About to start on Witcher 3 - Advice welcome

[factotum]

Also, it's entirely possible to roll sideways without having to move forward? Get round the side of the wraith, hit it a couple of times, then roll away again. It does have to be noted that particular fight is probably the hardest one you'll have in the game, though, because the wraith is generally going to be higher level than you and you're not very powerful. Once the game opens out in Velen you get a lot more choice over your fights so you can pick the level-appropriate ones.

[Aotrs Commander]

Recommend using Yrden and just spamming fast attack if possible against wraiths. They stagger very easily when under Yrden and have relatively low health.

Not the one on hunt contracts...

Also, it's entirely possible to roll sideways without having to move forward? Get round the side of the wraith, hit it a couple of times, then roll away again. It does have to be noted that particular fight is probably the hardest one you'll have in the game, though, because the wraith is generally going to be higher level than you and you're not very powerful. Once the game opens out in Velen you get a lot more choice over your fights so you can pick the level-appropriate ones.

Past that first one (which was annoying), into Velen (this one in particular being Jenny of the Woods), which was supposed to BE level-appropriate (given my level at the time). Where if you step outside the Yrden for just a moment, it takes off a good third or more of your health instantly. (I shudder to THINK how much damage she deals above normal difficulty.) And of course Gerald (and yes, when he's disobaying me he's very DEFINITELY Gerald!!!) can't stand still like a sensible person when swinging his sword, so, more than two clicks takes you right outside and even one or two can because the Yrden circle is so small and it's so difficult (for me) to get positioned precisely to be on the opposite side of it...

I had less difficulty killing one five levels above I ran into (or those griffins/wyverns) as random encounters (admittedly, I SOMEHOW pinned that level 15 wraith up against the wall of the ruins (maybe because it was above ground?) on the last run, but even so...

[Keltest]

Not the one on hunt contracts...



Past that first one (which was annoying), into Velen (this one in particular being Jenny of the Woods), which was supposed to BE level-appropriate (given my level at the time). Where if you step outside the Yrden for just a moment, it takes off a good third or more of your health instantly. (I shudder to THINK how much damage she deals above normal difficulty.) And of course Gerald (and yes, when he's disobaying me he's very DEFINITELY Gerald!!!) can't stand still like a sensible person when swinging his sword, so, more than two clicks takes you right outside and even one or two can because the Yrden circle is so small and it's so difficult (for me) to get positioned precisely to be on the opposite side of it...

I had less difficulty killing one five levels above I ran into (or those griffins/wyverns) as random encounters (admittedly, I SOMEHOW pinned that level 15 wraith up against the wall of the ruins (maybe because it was above ground?) on the last run, but even so...

Quen is your friend. Never leave home without it. I highly recommend getting the channeled upgrade for it ASAP, as that actually heals you when the monsters attack you.

For wraiths, moon dust bombs are also handy. Theyre like Yrden, only they cant run out of it.

[Chen]

Past that first one (which was annoying), into Velen (this one in particular being Jenny of the Woods), which was supposed to BE level-appropriate (given my level at the time). Where if you step outside the Yrden for just a moment, it takes off a good third or more of your health instantly. (I shudder to THINK how much damage she deals above normal difficulty.) And of course Gerald (and yes, when he's disobaying me he's very DEFINITELY Gerald!!!) can't stand still like a sensible person when swinging his sword, so, more than two clicks takes you right outside and even one or two can because the Yrden circle is so small and it's so difficult (for me) to get positioned precisely to be on the opposite side of it...

The wraith is whats weakened in the circle. You can move outside it if need be. The best strategy is drop Yrden. Hit a few times and roll away to setup a new Yrden circle and wait for the Wraith to come to you. If I recall you can't actually get a full combo off without her hitting you so its really like 2 fast attacks and then stop. The animation for the last bit of the combo is too long and she can hit you.

[Balmas]

I think this basically boils down to leveling systems are generally stupid. They've always been generally stupid so far as I can tell, but they're a very convenient way to develop a constant drip-feed of rewards. And gamers gotta have them rewards.

That's a bit of an oversimplification, I think, and not one concurrent with my point. Leveling systems are good, when done well. They provide a means to help keep the player entertained and engaged, which I'd argue is of greater value than dropping in more loot.

