I've been running Ekihdna, Ekkimara and Water Hag at the same time. It's almost unfair how OP that combo is, I think I need to bump up to Death March, because it makes Blood and Bones too easy. I ended up taking on a level 35 contract fight at level 25 like that...
I made it all the way through my first playthrough on blood and broken bones and the only potion I used was the healing one. And I'm not particularly good at this game. Once I got them figured out, decoctions were amazing. But they're ultimately not necessary.
GOG is holding a $19 GOTY upgrade promo for Witcher 3 owners, if you have the base game but don't own the two expansions. Buying both expansions upgrades you to GOTY edition for free.
I made it all the way through my first playthrough on blood and broken bones and the only potion I used was the healing one. And I'm not particularly good at this game. Once I got them figured out, decoctions were amazing. But they're ultimately not necessary.
OK, but now go through Death March without using Quen
GOG is holding a $19 GOTY upgrade promo for Witcher 3 owners, if you have the base game but don't own the two expansions. Buying both expansions upgrades you to GOTY edition for free.
So it's basically a $6 sale off the expansion pass (plus all the digital "goodies" that I never look at)? I'm kind of tempted but I never even finished the base game! Got burned out after putting in dozens of hours and then realized there was a whole other area (Skellige) to explore.
Finally getting around to Blood and Wine:
First of all, so good back2back GOTY, etc.
Second of all, what's the point of the Wolf and Manticore set bonuses? Bomb builds? Some weird non-combat/alch build that I'm not seeing because I'm too invested in the Light Combat/Alch mindset I brought into the exapnsion? Has someone else made something cool out of these sets? They seem too rad to just ignore...
I used parts of the Wolf set because I was tired of looking like the michelin man in my Griffin chest.
I actually dug the look of most of the armor sets, with the exception of the later looks of the Cat Armor. It goes from 'Two Tickets To the Gun Show' to 'Battle Maiden Ned Flanders' in one upgrade because of that fucking atrocious turtle-neck sweater look.
Finally getting around to Blood and Wine:
First of all, so good back2back GOTY, etc.
Second of all, what's the point of the Wolf and Manticore set bonuses? Bomb builds? Some weird non-combat/alch build that I'm not seeing because I'm too invested in the Light Combat/Alch mindset I brought into the exapnsion? Has someone else made something cool out of these sets? They seem too rad to just ignore...
Manticore is pretty useful in max-toxicity alchemy/combat builds (though I used Ursine). Building max toxicity to max out Euphoria is just plain silly.
I used parts of the Wolf set because I was tired of looking like the michelin man in my Griffin chest.
I actually dug the look of most of the armor sets, with the exception of the later looks of the Cat Armor. It goes from 'Two Tickets To the Gun Show' to 'Battle Maiden Ned Flanders' in one upgrade because of that fucking atrocious turtle-neck sweater look.
Finally getting around to Blood and Wine:
First of all, so good back2back GOTY, etc.
Second of all, what's the point of the Wolf and Manticore set bonuses? Bomb builds? Some weird non-combat/alch build that I'm not seeing because I'm too invested in the Light Combat/Alch mindset I brought into the exapnsion? Has someone else made something cool out of these sets? They seem too rad to just ignore...
Manticore is pretty useful in max-toxicity alchemy/combat builds (though I used Ursine). Building max toxicity to max out Euphoria is just plain silly.
This was my initial thoughts around Manticore. I was just able to squeeze in 4 active decoctions at once with it, and could put the light-armor runword in it to pick up the Cat School bonus for light armor, but then I'm just making my combat/alch build again! Combat/alch already seemed pretty absurdly powerful, so it seems like a shame to go further down that path and ignore bombs with it.
edit: I guess I could swap out cat school for gryphon school and not use the armorclass changing runeword. That + Euphoria should give me the ability to beast out signs pretty regularly as well. Maybe I'll try that, and the bomb bonus will just be sugar on top?
Finally getting around to Blood and Wine:
First of all, so good back2back GOTY, etc.
Second of all, what's the point of the Wolf and Manticore set bonuses? Bomb builds? Some weird non-combat/alch build that I'm not seeing because I'm too invested in the Light Combat/Alch mindset I brought into the exapnsion? Has someone else made something cool out of these sets? They seem too rad to just ignore...
Manticore is pretty useful in max-toxicity alchemy/combat builds (though I used Ursine). Building max toxicity to max out Euphoria is just plain silly.
This was my initial thoughts around Manticore. I was just able to squeeze in 4 active decoctions at once with it, and could put the light-armor runword in it to pick up the Cat School bonus for light armor, but then I'm just making my combat/alch build again! Combat/alch already seemed pretty absurdly powerful, so it seems like a shame to go further down that path and ignore bombs with it.
edit: I guess I could swap out cat school for gryphon school and not use the armorclass changing runeword. That + Euphoria should give me the ability to beast out signs pretty regularly as well. Maybe I'll try that, and the bomb bonus will just be sugar on top?
