Those guards didn't seem that effective, though. A giant monster like the kayran is going to be a super rare thing, okay, but there were endregas like five feet past the outer wall, and a nekker-infested cave a stone's throw from the docks. They may be able to fend off monsters in combat, but do they know how to prevent more of them or reduce their numbers or make roads safe for travel or anything?
Let it be known that Insane Geralt died to a lone Drowner beneath La Valette Castle.
I like to think that this means Foltest just had his kids brought to him from the Solar eventually, the assassination plot was exposed, the Northern Kingdoms never fell into disarray, and the Lodge successfully created a nation under its control and repelled the Nilfgaardian invasion.
So, potions. Anyone use any potions other than Swallow/Wolf/Rook/Tawny Owl? These are the only potions I ever use. I remember using Petri's Philtre once, but that's about it. The rest of the potions have certain drawbacks, so I never found them worthwhile.
I usually take White Rafford's with Swallow and Mongoose when fighting the kayran (since, at least on hard, you need it to survive more than 1-2 hits if you fudge up) and if you focus on alchemy, there is a talent which reduces the side effects to almost nothing.
Yeah, Cat was a bit garish and annoying to use, but it let you see people's circulatory systems, and is therefore awesome regardless of utility.
Funnily enough, it also let you see the circulatory systems of necrophages. Which are supposed to be undead zombie things. Unless they consume people for substitute blood, like vampires.
Also, spoilers for both games with question for those who read the books:
What is the status of witchers now? Kaer Morhen had like, three other witchers after Leo's and Berengar's deaths, excluding Geralt. Assuming they're all Wolf School, how many other Wolf witchers are there? Do they have a leader, or a training grounds aside from Kaer Morhen (which sounded pretty important by the mutagen theft)? The wiki mentions Cat and Griffin schools, but only referenced in one graphic novel. Is there a different school per region, like Viper in Nilfgaard and Wolf in the north?
You'd think with so many goddamn monsters everywhere there'd be high demand.
The impression I got from reading The Last Wish was that civilization was marching in at an inevitable, unstoppable pace, and there are fewer and fewer monsters as a result. I felt that witchers and monsters were viewed wistfully as quaint - if dangerous - relics of the past. Definitely not the vibe that you get from both games, where nests of drowners and nekkers are plentiful and the whole countryside is teeming with them.
Yeah, Cat was a bit garish and annoying to use, but it let you see people's circulatory systems, and is therefore awesome regardless of utility.
Funnily enough, it also let you see the circulatory systems of necrophages. Which are supposed to be undead zombie things. Unless they consume people for substitute blood, like vampires.
Also, spoilers for both games with question for those who read the books:
What is the status of witchers now? Kaer Morhen had like, three other witchers after Leo's and Berengar's deaths, excluding Geralt. Assuming they're all Wolf School, how many other Wolf witchers are there? Do they have a leader, or a training grounds aside from Kaer Morhen (which sounded pretty important by the mutagen theft)? The wiki mentions Cat and Griffin schools, but only referenced in one graphic novel. Is there a different school per region, like Viper in Nilfgaard and Wolf in the north?
You'd think with so many goddamn monsters everywhere there'd be high demand.
The impression I got from reading The Last Wish was that civilization was marching in at an inevitable, unstoppable pace, and there are fewer and fewer monsters as a result. I felt that witchers and monsters were viewed wistfully as quaint - if dangerous - relics of the past. Definitely not the vibe that you get from both games, where nests of drowners and nekkers are plentiful and the whole countryside is teeming with them.
Well, it might because, since the events of The Last Wish, Nilfgaard has attempted to conquer the north twice and both times the Northern Kingdoms only managing to drive off the armies of Emperor Emyhir, The White Flame Dancing on The Graves of His Foes, by the skins of thier teeth. Lots of progress was probably lost because of that, which is as good as reason as any that Geralt can find at least a couple of jobs wherever he goes...
