This guide will show you how to defeat Iris, the Wraith from the Painting, in the Scenes from a Marriage main quest from The Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone expansion.
This guide is up-to-date for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen version (Update 4.04)
Wondering how to defeat the Iris Painting Wraith Boss in the Painted world? Have trouble with the mechanics for this Scenes from a Marriage boss encounter? Want to know the best potions and decoctions for the fight? This guide will answer all of these questions and give you tips to help you defeat the monster.
How to reach the Wraith from the Painting Boss
The quest where you encounter this boss is called “Scenes from a marriage” and is a part of the main storyline of the first Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Expansion Hearts of Stone.
The Wraith (Iris, Olgierd’s wife), like any other real boss in the game, has no actual level displayed, but the recommendation is ~32-34 or higher. The entire expansion is designed for level 32 or higher.
Obviously, you can challenge yourself by trying it earlier, but I can’t honestly see how you would be at a much lower level when you reach this boss. Unless you have skipped A LOT of the quests from the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt original game.
Iris, the Wraith from the Painting, will show herself before the actual boss encounter. She does that a couple of times in the other rooms, prior to the hallway where you fight her. You cannot interact or hurt her in these sequences.
How to prepare for the fight
At this point in the game, boss fights are more serious, and having fancy feet won’t be enough to defeat the more powerful enemies. Bringing a good armor set, a silver sword with proper oil, and combining the right decoctions and potions is key if you want to avoid getting stuck in these fights. Especially if you play on the higher difficulties.
In case you need a hint, here’s what I recommend using to beat this fight in Death March difficulty:
The Mastercrafted Wolven Armor Set and Silver Sword are always safe bets. It’s up to you to build your Geralt however you wish. The Wolven set provides balanced bonuses and boosts multiple playstyles. If you are level 39 or higher (it’s very possible if you have done most of the base game quests), The Viper witcher set from Hearts of Stone DLC is a nice choice too.
As with any other wraith creature, this one is also weak against Specter Oils, so put some on your silver sword before you start the fight.
The Ekhidna Decoction allows Geralt to recover Vitality when performing actions that consume Stamina.
Having the Archgriffin Decoction will make strong attacks consume all Stamina (if available) and reduce 5% of the target’s Vitality after normal damage is calculated.
The two decoctions combined will make your strong attacks deal an increased amount of damage while also restoring some of your Vitality.
Boss Mechanics and Recommendations
The boss performs similar attacks as any normal Wraith does, but hers are more powerful. She would lunge herself forward toward you smacking with her hands. As any wraith in The Witcher 3, this one also has quite a reach and she likes to perform a combo of two to three melee attacks in a sequence. Dodge a couple of times until she finishes her animation.
Often the Wraith will attempt to heal herself. She will start emitting something that looks like waves toward one of the paintings in the corridor. If you do not quickly go to that painting and destroy it, the Wraith will heal from it.
Always try to keep her in the middle, if possible, and inside of a Yrden circle. Quen is a great sign to cast on yourself for any boss and this one is no different.
Specter Oil does help for dealing more damage to her, just like it helps with all normal Wraith types of monsters.
When she “activates” a painting and starts going towards it, you will see a green cloud in front of that painting. Move as quickly as possible to it and hit it with a melee attack to stop the healing process.
The longer you keep it up, the more the Wraith will help herself. There are no adds spawning, no distractions. The Wraith will not go into a spectral form, but Yrden is always a good thing to have around her.
One more thing to note about the healing mechanic. As soon as the Wraith activates a painting, she will rush toward it. You can almost always be quicker, but be careful because during that one swing you make to beark the healing animation, the boss will already be on your back, ready to smack you.
