An Impromptu Witcher Lets Play - now with the Witcher 2!

[Bara_no_Hime]

It makes more sense than people deciding the game is very tongue-in-cheek due to the use of "et cetera" in a sentence. Yes, that has happened

...? Why would the use of a perfectly normal word like et cetera be a joke? I feel that I'm missing something.

Well to play devil's advocate and assuming that Rayla didn't pull that "harboring" thing out of her ass, Scoia'tael turning on the village after being protected, and killing several people to see what'll make The Order to stop their chase, it really makes Scoia'tael out to be an extremely teacherous sort of group.

I'm pretty sure she did pull the harboring thing out of her ass. When I got there, the villagers certainly weren't 'harboring' anyone - they were prisoners.

Also, there's the issue of the Commander (who just showed up from the city) and Trouviel, who was trying to leave the battle. It seems pretty clear that Trouviel just wants out and was taking a group of what amounts to refugees away from the fighting - and doing so peacefully. Whereas the Commander (who doesn't get any other name) is a giant douche who led the Rose Knights to the town, took the hostages, killed the villagers, etc. HE's clearly a jerk. Trouviel just seems like she's trying to leave the war behind, but keeps getting drawn back into it.

I wanted to kill the Rose Knights to protect her and her refugees, not because I liked commander Ass-Hat.

Also, when I looked her up on the Wiki to remember how to spell her name, I saw that she has a sex card. Since it kinda seems like she died, I'm a bit sad that Geralt didn't get a chance to romance her. Oh well.

The events themselves won't change, in fact they're pretty mirrored, but the dialog and therefore much of the context most definitely changes.

Just having the cut scene dialog be different is pretty impressive. Most modern games don't bother - they just try to make the cut scenes as generic as possible so it doesn't matter what choices you've made. I remain impressed.

In Witcher 2 however, things change. Different quests, areas, characters, major side-plots and even themes (I do hope you'll cover that too in this thread some day )

It'll have to go on sale first. As much as I'm enjoying this one, I'm not ready to pay 20 bucks for the Witcher 2 yet. I might see if I can add it to my Amazon wishlist and see if someone else is willing to pay for it for me.

Otherwise, I've got it on my GOG wishlist. When it goes on sale again, I'll pick it up.

I think several pages ago, when I compared Scoia'tael to monsters to explain why The Order keeps hunting them, it apparently came from Chapter 4, when a nameless Order soldier confronts you and asks you to side with them right before re-entering the village. He "put it in terms a witcher can understand"; from the viewpoint of a witcher with no strong positive feelings towards the squirrels, comparing their actions to that of a desperate, hungry and cornered monster in the midst of innocent people makes a surprising amount of sense.

...? I didn't get that scene. No guard confronted me and said that stuff. Did I go to town the wrong way? Or maybe that only happens if you typically side with the Rose Knights? Or are neutral?

Anyway, for whatever reason, I didn't get that bit, so I can't really comment on it.

Oh, minor aside, I went just a BIT further. Not enough for an update. I mostly did it to level up at the Fire next to the King (the other King, I mean, from the mirror).

 

[porous_shield]

I'm pretty sure she did pull the harboring thing out of her ass. When I got there, the villagers certainly weren't 'harboring' anyone - they were prisoners.

Also, there's the issue of the Commander (who just showed up from the city) and Trouviel, who was trying to leave the battle. It seems pretty clear that Trouviel just wants out and was taking a group of what amounts to refugees away from the fighting - and doing so peacefully. Whereas the Commander (who doesn't get any other name) is a giant douche who led the Rose Knights to the town, took the hostages, killed the villagers, etc. HE's clearly a jerk. Trouviel just seems like she's trying to leave the war behind, but keeps getting drawn back into it.

I wanted to kill the Rose Knights to protect her and her refugees, not because I liked commander Ass-Hat.

Also, when I looked her up on the Wiki to remember how to spell her name, I saw that she has a sex card. Since it kinda seems like she died, I'm a bit sad that Geralt didn't get a chance to romance her. Oh well.

