Troll Troubles is a side quest in The Witcher 2 that deals with an out-of-sorts belligerent Rock Troll. He has held the long-running post of manning and maintaining the bridge outside Flotsam, which serves as the only path from the trade port headed towards the town. But he recently destroyed the bridge and has since grown lax in his duties. Not to mention extremely ill-tempered with anyone who doesn't pay his new toll or demands he fix the bridge.
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Trolls throughout The Witcher franchise have garnered a reputation for being approachable if not downright chummy, at least in Geralt's experience. The schtick might've caught on, gaining a brief reference from Henry Cavill's Geralt in The Witcher Netflix series, but mild-tempered rock trolls aren't a new trend, so it may seem strange how badly this troll's troubles have sent him off the rails.
Should You Kill Or Help The Troll In Troll Trouble In The Witcher 2?
As you may have guessed, the troll manning the bridge is the same troll Geralt can pick up a contract for off of the notice board outside the inn in Flotsam. On your way to kill the beast, you may encounter a man besieged by a pack of nekkers outside Flotsam. He introduces himself as Chorab after you save him, and he defends the troll's good character, offering you a counter contract to spare the troll.
Chorab explains the poor sod has picked up a taste for hard alcohol and has fallen into a malcontent drunken stupor. What's more, Chorab is hopeful a witcher such as yourself might not only spare the troll, but also help him kick this bad habit.
The inebriated troll has no tolerance for negotiation when you first arrive, so you will have to fight him down to about half health before you're given the decision whether to talk with the troll or finish the fight. You'll then need to decide your course of action through dialogue.
If you talk to the troll you will learn the root of his recent decay in moral fiber; while he was hard at work manning the bridge, somebody beheaded his wife, which caused him to spiral, hitting the bottle to cure his head pains ever since. You can still decide to continue the fight after hearing the troll's sad story, thus fulfilling Loredo's contract by killing the troll. Or, if you are so moved by his personal tragedy, you can investigate the murder and take vengeance on the she-troll's killers.
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Killing The Troll
If you simply kill and collect payment as a witcher is taught to do, you'll earn 125 experience and the standard contract reward posted on the notice board.
How To Help The Troll
However, you could do the town of Flotsam a greater service and even earn a bigger payout for your trouble by hearing the troll out and investigating his travesty. Here's what you'll need to do if you wish to help the troll avenge his lady.
- Find the owner of a newly mounted troll head in one of the huts in Lobiden and question the owner.
- Find Dimitri's Man watching the ongoing fist fights that take place in the basem*nt of the Flotsam inn, and convince him to give up Dimitri's location. Threatening a repeat of the Blaviken incident seemed to work well.
- Find Dimitri and a few of his men in the graveyard sat on a hill overlooking Lobiden. (The quest has glitched here for some players and Dimitri is instead found in his hideout near Lobiden in the southeast of the forest.)
- Fight Dimitri and his men. Loot: Key to Bandit Hideout, Dimitri's Letter of Safe Passage signed by Loredo, and Thaler's Report.
- Return to the Troll and ease his pain by telling him you killed his loved one's murderers.
- Return to Chorab to complete the quest. Unfortunately, as is common in the witcher's line of work, the seemingly do-good contractor will be less than willing to fulfill his end of the bargain and will try to sucker Geralt into taking half the promised reward.
- You could settle for a 100 crown payout.
- Or you could insist and get the full 200 crowns through persuasion or intimidation.
By helping the troll you not only cure his alcoholism and soothe his grief, but he returns to work repairing the bridge, which in turn restores a much-needed trade route, doing some overall good for the community of Flotsam as well. It's not often a witcher betters a community by avoiding his occupational duty of killing a monster, and still manages to get paid for his work. This outcome makes the question of whether you should help the troll pretty clear to us.
If you feel like playing it greedy with a heavy stench of dishonor, there is the option to return to the bridge and slay the troll after completing the quest, then collect the original contract reward from Louis Mercer in order to make off with both payouts. Regardless, you will get 125 experience for any way you decide to complete the quest. Then it's a matter of if your version of Geralt has any stronger moral fiber than a grieving troll.
Next: The Witcher 3: Broken Flowers Main Quest Walkthrough
