Witcher Strategy tips (non-spoiler)

I thought a thread for strategy tips with no plot spoilers might be in order.

Here's some stuff I've found out (the hard way) to work:

Money

Money is scarce in the first half of the game: you'll likely be saving like mad to afford that 5000 oren armor. There is no easy way to make massive amounts of money that isn't also terribly tedious (=dice poker, fights), but it is possible to save up a fair bit, and make a little bit here, a little bit there that adds up nicely.

Saving tips:
* Only buy the books you need to complete your contracts. Talk to people a lot. Do them minor services, and they'll reward you with some lore.
* Only upgrade your sword(s) once. There are some very nice steel swords to be found later in the game, and the best silver sword can be had as a reward too. It doesn't really matter in a big way how you upgrade them as long as you do upgrade them, so you might as well do it as early as you can.
* Keep hold of gems, a couple of rings, some booze, and a couple of items of women's clothing. They might come in handy in, ehem, certain circumstances, and buying them can get expensive.
* Don't overdo the alchemy. Make potions, bombs, and oils as you use them rather than making a big stack you might never use. The booze, powder, and grease costs add up. But do make all you need; the game is much more fun that way.
* Do spend a copper talent on monster lore in the very beginning of the game -- you won't miss that copper talent later, and it'll save you several hundred orens.

Earning tips:
* Always pick up the best weapons you can find, and sell them off quickly. It'll easily net you a hundred or more extra per fight. Blacksmiths buy weapons.
* Hang on to books and recipes you've read, and sell them off quickly. Antiquarians buy books.
* Hang on to "valuable ingredients" and keep a look-out for people who buy them; then sell them off quickly.
* Sell all alchemy ingredients you don't use. In particular, get rid of ingredients with no secondary component (see Alchemy below).
* Sell all trinkets and booze you don't need at every opportunity you can.

Alchemy

* Pay attention to secondary ingredients. Decide what you're harvesting each day, and before you set out, stash everything else with the innkeeper. Then always make potions with the same recipe, for example:
- Swallow + nigredo
- Tawny Owl + rubedo
- Cat + any of them
- Everything else + albedo
* Don't make big stacks of potions/oils/bombs in reserve. They'll just clutter up your inventory and waste money.
* Early in the game, specter, necrophage, and insectoid oils are awesome. Once you discover Argentia and Crinfrid Oil, you can forget about them.

Combat

* Pick the right buffs for each fight. I use Swallow whenever I'm in dangerous territory, and spice it up with Cat, Blizzard, or Tawny Owl as needed. Blizzard in particular is your tactical nuke. The right oil or other weapon buff will make all the difference too, especially early on.
* Pick the right style for each monster.
* Don't forget your Signs: some monsters are especially vulnerable to some Signs.
* Even a style or Sign you're not very good at will be very effective on a monster with a special vulnerability to it. For example, plants burn.
* Learn to switch styles in mid-sequence. For example, if your fast style causes Pain and you can see it working, switch to Strong style, since your enemy won't be able to parry -> benihana. Or thin down a group with Group style, then switch to Fast or Strong as indicated to finish off weakened enemies.
* Watch for incapacitation, and try to actively cause it, through signs or by picking the right Talents. Stun is the best, Knockdown is great too. If you see an incapacitated enemy, finish them off by clicking on them once.
* Be mobile. Double-tap to get out of the way, or out from the middle of a mob.
* He who learns to run away lives to run another day.

Character development

* Develop your primary abilities (Str, Dex, Sta, Int) first, since they give buffs to all of your styles/signs rather than just one of them.
* Mobs are dangerous, so develop your group styles first.
* However, keep a balance -- don't let any of your styles fall behind too much, or you might find yourself facing an enemy you can't beat.
* I find the Aard and Igni signs the most useful, but that's probably just because I haven't used Quen and Yrden much.

Good job, many helpful tips.

Quen is very useful to buy extra seconds for drinking potions/switching weapon but I wouldn't invest much into it (no silver or higher that is) as it fulfills its purpose even with very few talents. Yrden can be quite powerful - without silver talents it can almost halve a Royal Wyvern's HP on its own (it takes a while to actually use all the charges though). Just put it on the ground and let the opponent run over it as much as possible by retreating and pushing it back over the sign over again.

Don't think I've even tried using the Axii sign, though it could be very useful in group fights.

Nothing much to add - maybe this:

explore everything
speak with everyone - even npcs with no special name
collect plants
use your storeroom at the innkeepers wisely
stack ingredients that are common

Yup. Old women know about herbs, for example. Hand one a leg of mutton, and you might learn something. Or not...

Great list of tips, thanks.

Nice collection. Especially the "talk to everyone" tip is crucial, as there are quite a few unnamed characters giving you valuable information, sidequests or a good time.

There is one old hag in particular, in the Village by the road in Act 1, which can be fed an endless amount of buns, berries and whatnot, every time giving out information about another plant or monster (after re-entering the area). I'd consider this an exploit but my girlfriend abused it happily.

In my experience the only important thing vs groups is the "trip" skill to get them split up, combined with signs and maybe bombs. After that I prefer fighting the singled-out enemies with stronger styles, which are more reliable.

I would only suggest the obvious, and that is save before a battle with a new enemy. If you run into something new, run off, grab a save and come back. Tactics and potion use can then be changed if you end up having a hard time, or worse, die. I found a few times I used useless potions, had to cleans them out and try something else. A reload can be easier early in the game when stuff is hard to get.

Looking back after finishing the game on normal, a few more things worth noticing:

- You CAN make stacks of Tawny, Swallow and Cat. They are used constantly.
- Later add Maribor, Moon and Willow. The latter redners you completely immune to both stun and knockback, thus saving you two silver talents.
- Drink the pot with Albredo first, And bring a white honey in case you need to detox.
- Most other pots like Black Blood or Oriole have very limited uses.

- Strong styles are quite useful towards the end of the game.
- Spells are often more cost-effective than special attacks.
- Yrden is great, learn to use it.
- Quen can be used to charge a spell/attack in the middle of a mob.
- Igni is ridiculously strong vs everything except Irfits.

- Carrying garlic and salt when you get them makes crypt crawling a breeze.
- Fear and stun bombs are cheap and useful.