You'll have to remember that Rayla is a bit of a headcase and a extremist so it wouldn't surprise me with they pulled the harbouring out of their ass. Also, it was the elves that tortured her and cut off her hand if I'm not mistaken so there is a bit of a grudge there.

When I played through I was under the impression that the Squirrels taking the village was an act of desperation that turned into a massacre and I ended up not siding with either one of them. Side with the elves and there is a massacre, side with The Order and there is a massacre.

I think several pages ago, when I compared Scoia'tael to monsters to explain why The Order keeps hunting them, it apparently came from Chapter 4, when a nameless Order soldier confronts you and asks you to side with them right before re-entering the village. He "put it in terms a witcher can understand"; from the viewpoint of a witcher with no strong positive feelings towards the squirrels, comparing their actions to that of a desperate, hungry and cornered monster in the midst of innocent people makes a surprising amount of sense.

...? I didn't get that scene. No guard confronted me and said that stuff. Did I go to town the wrong way? Or maybe that only happens if you typically side with the Rose Knights? Or are neutral?

Anyway, for whatever reason, I didn't get that bit, so I can't really comment on it.

Oh, minor aside, I went just a BIT further. Not enough for an update. I mostly did it to level up at the Fire next to the King (the other King, I mean, from the mirror).

I sided with The Order and I remember that guy, maybe you just missed him.

 

[Norrdicus]

...? Why would the use of a perfectly normal word like et cetera be a joke? I feel that I'm missing something.

Don't worry, everyone else except the person who brought it up were very confused.

Just having the cut scene dialog be different is pretty impressive. Most modern games don't bother - they just try to make the cut scenes as generic as possible so it doesn't matter what choices you've made. I remain impressed.

Well, having a huge amount of fully voiced dialog is definitely impressive for a studio's first game.

...? I didn't get that scene. No guard confronted me and said that stuff. Did I go to town the wrong way? Or maybe that only happens if you typically side with the Rose Knights? Or are neutral?

Anyway, for whatever reason, I didn't get that bit, so I can't really comment on it.

I was fairly Order-aligned at that time, which undoubtly was the condition for his appearance. He came to me on the road between the shore and the village, unavoidable encounter

On the other hand, I didn't get the Scoia'tael soldier saying that they used the bank robbery money to arm their troops and that "We must make a stand here! Toruviel is a symbol, yadda yadda yadda" speech

When I played through I was under the impression that the Squirrels taking the village was an act of desperation that turned into a massacre and I ended up not siding with either one of them. Side with the elves and there is a massacre, side with The Order and there is a massacre.

I went with the logic "Run away and there'll definitely be a slow, messy massacre. Side with a faction and you might be able to make the odds so uneven that there might be survivors"

I was somewhat right, the villagers ended up okay.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Chapter 5 Begins

Okay, so after dropping off some stuff with Dandelion, I talked to the King and Carmen, but neither has much to say. I fought some Rose Knights with my dwarf friend, then I stopped to rest and level up (and make some potions). For some reason, even though Dandelion was supposed to stay with the King while the dwarf friend came with me, now Dandelion was back in my "party" and entered the city with me. OKAY. Whatever.

At this point I got the official Chapter V screen. And...

The King of Vizima (not that other King who I talked to outside) is riding around Old Vizima and gets ambushed by elves. And then the Rose Knights save him.

Okay... here's the thing. The Elf snipers were kicking ass. Why did they drop bows and go in melee? They could have sniped the King and been done with it. I'm just saying, bad strategy from the Squirrels on that one.

Anyway, Geralt shows up and gets hauled off to the Palace. Where I learn that - MOTHER FUCKER ADDA IS A FUCKING STIRGA AGAIN! ^^;; You guys must have been pissing your pants laughing at me when I stated reminding everyone about Adda being a Stirga in the short story, since it's in the damn game. Kudos to all of you for not spoiling that for me. **tips non-existent hat in your direction**

So, I'm supposed to talk to Velerad, Count Asshat, and Triss about this. I talk to Triss first to let her know about the Alvin situation. I also tell her I love her, because I think that Triss/Geralt is cute. She is generally supportive, but she also gripes at me about the Squirrels for... some reason? I'm not sure why, honestly, as she doesn't explain it. She almost sounds jealous, which makes no sense at all.

