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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |OT| Gwent Player, Monster Slayer, EVEN RACISM

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This is my first ever witcher and i am a little overwhelmed.

Only about 2 hours in and my inventory is slowly filling and i have no idea what to do with it all.Things like blacksmiths and stuff i am a little confused how it should all be done.

I was hoping this would be more newb rpg friendly. I really need to get myself a guide or something. I love the world/game play but its all very overwhelming :)

Stumbled into a grave area (i now know is a power stone area) and promptly got the hell out of there as i am still a lowly level 2.
 

Serrato

Member
I had a terrible time with this until I started rolling instead of dodging when they flicker in.

Yup, against wraiths rolling sideways is the way to go. Against multiple Wraiths, it's hard but doable.

I think the best tactic I found on them is to not let you gang on you, but that would be on every group of enemies right?
 
Combats perfect. Just keep fighting and you will either learn to fight that particular enemy in that sized group or you will quit. Witcher pulls no punches. Patience and forethought are key. Learn to tell the difference when an enemy is about to attack once, twice, or more. Wolves like to overwhelm you with numbers and speed and position. Downers like to confuse you and surround you. Each enemy must be dealt with very differently. I absolutely love the combat and hate it when I die. That's a good thing in my book.

You know what, yeah, you're totally onto something.

As awkward as the combat can be, it really is about understanding how Geralt moves vs. an enemies' weaknesses and strengths, and balancing your approach accordingly. As you fight through the game, battles become more instinctive and fluid. Pirouettes and rolls will become a natural reaction, and attacks of opportunity will become the main source of damage. Signs, potions, bombs, and oils will be there for the truly difficult fights to turn things in Geralt's favour. Failure is due to mistakes, and success is due to skill. I suspect it may even end up as a Dark Souls sorta thing, where the beginning difficulties evaporate on a replay, and suddenly you can weave through enemies like a pro.

The combat has grown on me the more I play.

I had a terrible time with this until I started rolling instead of dodging when they flicker in.

Yeah, knowing when to pirouette, roll, or parry is something that will take a while to get down. It is key to mastery.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
Restarted tonight on Hard and completed all of White Orchard in 5ish hours and got back to where I was just at the start of main map. Got all available portions and bombs, 1000 orens in my pocket and plenty of other consumables and creating items. So I'm happy.

Combat is still wonky though. Camera can be quite a nuisance but really it's just that I'm still not experienced enough to know when to normal dodge or roll dodge, especially in a crowd. I feel like I should be doing some Arkham style combat but it doesn't totally work that way. So while continually juggling targets at once to keep them at bay works it's not perfect since the targeting doesn't let you easily swap targets on the fly which can lead to some serious damage being done to me. Parrying so far has not been useful at all, it just ends up with me getting hurt for no good reason because I try to parry instead of dodge. I'm pretty good about using signs, especially igni, but not so much bombs or potions in normal fights.
 
Yeah, some of the ones tied close to the main narrative get closed off though.

On the other hand, if you find an area before getting to the relevant part of the main narrative, some quests could be closed off. For example, in White Orchard,
I found the griffon's nest before I went to talk to the military guy about it, so after I did I wasn't able to do the small quest with talking to the hunter and the one of the quest objectives ("Examine the site of the Nilfgaardian soldiers' death") was marked as having failed.
 
You know what, yeah, you're totally onto something.

As awkward as the combat can be, it really is about understanding how Geralt moves vs. an enemies' weaknesses and strengths, and balancing your approach accordingly. As you fight through the game, battles become more instinctive and fluid. Pirouettes and rolls will become a natural reaction, and attacks of opportunity will become the main source of damage. Signs, potions, bombs, and oils will be there for the truly difficult fights to turn things in Geralt's favour. Failure is due to mistakes, and success is due to skill. I suspect it may even end up as a Dark Souls sorta thing, where the beginning difficulties evaporate on a replay, and suddenly you can weave through enemies like a pro.

The combat has grown on me the more I play.
I feel exactly the same. I'm loving the combat. I approach each enemy slowly and never rush to get hits in. Use parry liberally, use signs liberally, know when to stop striking, when to dodge and roll out of the way, remember each enemy's weakness and you'll be golden.
 

gossi

Member
I feel exactly the same. I'm loving the combat. I approach each enemy slowly and never rush to get hits in. Use parry liberally, use signs liberally, know when to stop striking, when to dodge and roll out of the way, remember each enemy's weakness and you'll be golden.

Pretty much this. This game does not hold hands too much, it presumes you will experiment and learn.
 
I'm not sure if this is exactly the same on PC but on console if you go to your inventory then press right trigger it shows all sorts of stats such as vitality, etc. On the lower left it displays total play time.

Oh yeah, I found it. Huh, though I'd been playing longer, but it says it's been only a little over 10 hours.
 

