An unlucky Witcher 3 player learned not to mess with the cows of White Orchard when a gigantic level 21 Chort spawned out of nowhere to punish them. The world of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is filled with ferocious beasts for Geralt of Rivea to slay and plenty of side quests to get lost in on his quest to find his adoptive daughter Ciri and fend of the titular Wild Hunt – from the surprisingly in-depth card game Gwent to the many different ways the gruff anti-hero can earn money.
While The Witcher 3’s morality leans more toward a dark shade of grey rather than clear-cut good or evil, CD Projekt Red’s epic fantasy RPG does provide plenty of options for players to engage in all manner of shady and unscrupulous acts over the game’s long and impressive run time. These include the standard rude dialogue options during conversations and some morally questionable decisions as part of The Witcher 3’s morality system, but players have figured out a few shortcuts to getting a large sum of Orens – such as killing the cows that roam the farmlands of the White Orchard and then meditating to respawn them. This might not be such a great idea though, as aside from potentially ruining a farmer’s livelihood, the cows have a terrifying protector that doesn’t take too kindly to players harming the bovine in its care.
Reddit user thejoggingpanda found this out the hard way, as reported in a video post to the Witcher 3 subreddit earlier today. In the clip, Geralt has just finished killing a herd of cows for their hides when a massive, level 21 Chort suddenly appears out of the blue to avenge the fallen beasts of burden. This hulking goat-like monstrosity proves too much for thejoggingpanda, prompting Geralt to flee for his life. Other players in the comments section have explained that this Chort is the result of a patch CDPR added to The Witcher 3 way back in 2015 to prevent Geralt from exploiting the aforementioned meditation trick to score an unfair amount of Orens early on – one that is affectionately called the “Bovine Defense Force Initiative.”
The Bovine Defense Force would later get a humorous shout-out in The Witcher 3’s Hearts Of Stone expansion, which added a pair of Gwent cards named “Cow” and “Bovine Defense Force.” Even before this, the gameplay exploit that led to the Bovine Defense Force being implemented was mentioned by the tax collector Walthemor Mitty, who asks Geralt if he engaged in the wholesale slaughter of cows and connected rawhide trade in the White Orchard farmland.
Even without the local taxman grilling Geralt about his income, the White Wolf would do well to avoid killing off the cattle of the White Orchard in The Witcher 3 – lest he invoke the wrath of the Bovine Defense Force and its fearsome Chort enforcer. The legend of this mighty fiend still echoes throughout the forums of The Witcher 3’s devoted fanbase, serving as a warning for newcomers of what will happen if they foolhardily attempt to slaughter a herd or two for some easy coin. It’s something players will need to keep in mind when The Witcher 3 finally makes the jump to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X sometime in 2022.
Source: thejoggingpanda/Reddit
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