• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |OT3| Metz Some Ploughing Good Ladies In the Forest

So yeah, PS+ sale, the game is now 28 canadian dollars and I'm thinking I could maybe buy it.

BUT

I played about 3 hours of The Witcher 2 and didn't like it much. Is this one much better? Do I need to know the story of the other 2 games to enjoy this one?
 
So yeah, PS+ sale, the game is now 28 canadian dollars and I'm thinking I could maybe buy it.

BUT

I played about 3 hours of The Witcher 2 and didn't like it much. Is this one much better? Do I need to know the story of the other 2 games to enjoy this one?
This is the best game on the PS4.

The combat is vastly improved over the previous game.

As to story, I read up on backstory online prior to playing the game. While it was a little bit overwhelming at first, I quickly came to grips with the world while playing the game.

Some things you might like to research:
  • Geralt and Yennefer's relationship in the books
  • Geralt and Triss' relationship in the previous games
  • Ciri's backstory in the books
  • The history of conflict between Nilfgaard and the Northern realms
Some other stuff that might be helpful:
  • The state of affairs in the Northern realms at the end of the Witcher 2
  • Who the Lodge of Sorceresses are in the previous games
  • Crach an Craite's history
  • Geralt and Roche's relationship in the Witcher 2
All of that is optional, but I found it to be interesting reading.
 

mitchman

Gold Member
I played about 3 hours of The Witcher 2 and didn't like it much. Is this one much better? Do I need to know the story of the other 2 games to enjoy this one?

I actually played Witcher 2 after my first Witcher 3 play-through and Witcher 2 is a completely different game in many aspects. Nowhere near as good as Witcher 3 is.
 

PudieRSC

Member
Just got the game on the PSN store as well. Are there any good "I've never played Witcher games in my life before" beginner guides you guys would recommend?
 

deadfolk

Member
Just got the game on the PSN store as well. Are there any good "I've never played Witcher games in my life before" beginner guides you guys would recommend?

I don't have any recommendations, but it's really only the story/lore stuff mentioned above that would be helpful to know. Gameplay-wise each game is about as different as RPGs can be, so there's nothing you need to know there beforehand.
 

E-phonk

Banned
Also finally bought the game due to the PSN sale and having a weekend off (also while anticipating Mario Odyssey). Curious to discover it's world, as I rarely play western RPG's in general (only souls/jrpg/zelda etc).
 

daxy

Member
Just got the game on the PSN store as well. Are there any good "I've never played Witcher games in my life before" beginner guides you guys would recommend?

Eh, if you really care about getting caught up with the story, you could look up summaries of the previous two games on Youtube, but I wouldn't sweat it too much (though I played Witcher 2, I just watched a video on Witcher 1 myself).

If you don't mind, I do have a few general suggestions for beginning players that may help avoid some frustrations:

