The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Expansion

[RK47]

So yeah - balance. The Sign skill tree becomes progressively useless through the game.

 

[Mrowak]

So yeah - balance. The Sign skill tree becomes progressively useless through the game.

Care to elaborate?

 

[RK47]

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Witcher sense is a result of trying to make the game realistic. In a normal game clues and tracks would be instantly visible making player look for them in the game world. In reality however nobody would hire a Witcher to find something that is perfectly obvious to normal people so we are left with going from one gloving red objects to another. Combat suffers from the same problem. Animations are needlessly long (because obviously that's what a real Witcher would fight like) which makes fights a slog and forces player to rely on shit like Quen and becoming immortal during sidesteps.

About Quen, with proper build you can practically forget about it.

I replayed the final B&W boss fight today. On my first playthrough I heavily invested in magic - result: I was barely able to do any damage and was shread to pieces by the bossess' special attacks that pierced through Quen. Hell, I had to lower the difficulty.

However, upon quick respec into Alchemy with a dash of Fighting tree my Geralt was back into murder machine mode. I could chuck hectolitres of potions and decoctions which increased my resistance and healing capabilities to such a degree that I was able to shrug off most attacks. And that skill that lets you ignore ALL damage sustained while dodging is broken as fuck.

Later I faught some bandits and the results were sublime - instead of strafing and slashing back and time again I could enter into thick of the fight slaughter a bunch of enemies with minimal wounds. Me like.

So yeah - balance. The Sign skill tree becomes progressively useless through the game. At the start it's clearly the strongest choice as it offers renewable dramatic effects that enable crowdcontrol. However, at the endgame there are so many more better options for crowd control than signs, plus, with alternatives, you have much higher damage output to boot.

Being so broken you can safely ignore what's going on on the battlefield doesn't really fix the combat system.

Also you don't really have to respec in order to beat bandits or the final bots. Bandits are not a threat since dual-cast igni makes them unable to ever hit you. As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield. Damage wasn't really a problem. Alternative Quen makes you immortal no matter where you are in the game since as long as you have 1hp you can just heal back without troubles.

 

[Merlkir]

Some attacks, in this expansion especially break quen and hurt you so much you don't really heal much.

 

[Mrowak]

Being so broken you can safely ignore what's going on on the battlefield doesn't really fix the combat system.

I didn't claim it fixes anything

Also you don't really have to respec in order to beat bandits or the final bots. Bandits are not a threat since dual-cast igni makes them unable to ever hit you. As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield.

Somehow not in my game - the fucker hit with pinpoint precision even mid-dodge.

Damage wasn't really a problem. Alternative Quen makes you immortal no matter where you are in the game since as long as you have 1hp you can just heal back without troubles.

Not in my game again, from Olgierd through other bosses to Detlaff - alternate mode does jack shit even if you have over 160% sign intensity - they actually break through the shield and deal more damage than it can regenerate. What difficulty are you playing on?

And come on guys - the fact that you can abuse a game system e.g. by spamming same spells over and over doesn't mean you should. It's as if I rested after every fight in IE games.

 

[Mrowak]

WTF? Why are there so few of them? Even if you prevent reinforcements in that location there should be at least two dozen more bandits. And where the fuck did archers go?

EDIT: Loved how you blew yourself up at the end :D

 

[Lambach]

As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield.

The fuck are you talking about? I died no less than a dozen times to that attack on Death March with Quen on at over 200% Sign Intensity. It's literally impossible to dodge either by running around or by rolling. I had to lower the difficulty for the first time since I've started playing, vanilla and HoS included. I'm still not convinced that attack is not bugged in some way.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Also you don't really have to respec in order to beat bandits or the final bots. Bandits are not a threat since dual-cast igni makes them unable to ever hit you. As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield.

That's the key. You don't dodge it. As soon as he starts summoning the bats you release the lock on (if you were locked on) and start running (not dodging, walking or rolling) the bats will never hit you if you do that in time.

Not in my game again, from Olgierd through other bosses to Detlaff - alternate mode does jack shit even if you have over 160% sign intensity - they actually break through the shield and deal more damage than it can regenerate. What difficulty are you playing on?

The highest. You need to wait for them to use their weaker attacks. But yes, their strongest attacks (like the bat strike) will break even through double Quen. You are immortal not because you can block every attack with quen but because you can heal yourself indefinitely. Also, I've checked my signs intensity was 212% or something.