I went a different tack and ran full Ursine armor and went in for Archgriffin+Water Hag+ Ekhidna decoctions, then topped off toxicity with Tawny Owl for never ending Stamina, Thunderbolt and then used Quen for a damage gate to stay at 100% health. Ursine's buff's to strong attack, plus Water Hag for +50% dmg, plus Archgriffin bonus and draining stamina on attack to heal with Ekhidna, combined with Euphoria meant that my strong attacks one-shotted every normal enemy, killed most bosses too fast. I actually ended up unoptimizing my build because things were getting too easy.
Oh snap. Maybe I'll give Heavy another go. I got pretty frustrated with it in the base game because I was doing a lot of trading, and getting beat out by wraiths.
I don't think anything will compare to Whirl + Blizzard for enemy heavy groups. I accidentally ran into one of the bandit mega-camps and blender'd through at least 30 guys in the span of 1 blizzard
Going back and playing through this. I got so close to beating it and then got burnt and the time that elapsed between then and now was just enough for me to not remember anything.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I kinda got shanghai'd into Blood & Wine and gained 10 levels just doing the main quest line (and Gwent, of course).
The vampire armor plus professor glasses is my thing, man. I was just mad that the dyes only work on witcher gear, so I couldn't dye it red and pull a Gary Oldman from Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula.
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I do that every time I see this thread back on page one. Just ridiculous how well put together the thing was.
Just finished the main campaign (on Easy, I'm terrible at combat in this game; it's why I never finished Witcher 2).
The
Master Mirror
face brand re-appeared on Geralt after (act 3)
the stable heist with Ciri
and of course I couldn't re-create the Heart of Stone quest line, so the brand stayed put for the rest of the game, and now after, since I'm working on mopping up Toussant.
Gotta say, though, My Geralt is Best Dad. Feels good to be such a good dad. Even made a couple of dad jokes.
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I feel the same way, man. Everytime I see it go to the front page again, it's like this sense of satisfaction that people are still talking about it (as they should). The damn thing should be stickied to the front page until everyone experiences this game.
There are so many more people out there that need to tell me and the one other guy who chose Triss how wrong we are! We might forget if more people don't!
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I feel the same way, man. Everytime I see it go to the front page again, it's like this sense of satisfaction that people are still talking about it (as they should). The damn thing should be stickied to the front page until everyone experiences this game.
There are so many more people out there that need to tell me and the one other guy who chose Triss how wrong we are! We might forget if more people don't!
You have chosen... poorly.
Better?
Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I feel the same way, man. Everytime I see it go to the front page again, it's like this sense of satisfaction that people are still talking about it (as they should). The damn thing should be stickied to the front page until everyone experiences this game.
There are so many more people out there that need to tell me and the one other guy who chose Triss how wrong we are! We might forget if more people don't!
Saw this thread popup on the front page, felt the need to drop in and remind everyone just how fucking good this game is. I don't normally replay a lot of games, but this will be on the list along with the Mass Effect series and the various Souls and Souls-like games which I replay the crap out of. It's that good.
I feel the same way, man. Everytime I see it go to the front page again, it's like this sense of satisfaction that people are still talking about it (as they should). The damn thing should be stickied to the front page until everyone experiences this game.
There are so many more people out there that need to tell me and the one other guy who chose Triss how wrong we are! We might forget if more people don't!
You have chosen... poorly.
Better?
Shani best girl, the mages can die in a fire.
Shani deserves better than what Geralt can offer, though.
The witches, on the other hand, have done more than enough stupid on their own that they deserve putting up with a little themselves.
+1
Options
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
I don't get how anyone chooses Yen. She's like a mean ex-wife; I can rely on her when it comes to our daughter, but our relationship is just so toxic. Maybe I missed something by quitting Witcher 2 5% in, but Triss is simply a better person in W3. She doesn't destroy irreplaceable artefacts or abuse trust. Geralt seems relieved when he's with her.
Shani is amazing, for sure, but it is true that she deserves better than Geralt.
Triss and "doesn't abuse trust" don't really belong the same sentence. She took advantage of Geralt's amnesia to insert herself in the vague "loved a sorceress" hole in his head. That aside, W2/W3 she's an alright character. Totally different from the books where she was a whiny, self-pitying side character who was rarely there when they needed her.
Based on the books, there's at least one circumstance that would have caused Geralt to kill Triss if he had known about it at the time
She's done more to betray him than any other character in the series
Yennefer and Geralt are basically cut from the same cloth, and make each other very happy, and do not lie to each other about things that matter (and both sleep around but eh)
Geralt died for Yen, right? They kinda have a kid together. He obviously completely adores her and longed for her even when he couldn't remember her. I just see it like they are soulmates and even if the relationship isn't perfect and they are both flawed people no matter how many other milkmaids he sleeps with or women he deeply cares about his true love will always be Yennefer.
