Witcher Combat- WTF was CD Projekt thinking?

[Burning Bridges]

And a lot of problems arise because people ignore the alchemy in this game. I have a disposition to play rpgs always as some sort of alchimist, so maybe I have an advantage in these parts of TW.

If you have problems with the difficulty, my first advice is to get yourself the formulas for Crinfrid and Specter Oil as early as possible, because oils make a huge difference if used against the right monsters.

In Chapter1, buy Crinfrid Oil from the dwarfen smith.

In addition, my strategy is to carry a second sword (or a third once you have the Silver sword), with different oils applied to each. That way you can increase your chances in the hellhound sequence (because you must fight humans beforehand), and in general for the whole game, because you can always ready a sword with the right oil. Just keep one of the many Temerian Steel Swords you find. There is not much penalty here because it can be used in witcher styles.

This is the equipment I had at the end of Chapter I:

Witcher Sword with Specter Oil (against barghests and hellhound)
Temerian Steel Sword with Crinfrid Oil (against Salamandra and other humans)
Torch (against those pesky plants)

I think this is a nice strategy because it makes use of the heavy and short weapon slots, which many people regard as useless.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Combat is not hard. It's shitty though.

 

[jaylittle]

That fight was hard for me until I switched to group style. Use his lackeys against him for crying out loud. As I recall, the fight became unbelievably easy once I started using group style...

 

[Lesifoere]

Click on the sword when it is flaming.

A metaphor for the player's unfufilled need to see Geralt get it on with another man. The elf freedom-fighter leader would be a perfect choice.

Please turn this into fan fiction <3

The problem is, I can't stand the elf guy, and there exists no chemistry between Geralt and Dandilion to speak of. That leaves Witcher slashfic very limited options. What do you think of Zoltan Chivay? There's a line in the original, pre-EE uncut script where Geralt coldly spurns Adda with something in the vein of "I prefer dwarves. Muscular, sweaty dwarf men." No idea if he says that in Polish; I hope he does, oh, how I hope.

Or I could google up some Harry Potter slashfic and use find-and-replace to change the names!

 

[Black_Willow]

Click on the sword when it is flaming.

A metaphor for the player's unfufilled need to see Geralt get it on with another man. The elf freedom-fighter leader would be a perfect choice.

Please turn this into fan fiction <3

Witcher's cockmanship is legendary

 

[Quilty]

Click on the sword when it is flaming.

A metaphor for the player's unfufilled need to see Geralt get it on with another man. The elf freedom-fighter leader would be a perfect choice.

Please turn this into fan fiction <3

Witcher's cockmanship is legendary

Beautiful.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Click on the sword when it is flaming.

This isn't on in hard mode. Only Normal and easy get this I think.

 

[Trash]

When combat is too hard you're probably not giving enough attention to alchemy. I usually don't care for alchemy in my games and ignored it totally in the witcher as well. After having my ass handed to me on several occasions I decided to give it a go. Pick your potions according to the circumstances ahead and these encounters quickly become a breeze. I kinda like how faithfully they stayed to the books in how crucial alchemy is.

 

[DraQ]

Also, I don't think you can ever go wrong with blizzard (better yet, nigredo blizzard).

Geralt hopped up on canned bullet time is fucking meat grinder.

 

[Kaiserin]

you picked hard and think the combat is shit because it's actually hard? you should ask yourself WTF YOU are thinking. all you need in that fight is aard and decent group style. both are available to you from the very beginning. you should also remind yourself that tapping direction keys lets you dodge and position yourself better in a fight. i finished that fight in a few tries and i only had to reload because i was trying to keep abigail alive. you also have access to swallow and blizzard.

its not a shit move on their part, its a shit move on yours.

Right, the combat is entirely excellent and not a total crap shoot of what to do. I mean seriously, how the fuck can you defend the combat in this game? I appreciate a challenge, but the Witcher is 'challenging' for all of the wrong reasons. Also, if you will read carefully, I complained that all combat leading up to this encounter was much too easy. It's not the 'omg this is so complex' that is getting me, it's the 'harder means the enemy has three times as many hit points and does three times as much damage.'

