The Choice

 
At the very end of the first chapter, the player will see two quests in his journal: “At the Crossroads: Vernon Roche” and “At the Crossroads: Scoia’tael”. 
The fact that you gave the sword to Iorweth or not has very serious consequences, but it will not prevent you from choosing either him or Roche. 
Roche himself is in the city, and the Scoia’tael are currently based at the elven ruins in the forest. The player can talk to both quest givers before making a choice, but if he agrees with someone’s plan, the final quest of the first act will start, after which the second immediately begins. If you complete one of the quests “At the Crossroads”, then the second will be considered a failed one. 
 
Complete all your business in Flotsam before doing one of these quests, since you cannot return to them: 

• Complete all side quests if you want; 
• Buy silver ore from merchants, in the second chapter it is much more difficult to find silver and merchants goods hardly get reset. You can even meditate next to the blacksmith and buy up all the silver that he has – if you collect 15-25 ore pieces in advance and do not waste it, then you will make your life easier in the following chapters; 
• Give away unnecessary but useful items to the innkeeper in the basement of tavern (do not sell, but give for storage). Anything you have deposited can be picked up from the innkeepers/special chests in subsequent chapters. Personally, I stockpiled the ingredients for crafting: iron ore, oil, wood, cloth, leather, etc.; 
• Just in case, check if you have the “Queen endrega’s pheromones” and “Warrior nekker blood” – do not sell them, we will need them for the quest in the third act; 
• At every opportunity, breaktwo training dummies with a sword, which are located at each exit from the city – they are respawning, and if you gradually break 10 dummies, you will receive a permanent bonus to the experience gained; 
• Find “Summer Solstice” in the swamps to the southeast, not far from the bandits’ house. It will upgrade your Quen for free, and it is also necessary to get one of the achievements.

The Consequences

Without spoilers, the situation is like this:

• During the quest “At the Crossroads” for Roche, everything is quite straigthforward, but when completing the quest for Iorweth, Geralt still has to make several choices; 
• The second act changes a lot depending on who you chose: almost all quests (both plot and side) differ, the locations where you will spend most of the game will differ (some locations will be available only if you have chosen either Roche, some will be available only along the path of Iorweth), some weapons, items and achievements will be unavailable depending on the path you choose. To complete the 100% of the game, you have to complete it at least twice – having made both choices. The third act also changes, but not as much as the second; 
• On the way of Iorweth, the second act lasts longer than that of Roche, and has more different quests and tasks available; 
• Along the way of Roche, the final third act turns out to be more interesting than that of Iorweth, also there is more quests are available; 
• If you choose the path of Iorweth, you will still interact with Roche in the future, but if you follow the path of Roche, you will no longer see Iorweth.

The most important difference between paths or Roche and Iorweth:

 
The biggest difference is the emotions that the game evokes. 
If you choose Iorweth, the game will be played like a good classic fantasy RPG with a corresponding epicity. 
If you choose Roche, the game will play through like a clever and convoluted political thriller set in a medieval fantasy setting. 
 
 

Whom to Choose

 
If even the above details did not help you make your choice on your own, here is a more direct tip: 
 
Do you want to complete the game just once? Then choose Roche. 
Do you want to complete 100% of the game get all the fun available? Then choose Iorweth first, and with the subsequent walkthrough with path of Roche. 
 
My personal subjective opinion is that it is Roche’s path that makes this game so unique, distinguishes “The Witcher” among dozens of other popular RPGs, on this basis, I advise you to complete your final walkthrough by passing along the path of the Temerian super agent – for the sake of a better aftertaste on the completing. 
 

Hope you enjoy the Guide about The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition – The Witcher 2 Roche or Iorweth – the consequences of a choice without spoilers, if you think we should add extra information or forget something, please let us know via comment below, and we will do our best to fix or update as soon as possible!