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?