I'm past it now, but I had to reload my game about 45 minutes in the past to get proper alchemical reagents together. I actually do like the alchemy aspect of this game, and find the need for bases and the like fun. However, there being a 45 minute window prior to the boss of the first chapter where you can not buy any new alchemical bases is...frustrating to say the least.

Interesting that 'strong style' is the way to beat it according to some of you, as this directly contradicts the bestiary entry. While I would love to think that they are simply highlighting how suspect information you find about monsters in a feudal world is, I have a feeling that they just fucked up.

Combat being hard means nothing if combat isn't rewarding, that's the complaint in a nutshell.

 

[MetalCraze]

TW has no flaws - only stupid players who don't understand its greatness, I thought it was clear by now.

 

[Kaiserin]

Oh, and I'm also complaining about the way that you can't save at the start of combat on account of there being a several second lag after loading before you can actually pause the game to drink a potion, getting raped before it even finishes loading in some cases. Total shit move, load the game paused for Christ's sake. The first several times I died, I was using swallow and blizzard by the way. I couldn't beat it until I went back and leveled up enough to be able to make oils.

 

[1eyedking]

TW has no flaws - only stupid players who don't understand its greatness, I thought it was clear by now.

The Witcher is a good game. It's not great, it's not even very good, but it delivers in a department which in games in the recent decade has completely vanished: thought-provocation.

Skyway, I wonder, what is it you like? Because constant criticism of everything while remaining blind at the obvious positive details doesn't speak of intelligence, but rather, on the recourse of a fool who knows not to appreciate what is good and out of fear of passing as unintelligent berates everything and everyone; kind of like those who fall back into old-school reclusion so as to look sophisticated.

A sad existence, really.

 

[Vamp]

I completed TW on hard and I thought the difficulty was just right. Not too easy, not too hard. Personally, I loved the combat. IMO the best real-time combat in any RPG i've played (although it was a bit boring in the beginning because of the limited number of moves you have then).

 

[Kaiserin]

IMO the best real-time combat in any RPG i've played

I'm not sure how much that's saying...

 

[MetalCraze]

The Witcher is a good game. It's not great, it's not even very good, but it delivers in a department which in games in the recent decade has completely vanished: thought-provocation.

Witcher was indeed very thought-provoking - from "What the fuck is this combat minigame" and "why every secondary quest is a piece of shit with bring X of Y" to "what is this? A retard-friendly explanation video of your choice?" and "oh hello lady, here's a flowe - woah! B00biez" topped by "goddamn - elves causing global warming/hey Geralt let me look at your "sword"? That's some mature writing in there".

Skyway, I wonder, what is it you like? Because constant criticism of everything while remaining blind at the obvious positive details doesn't speak of intelligence, but rather, on the recourse of a fool who knows not to appreciate what is good and out of fear of passing as unintelligent berates everything and everyone; kind of like those who fall back into old-school reclusion so as to look sophisticated.

I hate all games, don't you know?
Or perhaps TW is just a mediocre crap targeted at lowest common denominator?
It has awful QTE minigame instead of normal combat, it has really cringeworthy writing at times, it has gimmick stats, it is linear as a stick with C&C of Bioware's level, it has terrible cliche characters, finally it doesn't even let you choose your dialogue responses, quests are linear and nearly each secondary quest is of MMO design and the amount of extremely retarded mature b00biez content goes over the top and sinks TW beneath itself. What are positive sides? Graphics? Even Bioware has yet to top CDP's shit in terms of the amount of stupid.

 

[Monocause]

text

You really like repeating yourself, don't you?

The scoia'tel/order choices; hell, even the act I witch choice - I slept with her, and then thought that maybe she offered sex to save her life. I realised that I couldn't hand her over to the villagers, even if I wanted too, without feeling like a total bastard.

I don't give a fuck about 'real consequences'. The game made me think about what am I doing multiple times, and it really happened often that I'd sat by the dialogue screen doing nothing, just because I didn't know who to support or what to do, what is right to do. That's *real fun* in my book, even if replay value of TW is worse than it seems, playing the game the first time was a great experience. Actually, I don't remember a RPG that made me ponder what I'm doing like TW. Artificial, you say? Yes, the consequences aren't too significant. But thanks to that you stop taking the powergaming approach.

