The Caretaker

The Caretaker

Species	Relicts
DLC	Hearts of Stone
Oil	Relict Oil
Signs	Quen

The Caretaker is a unique Relict that guards the von Everec Estate. It belongs to the Hearts of Stone expansion and is fought in Scenes From a Marriage, a level 35 main quest. It is one of the toughest fights in that expansion.

Lore

The Caretaker belongs to the von Everec estate. Its face is nothing but a mouth and a ring of rough, bloody stitches.

It serves with the indifference of a golem and is as fierce in battle as it is diligent at work. It feels no pain. Every blow it takes seems to make it stronger. So does every blow it lands with the spade it uses as a weapon.

Bartolomeo Darez once said there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in philosophy. Darez had tried to contact creatures from another plane and ended up in an insane asylum.

Behaviour

The Caretaker works the estate grounds as diligently as it fights. It digs graves there, and the sound of digging gives away where it is at work. In battle it calls up spirits from those same graves.

Weaknesses

Coat the silver sword with Relict Oil. Quen is the one Sign that matters here. Every hit the Caretaker lands heals it, so avoid being hit at all costs. A hit that strikes the Quen shield heals it no more, so keep the shield up. A Northern Wind bomb freezes it in place and opens a window for several blows.

Its spade swings are slow, and its charge is easy to sidestep. It also has two attacks that cover a wide area, and their outline glows on the ground before they land. Move out of the marked area, then strike at once. When the Caretaker drives its spade into the ground, it draws on otherworldly energy to freeze its foes with fright. The spade stays stuck for a moment. That is its weakest point and the best time to get behind it and attack.

As its health drops, the Caretaker summons spirits and absorbs them to heal itself. The spirits are slow and fall to a single blow, so kill each one before it reaches the Caretaker.

The Caretaker Map Location and Quest Guide

Go to the von Everec Manor and talk to the thief at the hole in the wall.
Search for the thief's partner and search the grounds for the violet rose with the Witcher Senses.
Find a way to get inside the manor, then follow the tracks on the ground.
Open the gate and examine the back garden.
Search the back garden with the Witcher Senses and follow the footprints toward the sound of digging.
Defeat the estate's caretaker.
Take the key to the manor's back door and The Caretaker's Spade from its body.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Contracts and Quests

Quest	Quest Giver	Location	Reward
Scenes From a Marriage	Olgierd von Everec	Von Everec Estate	The Caretaker's Spade

The Caretaker is the guardian met in Scenes From a Marriage, the main quest of Hearts of Stone that follows Open Sesame!. Olgierd von Everec's third wish is a violet rose. It was a gift to Iris, Olgierd's wife, at the couple's last meeting. The search leads to the von Everec Estate.

At a hole in the estate wall, a frightened thief is searching for a partner who went missing inside. Tracks on the ground lead into the back garden. Footprints and the sound of digging lead on from there to the Caretaker.

Once it is dead, a black cat and a black dog speak to the witcher. They point the way to Iris inside the manor. The key to the manor's back door lies on the Caretaker's body, and so does The Caretaker's Spade. Later in the quest, inside a memory, a food tray has to be placed in the Caretaker's hands.

Drops

Name	Image
The Caretaker's Spade
Key to the Manor's Door	-

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