Custom SpecialI know I am, I'm sure I am,I'm Sounders 'til I die!Registered Userregular
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
I think points in quick attack are probably valuable for any Witcher build, but other than that, I think it might be wise to decide between a focus on the signs tree or the combat tree(alchemy is supposedly a bit more advanced). I think having a focus will go well with having a specific set of witcher gear, and with some of the support skills that give benefits for having more pieces of light/medium/heavy armor.
PSN: Kurahoshi1
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Custom SpecialI know I am, I'm sure I am,I'm Sounders 'til I die!Registered Userregular
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
I think points in quick attack are probably valuable for any Witcher build, but other than that, I think it might be wise to decide between a focus on the signs tree or the combat tree(alchemy is supposedly a bit more advanced). I think having a focus will go well with having a specific set of witcher gear, and with some of the support skills that give benefits for having more pieces of light/medium/heavy armor.
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
Check your beastiary. It has very useful information.
Quen is a shield sign that protects you. Very handy while you learn the combat system.
Be prepared to change strategies. Every enemy has certain strengths and weaknesses. You'll need to make sure you've got something for everyone
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
Don't worry about character points yet. They are marginal in total effectiveness until you get to a point where you've decided on your play style. Alchemy points (green) won't be useful until you've made a slate of potions and oils... Which needs recipes. Additionally you can only use a certain number of skills at a time as you level up.
For the mechanics of play the biggest thing in the game is learning how to dodge. There are two types, quick/step and roll. A step dodge is ideal against most small monsters and humans because their attack animations are "thin" and because this leaves you close enough to follow up attack. Roll dodges are ideal against big monsters because you will probably still end up close enough to follow up attack.
In general the flow of combat will be counter based. If you attack an enemy who is idle they're highly likely to counter or block your attacks. So you have to either bait them to attack (which you then counter or dodge) and then hit them. Or you use a bomb or you use a sign.
Some monsters can be blocked or countered, but most cannot. Humans with two handed weapons can not be blocked or countered.
After that is all timing. When to dodge and when to follow up attack. (Some monsters require a pause between)
When you first start out quen is your friend. It will absorb one hit fully regardless of the damage the hit does. After which it needs to be reapplied. As you level up and attain better armor and also get better at the game this will be less necessary.
Most important part of the potions/bombs/etc is that designing them might take lot of resources, but Refreshing them all only take single bottle of booze (total) .
I prefer to think that the Booze is for Geralt.
Honestly, keep a decent stamina regen and Quen handy, and keep a finger on the short hop button, and nothing in the game should give you much pause until the postgame content. You'll probably actually stop needing Quen much soon enough, but just saying, you can actually straight up facetank a lot of the game with nothing but keeping Quen up.
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I know a lot of folks poo poo Aard, but don't discount it entirely. It is really great to knock people back and give you some breathing room, and you'll more than likely knock a couple people down, giving you a one shot kill on them.
I short dodge all the time, but I still find quen useful for all the enemies that seem to automatically get a hit in after I do, like wolves. Maybe I could cc them, but I haven't been able to figure out how to avoid their counter attack.
What I think I'm doing, is dodging the wolf as it lunges right passed me, then immediately hitting quick attack, and the wolf somehow manages to turn around and attack me right after. The wraiths at least have more predictable combos where I can predict a break in the attack.
Just picked up Complete for half off on xbox, played a couple hours last night and killed a ghost lady, some drowners, and a roaming wolf from a pack.
Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
I think points in quick attack are probably valuable for any Witcher build, but other than that, I think it might be wise to decide between a focus on the signs tree or the combat tree(alchemy is supposedly a bit more advanced). I think having a focus will go well with having a specific set of witcher gear, and with some of the support skills that give benefits for having more pieces of light/medium/heavy armor.
Mhm.
Mhm.
Yep.
I know some of these words.
For basics, other's have great advice here:
1) Quen is your friend. Each sign has an "alternate mode" that you can cast by holding the casting button down longer. Single use quen gives you a shield that will stay on you for a while and basically give you a free hit from an enemy (super useful against creatures that hit hard). It's alternate will form a bubble around you, when enemies hit you they give you health until the bubble bursts. Very useful on higher difficulties.
