Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[disKret]

Also I put a point in the daytime regen so that made a huge difference, I can actually fill up health without using a bunch of food. 

Why don't You just meditate for an hour?

[Gimfain]

Also I put a point in the daytime regen so that made a huge difference, I can actually fill up health without using a bunch of food. 

Why don't You just meditate for an hour?

It only regens health on easy and normal

[Khaldun]

I don't mind the combat this time. And the rest of the game is just great. I love the world--the feel of it, the aesthetics, the whole thing. The mini-narratives and characters are excellent.

[Bunk]

My game of the year so far. 11th level, just had my first "Here are the consequences of that choice you made two weeks ago, live with it! BWAHAAHA!" moment. Those choices may not change the over arching plot, but its cool that they have a noticeable impact on things.

I'm just really enjoying the little details in this. If an NPC says something stupid that makes me groan, I appreciate the fact that Geralt's response usually starts with an eye roll and a sigh. Very rarely do I hear someone and immediately think, hey it's generic Nord voice number 2!

[jakonovski]

I caved and got this. I trust the story is going to be top notch, but gameplay is a big question mark. I went with the second highest difficulty and hope that all that crafting and looting and meditating will have purpose.

[Bunk]

On that difficulty level, you'll need all of it. I'm playing on normal, and as a generally shitty gamer, I'm finding the difficulty hits the fun spot. I can take things higher level than me if I'm patient and careful, most boss type fights do require judicious use of signs and potions though. Quen is my friend.

[tazelbain]

how open-world is this?

[Bunk]

Very. Basically you start in a large zone, with several small villages. You can explore to your hearts content - some areas will have tougher critters than others. There are POI markers on the world map. Only thing that keeps you out of areas is toughness of the inhabitants and the occasional locked door (usually because the area is quest related). Once you complete the first contract, you can move on to the second area. Its about 20 times bigger. Several dozen villages, multiple islands, and a couple cities. That's just the first of I think three huge zones. All the bodies of water are sailable, swimable, and fully explorable underwater.

I really like that there is very little "invisible wall" usage at all. if you can't climb a hill, you can usually find a way up the other side of it. Don't just fall down it, a ten foot fall can kill you in this. Most buildings are "in world"; loading screens only happen before cut-scenes.

It's very open.

[Khaldun]

It's surprisingly open-world, yeah. And there's a good variety in the areas--one thing I like is that if you think to yourself, "I bet there's something in that area" you're probably right, but it can be lots of different kinds of things.

The witcher contracts are fun--each one of the monsters takes some thinking, and I enjoy the CSI Witcher stuff.

So far main quest stuff has been very very compelling.  One of the things I really like is that there is stuff that you just plain know to leave alone, and it's got nothing to do with level markers or anything of the sort. About the only thing that gets a bit silly is when Geralt starts carving up a beach full of pirates and they can't really touch him--there should be situations where the game is like a good DM and says, "Come on, you're not Superman, you can't fight a whole army, you're dead now."

[rk47]

End game superior potions are overpowered.  
Also, mess around with Decocts more, no reason not to, since the Alchemy talent to increase maxTox is so cheap.

[Phildo]

Gwent was really easy until it wasn't.  This one guy has a bunch of spies, decoys and scorches.  If I steal his spies with my own decoys, he just steals them right back and then scorches my most powerful units.  We traded a bunch back and forth last night and nearly emptied our decks.  I was sure I had him, until he hit me with a scorch using his very last card and knocked out my strongest siege unit and beat me by 1.  Fuck that guy.

E: It's the innkeeper in Oxenfurt who gives you Yennifer's card.

[Bunk]

He was tough, though I did beat him. The guy in the castle after chapter 1 raped me though.

I'm finding I'm winning 95% now. Three war horns, two spies, two healers, two decoys, two heroes, multiple frosts.
It's a surprisingly fun little game. I usually try to focus on giving him melee spies in round one and then frosting them to gain the early advantage. Like all ccgs - card advantage is king.