I am at the part where I have to decide between going with Roche or going after Triss. I actually paused the game and sat for a while thinking. At first I wanted to go with Triss, because fuck politics. Then I remembered that no matter what I do everything ends up horribly wrong. Then I though...I am overthinking this...The Witcher has plenty of bitches, but only one Temeria. Besides Yennefer is way hotter.
Yeah, Cat was a bit garish and annoying to use, but it let you see people's circulatory systems, and is therefore awesome regardless of utility.
Funnily enough, it also let you see the circulatory systems of necrophages. Which are supposed to be undead zombie things. Unless they consume people for substitute blood, like vampires.
Also, spoilers for both games with question for those who read the books:
What is the status of witchers now? Kaer Morhen had like, three other witchers after Leo's and Berengar's deaths, excluding Geralt. Assuming they're all Wolf School, how many other Wolf witchers are there? Do they have a leader, or a training grounds aside from Kaer Morhen (which sounded pretty important by the mutagen theft)? The wiki mentions Cat and Griffin schools, but only referenced in one graphic novel. Is there a different school per region, like Viper in Nilfgaard and Wolf in the north?
You'd think with so many goddamn monsters everywhere there'd be high demand.
The impression I got from reading The Last Wish was that civilization was marching in at an inevitable, unstoppable pace, and there are fewer and fewer monsters as a result. I felt that witchers and monsters were viewed wistfully as quaint - if dangerous - relics of the past. Definitely not the vibe that you get from both games, where nests of drowners and nekkers are plentiful and the whole countryside is teeming with them.
Well
The Wolf school doesn't know how to do the mutations. Vesemir is the master of Kaer Morhen and he was just a fencing instructor before it was raided by a mob and killed almost all the witchers there. He doesn't know how to perform the Trial of Grasses and that's not exactly something you want to fuck up.
i dunno, if you save triss you manage to take out the entire nilfgaardian camp.
this has several effects:
1) council of mages gets reintroduced as a stabilizing force in the north - and given the quality of leadership there, they need all the "don't fucking go to war you dolt" advice they can get
2) shilard gets killed, preventing him from delivering the coup de grace to any semblance of northen unity when he pretty much turns everyone against each other
3) anais gets to go with roche, who i trust far more than radovid or any nobles.
curly haired boy on
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There is so much in Chapter 2 that feels unresolved also...
What the hell happened with Saskia? She killed a fucking dragon but isn't important enough to talk about again?
Also I found those magic scrolls, told Deathmold to fuck off, found a guy in Loc Muine to tell me about them and that is as far as I got.
This is what makes this game so wonderful in my eyes. YOU MUST REPLAY IT A SECOND TIME WITH A DIFFERENT PATH FROM WHAT YOU TOOK EARLIER TO GET THE FULL STORY.
Don't worry, Saskia plays a prominent role in the story. You just need to take Iorveth's.
As for the magic scroll you got from the hut, try visiting the sewers in Loc Muinne.
i'm doing iorveth's path right now. vergen started off really goddamn slow. zero urgency, even as events unfolded. none of the tension/anticipation that i felt in henselt's camp on roche's path. things are starting to pick up a bit, but it's still incredibly languid
i think the best analogy for overall atmosphere is that iorveth's chapter 2 feels very close to TW1's chapter 4. very idyllic and slower paced. roche's chapter 2 is more like TW1's chapter 5 - involved and urgent.
still, i'll finish it through. i have a feeling the end of iorveth's chapter 2 is going to be pretty epic. not sure if i really approve of the overall feel considering the context of events, though.
also, i met the invisible man!
curly haired boy on
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
i'm doing iorveth's path right now. vergen started off really goddamn slow. zero urgency, even as events unfolded. none of the tension/anticipation that i felt in henselt's camp on roche's path. things are starting to pick up a bit, but it's still incredibly languid
i think the best analogy for overall atmosphere is that iorveth's chapter 2 feels very close to TW1's chapter 4. very idyllic and slower paced. roche's chapter 2 is more like TW1's chapter 5 - involved and urgent.
still, i'll finish it through. i have a feeling the end of iorveth's chapter 2 is going to be pretty epic. not sure if i really approve of the overall feel considering the context of events, though.
also, i met the invisible man!