And as to the maturity of the writing - yes, it's easy to point out multiple vulgarisms and juvenility, but these are a matter of preference. I, for one, liked them. And the maturity was in the thing that I described above and is a completely different topic.

The sex cards? I don't understand how anyone can get butthurt about this. I've felt it as a non-intrusive and fun minigame, nothing less, nothing more. It fits the general theme in Sapkowski's books. If you don't find it funny, you can get by without collecting them - what's the problem? And I can't help but feel that the people who criticise it the most are insecure assholes.
And if you go "OMG ROFL BOOBIES! WTF IS THIS SHIT LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR" every time you see naked women in a video game, you should work towards seeing some in real life. Naked women aren't scary, you know. They're quite pleasant to watch. And having sex is fun, too!

 

[MetalCraze]

Come on, Monocause, I thought at least you could do better than simple fanboyish butthurt.
TW fanboys are Codex's decline incarnate - when it comes to terrible stupidity in TW - it's "non-intrusive/fun/fits/baaawww you just don't lke games", but when Bioware does exactly same things, and even to a lesser degree of stupidity all TW fanboys go "omg sex in Bioware game! Shit! Immature! David Gaider is a virgin! There are no consequences! Bioware games suck! Muahaha villains! Writing is childish Gaider/Zeschuk fail lol!"

 

[Monocause]

Come on, Monocause, I thought at least you could do better than simple fanboyish butthurt.
TW fanboys are Codex's decline incarnate - when it comes to terrible stupidity in TW - it's "non-intrusive/fun/fits/baaawww you just don't lke games", but when Bioware does exactly same things, and even to a lesser degree of stupidity all TW fanboys go "omg sex in Bioware game! Shit! Immature! David Gaider is a virgin! There are no consequences! Bioware games suck! Muahaha villains! Writing is childish Gaider/Zeschuk fail lol!"

Sorry for the fanboy-like tone in the previous post, I'll keep it more civil.

Bioware doesn't do exactly the same thing. I never criticised the sex scene in Mass Effect - because it did fit. How badly was it rendered, or how poorly the romances leading towards it were written are another thing, but it did fit.

In TW you've got a world where constant swearing, murder, racism etc. is norm. The casual approach to sex also feels right. I understand that the sex-cards are a bit different topic and they can be criticised from a design perspective, but it's completely subjective - you felt your intelligence offended by the fact that they were there, I didn't. I barely even noticed them; hence I don't really understand the fuss that's made about them.

In Dragon Age, on the other hand, there was a whole promo presentation about having sex. And the sex scene with the sorceress who speaks with a faux-upper-class accent felt just awkward and grotesque to me.

My point about sex is: in TW the abundance of possible intercourses felt natural. It's a rather unpleasant world where something like "moral standards" is seemingly unheard of. I'd be surprised if there was no sex in this game - especially considering the fact that Sapkowski's books are full of it.
Looking at Dragon Age makes a different impression: although the hype goes along the popular "dark-gritty-matureness", it just looks like a Forgotten Realms rip-off, with a darker colour palette used. It seems like they made the game and then added sex on top of it, just because it'll sell. And that's why I can accept TW 'immaturity' and bash Bio at the same time with clean conscience.

And the consequences:
http://www.gamebanshee.com/thewitcher/w ... ctions.php

Just take a look at the walkthrough. Notice how many times the word "if" is used. Browse through it. You'll find many more of these "if's". There's lot of small consequences and few major ones.

Now tell me about C&C in Mass Effect. Or in other Bio games made recently. Browse through the walkthroughs, how many "if's" you'll find? Little or none.

EDIT: a thing to clarify here too - I'm not a stalwart Bioware hater. With all the ME's faults, for example, I did enjoy the game. I criticise Bio because it could've been so much better if only they stopped overusing the same formula they do since BG2.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

TW has no flaws - only stupid players who don't understand its greatness, I thought it was clear by now.

The Witcher is a good game. It's not great, it's not even very good, but it delivers in a department which in games in the recent decade has completely vanished: thought-provocation.