2) Learn to dodge and ESPECIALLY learn to fast dodge. Think of Geralt as a little bit of a glass cannon and keep him out of harm's way. Even simple monsters can really mess you up if you're not careful. One of the games' strengths is different monsters fight in different ways, but slow or fast dodges (the big dive or the sidestep) are critical to any witcher, I don't care what difficulty or how long you've played the game.
3) You can go wrong with quick attack points in a character build.
4) Pay attention to the alchemy portion of the game, even if you're not going on an alchemy heavy build. The game gives clues (audio and otherwise) about the types of opponents in an area. Those opponents are described in the bestiary, with suggestions for what they're weak to listed. Using the right oil on your sword is VERY helpful.
Basically, I think the game rewards deliberate play. If you spam the attack keys you're going to die a lot. If you learn to dodge (I don't do much parrying) and counter hit, keep an eye out for what type of enemy you're fighting and use the right oils, and develop a healthy relationship with quen, that's probably enough to help you stay on your feet until you get a better feel for how you want to play the game.
One particular piece of advice that I don't hear often:
Regardless of how you build your character or what your focus is, build Northern Wind bombs and upgrade it every time you get a new recipe. Northern Wind will save your ass more than any other bomb, spell, or technique in the game. It is an "I am screwed, help me" button for the surest emergencies.
In Act 2, I'm at level 25, with very few appropriately leveled quests in the open world left to do. I even finished off all of the witcher contracts (up to level 35). Do I just plod on with the storyline now? Will there be more sidequests to do for me to level?
Second question, I was playing on normal, then moved to Blood and Bones because it was far too easy. Now, I think Blood and Bones might be a little too easy. Between Quen, Fleet Footed fast dodge, Ekkimara decoction and Archgriffin decoction, I find that nothing really even touches me anymore. How much harder is Death March?
so i picked up the GOTY edition with the recent Steam sale. is it supposed to be fairly hard to level? i'm having trouble even grinding out levels. i'm hitting as many of the question marks as i can and doing the quests that aren't far outside my level.
One particular piece of advice that I don't hear often:
Regardless of how you build your character or what your focus is, build Northern Wind bombs and upgrade it every time you get a new recipe. Northern Wind will save your ass more than any other bomb, spell, or technique in the game. It is an "I am screwed, help me" button for the surest emergencies.
As perhaps a note about choice in this game, I do not think I ever used a northern wind bomb, ever
So, keep in mind with all this advise that there is no one true build and do what you think is fun and works
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Just remember there's no wrong choice
Except for
Relationship spoilers
If you pick Triss over Yen you're crazy
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I think this has been what made this game great for me. With Bioware games you really have to pick a side. You either go full Paragon or full Renegade, and I feel massive guilt and anxiety over deviating, because they so often affect your ending. Here, I'm coming in fresh without this background of binary light/dark, and I can just make the choices that feel natural to me in the moment. It's honestly just very freeing to be able to play an RPG without obsessing over maxing out your choices for a specific ending.
One particular piece of advice that I don't hear often:
Regardless of how you build your character or what your focus is, build Northern Wind bombs and upgrade it every time you get a new recipe. Northern Wind will save your ass more than any other bomb, spell, or technique in the game. It is an "I am screwed, help me" button for the surest emergencies.
As perhaps a note about choice in this game, I do not think I ever used a northern wind bomb, ever
I remember when the game first came out there was a bug that could prevent acquisition of the base Northern Wind recipe (along with some other base recipes), so I was continuously taunted by my Enhanced and Superior Northern Wind recipes that I could never craft.
Once they patched that issue out and I got to use it the first time: 'twas love at first sight.
Soooo I guess I beat the game. I completed the main quest, Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine, and then I uninstalled it, so that's about as close to done as it's gonna get, I guess. I liked Blood and Wine a lot: I think maybe the reveal of the villain came a little late and we didn't get quite enough time to develop that whole thing, but I liked the choice near the end:
Go talk to the old strong vampire or go get whatsherface out of jail. I picked the latter and it was this huge quest in a fantasy land and so on and I'm really curious what the other choice would have looked like. I wonder if I had chosen it, if whatsherface would've been even more underdeveloped as a villain/character/etc. Dunno.
