When CD Projekt Red released the Next-Gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, many fans assumed the game had reached its final, definitive form. However, for the dedicated modding community, there is always more work to be done. Standing at the pinnacle of these efforts is Brothers in Arms (BiA), an exhaustive bug-fix and restoration project that has become an essential “must-have” for any playthrough.
Unlike mods that overhaul graphics or fundamentally change combat mechanics, Brothers in Arms is a labor of love dedicated to preservation and polish. It aims to fix what was broken, finish what was left incomplete, and restore the internal logic of Geralt’s world.
What is Brothers in Arms?
Developed by a collaborative team of modders—including prominent figures like PaulR0013—Brothers in Arms is described as the “Ultimate Bug Fix and Restored Content Collection.” It is a massive compilation that addresses thousands of issues ranging from minor visual glitches to broken quest scripts that have persisted since the game’s launch in 2015.
The mod is built on a philosophy of Developer Intent. The creators don’t seek to turn The Witcher 3 into a different game; instead, they ask: “What did CD Projekt Red intend for this scene, quest, or character before time and budget constraints got in the way?”
The Four Pillars of the Mod
To understand the scale of Brothers in Arms, it helps to look at the different categories of improvements it brings to the Continent.
1. Quest and Script Fixes
Even in the official “Complete Edition,” several quests contain logic loops or “dead ends” where a character might mention an event that never happened, or a quest fails to trigger correctly.
- Consistency: BiA ensures that dialogue accurately reflects your previous choices. For example, if you meet a character in Novigrad whom you’ve already encountered in Skellige, the mod ensures the dialogue acknowledges that prior meeting.
- Fail-Safes: It fixes “soft locks” in complex quest chains, ensuring that NPCs move to their required locations and items spawn when they should.
2. Restored Content
This is perhaps the most exciting aspect of the mod. Hidden within the game’s files are thousands of lines of voiced dialogue and fully animated scenes that were “cut” or disabled in the final release.
- Enriched Conversations: Many conversations now feature extra lines of dialogue that provide deeper lore or more flavor to Geralt’s relationships with Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri.
- The “Brother in Arms” Quest: The mod’s namesake quest—gathering allies for the Battle of Kaer Morhen—receives significant attention. The mod restores interactions and small details that make the gathering of heroes feel more momentous and reactive to your choices.
3. Visual and World Realism
The mod fixes countless “immersion breakers” found in the environment.
- NPC Behavior: You might notice NPCs now have better schedules or use items they were previously holding incorrectly.
- Environment: Floating objects, misaligned textures, and “bleeding” geometry in major hubs like Beauclair or Novigrad have been meticulously realigned.
- Armor and Weapons: It fixes clipping issues with Geralt’s Witcher Gear, ensuring that scabbards and capes behave more naturally during movement.
4. Gameplay Balancing (Bug-Centric)
While it isn’t a “combat mod,” it does fix broken mechanics. Many skills in the character tree were mathematically bugged, either providing no bonus at all or scaling incorrectly. BiA ensures that every point you spend in the skill tree functions exactly as the tooltip describes.
Why It Matters for the “Next-Gen” Era
With the release of the 4.0 (Next-Gen) update, CDPR actually integrated several popular community mods into the base game. However, Brothers in Arms remains relevant because its scope is far more granular than what a developer can typically prioritize for a free update.
The BiA team has worked tirelessly to ensure compatibility with the Next-Gen version, including the new ray-tracing features and the “In the Eternal Fire’s Shadow” quest. For players on PC, running BiA alongside the official update results in the most stable and narratively cohesive version of Geralt’s journey ever produced.
Installation and Compatibility
One of the greatest strengths of Brothers in Arms is how well it plays with others. Because it focuses on fixes rather than overhauls, it serves as a “base layer” for your mod list.
- The Witcher 3 Mod Manager: It is highly recommended to use a manager and Script Merger. Since BiA touches many files, Script Merger is essential to resolve conflicts with other mods you might be using, such as HD Reworked or combat overhauls.
- Ghost Mode / Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition: BiA has specific patches or versions designed to work with these massive “total overhaul” mods, making it a versatile tool for any type of player.
If you are a first-time player, Brothers in Arms ensures your experience is as smooth as possible, preventing the frustration of a broken quest. If you are a returning veteran, the restored content provides enough “new” dialogue and scenes to make a familiar story feel fresh again.