Skyway, I wonder, what is it you like? Because constant criticism of everything while remaining blind at the obvious positive details doesn't speak of intelligence, but rather, on the recourse of a fool who knows not to appreciate what is good and out of fear of passing as unintelligent berates everything and everyone; kind of like those who fall back into old-school reclusion so as to look sophisticated.

A sad existence, really.

I think it sucks gigantic donkey cock and I have very low standards regarding entertainment. It's true Skyway hates pretty much everything but every once in a while he's spot on.

 

[1eyedking]

Witcher was indeed very thought-provoking - from "What the fuck is this combat minigame" and "why every secondary quest is a piece of shit with bring X of Y" to "what is this? A retard-friendly explanation video of your choice?" and "oh hello lady, here's a flowe - woah! B00biez" topped by "goddamn - elves causing global warming/hey Geralt let me look at your "sword"? That's some mature writing in there".

Combat is thoughtless - agreed. I hated every second of it, nothing but chained flashy moves to please the instant-gratification crowd. But what about the plot? What about the moral grays? What about it being the only game where you're lied to all the time, and can never fully call something "true"? Sex in the Witcher was not romantic, as in BioWare games. Sex was sex, unpretentious, casual, and therefore forgettable. Cards were only a detail.

I hate all games, don't you know?
Or perhaps TW is just a mediocre crap targeted at lowest common denominator?
It has awful QTE minigame instead of normal combat, it has really cringeworthy writing at times, it has gimmick stats, it is linear as a stick with C&C of Bioware's level, it has terrible cliche characters, finally it doesn't even let you choose your dialogue responses, quests are linear and nearly each secondary quest is of MMO design and the amount of extremely retarded mature b00biez content goes over the top and sinks TW beneath itself. What are positive sides? Graphics? Even Bioware has yet to top CDP's shit in terms of the amount of stupid.

Pray tell what character was cliche because I found most of them not to be, and in fact full of shades and fed by their own selfishness. The NPCs feel almsot human, and all due to the backstories and possible pasts associated with them. C&C was well fleshed out, you don't see any world-changing consequences because The Witcher is pretty linear and doesn't pretend to be a sandbox RPG at any time at all. Quests are standard RPG fair, only the Witcher contracts can be truly called mindless, but most of the times you solve them without even knowing or noticing.

Now tell us what games you do like, and why you do; a change in your addbot behavior might come nice as a change, dear skyway.

I think it sucks <s>gigantic donkey</s> dwarf cock and I have very low standards regarding entertainment. It's true Skyway hates pretty much everything but every once in a while he's spot on.

Fixed. Thank you for your enlightening feedback.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Here's the problem with The Witcher: Its fanboys see it as a deep and thoughtful game and its haters just see no value at all.

I'm better than both of you, because for me the game was a fun casual game with naked chicks which is the better kind of casual games!

 

[1eyedking]

Here's the problem with The Witcher: Its fanboys see it as a deep and thoughtful game and its haters just see no value at all.

I'm better than both of you, because for me the game was a fun casual game with naked chicks which is the better kind of casual games!

Almost as bad as playing a terrible game and not noticing it is playing a good game and not noticing it.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Here's the problem with The Witcher: Its fanboys see it as a deep and thoughtful game and its haters just see no value at all.

I'm better than both of you, because for me the game was a fun casual game with naked chicks which is the better kind of casual games!

Almost as bad as playing a terrible game and not noticing it is playing a good game and not noticing it.

Did anything in my post somehow told you I don't consider The Witcher a good game?

Unless, you mean "deep and thoughtful" good, then yes, I guess I don't consider it good.

 

[Lycaon]

I've been reading a bit of the codex recently, and there seems to be an almost-constant bitching about C&C not being 'real'. That and combat sucking, which I can't really disagree with. Although I thought the Witcher's atleast was something different, over the regular 'click a button, you rolled a 5' crap.

That being said, if you don't like the C&C or quests or whatever can you fucking please elaborate on what would be better? Not an attack or anything, I just can't get my head around the incessant bitching about (nearly every) game. Fine you didn't like it but why not? Saying "combat sukz" or "quests are get x for y" doesn't prove a damn thing and only makes me wonder what your 'better alternative' is.