The Roche path is more urgent because 1) Henselt and his entire camp are practically itching for a war, but are delayed by the ghost-fog, 2) Henselt himself is going to die to the curse unless Geralt does something to uncouple him from it, and 3) Vergen really need not worry as long as the curse is in place. They are unaware that the mist might spread, and to them, the wraith mist = no war, and are content to sit around in place until it is lifted. Things ratchet up after the mist is lifted, and there are some frantic combat scenarios. And 4) none of what Geralt does in Vergen really affects the war effort, whereas what you do for Henselt has a direct impact (e.g. lifting the mist).
Also, I didn't care so much for Saskia's condition. She's an interesting character, but there was not enough set-up for me to care whether she lived or died. Also, you weren't faced with constant reminders of her condition (e.g. people complaining in the streets, or Vergen starting to fall apart) unlike at Henselt's camp, where walking out of the camp = deadly spreading mist. So I just went about doing side-quests as convenient and picking up ingredients as I pleased. There was no sense of urgency.
Were there any vampires in this game? I bought the book for Bruxae, but I've run down both Roche and Ivoreth's path and did not encounter a single one.
Were there any vampires in this game? I bought the book for Bruxae, but I've run down both Roche and Ivoreth's path and did not encounter a single one.
I believe there were 3 in a Roche chapter 2 sidequest. They had the model/appearance of Bruxae at least though the quest's plotline suggests they may have been ghosts.
This game has a distinct lack of monster varieties to kill. It's like the entire area between Flotsam-Vergen is filled with nekkers and harpies, and pockets of rotfiends.
and it's fairly idealistic as well, but i'm really curious now to see how my decisions turn out in witcher 3. i've gambled (this playthrough) on a free dragon and a free kingdom versus the world. those are pretty high stakes.
i think roche's path is definitely more cynical and witcher-like, though.
and despite going with iorveth this time to deal with philippa, i still think saving triss yourself is the better path. anything that has me fucking up nilfgaardians instead of letting them stir up more mischief is an objective plus
curly haired boy on
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
and it's fairly idealistic as well, but i'm really curious now to see how my decisions turn out in witcher 3. i've gambled (this playthrough) on a free dragon and a free kingdom versus the world. those are pretty high stakes.
i think roche's path is definitely more cynical and witcher-like, though.
and despite going with iorveth this time to deal with philippa, i still think saving triss yourself is the better path. anything that has me fucking up nilfgaardians instead of letting them stir up more mischief is an objective plus
Taking the Roche/Iorveth option instead of the 'save Triss' option in Chapter 3 means a stronger Redania-Temeria and a free dragon/stronger Upper Aedirn, respectively, but causes the kingdoms to start butchering magic-people. Saving Triss gives you exposition and lets you fuck up Nilfgaardian plans, and entrenches the wizards in royal courts. Either way, the Nilfgaardians still march, and the Northern kingdoms are always at each other's throats.
Seems like the best option for the North is to spare Henselt, let him and Redania split Temeria to have two strong bulwarks against Nilfgaard, and save Triss so that at least the Northern kingdoms get some magic advisors. But this also means allowing a little girl to be traumatised, and possibly leaving Saskia under mind control. Again not a nice option.
my personal view is that although sila and philippa and the rest of the rulers are fucking idiots, at least they're all northern idiots. and they know enough to come together when nilfgaard threatens. that's why letho was sent, and that's why shilard is so eager to pin the blame on the sorceresses.
also! made my first witcher 2 mod, testing it now.
curly haired boy on
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
and despite going with iorveth this time to deal with philippa, i still think saving triss yourself is the better path. anything that has me fucking up nilfgaardians instead of letting them stir up more mischief is an objective plus
I agree, but rather because after saving Triss and sparing Saskia (should you so choose), you come across Iorveth having nearly been killed by high magic, and can save him to get Phillipa's dagger and have Triss teleport him to Vergen to heal for several months. I haven't played any other path yet, but assume that the dagger is key to the whole thing. It's what I love about The Witcher- there's still a chance of freeing Saskia even after choosing first to save Triss (and Iorveth isn't helpless without you and even more determined than Geralt to have a free kingdom), and the game not only avoids arbitrarily denying that, but also leaves itself and you entirely open to pursuing that option. Theoretically, anyways, because who knows how expansions or TW3 will go, but just the fact that CDP covered that base makes me smug.
