The Witcher 3: The Magic Lamp Side Quest Walkthrough

TL;DR

• Magic Lamp is a short secondary quest that starts immediately after Wandering in the Dark. You must agree to help Keira while still inside the ruins — if you leave or refuse, the quest fails permanently.
• The quest’s main challenge is a four-statue puzzle. Light the braziers in the wrong order and wraiths spawn.
• Correct statue order: 3 → 2 → 4 → 1 (right of door first, then left of door, then far right, then far left).
• After collecting the lamp, do not leave immediately — there is a hidden Place of Power, a Golem fight, and multiple loot chests to collect first.
• Completing this quest unlocks Keira’s full questline including A Towerful of Mice.
• Quest reward: 100 XP and progression into the Keira Metz story arc.

The Magic Lamp is one of those quests in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that trips players up not because it is hard, but because it is easy to miss entirely. It runs directly back-to-back with Wandering in the Dark, gives you almost no time to prepare, and its central puzzle punishes wrong guesses with wraith spawns.

This guide covers every step — how to start it without missing it, the full statue puzzle solution explained clearly, all the hidden loot in the area, and what the Magic Lamp unlocks in Keira’s questline.

Quest Overview

• Quest type: Secondary Quest
• Region: Velen (The Mire)
• Location: Elven Ruins underground dungeon
• Suggested level: 6
• Quest giver: Keira Metz
• Prerequisite: Complete Wandering in the Dark — and do not leave the ruins
• Reward: 100 XP, progression into Keira’s questline
• Next quest unlocked: An Invitation from Keira Metz → A Towerful of Mice

Critical Warning — This Quest Is Permanently Missable

Magic Lamp begins the moment Wandering in the Dark ends. Keira asks Geralt to help her find the lamp while you are both still inside the elven ruins. If you say no, or if you follow her to the exit but then walk out of the ruins before completing the quest, it fails permanently and cannot be recovered in that playthrough.

The lamp still makes it to Keira through other means if you miss the quest — meaning her questline can technically continue — but you lose 100 XP, the hidden loot in the area, and the satisfaction of solving one of the game’s most elegantly designed environmental puzzles.

When Keira asks for your help at the end of Wandering in the Dark: say yes and stay inside the ruins until the quest is done.

How to Start the Magic Lamp Quest

You cannot start this quest from a notice board or by finding Keira in the world. It is triggered exclusively at the end of the Wandering in the Dark main quest.

During Wandering in the Dark, Geralt and Keira explore a network of elven ruins beneath Velen while chasing leads connected to the Wild Hunt. Near the end of the quest, Keira gives Geralt the Eye of Nehaleni — an item that dispels illusions — to help exit the ruins through a hidden passage.

Immediately after this exchange, in a cutscene or conversation depending on your version of the game, Keira reveals that an elven mage in these ruins once promised her a magic lamp. She asks Geralt to help her find it. Agree to her request. The Magic Lamp quest begins.

Follow Keira north through an archway into the next section of the dungeon.

Examine the Sealed Door and Statues

Step 1 — Examine the Sealed Door and Statues

Keira leads you into a room with a sealed stone door flanked by four statues. The door will not open through force. Interact with the door using your Witcher Senses to examine the inscription carved into it.

Keira translates the Elder Speech inscription. It reads:

“Four guardians, four flames, standing proud in a line. The first to light his fire dared not march on the end. The second, by the first, played a woeful lament. The third kept close to his faithful beast. The fourth marched not beside the first, yet like the second, played a tune. And thus they stood o’er their queen, who slept beneath flickering stars.”

Now look at the four statues carefully. Each statue has different distinguishing features. From left to right as you face the door, the statues are:

• Statue 1 (far left) — holds an instrument and has a dog/hound beside it
• Statue 2 (immediate left of the door) — holds an instrument, no dog
• Statue 3 (immediate right of the door) — holds nothing, no dog, no instrument
• Statue 4 (far right) — has a dog, no instrument

Each statue has a brazier (fire pit) in front of it. You need to ignite these in the correct order by interacting with them. Light them in the wrong sequence and wraiths spawn — one wraith per incorrect brazier lit. They are not worth XP and drop nothing, so there is no point in triggering them deliberately.