[Phildo]

Decoys to steal his spies seems to be the right strategy, but he had a bunch of medics in reserve and threw them right back at me in the next round.  I think I need to build up my deck a little more before trying him again, I only have one usable hero and medic thus far.

[Hawkbit]

I played Witcher 1 about halfway through and never finished, but lost my saves. So I never really played 2, because I never finished 1.

Realistically, does it really matter if I had played the first two to get into the third? I recently tried to play 1 again, and just don't really like how old it feels.

[rk47]

I played Witcher 1 about halfway through and never finished, but lost my saves. So I never really played 2, because I never finished 1.

Realistically, does it really matter if I had played the first two to get into the third? I recently tried to play 1 again, and just don't really like how old it feels.

TW2 is pr. crap too. Especially with how they handled boss fights.
TW3 took some cues and improved things here and there, but still have room for improvement.
It's probably the best of the three. It's a rare case of improved sequels. Not perfect, but good.
But for story knowledge and stuff, you will miss a few here and there. There are a lot of things they lifted off the books too that will be a complete mystery to newcomers.
Check the Glossary if you're unfamiliar with characters. Most of them have a past with Geralt, and it's annoying when they act familiar to Geralt with you being unaware.

[MournelitheCalix]

it's annoying when they act familiar to Geralt with you being unaware.

I found the reverse annoying.  When Geralt already had an opinion of a character and I had no clue on who that character was.  I found that annoying since so many of the friendly/hostile interactions seemed forced.  I found that annoying since there is obvious history there I just am not aware of it.

[Paelos]

Games need to be very clear when they are pulling from books. It's an annoying facet to me as well.

[Tebonas]

Yeah, I had those "Am I supposed to know this person" moments as well. It was easier to integrate when Geralt was supposed to be Amnesiac, but he flat out says he has his memories back in this one and now all these people I am supposed to know grate somewhat.

Reading their character bios where the gaps are filled in helps, though.

[Druzil]

I also had some of that.  I ended up just going to youtube and watching a synopsis of the first 2 games & books.  I don't know that it was necessary but it did fill in some back story.

The leveling in this game is weird.  I did every possible thing I could find in White Orchard and ended up being BARELY level 3 when I moved on.  Someone else I talked to said they were almost level 5.   Seems like killing monsters doesn't really give XP so now I'm not sure how much stuff I actually missed.

I really like some the dialog in this game.  I find myself playing some of the scenes a couple times just so I can see the different ways they play out. 

[Phildo]

I read one of the books after playing the first game and enjoyed it.  It's definitely worth looking into, and absolutely helps make sense of everything in the series.

Also, I totally kicked that guy's ass in Gwent yesterday and it only took me one more try.  Must've played 12 spies between the two of us.

[CaptainNapkin]

Awesome fix applied to fix a money exploit today. 

Link to Gamespot article with detail...
CD Projekt Red deploys the "Bovine Defense Force Initiative."

The patch notes for today's Witcher 3: Wild Hunt update contained a curious line about the deployment of a certain "Bovine Defense Force Initiative." No other details were provided, but, given the language, it sounded like this might be a fix for the infinite money exploit that involved merciless cow murder.

Now we know that's exactly the case.

With the patch applied, a high-level, fast-moving, and deadly creature appears that will surely kill any low-level player attempting to cash in on the get-rich-quick scheme.

[rk47]

I also had some of that.  I ended up just going to youtube and watching a synopsis of the first 2 games & books.  I don't know that it was necessary but it did fill in some back story.

The leveling in this game is weird.  I did every possible thing I could find in White Orchard and ended up being BARELY level 3 when I moved on.  Someone else I talked to said they were almost level 5.   Seems like killing monsters doesn't really give XP so now I'm not sure how much stuff I actually missed.

I really like some the dialog in this game.  I find myself playing some of the scenes a couple times just so I can see the different ways they play out. 

