Finally been able to get started, just beat the griffin.

I keep rejecting gold but then realise how much I need it when I can't afford to buy shit.

 

Fair enough. I should clarify though, I don't mind the higher level enemies randomly scattered around as much as I really, really dislike the 'red skull' mechanic.

I was level 9.999, and I encountered a red skull wraith (15?) guarding a treasure. I wail on it for days without dying to no affect.

I kill a nearby drowner, I ding, all of a sudden my weapons actually do damage. She drops relatively quick.

That's annoying. To me, anyway.

Then again...dem archers...

 

Who here bowed to the king? I did, but regretted it in the span of three seconds afterwards.

 

Eh you cane easily buy the relevant herbs from a trader/herbalist. Since you only need enough to "unlock" the potions that is often the easier and quicker way...

 

Ayup. Walking past gossiping ladies in crow's perch and I hear:

"...I'll shove a rake right up your cunt".

I'll just leave that gem there.

 

I was underlevelled heading into Family Matters, so when I went to see the Pellar it was thirty minutes of almost dying instantly before I finally fluked a win. I'm still barely getting the hang of the combat system.

On an aside, does anyone know if Geralts history pre-amnesia ever been explained in game or in the novels?

 

What do you mean by that? Because the amnesia took away everything he knew about his life, as described by Sapkowski. Short stories, the Saga (up until Lady of the Lake and transport to the Isle of Apples by Ciri) and the subsequent event after that (life on the Isle, Wild Hunt attack, Geralts investigation and hunt of the Wild Hunt, trading his life for that of Yennefer, Geralts service in the Wild Hunt, freedom and dumping near Kaer Morhen).

In Witcher 2 Geralt regains his memories - all of them, but as players we never learn what happened to Geralt after he made the trade for Yennefer, what did he do in the Hunt and how did he escape.

 

Aah I've never had a platform for Witcher or Witcher 2, I was wondering if there was anything before he gets dumped near Kaer Morhen in the first game. Good to know there is, thanks.

 

Yes, there is. A lot. Let me quote myself:

The last part about learning Polish still applies

 

Dying to get a decent Monsters deck together in gwent.

Dat shit's OP.

My Northern Kingdoms deck is solid as hell and practically never loses, but if NPCs played monster decks like a human would? They'd be unstoppable.

 

Was looking forward to sitting down & playing for a couple of hours before bed but the game randomly seems to think I have a controller plugged in - despite telling me it's detecting mouse & keyboard. My mouse works just fine, but my keyboard? De nada. Won't respond in-game, but I can use it perfectly fine to skip cutscenes, scroll through options etc - but nothing in-game works.

Kind of peeved as I'm now screwed for time until next weekend and I can only assume as it has something to do with the most recent patch as it worked fine on 1.03 just after release, all I had time to do was the opening flashback. Not found anything yet but I'll get looking, just wondered if any of you guys had encountered a similar problem since 1.04.

From what I've seen of the game however I'm pretty darn excited and if anything, this is probably a sign to go back and re-try Witcher 2 now that I have a half decent rig that can run it well. Probably not a bad idea actually.

 

Odd. Switches between m/k and controller instantly for me. Dont think it actually needs to "switch" at all, just determines what labeling it uses.

 

I really, really tried to finish Witcher 2 before buying the new one, but I just couldn't do it - all the reviews and gameplay footage were just too much to resist. I regret nothing. Few thoughts;

- re: archers - Let me tell you how incredibly powerful the arrow redirection talent is. It takes a bit to get the timing just right, but once you get it down you'll be more or less a Jedi blocking stuff back at people. And most times you one-shot the archer too.

- I don't mind the seeming randomness of the monster levels throughout the world, but as Hugplx pointed out it's kind of annoying when 2xp makes all the difference whether I'm the pitcher or the catcher, if you know what I'm saying.

- Kind of meh on the crafting system. I'm one of those people that has to pick up every gatherable thing in a game, and I'm kind of sitting here wondering when I'm actually going to use 90% of this stuff, if ever. And it's kind of strange having to get someone else to make all my armor and weapons for me - way more realistic I have to admit, and that makes it kind of cool TBH, but on the other hand I hate having to pay someone to dismantle stuff. I guess it feels weird because it's just different.

All in all, this is the first time I've bought a game at full price in a LONG time, and I couldn't be happier I did. Definitely have to pick the books up, seeing as the story in the game alone is better than many fantasy novels. Not learning Polish though, sorry Jibril.

 

I never actually see the archers. The foliage is strong in this game.

 

To all those complaining about arbitrary power levels dictating missions, I recommend you stop investing in the wimpy nerd magic trees and gross dweeb potions tree (or God forbid, the neutral talent tree, most of which are noob traps), and start pumping points into the glorious Strong Sword branch of the melee tree.

Crits and staggers are the great equalizers, my friends. I did earth elemental at level 17 and arch griffin at 18.

Also, bleed and burn are the best traits to find on a sword, and are worth losing base DPS. Your future self, fighting regenerators and lifestealers, will thank you.

 

Just tried out Whirl.

I've become a whirlwind of death and destruction.

I like how every path is basically super powerful. Souped up light and strong attacks honestly wreck everything, no need for anything else. Signs? We all know how strong Quen and Axii are, Yrden upgraded is also a beast, and flamethrower Igni is excellent at boss killing. Alchemy, you have your quadra potion decoction imbibed ass throwing a million bombs with perma +50% damage oils.