Step 2 — The Statue Puzzle Solution

Here is how to decode the riddle logically before jumping to the answer.

The riddle uses ordinal terms — “the first,” “the second” — referring to which position a guardian lights their flame in sequence, not which statue they are physically. You need to figure out which statue corresponds to each position number.

Work through each clue:

• “The first to light his fire dared not march on the end.” — The first to light cannot be at either end of the line. That rules out Statues 1 and 4. So the first must be Statue 2 or Statue 3.
• “The second, by the first, played a woeful lament.” — The second is standing next to the first and plays an instrument (“a woeful lament”). Instruments belong to Statues 1 and 2. Since the first is either 2 or 3, and the second must be adjacent and have an instrument, Statue 2 (instrument, no dog) and Statue 3 (nothing) together suggest the first is Statue 3 and the second is Statue 2 — because Statue 2 is adjacent to Statue 3 (they both flank the door) and Statue 2 has an instrument.
• “The third kept close to his faithful beast.” — The third statue has a dog/hound. Dogs belong to Statues 1 and 4. Since Statue 4 is on the far right and Statue 1 is on the far left, and we have already placed Statues 2 and 3 near the door — Statue 4 (far right, has dog) is the third to light.
• “The fourth marched not beside the first, yet like the second, played a tune.” — The fourth does not stand next to the first (Statue 3) and plays a tune (instrument). That leaves Statue 1 (far left, instrument and dog). It is not adjacent to Statue 3 (which flanks the door on the right), and it has an instrument. Statue 1 is the fourth to light.

The Answer — Light the Braziers in This Order

This is the complete solution with no ambiguity:

1. First: Statue 3 — immediate right of the door (no instrument, no dog)
2. Second: Statue 2 — immediate left of the door (instrument, no dog)
3. Third: Statue 4 — far right end of the room (dog, no instrument)
4. Fourth: Statue 1 — far left end of the room (instrument and dog)

Walk to each statue’s brazier and interact with it in this exact sequence. All four lit correctly and the stone door slides open.

If you accidentally light one out of order, wraiths spawn. Deal with them quickly — they are standard Wraith enemies and vulnerable to Yrden and Specter Oil. Once the area is clear, the braziers reset and you can try again from the beginning.

Step 3 — Find the Magic Lamp

Follow Keira through the now-open doorway into the chamber beyond. Inside you will find a sepulcher — an ancient elven tomb. Keira walks up to it and takes the Magic Lamp she was promised. The lamp is automatically added to her inventory.

Before you leave this area, do two things:

• Loot the chest near the sepulcher. It contains random gear and crafting materials scaled to your current level.
• Read the Sage’s Notes on the altar next to where the lamp was. The notes explain that the Magic Lamp allows its user to see and communicate with spirits. This is important context for the A Towerful of Mice quest that comes next in Keira’s questline.

Step 4 — Hidden Bonus: Place of Power and Golem Fight

Do not head for the exit yet. There is significantly more to do in this section of the dungeon and it is easy to miss if you follow Keira straight out.

Place of Power

From the sepulcher room, go west and climb the stone ledges. At the top you will find a Place of Power. Interact with it to gain a free ability point. This is one of several hidden Places of Power across the game and it is easy to miss because it is underground and does not appear on the overworld map. Do not leave without activating it.

Golem Fight (Hidden Treasure Event)

From the same area, take the stairs northwest from the Place of Power. You will descend into a large chamber guarded by a Golem at approximately level 6. This is a Hidden Treasure map event.