HoJu

Member
enjoying it so far, and i am still fairly early, but there are some major problems.

wish the mark for objectives was somehow incorporated into the actual game instead of just the minimap, unless i'm missing something.

also the combat falls apart when against groups of enemies. i'm guessing for those scenarios i'm supposed to rely more on magic, but switching between spells is terrible using a controller. it just feels really inefficient and slows it down. also a lot of the time, mainly with the smaller enemies, i can't tell whether the enemy is moving or attacking. they lack a "tell" which is pretty important for combat.

environments are gorgeous though. hopefully the combat clicks soon, or i'll probably end up putting the game aside.
 

Complistic

Member
This is my first ever witcher and i am a little overwhelmed.

Only about 2 hours in and my inventory is slowly filling and i have no idea what to do with it all.Things like blacksmiths and stuff i am a little confused how it should all be done.

I was hoping this would be more newb rpg friendly. I really need to get myself a guide or something. I love the world/game play but its all very overwhelming :)

Stumbled into a grave area (i now know is a power stone area) and promptly got the hell out of there as i am still a lowly level 2.

we really need a psa about not looting everything you find.
 

Yeul

Member
You know what, yeah, you're totally onto something.

As awkward as the combat can be, it really is about understanding how Geralt moves vs. an enemies' weaknesses and strengths, and balancing your approach accordingly. As you fight through the game, battles become more instinctive and fluid. Pirouettes and rolls will become a natural reaction, and attacks of opportunity will become the main source of damage. Signs, potions, bombs, and oils will be there for the truly difficult fights to turn things in Geralt's favour. Failure is due to mistakes, and success is due to skill. I suspect it may even end up as a Dark Souls sorta thing, where the beginning difficulties evaporate on a replay, and suddenly you can weave through enemies like a pro.

The combat has grown on me the more I play.

So true, and it becomes extremely important in the end game. Dodge-rolling to get behind an enemy was my best friend by the end lol.
 

Darksol

Member
I played this game from the moment I woke until just now as I'm going to bed. I only stopped because my eyes got so blurry I couldn't read that tiny as hell writing anymore.

Anybody else addicted to just picking flowers?
 

Blizzard

Banned
Yes. Items degrade as their durability goes down - for both weapons and armour. Just check it out in the inventory screen if you want to see how degraded it is. The lost effectiveness is reflected (in red) in the item info blurb.

Armourers and weaponsmiths can repair items for a fee, and there are also usable repair thingies that can do it while out in the field (though the latter is vastly more expensive).

Do weapons get WAY weaker below 50% though? What happens if they reach 0% -- break, do no damage, start healing the enemies? (just kidding)
 

Soriku

Junior Member
Combats perfect. Just keep fighting and you will either learn to fight that particular enemy in that sized group or you will quit. Witcher pulls no punches. Patience and forethought are key. Learn to tell the difference when an enemy is about to attack once, twice, or more. Wolves like to overwhelm you with numbers and speed and position. Downers like to confuse you and surround you. Each enemy must be dealt with very differently. I absolutely love the combat and hate it when I die. That's a good thing in my book.

I had some trouble yesterday, but now I've been wrecking enemies with the same strategy at lvl 2 lol. This includes lvl 7 wraiths, the lvl 6 bear and sea hag, plus the lvl 3-5 drowners. And I'm playing on Death March.

All I've been doing is casting Quen and reapplying it when I can (I make sure to watch its effect, the little light circling around you, doesn't stop for too long). I fight enemies one at a time, because the combat is a bit too slow to handle large groups well. Then when actually fighting, I watch the enemy's HP bar. Once it flashes red, I tap circle so I can do a small dodge (I usually dodge left). The dodging is very lenient and I'm able to dodge everything. I swipe 2-3 times normally with the light attack (strong attack for the bear though), sometimes more if I feel like I can get more hits in or just trying to finish off the enemy quick, then back off and repeat.

No oils/potions needed yet. I've kinda avoided them since I'd rather not use many consumables for basic enemies. I haven't fought the griffin yet, and I'm not sure if I can still get by without them in that fight, but we'll see.
 

Serrato

Member
I played this game from the moment I woke until just now as I'm going to bed. I only stopped because my eyes got so blurry I couldn't read that tiny as hell writing anymore.

Anybody else addicted to just picking flowers?

COLLECT
EVERYTHING!

I'm in love with this game. I force myself to take breaks to not burn my passion for it yet.

It really is the epitome of RPGness I was waiting for. I think it should be the template all other should take on. It also give me great hopes for Cyberpunk 2077.
 
a towerful of mice

this fucking game

As if that quest couldn't get any better, it leads to the first
ploughing
of the game
yyXHXGS.png
 

Salsa

Member
I really enjoy the game's combat. Seems that's not a popular opinion.

I hated it in 2, but im actively lookin for fights here. It feels good.

blood and broken bones also provides a light scratch on the monster hunter / dark souls itch. Clearly not even close to being the same but the fact that you gotta actually be careful and encounters have overall repercussions during and after them makes it hit some similar notes.
 

