The Witcher 3 GOTY Edition

[Bohrain]

I really want Yennefer, or Triss, or BOTH...preferably at the same time, but not that old bag Kiera trapped in a young woman's body

You know that Yennefer is canonically around a century old (same as Geralt) and had a hunchback before fixing it with magic?
Sorceresses in general are described in books as pretty girls with the eyes of ugly girls', as they tended to daughters of nobility who were too ugly to be wedded to other noble families.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I really want Yennefer, or Triss, or BOTH...preferably at the same time, but not that old bag Kiera trapped in a young woman's body

You know that is canonically around a century old (same as Geralt) and had a hunchback before fixing it with magic?
Sorceresses in general are described in books as pretty girls with the eyes of ugly girls', as they tended to daughters of nobility who were too ugly to be wedded to other noble families.

*Johnny Carson voice* I did not know that. Never played (or at least completed) any of the other Witcher games, and didn't read her Witcher 3 Glossary entry. But as my momma used to say when we would dwell negatively on the gloomy, dead past: "Be here now...be here NOW." Yennefer in her current incarnation is, as we yanks like to impolitely say, a piece of ass.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

The music for Witcher 3 + expansions rivals my favorite game soundtracks by Jesper Kyd (Assassin's Creed 2 and AC: Brotherhood). I particularly like the menu music for B&W.

 

[Roguey]

Received my copy today.

Good news: It does in fact contain everything on six discs (though it hardly installs anything at all from the sixth even though it has 8 gigs of info on it, how peculiar). Technically there is a disc check, but the game immediately launches right after you click on continue on the menu. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bad news: Those six discs are all placed on a single flimsy hub that exploded in transit, so mine arrived with scratches all over a couple of 'em. However, it seemed to install and run okay.

Looks like it's going to be a really long time until I play Pillars of Eternity, though if they actually do release the DRM-free patch this year, I'll play it before Hearts of Stone or Blood and Wine.

I'm guessing you own a record player.

I actually do in fact own a USB record player which I've used to play/record vinyl records I inherited. I haven't bought any new ones, though there is an advantage to it: no loudness war clipping nonsense.

 

[nomask7]

Just got this on PS4. Updated it. And not receiving xp from side quests in White Orchard. Is this a bug or a feature? I'm like still lvl 2 even though I've advanced in the main quest to a point where the available story quests are anywhere from lvl 5 to astronomical figures. I've completed several side quests with no xp rewards. How the fuck am I supposed to level up in this game?

 

[Roguey]

Just got this on PS4. Updated it. And not receiving xp from side quests in White Orchard. Is this a bug or a feature? I'm like still lvl 2 even though I've advanced in the main quest to a point where the available story quests are anywhere from lvl 5 to astronomical figures. I've completed several side quests with no xp rewards. How the fuck am I supposed to level up in this game?

You get the vast majority of xp from completing main quests. They're the gate for side content; they don't want you burning yourself out on all that side stuff when they put so much effort into the critical path.

 

[nomask7]

You get the vast majority of xp from completing main quests. They're the gate for side content; they don't want you burning yourself out on all that side stuff when they put so much effort into the critical path.

But you're still supposed to get *some* xp from all of the side quests, right (as long as you're not too over-leveled for them)? I mean, I read about a bug like this but it was an issue from a year ago. I can't believe they didn't manage to fix it completely in a year. They apparently had time to create two expansion packs and then they have the chutzpah to sell a GOTY with a huge issue like this still plaguing their game (correct me if I'm wrong).

Again, maybe I'm dreaming or something, so if this is really how it is intended to be, I'll gladly be corrected.

(Either way, I can't see how it makes sense to play this game on hard if there are no actual grinding opportunities - because everything is five levels above you anyway by the time you get out of baby diapers. I mean, if what you say is true.)

 

[baturinsky]

Side quests give you reagents, gear etc.

 

[Roguey]

But you're still supposed to get *some* xp from all of the side quests, right (as long as you're not too over-leveled for them)? I mean, I read about a bug like this but it was an issue from a year ago. I can't believe they didn't manage to fix it completely in a year. They apparently had time to create two expansion packs and then they have the chutzpah to sell a GOTY with a huge issue like this still plaguing their game (correct me if I'm wrong).

Again, maybe I'm dreaming or something, so if this is really how it is intended to be, I'll gladly be corrected.

(Either way, I can't see how it makes sense to play this game on hard if there are no actual grinding opportunities - because everything is five levels above you anyway by the time you get out of baby diapers. I mean, if what you say is true.)

