The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
78 Achievements
100-120h
Fast and Furious
Win all the horse races in the game.
18.2%
How to unlock the Fast and Furious achievement in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Definitive Guide
Flezza
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
I would recommend doing them before the point of no return. Since it appears some races may not be available after endgame. Some people experience the Velen races disappearing after the isle for example, others have said a patch fixed it so it is clearly still broken and may not remain in your quests so better safe than sorry.
There are 11 possible races for you to complete in the game. I've included a video by Powerpyx (all credit to them for the video) showing the locations of each to help you all out as well. I believe you can simply go to the areas in the video and do the races (I did for several and it was fine), however, you can also pick them up as missions from notice boards throughout the game.
1-3) Velen - Crows Perch: You get to pick which order you race the people in.
4-6) Novigrad - Vegelbud Residence You don't get to pick your opponents this time AND you have to have done the mission "Get Junior" before you are able to unlock these races. Thanks to thomaskorat for clarifying that for me.
Race 7 is obtained after Race 6 is complete. It is also the one I believe makes this achievement potentially missable. I recommend saving after race 6 just to be sure. After completing race 6 (start to leave the area) I was approached by someone and given a message. You must read the message from Carlo Varese (cleaver) and visit him in Novigrad in order to take part in this race. I believe it is possible to fail this race (I am sure I did the first time so Reloaded and replayed to ensure I won) so a save prior to doing it is a good idea. I've also heard reports of this mission glitching during so people can't finish it.
*Confirmed. Failing the race nulls your achievement so save prior!
8) Skellige - Rannvaig
9) Skellige - Fayrlund
10) Skellige - Blandare/Palisade
11) Final race is in Skellige - Larvik
Race 11 SHOULD unlock after all the other races are done. However, for me and other people it has glitched where the person you talk to in order to start the race isn't showing up making it impossible to start and finish the race. I have no fixes for this as of yet as my personal reloading to an earlier save didn't work. They may patch it in the future or you may just have to get it on a second playthrough.
Edit: This should potentially be fixed with patch 1.07
As others have mentioned the tips for horse racing usually involve sprinting and trying to position yourself in front of your opponent to prevent them passing when you need to recharge stamina. Luckily most races are repeatable to give you several tries. Completing Races also gives you better gear. Including more inventory carry weight, more horse stamina and horse blinkers to help with horse fear. So you can save your money and not buy horse gear from merchants. It can also make Races much easier (especially the extra stamina).
Edit: NicholiGinavaef mentioned in the comments where to find the Mastercrafted Cavalry Saddle with 75 stamina:
"in the Smuggler's Cache north of Kaer Almhult. Kear Almhult is the small island west of Eldberg Lighthouse. The Lighthouse is north of the village Arinbjorn on the western side of the main island in Skellige. This saddle is not one of the race prizes that gets handed out. A lot of stamina really make these races easy."
If you vote negative could you let me know why so I can improve this solution because as of now I'm not sure how much is accurate and how much is the game having a few bugs.
A video showing locations by PowerPyx for a visual guide if you don't have the notice board quests and wish to find them.
Vegelbud races note:
"You’ll have to finish the main quest Get Junior for these races to unlock."
Junts26
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
It cannot be completed between your visit to the Isle of Mists and the end of the game. However, the quest will re-appear in your journal in the post-game, after you re-appear in Kaer Morhen following the credits.
For this reason, the only way that you can fail this quest is by failing race 7 (the race for Cleaver in Novigrad), which you get only one attempt at. If you do not win that race, you may not re-attempt it.
However, if you did not complete the Crow's Perch races early in the game (Like I did not), you may still do them after completing the game. They are then particularly easy since they are short enough to not run out of stamina with the best available saddles from Hearts of Stone or Blood and Wine.
MissDirect
TrueSteamAchievements
TrueSteamAchievements
I would recommend doing them before the point of no return since it appears some races may not be available after endgame. Better safe than sorry!
There are 11 possible races for you to complete in the game. I've included a video by Powerpyx (all credit to them for the video) showing the locations of each to help you all out as well. I believe you can simply go to the areas in the video and do the races (I did for several and it was fine), however, you can also pick them up as missions from notice boards throughout the game.
1-3) Velen - Crows Perch: You get to pick which order you race the people in.
4-6) Novigrad - Vegelbud Residence: You don't get to pick your opponents this time AND you have to have done most of the mission "Get Junior" before you are able to unlock these races. Once it is unlocked there will be a crier in Hierarch Square announcing The Great Erasmus Vegelbud Memorial Derby and you can pick up a flier to start the quest.
Race 7 is obtained after Race 6 is complete. It is also the one that makes this achievement potentially missable. I recommend saving after race six to make sure you don't miss your invitation. After completing race 6, start to leave the area and you will be approached by someone and given a message. You must read the message from Carlo Varese (Cleaver) and visit him in Novigrad in order to take part in this race. It is possible to fail this race, so a save prior to doing it (ie, just before talking to Cleaver) is a good idea.
8) Skellige - Rannvaig
9) Skellige - Fayrlund
10) Skellige - Blandare/Palisade
11) Final race is in Skellige - Larvik
You can do the first three Skellige races (Heroes Pursuits) in any order, and race 11 will unlock after beating all three.
