Bard's Ballad preset

Just the Story

CDPR's Remastered notes name Just the Story as the easy-story difficulty. That is the rung to pick if you want the campaign and the conversations more than the sword timing. It is also the rung Bard's Ballad can attach to. If you came from a 2015 install, do not assume every old difficulty label is still printed in this build's notes — only Just the Story is named in the Remastered article.

Steam's product page still says difficulty is adjustable. That confirms a scale exists; it does not republish a full list of rungs. This page therefore does not fill Death March or other community names into a fake table. If a future first-party settings dump names more rungs, they belong here. Until then, pick Just the Story when you want the story-first setting, or leave the default you are given and add Bard's Ballad from Accessibility instead.

Difficulty is one of the four first-hour checks. Change it before a long ride, then make a manual save. Accessibility options can be flipped later without renaming the difficulty rung. If you imported a save, remember that settings reset with the skill tree; re-check Accessibility after the upgrade rather than assuming 2022 values survived. A story-first player can sit on Just the Story for the whole base Path and both included expansions; Remastered notes do not force a later rung after White Orchard.

Bard's Ballad preset and the seven options

Enable Bard's Ballad on Just the Story or from Settings → Accessibility to reduce cognitive load. Each option below can also be understood on its own. None of them change the plot. They change how much bookkeeping the Path asks of you: air, weight, gear wear, boat wear, vitality, sailing speed, and whether Witcher Sense is a hold or a toggle. Use the full preset if you want every simplification at once. Use a single option if you only want toggle Witcher Sense or ignore weight. The menu path is the same for every row: Settings, then Accessibility.

When to use the preset, and when to pick options

Use the full Bard's Ballad preset if you want the story-first rung and you do not want to decide each toggle. Use single options if you only hate boat repairs, or only want Witcher Sense as a toggle, or only want to ignore weight while still tracking vitality. Unlimited item durability removes the repair loop; leave it off if you like visiting craftsmen.

Infinite Breath is the diving option. Faster Boats and Unlimited Boat Durability are the sailing pair — Skellige becomes less of a maintenance task with both on. Vitality Regeneration Boost is the combat cushion: you still choose a difficulty, but recovery is kinder. None of these are cheat codes published with numbers; CDPR describes them as accessibility simplifications.

Advice: turn the preset on for a first new-game session if you have never finished the campaign, then disable individual options later if you miss a system. Create a manual save before you do that, same as the First hours checklist. Combat difficulty after the skill reset is a different lever — the tree and camera changes live on Skills and combat, not in this menu.

Imported saves reset settings with the skill tree, so Bard's Ballad and Just the Story do not carry over from 2022 automatically. Re-open Accessibility after the upgrade. If you only wanted toggle Witcher Sense, you do not need the full preset. If you wanted the story-first rung and less bookkeeping, enable Bard's Ballad once, ride, then peel options off after a manual save. That is the whole difficulty job for Remastered as named in the notes.

Frequently asked questions