induce damaging effects on foes while going for this achievement. Often you can have your headshot stolen by some errant poisoning or bleeding effects before you can land the killing blow, essentially wasting your time and forcing you to try again. An alternative would be to face your foes in regular combat countering and slashing them down to around 20% of their health, allowing any potential status effects like poisoning or bleeding to subside. Then you stick on Quen, aim your crossbow and constantly move around your foes while killing them solely with headshots, preferably with standard or split bolts.
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