The Witcher: first impressions - SPOILERS ABOUND

Can those with old rigs give us their FPS and settings….
Is the game a Ram swallower like Gothic 3 or is one Gig enough?

In that particular fight I just used steel group combat, whacked away the small dogs, then strong combat on the big one. Back to group combat on the people afterwards. I failed once, but second try was fairly smooth.

No, Zima, I'm not talking about wrong timing. I'm talking about clickingk once to start the combat, and Geralt does.. nothing. He just stands around untill you move him around in circles a few times, *then* try to attack again.

The most annoying fights so far are the elite plants in the swamp forest of chapter 2. I still haven't found a good way to beat these things, they seem to dish out a redicilous amount of damage at long range with high accuracy. Also, when you hit them, and get to a certain point in the combo, Geralt will actually hit himself away from the plant (by doing a jump attack that lands too far away from the plant to continue the combo) - this leads to a reset of the combo, and an extra attack for the plant since the plants have ranged attacks.

Other than that I haven't really bumped into a lot of heavy fights, although I am playing on medium, not hard.

Originally Posted by Maylander
The most annoying fights so far are the elite plants in the swamp forest of chapter 2. I still haven't found a good way to beat these things, they seem to dish out a redicilous amount of damage at long range with high accuracy. Also, when you hit them, and get to a certain point in the combo, Geralt will actually hit himself away from the plant (by doing a jump attack that lands too far away from the plant to continue the combo) - this leads to a reset of the combo, and an extra attack for the plant since the plants have ranged attacks.

Use the Igni sign on the plants and get really really close with fast style. They don't like fire and it does seem to slow them down a bit. Also, they seem to have "side" where they don't attack as much. I usually get close to the plant circle it a bit to find the 'right' spot, launch Igni and wack away. (or launch Igni and circle the plant).

About that dog again - it's good to change your view to isometric, you can easily dodge then and use your signs

They take massive fire damage? Hmm, I should've thought about that, they're plants after all. Makes sense. Too bad I'm pure melee, I don't have a single point in the fire sign. Oh well, it might still add some valuable damage I suppose.

After having cooled off with playing a bit of Jericho and a bit of Puzzle Quest, I came back to the Witcher (it's not like I uninstalled the game even though my previous wording may have given some people that impression). I quickly found out that I had to do a bit of backtracking because I had left all my good stuff in storage while I was filling up my inventory with herbs and loot, and since I didn't realize that I had started a "point of no return" loop, I had neither potions nor "blade enhancement" (wink, wink) at my disposal when the fight began.

While backtracking I also found out that I had missed a couple of optional quests, so I did those too and consequently I managed to gain another level so I could enhance certain abilities as Maylander suggested. However, with a properly prepared blade and a blizzard potion the encounter was no problem whatsoever and I didn't even have time to do the last part of the suggested solution before I had emerged victorious.

I still stand by my criticism of the lead up to this encounter, especially the detail about how your stash is suddenly no longer available without you receiving some kind of warning. However, once you know what to do (thanks Maylander), it is not that hard of an encounter after all and I'm (again) having a blast playing it.

I'm playing at medium, and have only encountered one frustratingly hard fight -- and that was simple curiosity, poking my nose somewhere it doesn't belong when exploring. After dying umpteen times I decided to let it be and come back later (if it's still there) -- I think I could probably beat it by getting potioned up to the gills.

Some pointers:

(1) Alchemy really, really helps with those tough fights -- it can turn a frustrating slog into a walk in the park or a very difficult fight into a perfectly manageable (if still challenging one).

(2) The different styles make a real difference. Try to use the wrong style on an enemy, and you will get your ass handed to you.

(3) The signs make a real difference too. You don't need massive ranks on them either -- using Igni on a flammable opponent works wonders even if you haven't bumped it up; using Aard on a group to knock a few over and stun them does the same.

(4) I *think* that group style is the most important to upgrade -- I haven't run across any individual enemies yet that would be genuinely tough to beat (with a potion or two), but three medium-tough ones ganging up can quickly finish me off; here, the group style talents (knockdown etc.) make all the difference. So, if I had to start over, I'd upgrade the group style first, fast second, strong third, silver before steel. But you really need all of 'em to survive -- otherwise you'll hit a fight that's very tough indeed.

Finally, perhaps it's just me, but I'm poor as a church mouse because I've spent all my hard-earned on books. The bestiary entries give very useful tips on fighting various monsters, as well as giving access to alchemy ingredients.

But I have a hunch I'd have upgraded my armor by now if I wasn't so damn curious about those plants and animals.

In other words, going for a hybrid character might be the best move in the first game. That's what I've been doing so far, and it hasn't been all that difficult. On a second or third run through the game it should be possible to focus more on certain aspects, but I wouldn't recommend doing so before we know what awaits (for all I know, it might be possible to stumble into a fight near the end of the game that requires heavily upgraded fast fighting, for example. Bummer to ignore it completely then).