I'd point to Morrowind and Skyrim as two examples of good leveling systems, albeit in different ways. Morrowind delevels all the enemies in the game, but then delevels all the loot as well and keeps the strongest enemies off of the major paths. This allows the player to travel in safety, but also makes sure that they know that the world is not going to go easy on them. (There's also a lovely sense of progression when you get to come back to a ruin that destroyed you early so you can stomp the enemies into the dust with your new gear.) Skyrim, on the other hand, levels enemies and loot to your level, which means that you always have someone who's not quite challenging enough to destroy you, but entertaining to dismember.

[Aotrs Commander]

I would just like to say: [expletive] horse races, [expletive] the controls for horse races and most especially double [EXPLETIVE] THE PALIO.

Dear FRAG that was so CRAP and frustrating.



I am disappointed that in this open world game, I cannot simply wander around Novigrad and personally kill every single temple guard and witch-hunter. Because seriously, I could. I would burn the freaking lot of them, and have been taking EVERY excuse to set them all on fire repeatedly. No, seriously, I'm pretty sure I could kill the entire lot. Can't be more than a couple of hundred, couple of thousand tops, right? I can take that many, really.



Also, sorry Yen, if you wanted to be in with a chance, duck, maybe you should have shown your face for more than ten minutes at the start if the third game, 'cos I'm afraid that, as a player, I tend to stick with people who have been my actual companions over the course of three games. ('Cos, as a player, I actually have some connection to and investment in Triss. Yennefer... Regardless of Geralt's lore... Hasn't had enough screentime to do that. Especially since her bit comes later (i.e. higher level).) Sorry, mi'duck, I picked Triss over Shauna the first time around, so I'mma stick with it.

Also, she set a dude's balls on fire (which was frackin; hilarious) and got her fingernails pulled out just to help a friend. That's pretty hardcore. Also, she burns like Geralt burn things...

[Keltest]

As memetic as Geralt is, any more than about three crossbowmen with clear shots on him still wreck his face. He has, once, parried two arrows simultaneously, and even he doubts he could ever do it again. he can out-sword people until they run out of swords, but he's still a melee fighter with some magic, and not a super destructive sorcerer.

Having said that, seriously magic users? You guys have enough destructive power between you to level redania, and you let these guys push you around?

[Aotrs Commander]

As memetic as Geralt is, any more than about three crossbowmen with clear shots on him still wreck his face. He has, once, parried two arrows simultaneously, and even he doubts he could ever do it again. he can out-sword people until they run out of swords, but he's still a melee fighter with some magic, and not a super destructive sorcerer.

Lore-wise maybe, but not in-game... Dear old Gerald barely bothers with his sword when Igni sets them all on fire; then he politely waits for them to stop screaming... And then sets them on fire again.



I made a very special point of Igni-ing Menga to death.

[factotum]

Having said that, seriously magic users? You guys have enough destructive power between you to level redania, and you let these guys push you around?

I'm not sure they're quite that powerful, and even then, it's a matter of numbers. One sorcerer against one guard, yeah, the guard's toast. One sorcerer against a hundred guards, probably not so much. Also, it's not just the guards you have to worry about--a lot of the regular people in the world blame what the Sorceress's Lodge got up to in Witcher 2 for the current chaotic situation the world is in, so to be absolutely, truly safe they'd have to kill half the population of the planet. I'm rather glad they're not up for that sort of genocide, really.

@Aotrs Commander: From what I remember, doing horse races the horse will stick to the track if you hold the right key (I forget which) so you barely need to control them at all? All you generally need to worry about is deciding when to gallop and when to ease off to let the horse rest for a bit. Also, I assume you've discovered that the saddle your horse has on determines their stamina and thus how quickly you can finish the race?

[Rynjin]

I'm not sure they're quite that powerful, and even then, it's a matter of numbers. One sorcerer against one guard, yeah, the guard's toast. One sorcerer against a hundred guards, probably not so much.

Remember that a big plot point in Witcher 2 was that a sorceress (Sabrina Glessivig) called down a firestorm that wiped out the better part of two opposing armies simultaneously. And then laid a curse so powerful all the ghosts of the battlefield rose up and fought years after her death.

It's definitely not a matter of lack of firepower, but moral concern for collateral damage and/or self preservation in the form of not wanting to call too much attention.