I talk to the Rose Knight next, and then Velerad. I learn stuff that I already knew but that Geralt had forgotten, so there's that. Also that there appears to have been foul play in her re-transformation. No shit Sherlock. Anyway, the King wants to see me again, so I head there. He wants me to save Adda (this old tune) and destroy the Salamanders (always happy to do what I was going to do anyway but for money). I tell him I'll do my best and head out.

First things first, however - I need to escort some Squirrels to the hospital. Which I do, incinerating Rose Knights on the way.

And here either my computer or the game itself has some issues. With all these Rose Knights and Squirrels and other crap on the map, the game gets really laggy during combat, making it practically impossible to land combos. I've tried pausing to let the game catch up, but it only kinda helps. However, what DOES work is Igni. By spamming Fire attacks at the Rose knights, they burn to death pretty well even if I can't land combos due to lag. Or due to Squirrels getting in my damn way, causing Geralt to stand there in confusion while the AI decides if it wants to walk around the Squirrel to attack the Rose Knight or just wait for me to do something else.

This only happens in Rose Knight vs Squirrel battles, mind. Other battles are fine (I ran into some Gravers later on).

Anyway, after slogging my way through some very slow combat, I get the refugees inside the hospital. There Shani has words for me. Bitter, grouchy words about trust. I wish there was an option for "it wasn't an issue of trust, Shani - it was an issue of competence" - which would have pissed her off all the same, but at least it would have pissed her off for the proper reason.

All this makes me wonder how Shani would have dealt with the situation in Chapter 4. How would Alvin have gotten to the swamp? Etc.

Anyway, first things first, Adda has been sited, and all quests demand that I deal with her first. So sure, I'll do that. I wade through some slow combats and make my way towards the quest icon. And when I get there - a "mutant" attacks. I kill it, and Kalkstine pops up to tell me that it wasn't Adda. Or a Stirga. Yes, I know, my GUI told me that already. Kalkstein explains... so basically I just killed a failed Witcher experiment created by the Salamanders? Great. Well, it went down like a punk, so I'm not too concerned.

I decide that this is an excellent time to follow up on that Blacksmith that my dwarf friend mentioned. I check in with him, and he's heard of this famous armor! And he can make me some... if I do HALF A DOZEN fetch quests for him.

Sure, why not. It's not like I dislike fetch quests when they involve delving dungeons. And it seems that all of these dungeons are in the Swamp. I guess I need to get to the swamp then.

I'm also supposed to head back to the hospital, and when I do (stopping to pick up some new contracts from the post outside) it is under attack from Rose Knights who want to kill all the wounded elves and dwarves (and Shani for aiding them). So I murder them. Again, fire seems to work best (once again, I got game slow-down). I switched to strong style for the boss Rose Knight and that seemed to help. I could at least get one combo before the game started getting stuck and denying me the second click.

Anyway, I loot the corpses, Shani thanks me for my aid, I loot upstairs just to be sure, and then head outside. And Touviel is there! She's alive! And has another squad of Rose Knights on her. This Rose Knight asks that I stick to "honorable" steel.

Fuck honor and fuck him. I set his smug ass on fire. Repeatedly. And strong style him while his minions burn.

Afterwards, Touviel asks me to come with her. She leads me to a hide out and then... Geralt is apparently looking at her funny. What follows is the BEST SEX SCENE IN THE WHOLE GAME. I will attempt to quote from memory.

Touviel: "Gearlt! Is this really the time? I can't believe - really, now? - the world is ending and all you can think about is sex? ... oh fuck it. Strip."

**GIANT GRIN**

I'm so glad Touviel's not dead. She's the best character in the game.

Her sex card is as stupid as the rest. Why is she outside by a tree? We were inside a building, in a burning city. Never mind.