Love the way that entire path ended, really. By the end, I'd both resolved and opened up a lot and felt rather satisfied.
If you save Triss you also choose the sorcerers. Which is what Nilfgaard wanted, they possess slave mages who are utterly loyal to Nilfgard and the north can either have theirs killed and persecuted or hellbent on controlling it though a mageocracy. If you chose the former the future of the north hinges on the stability of its kingdoms.
For my canon run I'm going for a free dragon kingdom.
If you save Triss you also choose the sorcerers. Which is what Nilfgaard wanted, they possess slave mages who are utterly loyal to Nilfgard and the north can either have theirs killed and persecuted or hellbent on controlling it though a mageocracy. If you chose the former the future of the north hinges on the stability of its kingdoms.
For my canon run I'm going for a free dragon kingdom.
i can't agree that nilfgaard wanted the north to have its council of mages back. nilfgaard was behind the LAST breakup of the conclave and council. nilfgaard wants isolated northern kingdoms who don't trust each other and who go to war with each other at the drop of a hat. the "royal advisor network" does a fairly good job of keeping the rulers' interested aligned with the interests of the north at large.
and while a free dragon kingdom in TW3 sounds pretty damn interesting (i'm keeping my iorveth save so i can import exactly that situation), it's also waaaaay too idealistic for the witcher universe. saskia nearly died TWICE already. attempts on her life are not going to stop, and they're going to get more and more sophisticated. if CDPR stays true to the books, then i think her ideals are going to take a beating from reality, and she's gonna need a lot of geralt's help to keep things together.
also, anyone starting to guess that
ves is going to be pregnant with henselt's magic baby
that whole situation was fishy, and given dethmold's involvement, there's bound to be something more to it.
speaking of dethmold, he is/was a great character. liked working with him a hell of a lot more than eilhart.
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So I guess that post release demo never happened? I was hoping to see if I could run it on minimal settings with my old crappy pc. I suppose I'll just wait for the 360 version.
People have been running this game in maximum ugly mode on really old gear, so if you post your specs you may get a report if someone has something comparable.
Half the battle is whatever gets set internally by the individual stock settings. I found that seems to affect performance the most. You could be getting TERRIBLE performance but swap to Low and then crank up all of the settings (except AA and Uber Sampling, oh and Cinematic DoF), even disabling texture downsampling, and you'll get a significant performance boost without a heavy graphical cost.
This game runs really strange on ATI cards (or maybe just my set up) I can lower it to low medium and it runs pretty much the same as high. Pretty weird. I can't break from 25-40 FPS.
Posts
limited number of monsters, etc.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
The King of the Wild Hunt was disappointed.
I usually take White Rafford's with Swallow and Mongoose when fighting the kayran (since, at least on hard, you need it to survive more than 1-2 hits if you fudge up) and if you focus on alchemy, there is a talent which reduces the side effects to almost nothing.
Funnily enough, it also let you see the circulatory systems of necrophages. Which are supposed to be undead zombie things. Unless they consume people for substitute blood, like vampires.
The impression I got from reading The Last Wish was that civilization was marching in at an inevitable, unstoppable pace, and there are fewer and fewer monsters as a result. I felt that witchers and monsters were viewed wistfully as quaint - if dangerous - relics of the past. Definitely not the vibe that you get from both games, where nests of drowners and nekkers are plentiful and the whole countryside is teeming with them.
Well, it might because, since the events of The Last Wish, Nilfgaard has attempted to conquer the north twice and both times the Northern Kingdoms only managing to drive off the armies of Emperor Emyhir, The White Flame Dancing on The Graves of His Foes, by the skins of thier teeth. Lots of progress was probably lost because of that, which is as good as reason as any that Geralt can find at least a couple of jobs wherever he goes...