And come on guys - the fact that you can abuse a game system e.g. by spamming same spells over and over doesn't mean you should. It's as if I rested after every fight in IE games.

But there is hardly a reason not to. If you have a choice between healing yourself fully and restarting the fight why chose the later? In IE games resting was annoying because of random encounters.[/QUOTE]

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

The fuck are you talking about? I died no less than a dozen times to that attack on Death March with Quen on at over 200% Sign Intensity. It's literally impossible to dodge either by running around or by rolling. I had to lower the difficulty for the first time since I've started playing, vanilla and HoS included. I'm still not convinced that attack is not bugged in some way.

Do you know some easy to use capturing software? I never used one and I can show you how it's dodged. I did it now just to check if it's possible.[/QUOTE]

 

[Wolfe]

As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield.

The fuck are you talking about? I died no less than a dozen times to that attack on Death March with Quen on at over 200% Sign Intensity. It's literally impossible to dodge either by running around or by rolling. I had to lower the difficulty for the first time since I've started playing, vanilla and HoS included. I'm still not convinced that attack is not bugged in some way.

You can dodge it if you time it correctly, maybe you ran into a bug. For me it worked fine.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sbTkanu_lI&feature=youtu.be
Here is the video, it was indeed done on the highest difficulty. Sorry for Polish text.

 

[Mrowak]

Also you don't really have to respec in order to beat bandits or the final bots. Bandits are not a threat since dual-cast igni makes them unable to ever hit you. As for the final boss, he has one attack which pierces through Quen and it is easily dodged by just running around the battlefield.

That's the key. You don't dodge it. As soon as he starts summoning the bats you release the lock on (if you were locked on) and start running (not dodging, walking or rolling) the bats will never hit you if you do that in time.

Pretty much sure I tried this but ok. I wonder if it's possible to break his "concentration" when he charges the attack, but crossbow bolts bounce off him so probably not.

The highest. You need to wait for them to use their weaker attacks.

Weird. The moment I set up shield they envariably use their super-sayan attack.

But there is hardly a reason not to. If you have a choice between healing yourself fully and restarting the fight why chose the later? In IE games resting was annoying because of random encounters.

I don't consider this to be a problem. I think that's the point - it's a feature. Your health should go down quickly, but you should be able to return to top shape, somehow. A war of attrition in an action game would be boring.

As a side note Quen on the top of being the most boring option Quen is pretty weak at regenerating health. There are so many better alternatives: Alchemy tree with potion duration extensions, higher toxicity thresholds, upgrade that immediately returns 25% of health after drinking ANY potion and bunch of vitality-boosting decoctions. Hell, Fighting tree with supreme Adrenaline generation let's you fully rejuvenate after going down to 0 health. But even combining the two does not make you immortal.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Mrowak
Quen returns your entire health in seconds and never runs out, how is it weak? Even the skill that returns 25% of your health for every potion is worse because you'll eventually run out of potions or be too intoxicated, you will never run out of Quen. As for enemies countering quen with super attacks. Did you see my video? At the end the vampire is using some AOE attack and takes some a bit of my health. If I had alternative quen set up and was standing a bit further he'd heal me and he cannot cancel this attack once he starts charging it.

EDIT:
And besides I wasn't arguing that magic is the strongest. Just that the game makes player rely on weird tactics like that because Geralt's combat animations are too slow to just rely on just getting hit, which makes the game worse than say Dark Souls, which relies mostly on player being able do block/dodge shit and is able to do that because player is faster compared to monsters then Geralt is compared to his enemies.

 

[Lambach]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sbTkanu_lI&feature=youtu.be
Here is the video, it was indeed done on the highest difficulty. Sorry for Polish text.

I'm almost 100% sure I've tried this and the bats still hit. Will have to try it again tonight.

 

[Mrowak]

Mrowak
Quen returns your entire health in seconds and never runs out, how is it weak?

Again, I cannot fathom how Quen works so reliably for you. I honestly think that we play a different game

Even the skill that returns 25% of your health for every potion is worse because you'll eventually run out of potions or be too intoxicated, you will never run out of Quen.

You won't run out of potions as you carry truck tonnes of them. Also remember that alchemy tree and mutagens grant huge boosts to vitality. Also with proper skill distribution the toxicity meter is increased by 170% - you can drink up to 3 decoctions and still have room to spare for regular potions. And you don't suffer any sideeffects. And lastly, they last 300% longer with much much faster toxicity drain.