For some reason, the game automatically took me into Meditation mode. So I made some potions to use up the random alcohol in my inventory.

And that's where I left off. The Squirrels want me to lead an attack on the Rose Knights, and it just so happens that I have all of the quest items for a "Druid" who is on the other side of said Rose Knights. Win fucking win.

Question: Since there's no inn, where do I go to drop off and pick up items? The Dike (where Dandelion may or may not still be)? I have the stuff for at least two more quests, but it's in storage.

 

[Norrdicus]

This only happens in Rose Knight vs Squirrel battles, mind. Other battles are fine (I ran into some Gravers later on).

Your computer has problems with loading the amount of fear on Order Knights' faces when they see you coming at them with bloodlust.

Anyway, after slogging my way through some very slow combat, I get the refugees inside the hospital. There Shani has words for me. Bitter, grouchy words about trust. I wish there was an option for "it wasn't an issue of trust, Shani - it was an issue of competence" - which would have pissed her off all the same, but at least it would have pissed her off for the proper reason.

All this makes me wonder how Shani would have dealt with the situation in Chapter 4. How would Alvin have gotten to the swamp? Etc.

Some quests involving Alvin would have changed in Chapter 4, and Shani prefers that Geralt go the neutral route instead of picking a side.

I decide that this is an excellent time to follow up on that Blacksmith that my dwarf friend mentioned. I check in with him, and he's heard of this famous armor! And he can make me some... if I do HALF A DOZEN fetch quests for him.

Sure, why not. It's not like I dislike fetch quests when they involve delving dungeons. And it seems that all of these dungeons are in the Swamp. I guess I need to get to the swamp then.

The series of quests to get the armor is crappy, but that armor is seriously good and will even transfer to Witcher 2 if you've got the completed save file with the armor in possession.

Question: Since there's no inn, where do I go to drop off and pick up items? The Dike (where Dandelion may or may not still be)? I have the stuff for at least two more quests, but it's in storage.

Either Zoltan or Dandelion at the dike, or maybe Shani too. Not too sure

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

The series of quests to get the armor is crappy, but that armor is seriously good and will even transfer to Witcher 2 if you've got the completed save file with the armor in possession.

It transfers to the Witcher 2?!

Oh yeah, I'm doing these quests. I want that armor.

Is it too soon to prioritize the armor quests? Is this going to be like the Tower in Chapter 2 where things dove-tail, or can I just put aside all this Princess/Elf stuff and go questing for magical armor whenever I want? Because, the sooner I get it, the more use I'll get out of it.

Either Zoltan or Dandelion at the dike, or maybe Shani too. Not too sure

Okay then. I'll need to stop by the Dike soon and do that.

Is the Dike still how I get to the Swamp? Or do I have to go through the crack in the wall?

 

[Norrdicus]

Is it too soon to prioritize the armor quests? Is this going to be like the Tower in Chapter 2 where things dove-tail, or can I just put aside all this Princess/Elf stuff and go questing for magical armor whenever I want? Because, the sooner I get it, the more use I'll get out of it.

You can't finish the quest before dealing with Adda, but make sure to finish it before you finally assault the Salamandra. After that, there's no turning back. Grand finale, baby

Is the Dike still how I get to the Swamp? Or do I have to go through the crack in the wall?

I think it's the crack in the city wall

 

[porous_shield]

Anyway, Geralt shows up and gets hauled off to the Palace. Where I learn that - MOTHER FUCKER ADDA IS A FUCKING STIRGA AGAIN! ^^;; You guys must have been pissing your pants laughing at me when I stated reminding everyone about Adda being a Stirga in the short story, since it's in the damn game. Kudos to all of you for not spoiling that for me. **tips non-existent hat in your direction**

When you talked about it it was a little funny and I'm glad no one spoiled it for you. So I guess you can see why she wanted some monster meat?