[Crow]

Let's also remember that most sorcerers are not anywhere near that powerful.

[Keltest]

Let's also remember that most sorcerers are not anywhere near that powerful.

By the time Triss smuggles them out, many are not, but when this crap first starts, there are enough of them that are that if they had just stood their ground, Radovid would not have been able to do anything.

[Morty]

I'd point to Morrowind and Skyrim as two examples of good leveling systems, albeit in different ways. Morrowind delevels all the enemies in the game, but then delevels all the loot as well and keeps the strongest enemies off of the major paths. This allows the player to travel in safety, but also makes sure that they know that the world is not going to go easy on them. (There's also a lovely sense of progression when you get to come back to a ruin that destroyed you early so you can stomp the enemies into the dust with your new gear.) Skyrim, on the other hand, levels enemies and loot to your level, which means that you always have someone who's not quite challenging enough to destroy you, but entertaining to dismember.

Witcher 3's levelling system has some rather common pitfalls, but Elder Scrolls' "level by using" gimmick has never worked and I rather doubt it ever will. Skyrim at least gives it a semblance of balance and functionality.

As for the witch-hunters... yes, they're a rather comical example of an anti-magic faction that's completely helpless against anything remotely supernatural. Generally, the games play up the power difference between magic, monsters, etc. versus normal people, for gameplay and story purposes. For instance, the books hammer home that monsters are rare and witchers are approaching obsolescence. But that's kind of a bad premise for a game where you play a monster-hunter... so there have to be enough monsters to keep Geralt's schedule full. And a side-effect of that and other factors is a small army of witch-hunters who leave you wondering how they ever managed to push around one magician.

[factotum]

By the time Triss smuggles them out, many are not, but when this crap first starts, there are enough of them that are that if they had just stood their ground, Radovid would not have been able to do anything.

Again, provided the magic-users in question were OK with mass slaughter. Phillipa Eilhart probably would be OK with that, I'm not sure any of the other Sorceresses we've met would be.

[Keltest]

Again, provided the magic-users in question were OK with mass slaughter. Phillipa Eilhart probably would be OK with that, I'm not sure any of the other Sorceresses we've met would be.

Triss, at least, has fought in large scale battles before. "Fourteenth of the hill" and all that. Given that the witch hunters didn't show up all at once, and that the persecution started gradually, they really should have been able to give a stronger reaction.

[Aotrs Commander]

@Aotrs Commander: From what I remember, doing horse races the horse will stick to the track if you hold the right key (I forget which) so you barely need to control them at all? All you generally need to worry about is deciding when to gallop and when to ease off to let the horse rest for a bit.

That's what I thought might be the case, because horse auto-pilot, but every damn time I tried that, it seemed Roach ran straight off the track.

That said, I lost about three or four times because the game refused to acknowledge I'd double-tapped Shift to accelerate.

And windows can FRACK OFF with interupting with "do you want sticky keys turned on" when I having to mash the bloody controls to make it actually respond in a reasonable timeframe. I seem to spend 3/4 of the time struggling with the game's control scheme; I virtually never use heavy attacks, because it's just easier to Igni and spam fast attack and I even assigned the keys differently.

Also, speaking of control issues, the control scheme can [expletive] right off in slapping you with Ciri combats and then not making all the controls work. Because double tapping the direction buttons don't make her dodge like they do with Gerald (and putting the dodge key to Alt is insane).

Why the bloody hell they couldn't have allowed joystick support (and why controller =/= joystick suddenly, I never had issues with other hames before), I don't know. I feel Witcher 3 is near enough like a bloody flight simulator, I need to use half the damn keyboard anyway...) It would be SO MUCH EASIER with a joystick/keyboard (and mouse for menus); I mean, the POV hat exists for basically the same reason as the controller's second stick does!

Also, I assume you've discovered that the saddle your horse has on determines their stamina and thus how quickly you can finish the race?

Yes. I have currently the best saddle garned from the previous set of horses races (hey, some of those were in the bloody DAYLIGHT, even!)



Edit: Dammit, I can't even make the wicther hunters hostile with signs or attacks! Stunning 'em with Axii does nothing (though, haha, I did make the one guy fall off his soapbox). Boo! Why it is the ONE TIME EVER in and RPG I actually DO want to go around setting guards on fire and such, I can't?

