I've just begun the first chapter of the game, but I find myself… lacking. I stabbed something big and mean with my Silver Sword as part of the Prologue, and now I'm stuck in a catch-22.
As a Witcher, most of my income comes from killing nasty things – and most of those nasty things die much faster when hit with a silver sword. However, I am short a key ingredient to forge a new one. I have no silver ore. The shopkeeper will sell me some, for ~200 orens a pop (I have around 150 currently), or I can go find some. The Witcher Wikia notes that "some bandits" carry some, but isn't specific at all about how to encounter these bandits.
What's the fastest way to get enough money to buy the ore, or what's the fastest way to acquire the ore without having to kill monsters?
Best Answer
By far the easiest way to earn small amounts of money is fistfighting. You can do that in Flotsam in the basement of the tavern, and you'll earn 20 orens per fight, a bit less for the first two or three. Fistfighting itself is a very easy minigame, just some quicktime events.
The mysterious merchant at the docks also sells a relatively cheap silver sword, I think it was around 200 - 250 orens. That would be an alternative to the crafted sword.