As for enemies countering quen with super attacks. Did you see my video? At the end the vampire is using some AOE attack and takes some a bit of my health. If I had alternative quen set up and was standing a bit further he'd heal me and he cannot cancel this attack once he starts charging it.

The fucker pierced through my Quen like it was butter and left me with 1/2 of my health. And I am talking about 2nd mode. O_O

Suffice it to say with Alchemy/Fighter build this fight took me 2 tries. With magic build I tried at least 15 times, and was forced to shamefully lower difficulty.

You know, if you find your particular build boring / too easy, why not just respec and seek alternative? To be honest I did that precisely for this reason in TW3 vanilla and I don't look back.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sbTkanu_lI&feature=youtu.be
Here is the video, it was indeed done on the highest difficulty. Sorry for Polish text.

I'm almost 100% sure I've tried this and the bats still hit. Will have to try it again tonight.

Did you remember to release the lock-on? I'm sure they will hit you if you try running while still locked on (since Geralt won't run in a straight line then) or stop even for a second.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Mrowak
It's not like I find signs boring. I'm using them precisely because it gives me a lot of options (instead of just light and heavy swings). Like I've said before I dislike the combat system because it makes you rely on gimmicks like getting infinite healing (either from adrenaline, alchemy or Quen) instead of just making everything dodgeable for the player and making him rely on one health bar and limited healing. Like Dark Souls, DMC/MGR or Ys. Besides what other builds out there? From what I've heard there are sings (which make you immortal), feline/fast attack (which makes you spin around and just ignore everything), alchemy (which according to you makes Geralt even more immortal than signs) and ursine/strong attack (I don't know what it does but in B&W it auto-casts quen).

 

[Mrowak]

Mrowak
It's not like I find signs boring. I'm using them precisely because it gives me a lot of options (instead of just light and heavy swings). Like I've said before I dislike the combat system because it makes you rely on gimmicks like getting infinite healing (either from adrenaline, alchemy or Quen) instead of just making everything dodgeable for the player and making him rely on one health bar and limited healing.

That's precisely what Alchemy/Fighting builds do - you have limited healing and room for mistakes. The fights come down to dodging and parrying attacks. It is nowhere near "infinite healing" you complain about - it just doesn't happen.

I see you prefer DS system but frankly - this is the system described best as "war of attrition" - you fight until your resources are depleted (health, potions), whereas in TW3 you can die quickly and easily but you always have plenty of options to recover.

Fight (Rend and Whirl + improved parries) and Alchemy (Slow time when throwing bombs, slow time during enemy counters, extended toxicity meter, improvements to oils) trees are deceptively simple, but to my mind they grant you more varied options than signs, which even to my mind at some point boil down to spamming the same ability over and over. Those trees are more satisfying, because they take you in the thick of it. By contrast, I can understand how spamming the same spells over and over can get old.

 

[Merlkir]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sbTkanu_lI&feature=youtu.be
Here is the video, it was indeed done on the highest difficulty. Sorry for Polish text.

I think I eventually won like this, but not before 15+ tries with the actual dodging mechanisms of the game. I mean...it's not entirely broken, but I don't think it was intended to work this way.

 

[Carrion]

I backed off as far as I could, then rolled away when the bats came. There's only a small window for it, but it's very much doable, and I only needed to do it twice before getting to the next phase in the fight. That single attack is the only somewhat challenging thing about it anyway.

As for the main quest,

Spoiler

for some reason the thing that bothered me most about the plot was Syanna's "prison". I don't mean that it's a fairytale illusion (on the contrary, the place is awesome) but that it's a place where time flows differently, so that spending a week there only equals a few minutes in the real world. Keeping her locked up in there for days would mean years for her in there, maybe even decades, without any human contact whatsoever, which not only is kind of cruel but also would give her plenty of time to find the beans and break out. It would've been a better idea to just lock her in a tower and throw away the key.

 

[janior]

Are there any worthy sidequests in B&W? I've not checked noticeboards in small villages only

 

[Carrion]

Are there any worthy sidequests in B&W? I've not checked noticeboards in small villages only

The sidequests are the best thing about it by far. All of them aren't on the notice boards, though, and I'd recommend at least checking out the little settlement North of Dun Tynne Crossroads.

 

[Gerrard]

So human enemies take 20 hits to kill on DM? Truly the way it was meant to be played.

 

[Malpercio]

Classic CD Projekt.

You let your guard down one second and you find yourself in a badly written porn.