[Rynjin]

For the love of god: get a controller of some kind. Witcher 2 and 3 are pretty much made from the ground up to be played with one.

Generally, the games play up the power difference between magic, monsters, etc. versus normal people, for gameplay and story purposes. For instance, the books hammer home that monsters are rare and witchers are approaching obsolescence. But that's kind of a bad premise for a game where you play a monster-hunter... so there have to be enough monsters to keep Geralt's schedule full. And a side-effect of that and other factors is a small army of witch-hunters who leave you wondering how they ever managed to push around one magician.

Well, the most common monsters are still Drowners and such. Which, while deadly, CAN be killed by a patrol of normal guards with silver swords.

Most of the big nasties have either been hunted to near extinction or live primarily in untracked wilderness and old tombs and so on, not a threat for the majority of civilized lands.

The games actually do a pretty good job of denoting Witchers' obsolescence, if not Geralt's. There are, what, 5-10 Witchers we've seen, and they successfully keep up with the monster slaying demands of the entire North? That implies demand is relatively low. At least not higher than the supply is able to keep up with.

[Keltest]

For the love of god: get a controller of some kind. Witcher 2 and 3 are pretty much made from the ground up to be played with one.



Well, the most common monsters are still Drowners and such. Which, while deadly, CAN be killed by a patrol of normal guards with silver swords.

Most of the big nasties have either been hunted to near extinction or live primarily in untracked wilderness and old tombs and so on, not a threat for the majority of civilized lands.

The games actually do a pretty good job of denoting Witchers' obsolescence, if not Geralt's. There are, what, 5-10 Witchers we've seen, and they successfully keep up with the monster slaying demands of the entire North? That implies demand is relatively low. At least not higher than the supply is able to keep up with.

It mostly shows up in the short stories, but a significant reason witchers are going out of business is because other people are figuring out how to do it themselves. Eyck of Denesle, for example, goes toe to toe with monsters, and he's just a regular human knight. And he doesn't charge for it either, to Geralt's consternation. Witchers are increasingly set apart only by their knowledge base, as they do still have some of the greatest experts in monsters and curses in the North.

[GolemsVoice]

Witcher 3's levelling system has some rather common pitfalls, but Elder Scrolls' "level by using" gimmick has never worked and I rather doubt it ever will. Skyrim at least gives it a semblance of balance and functionality.

As for the witch-hunters... yes, they're a rather comical example of an anti-magic faction that's completely helpless against anything remotely supernatural. Generally, the games play up the power difference between magic, monsters, etc. versus normal people, for gameplay and story purposes. For instance, the books hammer home that monsters are rare and witchers are approaching obsolescence. But that's kind of a bad premise for a game where you play a monster-hunter... so there have to be enough monsters to keep Geralt's schedule full. And a side-effect of that and other factors is a small army of witch-hunters who leave you wondering how they ever managed to push around one magician.

That's also probably the reason most of them concentrate on people who aren't actually casters, as well as nonhumans.

[Chen]

As for the witch-hunters... yes, they're a rather comical example of an anti-magic faction that's completely helpless against anything remotely supernatural. Generally, the games play up the power difference between magic, monsters, etc. versus normal people, for gameplay and story purposes. For instance, the books hammer home that monsters are rare and witchers are approaching obsolescence. But that's kind of a bad premise for a game where you play a monster-hunter... so there have to be enough monsters to keep Geralt's schedule full. And a side-effect of that and other factors is a small army of witch-hunters who leave you wondering how they ever managed to push around one magician.

Not just the monsters though. Geralt's Butcher of Blaviken title came from him killing what, 4-5 people? I kill more than that in game in a single bandit camp walking down the road, forget about some quest missions like the one after the play where you murder like 20 people or the one where you are chasing a target to kill and there are probably 50 guards trying to stop you (spoiler: they don't).

[Morty]

That's also probably the reason most of them concentrate on people who aren't actually casters, as well as nonhumans.

They did chase the Lodge into hiding, though, and captured several of them.

Not just the monsters though. Geralt's Butcher of Blaviken title came from him killing what, 4-5 people? I kill more than that in game in a single bandit camp walking down the road, forget about some quest missions like the one after the play where you murder like 20 people or the one where you are chasing a target to kill and there are probably 50 guards trying to stop you (spoiler: they don't).