Yennefer is tortured for days and weeks to get her to betray Ciri, and also maybe Geralt in the deal (but like 99% Ciri)
Never buckles, even when her hands are mangled beyond recognition
Triss gives up Ciri instantly, because she thinks that the lodge's goals are more important than Ciri's autonomy
When it comes to devotion, Yen and Geralt and Ciri are on their own tier, and nobody else comes close. You want Yennefer on your side. Triss, depending on who bribes her with what, is an active liability.
Wyborn on
0
Options
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
I don't get how anyone chooses Yen. She's like a mean ex-wife; I can rely on her when it comes to our daughter, but our relationship is just so toxic. Maybe I missed something by quitting Witcher 2 5% in, but Triss is simply a better person in W3. She doesn't destroy irreplaceable artefacts or abuse trust. Geralt seems relieved when he's with her.
Shani is amazing, for sure, but it is true that she deserves better than Geralt.
I think Yen is a much stronger and interesting person in general than Triss. There are layers to her, Yen and Geralt actually challenge each other and are equals, they're made for each other. She's stubborn and indepedant but you can feel the influence Ciri and Geralt have on her. Even if she has a hard time showing it sometimes, she's passionate about her family.
Triss on the other hand is constantly fawning after Geralt and looking at him with doe eyes. She's nice but ultimately boring. To me, she's one of the least interesting kind of love interests.
Give me a bad girl over a nice quiet life with the white picket fences anyday.
As mentioned, I didn't play Witcher 2 even long enough to get to the branching storyline, and the first game was so long ago that I barely remember what happened (I remember Shani, the Lady of the Lake, and fighting my way through a bunch of different worlds at the end... I think I killed the Pope or something). In the third game, though, Triss is selfless, she risks her life for the mages of Novograd and Velen while Yen is making backroom deals with the very guy that outlawed the Lodge in the first place and is in the process of conquering the world (and it's only mostly for Ciri).
Yen could've lifted a finger for Triss and the other mages, but she didn't. While Yen has luxurious quarters in Vizima, Triss is renting a shitty third floor apartment in a house that's tilted at a 20-degree angle, taking odd jobs for cash, dodging witch hunters, and trying to save as many alchemists and hedge wizards and wise women as possible. She could've just left... but she didn't. She's doing it the right way.
I really do appreciate the complexity of Yennifer as a character, but, it's a personal thing; I'd rather spend time with someone who may have screwed up in the past, but is trying to make things right, then with someone who actively makes life more difficult for everybody. I think where Yen lost me was (W3, Skellige)
she steals, and promptly destroys, a priceless artifact of Skellige culture for some low-res images of Ciri running around with the masked elf, which forces Ermion to intervene to prevent catastrophic climate change. Then she siphons the holy gardens of Freya dry to power necromancy so she can torture a clue out of a guy who only tried to help Ciri. I get that they are desperate for leads and that Ciri is literally the most important person in the world, but it sure seems like Yen's defining character trait in W3 is "Will screw over anyone to further her own interests."
Honestly, when Geralt helped Yen free the genie and break the wish that bound them together, it was a huge relief to be able to say, "Nope, I ain't feeling you anymore. k thx bye."
Posts
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Use a decoction that heals you, problem solved!
Seriously though, Ekhidna decoction was fantastic for longer fights.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
Also the blade oil dr is hilariously powerful. (As is the toxicity crit bonus after kill...and a few others).
Really though you can avoid it it's not the end of the world.
"Super" lategame the most powerful ability is explicitly toxicity fueled in an utterly hilarious way.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
https://www.gog.com/promo/20161130_special_promo_the_witcher_3_goty_upgrade
OK, but now go through Death March without using Quen
So it's basically a $6 sale off the expansion pass (plus all the digital "goodies" that I never look at)? I'm kind of tempted but I never even finished the base game! Got burned out after putting in dozens of hours and then realized there was a whole other area (Skellige) to explore.
First of all, so good back2back GOTY, etc.
Second of all, what's the point of the Wolf and Manticore set bonuses? Bomb builds? Some weird non-combat/alch build that I'm not seeing because I'm too invested in the Light Combat/Alch mindset I brought into the exapnsion? Has someone else made something cool out of these sets? They seem too rad to just ignore...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OLcAGbXhWIVcl5IziVpG0eKFJS3xi_Sac9kYMkRFvD8/edit?usp=sharing
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I actually dug the look of most of the armor sets, with the exception of the later looks of the Cat Armor. It goes from 'Two Tickets To the Gun Show' to 'Battle Maiden Ned Flanders' in one upgrade because of that fucking atrocious turtle-neck sweater look.