Gaz_RB

Member
I really enjoy the game's combat. Seems that's not a popular opinion.

I hated it in 2, but im actively lookin for fights here. It feels good.

blood and broken bones also provides a light scratch on the monster hunter / dark souls itch. Clearly not even close to being the same but the fact that you gotta actually be careful and encounters have overall repercussions during and after them makes it hit some similar notes.
Yeah when I was fighting the bigger monsters I was getting some hardcore Monster Hunter vibes.
 

dreamfall

Member
I really enjoy the game's combat. Seems that's not a popular opinion.

I hated it in 2, but im actively lookin for fights here. It feels good.

blood and broken bones also provides a light scratch on the monster hunter / dark souls itch. Clearly not even close to being the same but the fact that you gotta actually be careful and encounters have overall repercussions during and after them makes it hit some similar notes.

I loved it in 2, and I love it here. I don't know, a lot of the similar mechanics apply- prepare, equip potions to give you that edge, parry smartly and use bombs for crowd control. This all still applies, but with a great sidestep. It feels heavy, and customizable- which to me is really nice. As far as a sprawling open world RPG, I'm impressed with it.
 
I love the combat.
It's not our usual brainless action RPG combat (I'm not talking about Souls games). We really NEED patience and observation in this game's combat.
You can't just hack and slash your way through enemies and hope for the best.
 

Chris1

Member
This was the hardest time I've had in the game on Death March I actually got frustrated.Fighting the botchling was impossible but it wasn't that it was the wraiths, groups of wraiths wreck so hard Quen can't save you from their combos. Took me over an hour just to beat those two fights and had to use specter oil for both and it was still insanely close in the end.

Yep also stuck on this.. spent a good hour or two before shutting my xbox off out of rage.
 

bender

What time is it?
Playing Witcher 3 and Dark Souls 2 at the same time is a bad idea.

Got to Velen tonight after sucking the marrow out of White Orchard. A little conflicted on the game so far as I love the character interaction but the combat leaves a lot to be desired.

Also not a fan of points of interest being pre-populated on the map. It makes it feel like a Ubisoft game and takes away from the sense of discovery.
 

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
Anyone know how to quickly exit the crossbow/bomb throwing action? Nothing really seems to snap out of it, it quickly becomes frustrating getting hit because of it.
 

pakkit

Banned
I'm enjoying combat so far. Dodge is a nice addition, and it is especially helpful in precarious areas (like mountaintops) since fall damage is a thing now. I like that roll isn't OP like it used to be. I get the sense that the combat will really open up as I keep leveling. So far, I haven't the ability points nor the levels to truly flesh out the system. But it's good...better than the boring shooting in RDR...better than the silly stealth of Skyrim...I just wish there was a crouch button, not stealth exactly, but more a way to creep up on enemies, especially since crit-hits are such a premium in this game.

I'm curious how many people that are coming in from Witcher 2 feel about the combat. To me, all I see are improvements.

this is it
this is the best screenshot i'll ever take of anything

where are geralt's eyes...

Yeah it's much better. Drowners are like 100x more difficult than they need to be though. Can't just run into a mob of them and murder them all anymore. They're the supposed to be the bottom rung enemy. It's kind of silly that I'd rather fight a bear than 3 drowners but oh well.

Quen and Yrden is killin' everything. But yeah, the drowners definitely became much stronger than 2. Can't wait to level up and come back and lay waste like it ought to be.
 

Sober

Member
Anyone playing without the minimap? I feel bad playing this beautifully detailed open world game following bread crumbs and icons from a heafs up map rather then navigating by landmarks and the map. How do you do it? Does the game provide enough direction to find your way without the minimap? How about quests where you are directed to specific areas to search for clues, are those even possible without the on screen map?
Expect to pause and open up the world map even more, IMO.
 

TheRed

Member
Put me as another that really loves the combat in this game, best out of any open world rpg I've ever played. On highest difficulty it's really engaging too, I feel like Geralt in the trailers, truly preparing for fights.
 

leng jai

Member
My problem is more with the camera and the poor targeting system. Just terrible when you're trying to fight several wraiths in a confined area.
 
I'm curious how many people that are coming in from Witcher 2 feel about the combat. To me, all I see are improvements.

Yeah it's much better. Drowners are like 100x more difficult than they need to be though. Can't just run into a mob of them and murder them all anymore. They're the supposed to be the bottom rung enemy. It's kind of silly that I'd rather fight a bear than 3 drowners but oh well.
 

newsguy

Member
Just did the mission in Orchard where
the guy asks for your help to find his box. I watched preview videos where you dicover he's actually the killer and chase him down on the horse. I must've missed a clue because in my game he just gave me my reward and left.
 

Exuro

Member
Two things make me overwhelmed as hell so far.

Crafting
Alchemy

How much should I worry? Playing on normal.
Whats nice, at least with alchemy is you only need to make each thing once and then when you meditate you'll use up components(not sure which, might just be oils?) to refresh stock.
 
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