[MTS]

It seems the difficulty curve in Gwent is not so much a gentle slope downwards but a plummet. After defeating the first couple of players in Velen I'm now nigh unbeatable with my Siegemaster deck.

With building your deck I've found that the minimum 22 unit cards should be the maximum you go with. That along with spies, decoys and medics allows you to stack your deck pretty easily with cards that synergise with each other very well (like the tight bond cards). So leave out your useless cards and only leave in cards that you'd want to draw, and switch them out for better ones as you go along.

Then it's just a matter of grappling with the AI, which is pretty fun, if a little easy to trick.

I could see Gwent becoming a good little merchandise maker for CD Projekt Red if they decide to actually make a live card game of it. I for one would totally buy it.

[Morgoth]

Th Foltest siege deck seems to be the strongest I can manage, even at lvl 17. I win most matches easily, though monster decks can be a real challenge.

[Stalker]

I agree with using a siegemaster deck I tend to win 90% of the time, even against the challenge decks. My favorite card has to be Villentrentenmerth. It has such a great effect and crushes monster decks. Especially when combined with the close combat weather effect - killed 10 cards at once before.

[Morgoth]

Regarding choices, Djikstra and the king

Spoiler

I'm having a hard time deciding if I should help Djikstra kill Radovid or not. I am partial to his argument that if nothing is done, the King will sack Kaer Moren eventually. However, I wonder if the witchers can survive being tied to the murder of two kings, no matter who ascends to the throne afterwards. Not to mention that Djikstra might very well be in the pay of Nilfgaard for all I know, he seems more likely a candidate than the King of Beggars or Cleaver.

In a normal game I would have gone for it, but I remember the consequences of my choices in the Baron questline. It feels strangely unpleasant to be the cause for even further calamity in Velen. Sure I've killed some monsters, but now the Sergeant is in charge, which I suspect is much worse than some wraiths and necrophages.

The conclusion is that this game is great.

[MTS]

Morgoth, on 01 June 2015 - 06:13 AM, said:

Regarding choices, Djikstra and the king

Spoiler

I'm having a hard time deciding if I should help Djikstra kill Radovid or not. I am partial to his argument that if nothing is done, the King will sack Kaer Moren eventually. However, I wonder if the witchers can survive being tied to the murder of two kings, no matter who ascends to the throne afterwards. Not to mention that Djikstra might very well be in the pay of Nilfgaard for all I know, he seems more likely a candidate than the King of Beggars or Cleaver.

In a normal game I would have gone for it, but I remember the consequences of my choices in the Baron questline. It feels strangely unpleasant to be the cause for even further calamity in Velen. Sure I've killed some monsters, but now the Sergeant is in charge, which I suspect is much worse than some wraiths and necrophages.

The conclusion is that this game is great.

I'm struggling with this decision as well, for the self-same reasons. I do like how this game doesn't just give you the good/bad dichotomy for the missions, and you're often having to make some pretty tough calls, where the full consequences of your actions aren't entirely clear. It plays a lot more realistically that way, when you can't predict how others are going to react. The baron's questline is a great example of that.

[Morgoth]

MTS, on 02 June 2015 - 09:10 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 01 June 2015 - 06:13 AM, said:

Regarding choices, Djikstra and the king

Spoiler

I'm having a hard time deciding if I should help Djikstra kill Radovid or not. I am partial to his argument that if nothing is done, the King will sack Kaer Moren eventually. However, I wonder if the witchers can survive being tied to the murder of two kings, no matter who ascends to the throne afterwards. Not to mention that Djikstra might very well be in the pay of Nilfgaard for all I know, he seems more likely a candidate than the King of Beggars or Cleaver.

In a normal game I would have gone for it, but I remember the consequences of my choices in the Baron questline. It feels strangely unpleasant to be the cause for even further calamity in Velen. Sure I've killed some monsters, but now the Sergeant is in charge, which I suspect is much worse than some wraiths and necrophages.

The conclusion is that this game is great.

I'm struggling with this decision as well, for the self-same reasons. I do like how this game doesn't just give you the good/bad dichotomy for the missions, and you're often having to make some pretty tough calls, where the full consequences of your actions aren't entirely clear. It plays a lot more realistically that way, when you can't predict how others are going to react. The baron's questline is a great example of that.