Well
@fizban:
this has several effects:
1) council of mages gets reintroduced as a stabilizing force in the north - and given the quality of leadership there, they need all the "don't fucking go to war you dolt" advice they can get
2) shilard gets killed, preventing him from delivering the coup de grace to any semblance of northen unity when he pretty much turns everyone against each other
3) anais gets to go with roche, who i trust far more than radovid or any nobles.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
I feel like I missed large parts of chapter 3 since I just did the main quests, didn't even see side quests.
Also I found those magic scrolls, told Deathmold to fuck off, found a guy in Loc Muine to tell me about them and that is as far as I got.
Also, once you've got the guy to tell you how to use the scroll, go down to the sewers. You read it there and get a bonus.
This is what makes this game so wonderful in my eyes. YOU MUST REPLAY IT A SECOND TIME WITH A DIFFERENT PATH FROM WHAT YOU TOOK EARLIER TO GET THE FULL STORY.
Don't worry, Saskia plays a prominent role in the story. You just need to take Iorveth's.
As for the magic scroll you got from the hut, try visiting the sewers in Loc Muinne.
i think the best analogy for overall atmosphere is that iorveth's chapter 2 feels very close to TW1's chapter 4. very idyllic and slower paced. roche's chapter 2 is more like TW1's chapter 5 - involved and urgent.
still, i'll finish it through. i have a feeling the end of iorveth's chapter 2 is going to be pretty epic. not sure if i really approve of the overall feel considering the context of events, though.
also, i met the invisible man!
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Also, I didn't care so much for Saskia's condition. She's an interesting character, but there was not enough set-up for me to care whether she lived or died. Also, you weren't faced with constant reminders of her condition (e.g. people complaining in the streets, or Vergen starting to fall apart) unlike at Henselt's camp, where walking out of the camp = deadly spreading mist. So I just went about doing side-quests as convenient and picking up ingredients as I pleased. There was no sense of urgency.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
I believe there were 3 in a Roche chapter 2 sidequest. They had the model/appearance of Bruxae at least though the quest's plotline suggests they may have been ghosts.
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it's got pacing as bad as the first game
and it's fairly idealistic as well, but i'm really curious now to see how my decisions turn out in witcher 3. i've gambled (this playthrough) on a free dragon and a free kingdom versus the world. those are pretty high stakes.
i think roche's path is definitely more cynical and witcher-like, though.
and despite going with iorveth this time to deal with philippa, i still think saving triss yourself is the better path. anything that has me fucking up nilfgaardians instead of letting them stir up more mischief is an objective plus
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Seems like the best option for the North is to spare Henselt, let him and Redania split Temeria to have two strong bulwarks against Nilfgaard, and save Triss so that at least the Northern kingdoms get some magic advisors. But this also means allowing a little girl to be traumatised, and possibly leaving Saskia under mind control. Again not a nice option.
also! made my first witcher 2 mod, testing it now.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Love the way that entire path ended, really. By the end, I'd both resolved and opened up a lot and felt rather satisfied.
i call it the ICE WANG OF +100% FREEZOCITY
perfect weapon for my hard mode underwear geralt swordsman run.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
For my canon run I'm going for a free dragon kingdom.
Guess even adbots have heard of Geralt.
and while a free dragon kingdom in TW3 sounds pretty damn interesting (i'm keeping my iorveth save so i can import exactly that situation), it's also waaaaay too idealistic for the witcher universe. saskia nearly died TWICE already. attempts on her life are not going to stop, and they're going to get more and more sophisticated. if CDPR stays true to the books, then i think her ideals are going to take a beating from reality, and she's gonna need a lot of geralt's help to keep things together.
also, anyone starting to guess that
that whole situation was fishy, and given dethmold's involvement, there's bound to be something more to it.
speaking of dethmold, he is/was a great character. liked working with him a hell of a lot more than eilhart.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
I actually cheered, its a pretty brutal scene and normally I'd cringe at something like that. But I fucking cheered.