And here either my computer or the game itself has some issues. With all these Rose Knights and Squirrels and other crap on the map, the game gets really laggy during combat, making it practically impossible to land combos. I've tried pausing to let the game catch up, but it only kinda helps. However, what DOES work is Igni. By spamming Fire attacks at the Rose knights, they burn to death pretty well even if I can't land combos due to lag. Or due to Squirrels getting in my damn way, causing Geralt to stand there in confusion while the AI decides if it wants to walk around the Squirrel to attack the Rose Knight or just wait for me to do something else.

My computer had trouble loading that section as well and the thing I did, at least I think, to counter it was to angle the camera a little at the ground so that game wasn't loading so much scenery. A section coming up was particularly bad for me.

Afterwards, Touviel asks me to come with her. She leads me to a hide out and then... Geralt is apparently looking at her funny. What follows is the BEST SEX SCENE IN THE WHOLE GAME. I will attempt to quote from memory.

Touviel: "Gearlt! Is this really the time? I can't believe - really, now? - the world is ending and all you can think about is sex? ... oh fuck it. Strip."

**GIANT GRIN**

I'm so glad Touviel's not dead. She's the best character in the game.

Her sex card is as stupid as the rest. Why is she outside by a tree? We were inside a building, in a burning city. Never mind.

For some reason, the game automatically took me into Meditation mode. So I made some potions to use up the random alcohol in my inventory.

It was so good he had to meditate afterwards? My Geralt had sex with her in a cave in the last section but I was fairly order aligned. Yaevin and Touviel ranks are a little strange in this game. In the story Tourviel is actually a little higher ranked than Yaevin but it's the opposite in the game and I wonder why they did that.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I think it's the crack in the city wall

So noted. It looks like I'll have to break the Rose Knight lines to get there, so I might as well advance the plot then.

As to the plot connection, then I'll do as much armor related quests as I can until I run into the "you must deal with Adda" wall, as happened with my attempts to get to Kalkstine's tower in Chapter 2.

My Geralt had sex with her in a cave in the last section but I was fairly order aligned. Yaevin and Touviel ranks are a little strange in this game. In the story Tourviel is actually a little higher ranked than Yaevin but it's the opposite in the game and I wonder why they did that.

Wait, you were Order aligned and you still had elf sex. In a cave? That's... weird.

I assumed you'd have sex with that Rose Knight woman from the last chapter. She seemed kinda like the opposite side equivalent to Tourviel.

 

[porous_shield]

Wait, you were Order aligned and you still had elf sex. In a cave? That's... weird.

I assumed you'd have sex with that Rose Knight woman from the last chapter. She seemed kinda like the opposite side equivalent to Tourviel.

Brought her bread and she offered Geralt her elf booty. It seems like I remember getting the Rayla sex card in the section you're in now rather than the last section.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Brought her bread and she offered Geralt her elf booty. It seems like I remember getting the Rayla sex card in the section you're in now rather than the last section.

**blink**

You got sex for the bread quest? That's... unimpressive. At least I know which cave you meant now.

As for Rayla... I was actually just kidding. You really can sleep with her?! Yikes.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

A quick note that might be somewhat spoilery, but isn't really: there is absolutely NO reason to enter the region called "Old Manor" until you have the armour. If, for whatever reason, you enter the region of "Old Manor" and you haven't got the armour, turn back at once until you do. It's a no-turning back line, pretty much.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

A quick note that might be somewhat spoilery, but isn't really: there is absolutely NO reason to enter the region called "Old Manor" until you have the armour. If, for whatever reason, you enter the region of "Old Manor" and you haven't got the armour, turn back at once until you do. It's a no-turning back line, pretty much.

Don't go to the Old Manor. Got it.

....

Are you the Harbinger? Have I just avoided walking into a Cabin in the Woods situation?

And if so, why aren't you speaking in cryptic hyperbole?

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Are you the Harbinger? Have I just avoided walking into a Cabin in the Woods situation?

And if so, why aren't you speaking in cryptic hyperbole?

I have no idea what this means. Is this directed at me, or?..

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I have no idea what this means. Is this directed at me, or?..

It's a joke. A bad one, apparently.