Manticore is pretty useful in max-toxicity alchemy/combat builds (though I used Ursine). Building max toxicity to max out Euphoria is just plain silly.
Respect the tactileneck.
This was my initial thoughts around Manticore. I was just able to squeeze in 4 active decoctions at once with it, and could put the light-armor runword in it to pick up the Cat School bonus for light armor, but then I'm just making my combat/alch build again! Combat/alch already seemed pretty absurdly powerful, so it seems like a shame to go further down that path and ignore bombs with it.
edit: I guess I could swap out cat school for gryphon school and not use the armorclass changing runeword. That + Euphoria should give me the ability to beast out signs pretty regularly as well. Maybe I'll try that, and the bomb bonus will just be sugar on top?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OLcAGbXhWIVcl5IziVpG0eKFJS3xi_Sac9kYMkRFvD8/edit?usp=sharing
Are me every time I use a Cat potion.
I went a different tack and ran full Ursine armor and went in for Archgriffin+Water Hag+ Ekhidna decoctions, then topped off toxicity with Tawny Owl for never ending Stamina, Thunderbolt and then used Quen for a damage gate to stay at 100% health. Ursine's buff's to strong attack, plus Water Hag for +50% dmg, plus Archgriffin bonus and draining stamina on attack to heal with Ekhidna, combined with Euphoria meant that my strong attacks one-shotted every normal enemy, killed most bosses too fast. I actually ended up unoptimizing my build because things were getting too easy.
I don't think anything will compare to Whirl + Blizzard for enemy heavy groups. I accidentally ran into one of the bandit mega-camps and blender'd through at least 30 guys in the span of 1 blizzard
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OLcAGbXhWIVcl5IziVpG0eKFJS3xi_Sac9kYMkRFvD8/edit?usp=sharing
Plus I have DLC now.
Jesus... there's just so much game.
Went with Griffin armor for base, but switched to Grandmaster Wolven in expansion, dyeing everything gray but the pants which I dyed blue.
I tend to lean more towards looks in these games than stat bonuses, also just seemed right that Geralt wear his school's colors.
The vampire armor plus professor glasses is my thing, man. I was just mad that the dyes only work on witcher gear, so I couldn't dye it red and pull a Gary Oldman from Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula.
I do that every time I see this thread back on page one. Just ridiculous how well put together the thing was.
The
Gotta say, though, My Geralt is Best Dad. Feels good to be such a good dad. Even made a couple of dad jokes.
Bring on Cyberpunk 2077, I say.
I feel the same way, man. Everytime I see it go to the front page again, it's like this sense of satisfaction that people are still talking about it (as they should). The damn thing should be stickied to the front page until everyone experiences this game.
There are so many more people out there that need to tell me and the one other guy who chose Triss how wrong we are! We might forget if more people don't!
You have chosen... poorly.
Better?
Shani best girl, the mages can die in a fire.
Shani deserves better than what Geralt can offer, though.
The witches, on the other hand, have done more than enough stupid on their own that they deserve putting up with a little themselves.
Shani is amazing, for sure, but it is true that she deserves better than Geralt.
Yen is up front about everything compared to Triss.
She's done more to betray him than any other character in the series
Yennefer and Geralt are basically cut from the same cloth, and make each other very happy, and do not lie to each other about things that matter (and both sleep around but eh)
Never buckles, even when her hands are mangled beyond recognition
Triss gives up Ciri instantly, because she thinks that the lodge's goals are more important than Ciri's autonomy
When it comes to devotion, Yen and Geralt and Ciri are on their own tier, and nobody else comes close. You want Yennefer on your side. Triss, depending on who bribes her with what, is an active liability.
Triss on the other hand is constantly fawning after Geralt and looking at him with doe eyes. She's nice but ultimately boring. To me, she's one of the least interesting kind of love interests.
Give me a bad girl over a nice quiet life with the white picket fences anyday.
Yen could've lifted a finger for Triss and the other mages, but she didn't. While Yen has luxurious quarters in Vizima, Triss is renting a shitty third floor apartment in a house that's tilted at a 20-degree angle, taking odd jobs for cash, dodging witch hunters, and trying to save as many alchemists and hedge wizards and wise women as possible. She could've just left... but she didn't. She's doing it the right way.
I really do appreciate the complexity of Yennifer as a character, but, it's a personal thing; I'd rather spend time with someone who may have screwed up in the past, but is trying to make things right, then with someone who actively makes life more difficult for everybody. I think where Yen lost me was (W3, Skellige)
Honestly, when Geralt helped Yen free the genie and break the wish that bound them together, it was a huge relief to be able to say, "Nope, I ain't feeling you anymore. k thx bye."