It should be used as an example of how you do choice and consequence in RPGs right.

[Gothos]

OK so I got back from a highlander wedding and finally got some time into this game today. I'm level 8 so far and going through the swamp witches questline (Baron line is stuck on finding the mother/wife). Impressions sos far:

- the combat feels somewhat chaotic and baffling at times. I'm not-really-landing mid-range attacks that stop about a step short of the monster, and as someone mentioned upthread, even small monsters like drowned break your combos with ease, which is annoying like hell. I'll likely become more proficient at this as the game goes on, but half the time I'm just spamming attacks in the face while taking hits on the chest. I know this would see me killed very fast on higher difficulties.

- the open world is... amazing. In a similar way to Inquisition, there's a lot of "empty space" due to all the landmass, but maaybe that's just gaming finally not having its areas pack chock full of stuff right on top of each other and actually feel more like a real countryside. The sidequests are interesting and there's your usual metric fuckton of drama and nigthmare fuel and some tearjerker moments as well, even a generic sidequest can turn into something that feels unique, which is really nice. Loving that part so far.

- the main questline.... well. YENNEFER. FINALLY. throw Triss out the airlock, the right lady is now with us and all is as it should be. Well, OK, with us in the metaphorical sense, but you know what I mean. Also Ciri makes a grand entry/return and I must say I'm loving the characterization and her little missions. In any case, the overall theme of the game seems to heavily mirror the Saga, with Geralt and Yennefer striving to protect "their" kid from the entire world and beyond. We'll see where this goes. Also, bonus points for encountering Emhyr

- the card game..... hmm. I think I actually have next to no idea how to play it at this point, I get my ass kicked by almost everyone with that starting deck. To be researched in the future.

- crafting - pretty much a carbon copy of TW2, and that's ok. materials seem to be easier to come by tho. Also with the breakdown system I've no idea what I should keep or not.... meh. bit overwhelming right now to give a proper opinion.



So..... I'm hoping to get more time with the game in the coming days. Laters

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Regarding combat, using the sidestep button instead of rolling makes a huge difference. I use the shield sign all the time, that helps too.

[Traveller]

Yeah, the various potions/oils and monster specific stuff make a real difference in a fight, which makes it worth collecting the bestiary info and ingredients.

I'm playing on the Broken Bones level, and although it's quite common to get my ass kicked by wolves and almost anything else, I'm taking the Dark Souls approach - learn how to not get hit first. Don't get surrounded. My main problem is Geralts speed - that Wild Hunt guy in the Wandering in the Dark quest would telegraph his slow attack really obviously, but I'd still have trouble not getting hit by it as Geralt was still in attack animation.

[Morgoth]

I always found Yennefer to be an awful person, and am happy to be able to disentangle Geralt from that toxic relationship. Besides, considering the choices I made in W2, it would be strange for Geralt to abandon Triss now.... I've been playing too much of this game.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I cannot recommend enough turning off your question marks on your map, and fast travel very little. It is so much more fun to be trekking across country and discover a cave or something than it is to just go from one question mark to the next like a to-do list.

You can always turn them back on later to make sure you found everything.

[Traveller]

Also, turn off the music. You probably did already, but trekking around without the soundtrack is far more inmersive, and the weather sound effects are more than enough.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 03 June 2015 - 07:16 AM

[MTS]

Morgoth, on 03 June 2015 - 05:34 AM, said:

I always found Yennefer to be an awful person, and am happy to be able to disentangle Geralt from that toxic relationship. Besides, considering the choices I made in W2, it would be strange for Geralt to abandon Triss now.... I've been playing too much of this game.

Me too, I kicked Yennefer to the curb as soon as I could. Not knowing much about the lore, the way she treats Geralt in the game just turned me off wanting him to be with her. Triss on the other hands seems to geniunely care for Geralt, and in a much healthier way.

Turning off question marks is a great idea, although I don't even think I've encountered half of what's out there!

[Cause]

I actually need a crash course. I don't understand the whole Triss vs Yennefer thing at all.