In the horror movie, "The Cabin in the Woods," a group of people head out to a cabin in the woods. On the way there, a cryptic old man warns them not to go to the titular Cabin in the Woods, and that if they continue they are passing the point of no return. The same old man is later called the "Harbinger" because he warned them not to go.

Spoiler: Spoilers for Cabin in the Woods

They ignore the Harbinger and go there anyway, and the expected horror movie murders commence.

Anyway, you just warned me that the "Old Manor" was the point of return and that I shouldn't go there. The "Old Manor" sounds like the location of a horror movie. Thus, by warning me not to go, you have acted as the Harbinger. But, instead of speaking cryptically, you were quite direct. Thus I joked that you weren't being cryptic enough to be a proper Harbinger.

So yeah... it was a meta-humor joke about a movie that you possibly haven't seen. Thus with the falling flat.

It probably doesn't help that I was just watching Family Guy and thus my sense of humor is more pop-culture reference ridden than usual.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Ah, well, no I haven't seen that film. Not much of a movie-goer personally. But yeah, it is more or less a point of no return much like the assault on the Salamander Base is at the end of Chapter 3, so just be cautious of that. It could be easy to lose the armour entirely for the unwary. It is one of the more glaring flaws in the first game, they sometimes don't tell you when the chapter is coming to a close until it is already too late, and if you haven't got another save file that pre-dates that point, well. Yeah.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

What the Fuck do you mean I can't access storage in chapter 5?!

Well fuck me. I'm going to get ahead of myself a bit here (I'll post a proper update in a bit here) but after advancing my way through the game a bit, I came to a point where I really needed access to my Storage so I could complete the Dentist quest (there are no devourers in this chapter). I have all the devourer teeth, but I put them into storage so I wouldn't accidentally make them into a potions.

So I headed for the Dike. And... the doors are locked. I tried going over the wall, but there's no option to climb over the chest high piece of wood preventing me from climbing out the way I got in earlier in the chapter. Plus, those doors were OPEN from the other side. What the fuck?!

I checked with every NPC I could think of, but none of them gave me access. Frustrated, I googled it.

And, according to the Internet, there is NO ACCESS TO STORAGE IN CHAPTER 5 (until after the point of no return).

What the flipping fuck?!

Worse yet, I actually saw people defending this bullshit as some sort of "real challenge of gamer skill". BULL FUCKING SHIT. This tests nothing but random chance - do you happen to be carrying the items on you that you need to complete the quests.

Even worse yet, the game makes NO indication of this fact. The doors were not locked at the beginning of the chapter - you entered the city via them. Now they are. In fact, the game tricks you into USING the storage by having Dandelion ask if there's anything you'd like him to hold on to for you. I had the devourer fangs in my inventory and GAVE THEM TO DANDELION when he asked me that.

Not only is the dentist quest fucked beyond repair, but two or three of the "kill X critter for items" quests rely on creatures from last fucking chapter! In several cases, I have their bits stored. The only reason I could do the allip one is because there were a couple of Alips in this chapter. The something-or-other saliva I have, but since those enemies (rare enemies at that) were ONLY in the previous chapter, there is no way for me to complete that quest either.

There was no fucking reason for this other than to screw over players during their first playthrough.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Anyway, now that that's out of the way... the actual update.

So, when we last left off, Geralt just had pre-battle sex. Good enough. So, onto the battle. Which basically amounted to fighting the usual group of soldiers twice, and then fighting some tougher soldiers. Fair enough. And the female Knight got shot to death with an arrow. Is it Tourviel who gets shot if you're with the Order?

Victory is had - onward to the swamp. Where... a Rose Knight pops up to help kill some archspores. Um, okay? Not sure what his deal is. I was expecting to have to fight him, but he just buggered off.

Whatever. I escort the elves to the Druid cave. Good enough - I have some stuff for the Druids anyway.

After that, I take another fetch-quest item to its recipient and bump into Velarand. He wants to show me the tomb where Adda sleeps during the day. Fair enough. I'm supposed to look for evidence or something. I quickly explore the dungeon (it's daylight and no monsters attack me) looting some stuff for the armor quest. I also find that evidence, so I head back to the front to tell Velrand and... and the fucker locked me in! The game says I should "return" after dusk, but since I'm trapped... I guess I'll just use that campfire to rest until then?