All in all I had a lot of fun - huge long RPGs are not really my jam, but I've been with the Witcher series since the first and I've always liked it so I wanted to keep on keepin' on, so to speak. The treasure hunts to upgrade my Feline armor were fun - watching it get progressively more filled out until finally I had a goofy hood was cool. I don't agree with the sentiment I've see n in a few places that The Witcher 3 is amazing because every side quest is interesting: a lot of them honestly just boiled down to "oh there's a noonwraith killing people, I wonder what's up, oh it turned out it was a woman some dude raped to death twice, anyways noonwraith's dead, give me my 250 coin plus the extra 14 I was able to negotiate for." But certainly a much higher proportion of them were interesting than in your typical game, and even the boring ones still had great voice acting for the quest giver, took place in gorgeous locations, etc. The crafting also walked a very good line between "just craft everything" and "it's a pain to get the shit to craft with." Replenishing everything with just one alcohol when you rest seemed kind of lenient, but I'll take the convenient system over Witcher 2's clusterfuck any day. Certainly I used oils and potions much more in this game than in the previous two games, so a system that accomplishes that is a win in my book.
I did have some issues with the main quest, specifically some weird plot stuff that didn't make a ton of sense to me:
How exactly did I know I was supposed to go grab Uma? How and when did Avellach get transformed into Uma?
There were some others but I forgot them. The end was also pretty anticlimactic, especially after all that buildup (two games's worth, really!).
avalloch was transforming the entire time. Ciri was trying to reverse it. He completes the transformation right after dumping Ciri on the isle. You know to pick him up because a creature matching his description is seen coming back on the boat that went out.
avalloch was transforming the entire time. Ciri was trying to reverse it. He completes the transformation right after dumping Ciri on the isle. You know to pick him up because a creature matching his description is seen coming back on the boat that went out.
Ah, that sort of makes sense. How did I know the creature was seen, though? Who told me that?
avalloch was transforming the entire time. Ciri was trying to reverse it. He completes the transformation right after dumping Ciri on the isle. You know to pick him up because a creature matching his description is seen coming back on the boat that went out.
Ah, that sort of makes sense. How did I know the creature was seen, though? Who told me that?
The dead guy in Skellige saw him return on the boat. If you finish Skellige before the Baron's section, you even get a line that indicates you know who he is, but think he's safer with the Baron's men for the time being.
avalloch was transforming the entire time. Ciri was trying to reverse it. He completes the transformation right after dumping Ciri on the isle. You know to pick him up because a creature matching his description is seen coming back on the boat that went out.
Ah, that sort of makes sense. How did I know the creature was seen, though? Who told me that?
The corpse that Yennefer "resurrects" tells you. It's just that we witness it as a cutscene, rather than the corpse literally telling us about Uma/Avalloch.
Welp, got the Complete Edition on sale for thirty bucks on PSN. I didn't even get halfway through Witcher II, but y'all keep raving about this one.
Didn't need free time anyway.
i convinced my father in law to pick up the PC GOTY edition during the sales this weekend, and i've been playing this myself frequently. it's a quality game. who needs free time :P
So are there known talent glitches? I spent my first two skill points on the increased inventory max weight and the permanent place of power bonus trait, and neither seems to do anything at all.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
So are there known talent glitches? I spent my first two skill points on the increased inventory max weight and the permanent place of power bonus trait, and neither seems to do anything at all.
Did you put them into slots?
Once you unlock skills/talents/whatever you have to put them into available slots. Early on you only have a couple of slots available and more open up as you level up.
I believe some stay active regardless but I don't recall which ones.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
So are there known talent glitches? I spent my first two skill points on the increased inventory max weight and the permanent place of power bonus trait, and neither seems to do anything at all.
Did you put them into slots?
Once you unlock skills/talents/whatever you have to put them into available slots. Early on you only have a couple of slots available and more open up as you level up.
I believe some stay active regardless but I don't recall which ones.
The game was not very good at explaining the slots. So I can only have active skills equal to my mutagen slots?
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
So are there known talent glitches? I spent my first two skill points on the increased inventory max weight and the permanent place of power bonus trait, and neither seems to do anything at all.
Did you put them into slots?
Once you unlock skills/talents/whatever you have to put them into available slots. Early on you only have a couple of slots available and more open up as you level up.
I believe some stay active regardless but I don't recall which ones.
The game was not very good at explaining the slots. So I can only have active skills equal to my mutagen slots?
Yes. So 12 active enhancements, or 15 with the expansion.
And they're color coded, so you should try and put red with red, blue with blue, green with green, and add mutagens to the proper color so you get the biggest boost.