Having some trouble in the swamp right now, anyone know how to get the last Sephirahs required for the tower? So far, I've got six out of ten, including the stone golem. I have not yet figured out what to sacrifice at the Meli-something statues to trigger those, and the random Sephirah has eluded me as well. I normally don't like spoilers, but right now I'm just running in circles. Maybe I need some sleep.

They don't necessarily come in the same order, so you might need to specify what you are missing.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Maybe I need some sleep.

Smart.

Here's a hint without spoiling too much: ask the nun of Melitele at the Hospital about her cult. She'll tell you what she likes.

It's funny, I can't remember ever being as pulled into a game as this one, warts and all. I've been bringing a certain young lady flowers for no particular reason, no in-game benefit, and no (new) naughty animations, just because I genuinely like her. I don't think any cRPG ever got me to do silly stuff like that.

Or, that in a game filled with high points of questing, *the* high point so far has been stealing lard and pickles out of a nosy old granny's larder… while roaring drunk.

Seriously -- this game rocks so hard in so many ways it's almost not funny. I mean, yeah, it would be nice if there were no two identical faces in it, if the (English) voice acting was better, if the (English) dialog was a bit less clunky and had a few fewer anachronisms, if there were a few fewer loading screens, and if some bits had been done in slightly better taste… but all that is (a) easy to ignore and (b) clearly dictated by circumstances rather than design decisions. In almost every way, this is the game I would have designed for myself, if only I knew how. If you have a rig capable of running this decently and you don't love this game, you have no soul.

And that goes for the dweeb at Eurogamer too.

Originally Posted by Maylander
They take massive fire damage? Hmm, I should've thought about that, they're plants after all. Makes sense. Too bad I'm pure melee, I don't have a single point in the fire sign. Oh well, it might still add some valuable damage I suppose.

You can use torch .

Sorry Maylander, I know now what you meant about attack.

I figured out why the plant in the swamp is so hard. It's no ordinary tentacle-plant-thingy, it's a boss-type plant-thingy, meaning it's extra tough and gives a special trophy when you kill it. Quite a tough fight to be honest, but I didn't have to use any potions to kill him, so I suppose it wasn't *that* hard.

I've already asked the nun, and she says "berries, fruits, plants" or something similar. I've tried giving the statue all sorts of plants and what not, but all items are just greyed out when I select the statue (meaning they can't be given to the statue).

Are there three statues? Thought there were two, one in the hospital and one in the swamp. If there are three, then I only need one other except the three (from the main suspect I suppose).

And yes, getting some sleep makes it quite a bit easier. At work right now, but after I got The Witcher on Saturday I didn't sleep a whole lot to be honest. Very captivating, even with its flaws. I am beginning to wonder what difference the various talents make though, my character seem to become such an all-rounder there is little need to get other talents. I suppose it's possible to go more for magic than melee, but everything is needed to a certain degree it seems.

Originally Posted by Maylander
I've already asked the nun, and she says "berries, fruits, plants" or something similar. I've tried giving the statue all sorts of plants and what not, but all items are just greyed out when I select the statue (meaning they can't be given to the statue).

This must be a hell of a game, I am surfing the net for about an hour now looking for player reviews and the feedback is almost 100% positive. Actually it is the first time in recent memory that reading the Codex and Gamespot fora doesn't make much of a difference . Actually it does, Gamespot casuals compare it to Oblivion and NWN, Codex purists to the old classics.

I'll be sure to pick this one up as soon as fans find a way to mod English subs into the Polish version.

Is there going to be a Witcher-only forum opened up here on the Watch soon, with seperate categories for spoilers?

I hope so, as it seems this game is going to have tremendous popularity among everyone here, and spoilers are already being talked about in this thread - A bad thing for people like me who won't get the game until tomorrow.

This topic is located on the Witcher forum now.

I never thought about buying this game. Looked at the trailer when it was released and thought "Yep, not for mr mute, move along". Now reading what Prime Junta and Maylander is writing, knowing my taste is somewhat similar, i also started like lethal weapon to check out reviews.

I mean, the critic against eurogamers review. Hm, most people, even on their own forum seems to like it (atleast until yesterday morning - might have changed today).

This is a game i am going to get in about one hour when i go home and the rushhour traffic is more sane. I think, without really knowing, this is one of the sleeper hit for me this year.



Oh, and also that the Watch decided to dedicate the game its own forum, made me realized i have been sleeping at the wheel…

Bugar och tackar!

Var så god bara.

Infinitely better this way than the "ZOMG best game evah!" hype machine followed by "meh, well."

I just hope that the world catches on and this game sells a squigzillion copies -- and Atari doesn't walk away with most of it.

Well, i must say i was surprised and impressed with the game. Given i havent played for many hours, and the combat wasn't a clickfest (tried that, but i just got confused)…

I can see why people is playing it and playing it. I think this will be one of the few games i do finish. Two thumbs up so far, which isn't far at all!

Oh curses!! I just found out that despite my reserving a copy in advance, I won't be getting this game until the 1st of November!! Apparently for my retarded games store, released on the 30th means shipped on 30th, with arrival in 2-3 days.