- I'd personally recommend you to set it at Blood & Broken Bones difficulty at least but that's a matter of preference. It gets easier as you progress and is an absolute cakewalk at lower difficulties sooner. Death March is probably the way to go, since that maintains a modicum of difficulty throughout, but whatever! If you find that combat difficulty is turning you off of the game, absolutely turn it down. Witcher 3 is all about the characters, lore, and world so don't let combat get in the way of that too much. If you find you're enjoying the combat, it might be worth slogging through a difficult early game to have a better overall balance of difficulty, but ymmv of course.
- Don't dodge roll unless you need the distance; use the short hop instead. The roll stops stamina from recharging, has a larger recovery animation, and makes it more difficult to re-position yourself for your next attack.
- The light attack is pretty strong in this game! I played through the entire thing using primarily light attacks. They're a little weaker, but much quicker than the heavy ones. Also, Whirl is crazy good once you get adrenaline-building perks.
- Get the perk that allows you to cast Signs using adrenaline relatively soon (it's in the yellow tab). You'll recover stamina really quickly once you're high level, but early on it might be a bit slowish.
- You need to put perks in a slot for them to take effect.
- There are respec potions (1000 Gold) so feel free to experiment! You can get tons of ability points through Places of Power though, so you probably won't feel like you're short on them.
- Use the alternative movement/control option if you find that Geralt feels to weighty to control. It's somewhere under gameplay settings.
- Be sure to craft oils and potions (esp. at higher difficulties!). They're basically very strong buffs and are refilled automatically upon meditation using alcohol from your inventory. If you don't care for them, you can totally make your way through the game without them though!
- Also, don't mainline it. I'd suggest you look around to find a variety of quests around your level, especially because you get less exp for quests that are significantly beneath your level.
- If you find yourself running out of inventory space, book it to Novigrad to find a merchant that sells the second largest inventory expansion (horse bags!).
- Sell swords to blacksmiths and armor to armorers to maximize profits (but not each blacksmith/armorer will give you the same/full amount -- some are wealthier than others).
- Don't try to romance both Yen and Triss, maybe?
- You can do the Hearthstone DLC before finishing the mission and nothing will really change, I think. However, I'd suggest you leave Blood & Wine for post-game.
- It's kinda easy to stumble into a shitty ending, so if you care at all about that look up a spoilerless guide once you start prepping for a final battle (you'll know it when you get there, promise!)
- If you're a hog for content, like I am, you should look up a list/spreadsheet of easily missable quests (should be on reddit but easily found on google). Many of them are pretty good.
- Not all quests are on quest boards; some you encounter organically by exploring (usually marked by exclamation points).
- If you put some points into signs, check out the Axii/Delusion perk. It can present itself in some conversations as an option.
- The alternative mode for Quen puts a bubble around you and allows you to recover health when enemies hit it; pretty useful!
- Full beard Geralt + the hairstyle that's loosely gathered & tied behind the head = Best Geralt.

It's a pretty standard action RPG all in all. Don't think you'll need a guide honestly. Take your time! It's very long if you decide to explore all of its content, so try to savour it or risk getting burnt out on it.

That about covers it, I think?
 

lazerfox

Member
Since the GOTY version is on sale I'd thought it was time to replay this gem.

What mods should I install to make it a fairly better / different experience?

Already downloaded better textures and the super lighting mod.
 

daxy

Member
Since the GOTY version is on sale I'd thought it was time to replay this gem.

What mods should I install to make it a fairly better / different experience?

Already downloaded better textures and the super lighting mod.

I'm personally not a fan of either of those, but whatever floats your boat. I like Friendly HUD, but I turn off all the Witcher sense indicators and instead primarily use it as a means to customize the HUD a little bit more and zoom out the default minimap. If you ever end up disabling the lighting mod, I'd recommend getting the No Dirty Lens Effect mod. It's packed in by default with that lighting mod, so you'll only really notice 'screen dirt' if you remove it.
 

lazerfox

Member
I'm personally not a fan of either of those, but whatever floats your boat. I like Friendly HUD, but I turn off all the Witcher sense indicators and instead primarily use it as a means to customize the HUD a little bit more and zoom out the default minimap. If you ever end up disabling the lighting mod, I'd recommend getting the No Dirty Lens Effect mod. It's packed in by default with that lighting mod, so you'll only really notice 'screen dirt' if you remove it.

I can see that the lighting mod doesn't appeal to everybody but what's wrong with the higher res textures? Is it too different to the source material or are they just poorly done?

Friendly hud looks definitely something I want, thanks!
 

daxy

Member
I can see that the lighting mod doesn't appeal to everybody but what's wrong with the higher res textures? Is it too different to the source material or are they just poorly done?

Friendly hud looks definitely something I want, thanks!

Yeah, you guessed it. If we're talking about the same mod anyway. In particular, I don't like what they did with the style of the cobblestone walls (that are literally everywhere in the game). I didn't spend much time with it, because as soon as I saw that I uninstalled it. It stood out in a really weird way for me. If you play with it on, you probably won't ever notice it though.