Remembering the short story, I'm supposed to remain in the tomb near the coffin until morning. ... can I just choose to meditate at the fire for 24 hours and auto-cure her? If not, this is going to be a LONG aside trapped in here.

I save, just in case that is an option, and then rest until dusk. I walk in and stand next to the coffin.

....

....

And after an in-game hour, some candles get lit.

....

....

....

Is Adda ever showing up?

I save again, just in case I have to remain RIGHT next to the coffin, and head back towards the campfire to try that "resting until morning" thing. And Adda shows up as soon as I try to leave the room! Ah, she was waiting for that. I wonder if I can get to the campfire. I try to, but a "you failed" cutscene plays and Adda turns aruond to lurk near her coffin. I head b ack in and she attacks me, but I'm not sure if I've totally screwed it up or not, so I just reload to a moment ago. Good thing I saved first.

This time, after activating Adda, I turn around and... run in circles around her coffin.

Wow, I really hope this works.

And then, I get a cutscene where one of the candles goes out and it seems to have some sort of affect on Adda. Huh. So this is what I'm supposed to do then?

I continue running in circles, all the while humming Yakety Sax. Yes, now in addition to being Mr. Bean, Geralt is apparently Benny Hill.

This continues for a while. Geralt comments that it's almost dawn. Say WHAT?! I check the time and... shit, time has indeed advanced. Much, MUCH faster than normal. I see - the quest is being nice to me. This would have been remarkably shitty if I'd had to spend the usual time-ratio doing this, so I'm glad the creators weren't dicks. Anyway, I keep running in circles and finally the last candle goes out, a cutscene plays, Geralt says it's dawn, and Adda turns back into a Princess. With clothing on, I see.

Remembering the short story where she attacked Geralt while in human form, I save again. Just to be safe. I then wait a few minutes and then go talk to her. And she's normal - no attacking Geralt. I escort her outside and the door is no longer locked. Outside, Geralt yells at Velerad for me - thank you Geralt - and accepts a fancy sword as payment for saving the princess. It... has the same damage as my other nifty sword. But a higher percent chance of some status effects, so I swap it in for my main.

Too bad I can't put my other sword in STORAGE. **massive bitterness** Instead I drop my Order sword that I was planning to sell to the blacksmith and carry my wyvern sword in the second slot.

Well then, that was eventful. I wasn't expecting to save Adda that quickly.

Oh - another fun point. Because I can't leave Old Vizima, I can't complete the Adda quest either. Grr.

Anyway, now at last I can go get Raven's armor! I head to the Old Mines first, kill some spiders, and use fire, fire, and air to teleport myself to a secondary area. I fight some critters and proceed through a surprisingly short dungeon to pick up the doo-dad. Yay! Now for armor bits.

Outside, I head to Raven's tomb. This area is kind of hard to navigate through, and I have not been attacked by ANY good enemies - just slug men and various minor undead. Everything is 1xp - not worth killing, particularly with my anti-drowner (and apparently anti-drowned dead) amulet. I just run past. I haven't seen any archspores since the cutscene earlier, and no spiders at all. Boring.

I get to the tomb and use a wind spell to blow open a collapsed passage and let some guy out. He was treasure hunting. I advise that he should leave. He does so. Now... time to rock. I switch back to fire and head in.

After a couple of Fleders, I hit a room full of Wraiths. And... they're scared of me! I got an anti-wraith amulet last chapter a that I equipped.

And it's a good thing I did, because this dungeon has a TON of wraiths. And I wreck them, because none of them will attack me. The main problem is that they flee, so I have to trap them against a wall to really be able to attack properly. So much Death Dust. So much.

I eventually get to the plot icon where there's a Flender and a Basilisk. Worth 1500xp! Sweet. Also, I find Ravan's armor bits and an inscription. Yay!