That's true, and part of the same thing. Video games just have some genre conventions.

[Crow]

That's a dope-ass ox guard avatar in your signature, Morty.

[GolemsVoice]

That's true, and part of the same thing. Video games just have some genre conventions.

If I remember, the "Butcher of Blaviken" thing also happened right in the middle of market square, and to a famous band of outlaws, not to some backwater robbers off the beaten path.

[Keltest]

If I remember, the "Butcher of Blaviken" thing also happened right in the middle of market square, and to a famous band of outlaws, not to some backwater robbers off the beaten path.

He's called the Butcher of Blaviken because, as far as the people of Blaviken were aware, he just up and attacked a half dozen people in the middle of the market square for no reason. The number of people killed had nothing to do with it. He was, of course, protecting Blaviken from a much worse slaughter, but he didn't have time to explain that to people before he acted.

[Avilan the Grey]

Sidenote question:

How many Swedish names are in the Witcher 3? Just curious?
Blaviken seems... awfully close to Blåviken to me. Even closer than Westeros (Västerås) from GoT, though the geographics there are almost identical (long narrow country north / south with Westeros / Västerås damn near the middle).

[Keltest]

Sidenote question:

How many Swedish names are in the Witcher 3? Just curious?
Blaviken seems... awfully close to Blåviken to me. Even closer than Westeros (Västerås) from GoT, though the geographics there are almost identical (long narrow country north / south with Westeros / Västerås damn near the middle).

Some? The Witcher was written by a polish author. Most of the names in the English version of the games have been Americanized in spelling, pronunciation or both.

[Morty]

Sapkowski pulled names from just about any language he felt like. The name "Ciri" came from a kids' jackets catalogue. It's not surprising that something Swedish would have made it in too.

[Aotrs Commander]

After a good couple of stabs at it, I have now cleared all but one cluster of the sea question marks.

It is only now, and level 30, do I realise how crazy-daft Quen is with the secondary mode, healing, and the damage-returning. And this is with FCR3 toning it well DOWN! Would have made a lot of those tedious harpy fights so much easier!

Bollocks to waving my sword at the tedious wolf packs, I'll just stand there with Qun now, while laughing...!



Also. I ran into the archgriffon. By accident, all I knew was I found a skull-level enemy.

And once again am reminded the difficulty is less to do with level and far more with species. For saying (when I looked it up afterwards, having later, when checking my completed quests, spotted the level of the Unlucky Treasure quest) it was the highest level monster in the base game, it went down FAST, to my usual Igni-and-then-mouse-click-fast-attack. And then died a couple of times to an ice troll a bit later.



Yen must be going out of her mind wondering where the hell I've been off to all this time...!


125 hours in, still going strong. That, Witcher 3, is really quite remarkable. Especially as with one more go tomorrow, the majority of the map-clearing is done, leaving more of the contracts and quests (the more fun bits) to be doing...!



Edit: Question... As I have the option (and am at a level where I could consider it in a level or few), is it worth doing the expansion quests (or at least as far as the one that unlocks mutations) before completing the main quests...?

[Keltest]

Edit: Question... As I have the option (and am at a level where I could consider it in a level or few), is it worth doing the expansion quests (or at least as far as the one that unlocks mutations) before completing the main quests...?

Well, unlocking Blood and Wine at all requires you to complete the original main quest as far as Novigrad, otherwise the first quest for it wont appear.

Other than that, competing Hearts of Stone first will tell you how to get the happy ending for the main quest, though its not particularly difficult to do so. Unlocking the toussant region also unlocks the grandmaster tier of all witcher gear sets except the viper school, and has a very handy grandmaster swordsmith/armorsmith combo with obscene amounts of money. And toussant is pretty. Much nicer than Velen or Novigrad.

[Chen]

He's called the Butcher of Blaviken because, as far as the people of Blaviken were aware, he just up and attacked a half dozen people in the middle of the market square for no reason. The number of people killed had nothing to do with it. He was, of course, protecting Blaviken from a much worse slaughter, but he didn't have time to explain that to people before he acted.

The bandits did attack him first but I don't think many people were in the market at that point and it only got populated more while he was killing them. Plus everyone more or less considers Witchers monsters, even if they do kill other monsters for gold. It doesn't take much for a Witcher to be vilified.