I've currently over-leveled critical path content because doing the sidequests and contracts eventually adds up. Unless that's a PS4-exclusive bug, you're fine.

The point of doing side-stuff is getting more/better items and money. Repairing items is a systemic sink and there are also several money-gates on the crit path.

 

[nomask7]

There about 5-6 side quests in White Orchard and they should all give XP (not too much though). Mind you that Treasure Hunts don't give XP so check your journal to see what type of quest you're doing. Shit like Temerian Valuables, for example, is a Treasure Hunt and you only get loot from it, not XP.

If this is not the case though, then yeah, your shit is bugged.

I think the last four quests I did were treasure hunts and a scavenger hunt, according to a walkthrough I checked. I didn't really pay much attention to xp rewards at first, so maybe it is just these four quests and not a bug.

 

[nomask7]

I'm guessing the devs balanced the repair mechanic around the Story And Sword difficulty level. I'm playing on hard, and the game says I won't get some trophies upon completion if I switch the difficulty level downwards now. Just completed the swamp crones quest (wanted to not piss them off, but Geralt insisted on making death threats either way). My silver swords go to 75% durability like after two bigger fights if not faster. And no way to repair them without wasting money. This is one of those mechanics that I don't see the point of, except annoying the player. Unless the devs want to punish you for engaging monsters when not needed. But then I wish they let Geralt run past monsters properly instead of forcing combat mode despite your settings. If I was playing on normal, I'd just use crappy steel swords that I find on mobs for all the normal monsters.

 

[Roguey]

I'm guessing the devs balanced the repair mechanic around the Story And Sword difficulty level. I'm playing on hard, and the game says I won't get some trophies upon completion if I switch the difficulty level downwards now. Just completed the swamp crones quest (wanted to not piss them off, but Geralt insisted on making death threats either way). My silver swords go to 75% durability like after two bigger fights if not faster. And no way to repair them without wasting money. This is one of those mechanics that I don't see the point of, except annoying the player. Unless the devs want to punish you for engaging monsters when not needed. But then I wish they let Geralt run past monsters properly instead of forcing combat mode despite your settings. If I was playing on normal, I'd just use crappy steel swords that I find on mobs for all the normal monsters.

You can run past monsters if you're just traveling on the world map.

IME silver swords aren't particularly durable, which is well, ~true to life~. It's a soft metal.

 

[nomask7]

You can run past monsters if you're just traveling on the world map.

IME silver swords aren't particularly durable, which is well, ~true to life~. It's a soft metal.

Needing to hack away at some glob of flesh with a dozen strikes before it dies isn't exactly true to life though.

I can usually avoid monsters entirely or run past them, but my experience is (maybe I'm doing something wrong) that Geralt often slows to a crawl and refuses to run if he's too close to an enemy. Also refuses to jump, which forced me to fight an extra battle in one of the main quests (once more against drowners or some other glob of flesh that seem to be everywhere in this game). And oh god those loading screens when you die and reload.

 

[nomask7]

I don't remember repairing ever becoming a nuisance and besides, it's cheap as shit. Been a couple of patches since I last played though so maybe something changed.

Also, double tap (or triple tap or whatever, or maybe just hold it long, I forgot) the running button during combat and Geralt will start running. As for jumping, don't think that's possible, at least I never found a way.

Did you play on hard? Money seems to be rather scarce in the game since you mostly don't receive it from main story quests (at least so far). Naturally you can use 20 coins to repair your silver sword after every few fights and another 20 coins to buy more food on occasion and not run out of money, but there's also other stuff you might want to buy. I prefer RPGs where getting money equals being able to buy some cool upgrade or gain some sort of advantage. In this game getting money seems to mostly amount to "being able to play at all".

You're probably right about the running thing, but when you're close enough to a monster, you're pretty likely about to receive a hit so you need to dodge and you don't have time to wait for Geralt to decide whether he wants to start running at some point. I've found it less risky to just roll, roll, and roll away from combat situations (which is awkward and not as fast as sprinting).

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Also, don't waste money on fucking food, craft Swallow and use that for all your healing needs. Just keep strong alcohol in your inventory to replenish it after meditating.

This, there's enough booze in the game to give the White Frost liver cancer.

 

[nomask7]

Edit: Also, don't waste money on fucking food, craft Swallow and use that for all your healing needs. Just keep strong alcohol in your inventory to replenish it after meditating.

Jesus fuck you can do that?

How I miss the era of manuals and being able to read about basic shit like this before you start a game.