Golems are Elementa — apply Elementa Oil to your silver sword before engaging. Use Dimeritium bomb to suppress their magical abilities and then flank and strike. Keira assists in the fight but her spells do limited damage. You are doing most of the work. Aard is effective at interrupting their slower wind-up attacks.

After the Golem is dead, loot the area thoroughly:

• A chest to the south of the main chamber
• Two chests to the west
• A final chest to the northeast

Aard-Breakable Wall and Extra Chests

Return to the stairs and head south. Look for a cracked section of wall — use Aard to blast through it. This reveals a hidden chamber beyond. At the southern end of this hidden chamber is another chest. In a small alcove to the southeast you will find two more chests. The loot here is random but consistently includes crafting ingredients, gear, and sometimes diagrams.

Once you have cleared every chest, you have gotten everything this area has to offer.

Step 5 — Exit the Elven Ruins

Backtrack to where Keira is waiting near the sepulcher room. She will want to leave now that she has the lamp. Follow her back south through the dungeon to the exit passage.

Use the Eye of Nehaleni (obtained during Wandering in the Dark) to dispel any illusionary walls blocking the exit path. Interact with wavering or shimm mering sections of wall and the Eye automatically reveals the passage behind them.

Once you step outside the ruins, the quest completes. You earn 100 XP. Keira thanks Geralt and tells him to come visit her at her hut whenever he gets the chance. This triggers the next quest in her chain — An Invitation from Keira Metz.

What the Magic Lamp Unlocks — Keira’s Full Questline

The Magic Lamp is not a standalone quest. It is the bridge into one of Witcher 3’s best side character storylines. Here is the full chain it unlocks:

• An Invitation from Keira Metz — Keira asks Geralt to visit her hut. She reveals she has been using the lamp to speak with a spirit. She then asks Geralt to investigate the haunted tower on Fyke Isle.
• A Towerful of Mice — Geralt takes the Magic Lamp to Fyke Isle and uses it to see and speak with the ghosts of everyone who died in the tower. The lamp is essential for solving the mystery of what happened there.
• A Favour for a Friend — A lighter errand quest in Keira’s chain.
• For the Advancement of Learning — The morally significant conclusion to Keira’s questline, where Geralt must make a major choice about what she plans to do with information she has gathered.

If you declined to help Keira find the lamp, she still ends up with it through other means — but she is notably colder to Geralt in subsequent interactions. You also lose the 100 XP, all the hidden treasure from the dungeon, and the satisfaction of a cleanly completed quest chain.

For a full overview of all quests and the recommended order to do them, see our Witcher 3: All Quests in Order guide. And for a detailed look at another Velen secondary quest with a twist ending, our Wild at Heart quest walkthrough covers everything you need.

Tips and Things to Know

• Do not try to memorise the statues by position alone. The riddle uses ordinal logic — first, second, third, fourth — referring to the order of lighting, not the physical position of the statues. The solution is 3-2-4-1 in terms of physical position (right of door, left of door, far right, far left).
• If wraiths spawn, let them come to your Yrden trap. They have limited HP and die quickly. The braziers reset after combat so you can try the correct order again from the start.
• Do not follow Keira straight to the exit after getting the lamp. The Place of Power and Golem loot are easy to miss. The game will not warn you. Explore west and northwest from the sepulcher room before heading out.
• The Golem can be skipped if your gear is too weak at level 6. You can come back later — the dungeon entrance stays accessible. However, the Hidden Treasure event will still show as incomplete on your map. It is worth clearing while you are already inside.
• Pick up the Sage’s Notes. They provide important lore context for A Towerful of Mice and explain exactly what the lamp does. Players who skip them sometimes feel lost during the next quest when Geralt uses the lamp without fully understanding its function.
• The Magic Lamp goes to Keira, not Geralt. You do not keep it in your inventory. Keira holds it and uses it in subsequent quests. When you go to Fyke Isle in A Towerful of Mice, she provides it for that quest’s use.

Frequently Asked Questions