For a good list of the top mods, have a look here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3x7xmm/list_worthy_mods_for_the_witcher_3/
 

Coreda

Member
The FoV Slider mod I found useful, which adds an in-game slider to the main menu (under Mods). Also for mixing things up you can change Roach to a custom color combo using this mod, which I'd been wanting to do for a while before discovering it (screenshots of mine here and here).
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
Played this about half way through on launch but just restarted on PS4 with the sale. Can't wait as a lot of stuff is mostly forgotten for me already.
 

E-phonk

Banned
Played for a few hours now (ps4) but is it normal that it feels so.. laggy?

Like every dialog option takes about 5-8 seconds before it proceeds while it pauses on a blurry screen. It feels really annoying.
 

PudieRSC

Member
Played for a few hours now (ps4) but is it normal that it feels so.. laggy?

Like every dialog option takes about 5-8 seconds before it proceeds while it pauses on a blurry screen. It feels really annoying.

It's not doing that for me. I had an issue with lag when coming out of rest mode, but other than that it's been pretty smooth.
 

E-phonk

Banned
It's not doing that for me. I had an issue with lag when coming out of rest mode, but other than that it's been pretty smooth.

I don't know what causes it - maybe I have to start a new savegame.
But I can't imagine anyone wanting to play the game like this.
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
Played for a few hours now (ps4) but is it normal that it feels so.. laggy?

Like every dialog option takes about 5-8 seconds before it proceeds while it pauses on a blurry screen. It feels really annoying.

That is abnormal. The dialogue should move very quickly.
 

PudieRSC

Member
Is the Temerian Armor set worth it? I only have a little over 200 gold by looting everything. Granted I'm barely level 3, but still. Not terribly concerned with the horse armor.

If so, is there a specificly good way to farm gold in White Orchard?
 

Coreda

Member
Is the Temerian Armor set worth it? I only have a little over 200 gold by looting everything. Granted I'm barely level 3, but still. Not terribly concerned with the horse armor.

If so, is there a specificly good way to farm gold in White Orchard?

I think if that's all the coin you have atm it's probably more practical picking up armor from loot, even if it sometimes may look a little wonky. If you did want to try it though there's a farming method in White Orchard seen in this video. Worth quick-saving prior to purchase in case you change your mind.
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
I'd say not orth it. Once out of white orchard, you will gain a few levels and a lot of money quickly. And you can always return to White orchard in a few levels and clean everything up. I'd say weapons are more important than armor early on.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
Is the Temerian Armor set worth it? I only have a little over 200 gold by looting everything. Granted I'm barely level 3, but still. Not terribly concerned with the horse armor.

If so, is there a specificly good way to farm gold in White Orchard?

i used the temerian armor for most of the game. i was about 80 hours in when i got the wolven set so must've been about 70-ish hours before i got rid of the temerian armor and just wore anything that was stronger until i got the wolven pieces.

wolven set i used until i got all the viper set from HoS. used viper throughout all of B&W. was gonna get the mastercrafted wolven but the amount of money you need for it is crazy.
 

BeauRoger

Unconfirmed Member
Is the Temerian Armor set worth it? I only have a little over 200 gold by looting everything. Granted I'm barely level 3, but still. Not terribly concerned with the horse armor.

If so, is there a specificly good way to farm gold in White Orchard?

I'd say its worth it. Its not that much money and it will last you much longer than any other armor will except the witcher school gear. Beside that, it looks far cooler than basically of the no-name armors.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Some screens from the PS4 Pro version post-patch. Man, this looks good.

whiteorchardussza.png

whiteorchard_1axsqn.png

whiteorchard_22lsfs.png

whiteorchard_3hks1r.png
 

Zertez

Member
Is the Temerian Armor set worth it? I only have a little over 200 gold by looting everything. Granted I'm barely level 3, but still. Not terribly concerned with the horse armor.

If so, is there a specificly good way to farm gold in White Orchard?
Go for saddlebags 1st. You will get encumbered by all the weapons quickly and the extra weight capacity helps. Pick up all the trash weapons and gear then take them back to the blacksmith to sell. The boost will pay for itself quickly.
 
Top Bottom