Is there a way like this to regain your bombs?

edit: Just googled this. Apparently bombs are replenished the same way. Good to....know.

 

[Roguey]

How I miss the era of manuals and being able to read about basic shit like this before you start a game.

There's an in-game tutorial with all this info. Check it out in the area along with the bestiaries, character profiles and such.

 

[nomask7]

There's an in-game tutorial with all this info. Check it out in the area along with the bestiaries, character profiles and such.

I have checked it. That info is actually NOT in the tutorial (unless I somehow missed it). I've used the tutorial a few times and I have to say it's pretty shitty with not much information there at all about certain things. They probably didn't want to call it a manual, since it was so sketchy in many places and left even basic info missing.

EDIT: Anyway, I'm starting to quite like this game. I came to it expecting something more like a free roaming bounty hunter thing, and the cinematic and story heavy style was a disappointment at first. But I have to say since they do it well, that style does have a certain appeal to it. It helps that it gives some feeling of freedom and C&C. The exploration and loot aspects are also better than they seemed at first. Actually, there are a lot of things to like about the game, even if some like studying dangerous monsters before attempting to kill them could have been done a little better.

 

[Roguey]

I have checked it. That info is actually NOT in the tutorial (unless I somehow missed it).

It's mentioned in Items - Potions.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I actually think the auto-refilling potions trivializes a lot of the concept of being a Witcher. Reagents should be more scarce and potions should be more powerful in this game, it's one of its main faults. In fact, I think the game should have been balanced around potions being required for certain encounters and not merely optional.

 

[Roguey]

I actually think the auto-refilling potions trivializes a lot of the concept of being a Witcher. Reagents should be more scarce and potions should be more powerful in this game, it's one of its main faults. In fact, I think the game should have been balanced around potions being required for certain encounters and not merely optional.

The superior potions are absurdly powerful though, and then there are the decoctions.

They didn't want people burning themselves out on item gathering busywork (though there's already plenty of that), which is why they designed the system the way they did (only need to gather ingredients once, alchemy/crafting materials have no weight). One of the smarter things they did.

 

[Jick Magger]

With each passing year I start looking back at TW2 more negatively. The tone and story are great but the gameplay is such a hodge-podge of horrible mechanics and awkward implementation of then-popular gimmicks (forced stealth sections and QTEs) that it makes replaying it a frustrating bore.

 

[Carrion]

Witcher 3's approach to potions is, however, way better than Witcher 2's which had short ass potion duration AND required to constantly gather shit to make them.

TW2's system is basically just a dumbed-down version of TW1's alchemy, which made it so disappointing. TW3 takes a whole new approach, which works slightly better in practice (alchemy is actually necessary, for example) but which unfortunately doesn't have any connection to how you would actually expect things to work in the game world. Mechanically TW3 is unfortunately just a bunch of nonsense.

They didn't want people burning themselves out on item gathering busywork (though there's already plenty of that)

Yeah. In an open world game hoarding alchemy ingredients would've been much likely to become an issue than in TW1 and TW2, which had smaller areas with a finite amount of things to pick up. They also balanced it up by making the potions require very specific ingredients, whereas in the first two games each potion could be brewed in multiple ways.

alchemy/crafting materials have no weight

How exactly does this prevent people from burning themselves out on item-gathering busywork?

One of the smarter things they did.

No. It's only smart in the context of preventing hoarding, which in itself is a side effect of the terrible inventory system that allows you to carry around enough stuff to equip the whole Nilfgaardian army and encourages you to pick up everything that isn't nailed to the floor. In practice the refilling system only works for the first few hours when you've only got access to a couple of potions and might actually run out of alcohol. But later on? You'll probably be carrying hundreds of bottles of Dwarven Spirit, which you can use at any time to replenish your entire massive arsenal of potions right away. Like almost everything else about the game's systems, all semblance of balance is thrown out of the window after reaching a certain point in the game.

I definitely would've preferred something closer to TW1's system, which was almost perfect as it was, combined with a TW1-like inventory system. The idea of refilling potions isn't inherently bad, as it's a functional way to lower the tedium of ingredient-gathering, but I would've put some limits on it, like your potions becoming more and more diluted and eventually requiring fresh ingredients to restore their original effectiveness, being able to refill only a low number of potions at once, and "refilling" bombs requiring some sort of gunpowder instead of alcohol.

 

[bonescraper]

 

[Frozen]

TW1 had best alchemy. In TW3 food is more important and pretty much all potions and decoctions (except swallow ) are useless.