So are there known talent glitches? I spent my first two skill points on the increased inventory max weight and the permanent place of power bonus trait, and neither seems to do anything at all.
Did you put them into slots?
Once you unlock skills/talents/whatever you have to put them into available slots. Early on you only have a couple of slots available and more open up as you level up.
I believe some stay active regardless but I don't recall which ones.
The game was not very good at explaining the slots. So I can only have active skills equal to my mutagen slots?
Yes. So 12 active enhancements, or 15 with the expansion.
And they're color coded, so you should try and put red with red, blue with blue, green with green, and add mutagens to the proper color so you get the biggest boost.
I have three mutagens, and they're all green. And, honestly, fuck alchemy; it's situational bullshit compared to learning how to hit things with my sword or carrying more phat 10otZ.
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Still really need to get used to how the combat flows and enemy tells. Any tips on combat or general gameplay as I get started (my first Witcher)?
The level up abilities seem a little obtuse as well, should I focus on anything? I got one point into quick attack and one general talent which is equipped along with a mutagen.
I think points in quick attack are probably valuable for any Witcher build, but other than that, I think it might be wise to decide between a focus on the signs tree or the combat tree(alchemy is supposedly a bit more advanced). I think having a focus will go well with having a specific set of witcher gear, and with some of the support skills that give benefits for having more pieces of light/medium/heavy armor.
Mhm.
Mhm.
Yep.
I know some of these words.
Check your beastiary. It has very useful information.
Quen is a shield sign that protects you. Very handy while you learn the combat system.
Be prepared to change strategies. Every enemy has certain strengths and weaknesses. You'll need to make sure you've got something for everyone
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Don't worry about character points yet. They are marginal in total effectiveness until you get to a point where you've decided on your play style. Alchemy points (green) won't be useful until you've made a slate of potions and oils... Which needs recipes. Additionally you can only use a certain number of skills at a time as you level up.
For the mechanics of play the biggest thing in the game is learning how to dodge. There are two types, quick/step and roll. A step dodge is ideal against most small monsters and humans because their attack animations are "thin" and because this leaves you close enough to follow up attack. Roll dodges are ideal against big monsters because you will probably still end up close enough to follow up attack.
In general the flow of combat will be counter based. If you attack an enemy who is idle they're highly likely to counter or block your attacks. So you have to either bait them to attack (which you then counter or dodge) and then hit them. Or you use a bomb or you use a sign.
Some monsters can be blocked or countered, but most cannot. Humans with two handed weapons can not be blocked or countered.
After that is all timing. When to dodge and when to follow up attack. (Some monsters require a pause between)
When you first start out quen is your friend. It will absorb one hit fully regardless of the damage the hit does. After which it needs to be reapplied. As you level up and attain better armor and also get better at the game this will be less necessary.
Use the short dodge, not the long roll, for most dodging.
Use bombs, especially blinding bombs and freezing bombs. The damage ones kind of suck unless you spec into bombs.
The regeneration talent is pretty handy early on.
If combat clicks for you, bump up the difficulty to Blood and Broken Bones. I think that's the game's sweet spot.
I prefer to think that the Booze is for Geralt.
Or I go full Igni, but the really fun stuff for that is post-game.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
End game Aard is literally an "I win" button if you've got the DLC.
Same goes for those wraiths with the lanterns. Just keep dodging 'til their done.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
For basics, other's have great advice here:
1) Quen is your friend. Each sign has an "alternate mode" that you can cast by holding the casting button down longer. Single use quen gives you a shield that will stay on you for a while and basically give you a free hit from an enemy (super useful against creatures that hit hard). It's alternate will form a bubble around you, when enemies hit you they give you health until the bubble bursts. Very useful on higher difficulties.
2) Learn to dodge and ESPECIALLY learn to fast dodge. Think of Geralt as a little bit of a glass cannon and keep him out of harm's way. Even simple monsters can really mess you up if you're not careful. One of the games' strengths is different monsters fight in different ways, but slow or fast dodges (the big dive or the sidestep) are critical to any witcher, I don't care what difficulty or how long you've played the game.
3) You can go wrong with quick attack points in a character build.
4) Pay attention to the alchemy portion of the game, even if you're not going on an alchemy heavy build. The game gives clues (audio and otherwise) about the types of opponents in an area. Those opponents are described in the bestiary, with suggestions for what they're weak to listed. Using the right oil on your sword is VERY helpful.
