I didn't give the necromantic scroll to the mage in chapter 2. Talked about it with the smith in chapter 3 and he told me how to open a secret portal - it's near Roche's spot, in fact just go through the door near Numa's spot (armwrestler). I get teleported to an area with a puzzle and then an entity called Operator. This entity can reset my skills but I don't want that - I want to kill it (yea, saw on google it drops something veeeery nice;)).

I cannot kill it. I really really really cannot kill it. Maybe I'll drop the difficulty from normal to easy later, but this is the hardest fight I've had in the game so far. I use my standard magic path combo: level 3 Quen, then level 3 Aard, hit, hit and hit as much as possible and then cast 4th sign when available. Drinking swallow and tawny owl prior to the fight doesn't make it easier, seriously. Block doesn't help against this magician, I do endure for a minute or two, and then he summons gargoyles and I'm history. :(

His health and shield are connected to the gargoyles. You have to kill both, and then you can damage him… until he summons two more.:)

It's one of the most ridiculously hard battles I've ever seen in a crpg. I played the entire game on hard, but I finally gave up and put the difficulty down to easy just for that fight, and it was still a bitch.

I'll be honest though.. it's not really worth it. In fact, after I finally beat him, I decided to reload and chose not to fight him. That just felt like the more proper decision to me.

scales are in Philipa's quarters

My steel sword was Caerme, which I had crafted. I had two silver swords that were about equal, but I'm not going to attempt to spell their names. One I found near the start of Chapter 3, guarded by 2 Arachas (+25 vs large monsters and Gargoyles ), and the other I found later in a chest that was opened by solving a runic puzzle (bonus vs Wraiths and several effect bonuses.)

Caerme is a steel sword. ;) And I had all those you did at the end of the game, plus two silver swords more. One that needs dragon scales is Zerrikanterment silver sword and you can buy it's diagram for 500 orens from the smith. Another is available from the smith at the "circus" and doesn't have to be crafted. It's Gynvael Aedd and I bought it because of it's unbelievable bonus of +1004% against necrophages. What I didn't know then, but I know today, it was a silly investment. Problem is… There are no necrophages in chapter 3. :( But because of the Wild Hunt, I thought maybe there will be some.