Howler

Howler

Species	Relicts
Variant of	Chort
DLC	Base game
Oil	Relict Oil
Bombs	Devil's Puffball

Howler is a Chort, one of the Relicts. It is a powerful, aggressive beast that made its home near the village of Lindenvale in Velen. It is the target of a witcher contract posted on the Lindenvale notice board.

Lore

Howler first shows up in village gossip. In Lindenvale, people talk about a monster nobody has seen. All they know is that it must be huge, since it slaughtered a whole pack of Wolves. The killing did not stop there. Howler also attacked a Fiend much larger than itself and killed it too.

Chorts are the smaller cousins of Fiends, but small is a relative word. They are among the most dangerous monsters known to man, and they live in dark, ancient woods. Folk tales often confuse them with Sylvans. In those stories a Chort talks, walks on two legs, eats cabbage and plays pranks around the house. A real Chort ends such tales fast. It cannot speak and only grunts, snorts and moans. It runs on four legs and wrecks farmsteads. It eats everything it finds there, from the cabbage and the poultry to the family dog and then the family itself.

The bestiary records how the hunt for Howler ended. Howler was slain without much trouble in the end. Its earlier fights with other monsters had worn it down badly. Without those wounds, killing such a fierce fighter might have been impossible. The lesson, as the bestiary puts it, is that when two monsters fight, a witcher wins.

Behaviour

Few places are as full of monsters as Velen. The beasts there must fight hard over hunting grounds, so monsters often end up killing other monsters. Howler went on just such a rampage against its own kind. Its trail runs through the woods near Lindenvale to the cave of the Fiend it killed. The cave sits inside a hill, and a strong enough scent draws Howler into it.

Weaknesses

Coat the blade with Relict Oil and keep Quen up from the first moment. Devil's Puffball bombs work well against it. Howler is a truly fearsome foe. Each of its blows is strong enough to kill. Only heavy armor or Quen keeps that damage from being deadly.

Like every Chort, Howler fights with little finesse. It runs straight at its foe and tries to knock it down with the force of the charge. Once the foe is down, it bites, kicks and claws. The charge is the attack to fear most. Dodge it to the side, then strike from the flank whenever possible. Aard barely moves a beast this heavy on four legs. Its body also heals its wounds at a rapid pace. The fight takes place in a cramped cave, which leaves little room to dodge. That makes Quen even more important here than in the open.

Howler Map Location and Quest Guide

Take the contract from the notice board in Lindenvale and talk to the hunter who posted it.
Search the forest with the Witcher Senses and follow the tracks.
Follow the scent to a cave inside a hill. Find a way in from above and drop down carefully, because the fall hurts.
Explore the cave with the Witcher Senses. The clues show that a Chort killed the Fiend living there.
Craft the Chort Lure from its alchemy formula. Pour it on the marked spots around the hill.
Wait in the cave until the Chort catches the scent. Kill Howler and take its trophy.
Return to the hunter in Lindenvale and collect the reward.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Contracts and Quests

Quest	Quest Giver	Location	Reward
Contract: Mysterious Tracks	Notice board	Lindenvale, Velen	Crowns, Chort trophy

Howler is hunted in Contract: Mysterious Tracks in Velen. The contract hangs on the Lindenvale notice board, and a local hunter posted it. The hunter found strange tracks in the woods and wants to know what made them. The tracks lead past dead Wolves to the lair of a Fiend. Something has already killed the Fiend, and the clues inside point to a Chort. The Chort has to be lured to the cave with bait made from an alchemy formula. Its trophy then goes back to the hunter with the news.

Drops

Name	Image
Monster Brain
Monster Claw
Monster Ear
Raw Meat
Azure Wrath
Chort Hide
Chort Mutagen	-
Chort Trophy
Monster Blood
Monster Bone	-
Monster Eye
Monster Hair	-
Monster Heart
Monster Liver
Monster Saliva
Monster Tongue
Monster Tooth

All Monster Categories

All Relicts

Name	Image	Variant of	Oil	Signs	Bombs	Location	DLC
Chort		-	Relict Oil	-	Devil's Puffball	Velen Skellige Kaer Morhen White Orchard	Base game
Crones		-	Relict Oil	Quen	-	Velen	Base game
Doppler		-	Relict Oil	-	-	Novigrad Skellige	Base game
Fiend		-	Relict Oil	-	Samum Devil's Puffball	Velen Skellige	Base game
Fugas		-	-	-	-	-	Base game
Godling		-	-	-	-	Velen Novigrad	Base game
Grottore	-	Spriggan	Relict Oil	Igni	Dimeritium Bomb	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Howler		Chort	Relict Oil	-	Devil's Puffball	-	Base game
Imp		Doppler	Relict Oil	-	-	Novigrad	Base game
Kernun		Leshen	Relict Oil	Igni	Dimeritium Bomb	-	Base game
Leshen		-	Relict Oil	Igni	Dimeritium Bomb	Velen Skellige Kaer Morhen Novigrad	Base game
Morvudd		Fiend	Relict Oil	-	Devil's Puffball Samum	Skellige	Base game
Shaelmaar		-	Relict Oil	Aard	Samum Dragon's Dream	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Shaelmaar from the Emperor of Nilfgaard		Shaelmaar	Relict Oil	Aard	Samum	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Spriggan		-	Relict Oil	Igni	Dimeritium Bomb	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Sylvan		-	Relict Oil	Igni	Samum Devil's Puffball	Velen	Base game
The Caretaker		-	Relict Oil	Quen	-	-	Hearts of Stone
The Monster of Tufo	-	Shaelmaar	Relict Oil	Aard	Samum	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Wicked Witch		-	-	-	-	Land of a Thousand Fables	Blood and Wine
Woodland Spirit		Leshen	Relict Oil	Igni	Dimeritium Bomb	-	Base game