Basically, I think the game rewards deliberate play. If you spam the attack keys you're going to die a lot. If you learn to dodge (I don't do much parrying) and counter hit, keep an eye out for what type of enemy you're fighting and use the right oils, and develop a healthy relationship with quen, that's probably enough to help you stay on your feet until you get a better feel for how you want to play the game.
Regardless of how you build your character or what your focus is, build Northern Wind bombs and upgrade it every time you get a new recipe. Northern Wind will save your ass more than any other bomb, spell, or technique in the game. It is an "I am screwed, help me" button for the surest emergencies.
In Act 2, I'm at level 25, with very few appropriately leveled quests in the open world left to do. I even finished off all of the witcher contracts (up to level 35). Do I just plod on with the storyline now? Will there be more sidequests to do for me to level?
Second question, I was playing on normal, then moved to Blood and Bones because it was far too easy. Now, I think Blood and Bones might be a little too easy. Between Quen, Fleet Footed fast dodge, Ekkimara decoction and Archgriffin decoction, I find that nothing really even touches me anymore. How much harder is Death March?
BURN EVERYTHING!!!
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
Right now I don't really need more digital craaaaack....
--Mark Twain
As perhaps a note about choice in this game, I do not think I ever used a northern wind bomb, ever
So, keep in mind with all this advise that there is no one true build and do what you think is fun and works
Except for
Relationship spoilers
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I think this has been what made this game great for me. With Bioware games you really have to pick a side. You either go full Paragon or full Renegade, and I feel massive guilt and anxiety over deviating, because they so often affect your ending. Here, I'm coming in fresh without this background of binary light/dark, and I can just make the choices that feel natural to me in the moment. It's honestly just very freeing to be able to play an RPG without obsessing over maxing out your choices for a specific ending.
I remember when the game first came out there was a bug that could prevent acquisition of the base Northern Wind recipe (along with some other base recipes), so I was continuously taunted by my Enhanced and Superior Northern Wind recipes that I could never craft.
Once they patched that issue out and I got to use it the first time: 'twas love at first sight.
All in all I had a lot of fun - huge long RPGs are not really my jam, but I've been with the Witcher series since the first and I've always liked it so I wanted to keep on keepin' on, so to speak. The treasure hunts to upgrade my Feline armor were fun - watching it get progressively more filled out until finally I had a goofy hood was cool. I don't agree with the sentiment I've see n in a few places that The Witcher 3 is amazing because every side quest is interesting: a lot of them honestly just boiled down to "oh there's a noonwraith killing people, I wonder what's up, oh it turned out it was a woman some dude raped to death twice, anyways noonwraith's dead, give me my 250 coin plus the extra 14 I was able to negotiate for." But certainly a much higher proportion of them were interesting than in your typical game, and even the boring ones still had great voice acting for the quest giver, took place in gorgeous locations, etc. The crafting also walked a very good line between "just craft everything" and "it's a pain to get the shit to craft with." Replenishing everything with just one alcohol when you rest seemed kind of lenient, but I'll take the convenient system over Witcher 2's clusterfuck any day. Certainly I used oils and potions much more in this game than in the previous two games, so a system that accomplishes that is a win in my book.
I did have some issues with the main quest, specifically some weird plot stuff that didn't make a ton of sense to me:
There were some others but I forgot them. The end was also pretty anticlimactic, especially after all that buildup (two games's worth, really!).
Didn't need free time anyway.
i convinced my father in law to pick up the PC GOTY edition during the sales this weekend, and i've been playing this myself frequently. it's a quality game. who needs free time :P
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
Did you put them into slots?
Once you unlock skills/talents/whatever you have to put them into available slots. Early on you only have a couple of slots available and more open up as you level up.
I believe some stay active regardless but I don't recall which ones.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
The game was not very good at explaining the slots. So I can only have active skills equal to my mutagen slots?
Yes. So 12 active enhancements, or 15 with the expansion.
And they're color coded, so you should try and put red with red, blue with blue, green with green, and add mutagens to the proper color so you get the biggest boost.
I have three mutagens, and they're all green. And, honestly, fuck alchemy; it's situational bullshit compared to learning how to hit things with my sword or carrying more phat 10otZ.