The main tips for horse racing usually involve sprinting and trying to position yourself in front of your opponent to prevent them passing when you need to recharge stamina. Luckily most races are repeatable to give you several tries. Completing Races also gives you better gear, but what you should focus on is getting the best saddle for the purposes of this achievement since it is the piece of gear that gives Roach additional stamina.
If you have any of the paid DLC you can get especially good saddles:
Hearts of Stone has the best saddle in the game as possible reward for the very end (though you may want to pick another end for RP reasons) at 100 stamina. There is also one you can get fairly easily from this DLC by winning a race against an Ofieri merchant - the Ofieri stock saddle at 85 stamina.
All the saddles added by the Blood and Wine expansion have 90 stamina.
If you don't have any paid DLC the best saddle you can quickly and easily get for the harder races is the Undvik Saddle (75 stamina) from the free Skellige Armor DLC which can be bought from the armorer at Kaer Trolde. There is a saddle from the base game with the same amount of stamina (the Mastercrafted Calvary Saddle) but it's a bit of a bear to track down.
PainOfDemise, PowerPyx
*Missable Trophy*
There are 11 horse races that you need to win. 3 in Velen, 4 in Novigrad, 4 in Skellige. It's recommended that you complete them in the order shown in this video guide as some races can only be played if you won certain other races already. The races in Velen are all at the same location and the track is the exact same. There’s a note for them on the quest board in Crow’s Perch which will lead you to the races (if it’s not available to you then keep playing the story for a bit). The first 3 of Novigrad are also in the same place, at the Vegelbud residence (complete “Get Junior” Main quest to unlock). Keep talking to the quest giver to ride against the other opponents. After winning the 3 Vegelbud races someone will talk to you and give you a note that you must read. This will bring you to the final Novigrad race. If you lose it, you cannot repeat it! Make a backup save before this race, or reload your latest auto save to avoid missing out. Also, Race: Crows Perch is missable if you go to the Isle of the Mist before completing it.
The ones on Skellige all have their own unique location. See the video guide below for all their starting points:
Joshua-the-Pure
TrueTrophies
TrueTrophies
-3 in Velen
-4 in Novigrad
-4 in Skellige
It's recommended that you complete them in the order shown in this video guide as some races can only be played if you won certain other races already.
The races in Velen are all at the same location and the track is the exact same. There’s a note for them on the quest board in Crow’s Perch which will lead you to the races (if it’s not available to you then keep playing the story for a bit).
The first 3 of Novigrad are also in the same place, at the Vegelbud residence
(complete “Get Junior” Main quest to unlock).
Keep talking to the quest giver to ride against the other opponents. After winning the 3 Vegelbud races someone will talk to you and give you a note that you must read. This will bring you to the final Novigrad race. If you lose it, you cannot repeat it! Make a backup save before this race, or reload your latest auto save to avoid missing out.
Also, Race: Crows Perch is missable if you go to the Isle of the Mist before completing it.
The ones on Skellige all have their own unique location. See the video guide below for all their starting points:
My Personal method to "cheat" during the race was whenever Roach ran low on stamina and the person I was racing was right behind me, I would slowly turn my horse sideways and block the path, effectively jamming my opponent from passing me. Once my stamina had regenerated I raced past them quickly and more often than not won the race.
BiggD
In total, there are 11 horse races in the Northerm Realms. Winning each of the horse races will net "upgrades" to your horse, Roach. Such upgrades include saddlebags that allow you to carry up to 100lbs of extra weight in your inventory, racing saddles that will give Roach more stamina, and blinders so Roach won't get frightened by monsters so quickly.
The first 3 races are located in Velen and their side quest can be triggered by visiting the notice board in Crow's Perch and reading the note that mentions "Horse Races." The 4 races in Novigrad are split between two locations, but their side quest can be triggered by visiting Hierarch Square (Novigrad) and picking up the Memorial Derby flyer from a Merchant after completing the main story quest entitled "Get Junior." After winning the third race, one of Cleaver's guards will invite you to an exclusive race. If you lose this race, you must reload your previous save file (or previous auto-save checkpoint) and try again since it cannot be repeated. The remaining 4 races are located in Skellige, and their side quest, "Heroes' Pursuits," can be triggered by entering the first race just outside the quaint village of Rannvaig on Ard Skellig.
All in all, some of the races have an entry fee and some of them don't, so be prepared with some crowns before traveling to these races and expecting to enter right away. Also, make sure to keep Roach in the center of the road at all times during the races, watching for dips and obstacles where he might leap. Once all 11 races have been completed, the achievement will finally be yours. Go ahead and utilize the video guide below for the locations of all 11 races across Velen, Novigrad, and Skellige.
Kasalo_ZIK
stratege.ru
stratege.ru
It is not known whether it is a bug or by design, but the Races in Velen can be skipped. From the journal, after completing the main storyline, even if the quest has already been taken, it simply disappears and cannot be taken again. I recommend completing races as soon as they open
eligante
stratege.ru
stratege.ru
You start a new game, only add stone hearts and all races are open again! 30 minutes and the achievement is ready. You can also combine the achievement for two witcher orders without potion signs, etc., since your hero is already level 30.