[Aptorian]

Chiming in on the Yennifer vs Triss conversation. I am not far enough into the story that any important decisions have revealed themselves, however I have trouble giving a shit about Yennifer. I get that in the books Geralt and her have history but for me, having played Witcher 1 and 2, Triss is Geralts lover. They work well together. Playing the missions along Triss have been fun and I have no idea why I should care about Yennifer at this point. I assume that when I rendevouz with her on Skellig more will become clear but I am on Team Triss.

[Maark Abbott]

Cause, on 03 June 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

I actually need a crash course. I don't understand the whole Triss vs Yennefer thing at all.

From what I know of the books, Yennefer was Geralt's first missus, then he got the amnesia before W1, then he started casting his Igni into Triss.

[Dadding]

According to one of the short stories,

Spoiler

Geralt and Yen are destined to be together or something. There was a genie involved, don't ask me.

Yen and Geralt also raised Ciri together, and while they have had their falling-outs, they wound up together in the end.

Triss was into Geralt in the novels, and Yen got confrontational with her about it on one occasion. Triss is less mature and more like a kid with a crush in the novels, imo. Geralt loses his memories and she gets her chance.

Overall, Triss' relationship with Geralt is healthier and less abusive. Yen likes using Geralt to a certain degree. But Yen and Geralt have more history.

Edit: Spoilers!

This post has been edited by Dadding: 03 June 2015 - 06:12 PM

[Mentalist]

Dadding, on 03 June 2015 - 03:56 PM, said:

According to one of the short stories, Geralt and Yen are destined to be together or something. There was a genie involved, don't ask me.

Yen and Geralt also raised Ciri together, and while they have had their falling-outs, they wound up together in the end.

Triss was into Geralt in the novels, and Yen got confrontational with her about it on one occasion. Triss is less mature and more like a kid with a crush in the novels, imo. Geralt loses his memories and she gets her chance.

Overall, Triss' relationship with Geralt is healthier and less abusive. Yen likes using Geralt to a certain degree. But Yen and Geralt have more history.

Last story in"the Last Wish" (the one the book is named after) has Geralt meeting Yen. They don't have a great start, but eventually there's aa spark. Then they have to tame an insane fire genie together, and, as the last of the 3 wishes, Geralt asks the genie to "bind their fates" together for all eternity.

The dynamic is explored further in "Sword of Destiny", which has several Geralt + Yen stories.


SPOILERS!!! GIGANTIC, SPOILERS FOR THE WITCHER NOVELS BELOW READ AT OWN RISK















When Geralt is killed in the end of the novels (is this really stil a spoiler?), Yen over-exerts her magic trying to save him (which is a huge deal- in the Witcherverse, magic usets could basically live forever if they choose and don't get killed so self-sacrifice is a major gesture of commitment). Ciri, who foreswore formal magic and can't save them (with the pair being her foster-parents, basically), is nevertheless able to use her elder blood time-space travel to take the "dying" pair ro the Apple Island-where time is basically frozen and they can live out an eternity in peace.

Then the Wild Hunt happened.

Spoiler

Edit: also, in the books, T'riss was a somewhat sketchy character, and her infatuation with Geralt was was sometimes borderline obsession. And she had her own skeletons in the closet (she somehow survived the giant mage inferno that stopped Nilfgaard's first invasion. Iirc, in later books there's some intimation a nasty deal was involved, but my memory's a bit hazy on that).

EditMore: also, in the books, Yen was always the least interested in politics, and actively opposed the Sorceress' Lodge when they tried to go all Illuminati and use Ciri for their plans. And given T'riss is a part of that group, I never particularly trusted her.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 03 June 2015 - 08:41 PM

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Jesus yes those are spoilers. I am just getting into the universe and was thinking about reading the books. No need now I suppose.

[Mentalist]

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on 03 June 2015 - 06:07 PM, said:

Jesus yes those are spoilers. I am just getting into the universe and was thinking about reading the books. No need now I suppose.

Amended my post to include spoiler warning. The particular fact I wondered aloud about is part of the in-game bio, but I guess I got carried away with the rest a bit (everything up to the edit is smth that gets filled in post the intro sequence to TW2).