Yes, do the potions like Paul said. With all the herbs just laying around the forest you should be packed with stuff to make good potions.
I like the Lapwing+Golden Oriole (to buff and offset each other) + last potion of your choice like Wolf, Swallow or Tawny Owl.
Add in a whetstone or appropriate oil and you'll be a ready-to-rock killing machine. Also, Quen is seriously useful at the lower levels to absorb a hit or two and give you more time to dodge/roll during combat with multiple enemies.
Once you get used to the killing circus, it's very natural and intuitive.
After dying like a dozen times during the prologue (on Normal) I have to wonder if something is wrong with my PC. While the 8800gt isn't state of the art anymore, I'm not playing on a high graphics settings.
I did eventually get better at combat, but I have to say I felt the first was much more fluid. I do way to much kiting for a character that is suppose to have super human speed, strength, and reflexes.
It took me a while to realise combat (in particular early on when you haven't yet developed either the in-game or human skills) is actually a slow, thoughtful, paced affair.
it looks like an action/brawler combat style but it's actually more a tactical one
early on, Geralt lacks HP and resists to sustain a brawl, so avoiding getting hit should be your priority. Rushing in and clicking "attack" madly won't work
watch your opponent(s), wait for them to leave themselves open, mainly use "fast" attacks, 1-2 fast, 1 slow, roll, aard, fast etc
combat is pretty easy on 1vs1 (apart from bosses), just pary, interrupt him, use aard etc. Against several single opponents, use Quen all the time, it's certainly a bit "cheese" but will help tremendously, you also need to split them up, use bombs (the blinding type), roll and hit and run tactics.
He does have super human speed and reflexes, but he doesn't reach super hero levels. And he doesn't have super strength.Originally Posted by Greatatlantic
Geralt does have super human speed and reflexes but not strength; his "real" strength is the knowledge on how to deal with monsters and how to concoct potions/craft traps that will give in an edge in combat, he's not Kratos who rushes in and kills 3 monsters with a swing of his sword. :P
I don't know, it's probably normal. You'll have to experiment if you want to do something out of the ordinary.
Basically, hold the block button down (E), then right before the enemy attacks, you'll see a little icon flash up over them. Click the left mouse button, and you'll execute a riposte. You need to have the skill unlocked, of course, and the 2nd level gives you a 10% chance for an instant kill.
It's a pretty powerful skill, once you get good at it.
Dunno. In my game, he kept beating all those steroid-built, muscle bound guys in arm wrestling...
Dramatic license!
BTW, i am finishing the last book of the Geralt of Rivia saga, and Zyvik appeared briefly. Fuck yeah!
I mostly stick to Aard sign, just because sometimes it stuns things or knocks them down to thin out crowds and I like that. I should branch out more.
I've been lax on using potions so far. I do know I used them a lot more in the first game than I have been here, so obviously that should help.
I don't have the parry skill yet because I'm still early in the game. Will definitely grab it as soon as I can. I dodge a lot, and that helps. I haven't experimented with bombs or traps yet.
I know I just need to practice. I was mostly just venting. After your fifth or sixth time getting killed by the same handful of little monsters, things can start to get a little frustrating.
So, after a break and a good night's sleep, I came back and laid waste to those goddamn Neckers. I took it slow, I timed my attacks, I made sure I didn't get surrounded, and I came out with nary a scratch.
It seems like there just aren't any trash monsters in this game. Neckers and Drowners seem like the types of things that, in other games, would just be free XP and loot. They are monsters after all, though, so of course they're dangerous. I am not complaining; this is a good thing.
All right--take it slow and prepare, prepare, prepare.
Humanoid monsters are sometimes tougher than humans because they can swarm and jump in on you quickly.
wish there was a mod that would allow you to only do combat if you desire. Something like an arena tournament with ever more powerful opponents or 1vs.x etc
Sometimes I have 30 minutes and the desire to go bash somebody's head in but without the time to play through the "RPG" elements
Thanks for the answers about riposte, I tried it a few more times and it seems indeed that it only works if you start blocking before the enemy starts attacking.
I have to say it's a bit lame, I prefer blocking and then doing a manual quick attack. It's a bit cooler when you do the riposte and there are multiple enemies near you, Geralt does a sort of spinning attack. But against a single opponent Geralt rolls in front of his feet and stabs, which is very weird.
I tried and wasn't able to stack a whetstone and an oil. It happened once but it seemed like a bug (or maybe I put the oil on the silver sword and the whetstone on the steel sword). So what's the point of using, say, the necrophage oil over a whetstone? The whetstone lasts longer, has the same +20% damage bonus, but works against every type of enemy.
You're lame and it's awesome.
Dunno. Do better alchemists make more effective oils?
It might be that, I know I saw some oil skills in the alchemy tree. Or maybe whetstones are scarcer and more expensive.
Nu-huh! I killed two endrega queens today and feel totally badass.
Whetstones are much more scarcer and non-craftable.
So I played this a lot this weekend--I'm about 17 hours in and I started on Saturday morning. Obviously I'm enjoying it. My earlier bitching about combat was unwarranted. Once I got the hang of it (which happened pretty soon after I posted here) it got a lot more fun. Far from the frustrating slog that I thought it was, the combat system is actually pretty awesome. Once you get into the swing of things in a big fight, it's great fun.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the obvious comparison that everybody has touched on is Dragon Age 2. I'm one of those that actually liked that game and liked what Bioware did with it. I plan to re-play it. That said, The Witcher 2 (so far) does everything that Bioware tried to do with DA2, and much better. Bioware, I hope you're taking notes.