To level up one mostly rely on Quest Completion EXP.
The main quest gives you the most experience, even for trivial tasks like meeting or advancing a quest by talking can grant you 500 EXP

[Khaldun]

I really like how I can be somewhere for one thing, be doing the Witcher senses, and suddenly discover that there's some other questline or badass monster nearby or criss-crossing my path without me having any intention to do that.

[jakonovski]

Did White Orchard, then entered Velen. I hadn't done much in terms of side quests in WC, so I was delighted when I realized the new zone was largely too dangerous for me and I didn't have enough stuff to support adventuring.

[rk47]

Itemization is pretty bad. I really wonder why they never attached a unique loot with a deep, involving quest instead of just dropping you treasure maps you bought off vendors to hunt down crafting recipes. And these crafted sets are way ahead of the rest of stuff you can find in the wilds. Very odd misstep.

[PalmTrees]

Yeah, itemization is all over the place. Beat some random bandits at level 4 and get a lvl 23 recipe. Beat a mini boss at level seven and get a level 2 sword.

I want to love the game. I like the setting, characters, the world building, but there's just so many small annoyances. It's a death by a thousand cuts.

[rk47]

Yeah, itemization is all over the place. Beat some random bandits at level 4 and get a lvl 23 recipe. Beat a mini boss at level seven and get a level 2 sword.

I want to love the game. I like the setting, characters, the world building, but there's just so many small annoyances. It's a death by a thousand cuts.

I think it's a worthwhile experience, enough that you should lower the difficulty if you feel it's a hassle to bother with itemization to keep up with the enemy levels.
T

[Druzil]

So whats the general best practice on breaking things down for crafting materials?  I've really started having issue with encumbrance and I'm wondering if I should be breaking down all these candelabras/platters/broken rakes or selling them or just not pick them up.   I feel like I have an entire inventory full of stuff I don't care about but I'm afraid to sell something I'll need.  Also I feel like I should have found some saddle bags by now but I haven't. 

[rk47]

Breaking down those junk will save up a lot of space.
Coin is easy to pile up anyway. Finished the game with 5000 coins extra.

[slog]

So whats the general best practice on breaking things down for crafting materials?  I've really started having issue with encumbrance and I'm wondering if I should be breaking down all these candelabras/platters/broken rakes or selling them or just not pick them up.   I feel like I have an entire inventory full of stuff I don't care about but I'm afraid to sell something I'll need.  Also I feel like I should have found some saddle bags by now but I haven't. 

buy saddle bags

[Phildo]

Break down or sell all your junk, it serves no other purpose.  Saddlebags can be found at various merchant.  Go to Oreton in Velen to buy the 2nd tier one, and you can get the 3rd tier one a little later on in Novigrad once you've progressed the main quest a little.  You could also win the 2nd tier one from the horse race sidequest near Crow's Perch.

[Druzil]

Break down or sell all your junk, it serves no other purpose.  Saddlebags can be found at various merchant.  Go to Oreton in Velen to buy the 2nd tier one, and you can get the 3rd tier one a little later on in Novigrad once you've progressed the main quest a little.  You could also win the 2nd tier one from the horse race sidequest near Crow's Perch.

Sweet, that quest was worth a ton of crowns too with all the betting, thanks.  Now to go on a breakdown spree.

[Tebonas]

I keep 25 of everything but the junk items and sell of the excess items, keeps the encumbrance manageable.

Money is certainly not a problem is this game. I stand at 10000-15000 surplus since leve 12 or so.

[Bunk]

The saddlebags start getting common quickly. At 14th I have 160lb carry capacity. I keep feeling like I may be progressing the main story line too quickly, and then I find a level 37 crafting recipe.

I like the fact that the side quests and monsters give you limited xp compared to the main, because I can run off in to the woods and do a bunch of random things without worrying that I'll massively out level the story. Yet its still enough to advance if I find the main story getting too hard.

Anyone know if there is a potion of skill point reset at that level range, or do I have to wait to "fix" my missteps?

[Phildo]

There are a few vendors that I've found carrying the Potion of Clearance to reset your skill points.  They cost 1000.  The easiest to get is from one of the merchants in the main square in Novigrad.