There's another branch to the dungeon, so I head that way and kill more Wraiths and Flenders. And I find another piece of armor and a meteor sword that I can't carry because I'm already full up on swords. **sigh**

Horrah!

I head out (killing a few respawns) and run through the swamp, ignoring enemies, to get back to town. I head directly to the Blacksmith (enjoying the new, open main street) and get him working on the armor. Then I head to Kalkstine and sell him some death dust. He only wants the 10 from the quest, sadly - I have plenty more, and it isn't very useful. I sell him some other stuff too since I can't store it. **grr**

I missed the merc captain, so I head back to him and drop off two quests. Yay Xp and cash. And a book for some reason. I take it back to the Blacksmith (who buys books for some reason). He's finished the armor! I love how "tomorrow" means "three hours". And I get my new armor! And my 1000 gold armor falls on the floor where I can't pick it up or sell it. **sigh**

Raven's armor is pretty neat. It has slightly better DR than I had before, and it increases my Endurance and Sign Intensity. It's Raven's armor of Elves, if that means anything. Does it change depending on who I support?

Having completed all major quests, I attempt to do some minor ones. I sell teeth to the dentist, then head back into the swamp. I check out mine again, but only spiders have respawned. I check out Raven's tomb and EVERYTHING respawned, so I wreck my way through all those wraiths, flenders, and that basilisk again for massive XP. Then I go box an old man and takes his tooth.

I'd like to mention something. It seems to me that the boxing minigame is broken. Badly broken. I found during the inn matches that if I just clicked constantly, I would win all matches, no matter the skill of my opponent. It is slower with the old man "best boxer in the world" but it still works. Actually, I found that if I clicked on him more slowly, his HP dropped faster.

Unable to find anything else to do, I headed back to town and sold his tooth. And I headed to Kalkstine's to sell 30 flender fangs. Say that three times fast.

And that's kinda where I am. I can't finish the Dentist or Kalkstein's last quests because I can't access my storage. The only trackable quest in my Journal is the Old Manor.

Did I really just finish this whole chapter in two days?

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Hmm, isn't one of the monster hunting quests Bruxa blood? You can find Bruxa roaming around the Swamp Cemetery at night. There are always Graviers and Cemetaurs outside Kalkstein's place as well, to the left of the entrance, in that little alley containing slaughtered soldiers.

The whole storage debacle never occurred to me, as I've never used storage myself. Sounds like a major oversight by the developers there, though I doubt they'd let you put important quest items in there (if you miss out on a couple of minor quests, it's really no big deal unless you're a completionist).

And yeah, the last chapters are rather short compared to the first four. Loads happen in them though. I must say, I did get a laugh from your description of the Battle of Old Vizima. I remember years ago when I had a shitty PC and that section lagged to hell and back, haha. I got like 5 frames per second, or something ridiculous.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Hmm, isn't one of the monster hunting quests Bruxa blood? You can find Bruxa roaming around the Swamp Cemetery at night. There are always Graviers and Cemetaurs outside Kalkstein's place as well, to the left of the entrance, in that little alley containing slaughtered soldiers.

I got the Gravers and Cemetaurs. They respawn every time you enter and leave a building - very convenient.

As to Bruxa - thanks for that advice. I didn't notice any difference in the swamp enemies at night, but I didn't try the cemetery itself.

How about Garkain Saliva? Any idea where I can get some of that?

And yeah, the last chapters are rather short compared to the first four. Loads happen in them though. I must say, I did get a laugh from your description of the Battle of Old Vizima. I remember years ago when I had a shitty PC and that section lagged to hell and back, haha. I got like 5 frames per second, or something ridiculous.

Ha! It's not that bad, but it did tend to hang up when Order soldiers spawned to run into the meat grinder. I think it was a combination of just that many sprites moving at once plus the flame animation. Now that the battle's over, Old Vizima doesn't slow the game down at all (well almost not at all). The swamp can get a little slow when there are a dozen drowners milling about unable to attack me, but unable to just walk away. I've taken to occasionally turning around and Flaming them to keep the numbers down.