In particular, the one-on-one fight with [a character] near the end of chapter 1, contrasted with a similar duel in DA2. I already thought DA2's was poorly-designed and just not fun, and here comes the Witcher 2 showing how it can be done right.
The DA2 version must be really fucking terrible.
I'd say in general DA2 is really not very good. Whereas DA1 was a surprisingly awesome RPG, DA2 reminds me of Dungeon Siege with cutscenes and slightly better production values.
I really liked the fight he is referring to.
It is really though (on normal/hard) but fair. There's no QTE bullshit or introducing new mechanics. It's pure, simple 1vs1 combat requiring a fair bit of skill (as in player skill to decide when to attack, when to retreat which sign to use, when to interrupt him etc)
Exactly. I lost the fight a number of times, but I never got fed up or felt like the game was being unfair. I lost because I got careless. There was a lot of dodging, switching up signs, tossing bombs and throwing knives, risky attacks that either paid off or (more often) didn't . . . it felt like a one-on-one fight where I was evenly matched or even outclassed a little bit and had to think on my feet.
The analogous fight in DA2 is terrible, in comparison. It's poorly balanced. Every hit knocks you down. You run around and around a pillar to dodge special attacks and chip away at the enemy's health bar, or just run and run to wait for your health potion cooldown to run out so you can heal up and drag the fight out. It takes forever, and it's boring. It doesn't feel like you should be able to win, but the game expects you to. For all the build-up to this epic fight, it's a real letdown.
I'm not normally a fan of boss fights but I actually had a lot of fun with that fight in The Witcher 2. Thumbs up.
This.
DA2 isn't even in the same league as The Witcher 2, DA2 feels and plays like a hack and slash (a genre which I love, by the way) that got slapped some badly written back story; this coming from someone who loved DA1 and replayed it about 6-7 times, I played once through DA2 and that is enough for me.
Thanks to the forum and the Steam Sale I got Witcher 2, and spent much of the last couple of days finishing Act 1.
I am puzzled and a bit surprised that I have not read many negative comments about the lack of character development and the linear nature of the game. I am wonder does it change in Act 2 and Act 3.
First, I am a disappointed when I finally level up that I get pick exactly one new skill, no increase stats, no picking spell, no boosting specific skills. I understand that unlike most RPG I can play a hybrid so characters end up being pretty differentiated but a single skill seems like a small reward for leveling.
Second, given the rather elaborate crafting system they developed, there just does seem like much in the way of equipment upgrades. You start out with superior gauntlets and trousers, which are significantly better than anything you can craft. That leaves you with boots, armor, two swords, and trophy slot to upgrade. Again compared to a typical RPG with twice as many slot there isn't that much of a mini goal to try and get.
My biggest issue I think is the linearity of the game. (Yes I understand from spoilers the threads that choices you make take the game in different directions with significantly different content.) However, from the moment I killed Kayran in Act 1 till the end, the game is just one big cut scene, where I follow characters from point A to point B, with a couple of action sequence and boss battles.
Now there is much to like about the game. It is hands down the most beautiful game I've ever played. The animation and art direction in Witchers 2 compared to other games, is like Avatar to other movies.
Fortunately the story, and dialogue is better in Witchers 2, and really quite good. Geralt has some pretty Eastwoodesque lines, and the relationship between him and the hottie Tess actually is more believable than many movies.
The combat is challenging I ended up moving the game down to Easy for the bosses and somewhat varied. I guess my question is will I feel the same way if I complete the game.
If you were expecting a stats and loot game you bought the wrong game... I do recall the end of Chapter 1 being a bit follow X - Run! - Now go here - Run! But that pretty much dies away. So you'll probably be happy if you keep going.
The Witcher 2 (and the Witcher 1) are not traditional RPG games. In fact, i like them better that way, even if i like traditional RPG games.
Witcher games are continuation of books. Books are, you know, 100% linear. So if they want to make worthy followup to books, with same bad ass protagonist, they cannot make it into sandbox elderscrolls-like game. So they opted for story based RPG. It is still less linear than most other story based RPGs. (I mean, what with those 16 possible states of the worlds by the end, and completely different second and party third chapter based on one decision, and countless other choices..)
In other news, assholes at Namco Bandai sue CDProjekt for going THQ for xbox release. I hope they lose a lot of money and CDProjekt gains on that.
I mean,
"Moreover, Namco Bandai has also ceased payments to CD Projekt RED for the game’s retail sales."
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/namco-...d-projekt-red/
Last edited by Paul_cze; 07-07-2011 at 11:14 AM.
I don't know that Witcher series was based on books that does explain things. Actually now days it is hard to know know which game first the video game, movie, TV series, or the book.
Of all the google seaches I did with Witcher 2, I never saw a link to the books. I'll come back to the game a bit latter, after I check out some Steam Sale items.
That's because "witcher 2" is not the name of any book. The books are called The Last Wish, The Sword of Destiny, Blood of Elves, Times of Contempt, etc. The series is called sometimes "the Geralt of Rivia saga" and the main storyline that start after the first two books (which are short stories collection) is called "Blood of the Elves Saga" by fans.
Also, they are not fully published in USA, so you are not going to have a lot of results or info about them in Google, at least in english.
First short story from Last Wish featuring Geralt is called The Witcher, but in original polish it is Wiedzmin.
BTW changelog of 1.3 is up.
http://www.thewitcher.com/community/entry/67/index.html
It is fucking awesome!
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